Just Write the Poor a Check – Tremendous


When I was a kid, my family was on food stamps. But sometimes, what we really needed was money to pay the light bill. Why not just give people cash?

Right now, Congress is voting on Medicaid cuts in the hopes of balancing the budget. I have a much easier way to fix these programs: just write people a check.

A Grab Bag of Inefficient Programs

The US government has countless welfare programs. Some of the largest are Medicaid (health insurance for the poor), SCHIP (health insurance for poor kids), SNAP (food stamps), and TANF (cash welfare).

We spend about $750 billion on these programs in total. About 6% of that goes to admin costs: $45 billion.

Compare that to Social Security. Social Security is much larger, at $1.5 trillion a year in spending. Admin costs are just 0.5%, or about $8 billion a year.

It’s no wonder Social Security has way lower admin costs than programs like Medicaid. Medicaid has complex eligibility requirements and only pays for certain services. Handling applications and claims is time consuming and labor intensive.

What Happens If We Just Give Them a Check?

What if instead of all these complex programs for the poor, we did what Social Security does: give them cash?

The poor would have much more flexibility. They’d be able to buy diapers when they need diapers, instead of wishing that SNAP card could be used for Pampers.

The admin costs of these programs would also fall precipitously. If we got the admin costs on welfare programs down to the level of Social Security, we’d save about $40 billion a year.

That’s a ton of money! That $40 billion could be used to help more poor people or reduce the deficit.

The Power of Responsibility

Being on welfare isn’t great. I know: I’ve been there.

We don’t want people becoming dependent on the government for the rest of their lives. That is not a happy life.

Don’t believe me? Visit any urban ghetto and see the results of these welfare programs. Or visit a poor, rural area like the ones I lived in as a kid.

We should help folks get back on their feet if they’re having a rough patch. But we should time limit these programs to 5 years in a person’s life.

This is incredibly generous.

If you’re struggling, your fellow citizens will be happy to help you. We’ll cover your bills for a whole 5 years!

But if you’re able bodied, you eventually need to work. Five years should be more than enough time to find something.

And if you’re truly disabled, we’d be happy to support you for life. In a society as wealthy as ours, we have that luxury.

Wrap-Up

One big objection to sending the poor cash is that they’ll spend it on the wrong things. Drugs, alcohol, you name it.

Let’s be honest: some will. But let’s also not fool ourselves: people sell food stamps for cash and buy drugs as it is.

We shouldn’t penalize decent families down on their luck by treating them like children.

They know what they need better than we do. Giving them cash is the easiest way to meet those needs.

But another part of treating the poor like adults is responsibility. That’s why welfare must end after 5 years.

Give folks cash. But enforce a time limit.

This is how we can fix welfare in America.

More on government:

ChatGPT Helped Me Pick Our Next Governor

Three Priorities for the Trump Administration

Big Money, Politics and Polarization: Krysten Sinema at the All-In Summit

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