Racist right-wing talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh have seized on this issue claiming more than 100-million people are on some kind of welfare which IS the truth.
However, the truth that isn't being told by anyone is the dirtiest little secret behind this huge number of people receiving government assistance in order to survive.
Most of these 100-million people are working at poverty wage jobs--- thus, it is these employers who are reaping huge profits as tax-payers subsidize the labor for their great "free enterprises."
In addition, those receiving these miserly welfare payments of one kind or another who are not working at all serve as a huge pool of cheap labor dragging and driving all wages down. Another favor to employers compliments of U.S. tax-payers.
Welfare, unemployment compensation and Social Security should all be raised to a level comparable to what a real living wage would be and so should the minimum wage.
A real living wage must include all cost of living factors and be indexed to inflation.
Once employers pay their employees a real living wage and we create a full-employment economy, Rush Limbaugh and his racist, anti-worker cohorts will be able to stop complaining about the "lazy bums who lie in bed all day."
I would note that here in Minnesota the only jobs Democrats have created is poverty wage jobs, too--- 44,000 poverty wage jobs in the Indian Gaming Industry. And Democrats just created some 200 poverty wage jobs for people employed at Menard's in Virginia, Minnesota on the Iron Range where workers (mostly part-time) are paid between $7.49 and $8.50 an hour--- all of whom receive some kind of welfare because of their poverty wages.
So, while Rush Limbaugh and his fellow bigots decry Obama ending "welfare for work;" the fact of the matter is that Obama and the Democrats are putting people to work at poverty wage jobs and all the while people apparently don't see through all this confusion in order to demand all jobs pay real living wages.
Poverty is the real issue of the 2012 Elections--- yet we don't find Obama or Romney nor Biden nor Ryan addressing this issue of poverty.
Make no mistake, a poverty wage job is no solution to poverty. As any school child understands paying workers poverty wages is going to result in poverty.
it is bad enough the politicians talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" and few jobs get created but even when jobs are created the real crime is that they are all poverty wage jobs being created.
Of course, low wages mean bigger profits for the employing class--- which Rush Limbaugh will very conveniently never mention.
And of course all these phony liberals, progressives and leftists backing Obama will never talk about the fact that if we ended Obama's dirty imperialist wars we could put tens of millions of welfare recipients to work providing us all with free health care and free child care. And what about getting WPA, CCC and C.E.T.A. programs up and running with real living wage jobs?
The American people understand the benefits of "peace dividends" even if the Democrats and Republicans and the Rush Limbaugh's of the world do not.
We need to change the direction of conversation in this country away from all the lies fabricated on racist bigotry and hate with a focus on equality, peace, social and economic justice.
We need to openly question and vigorously challenge these Wall Street politicians--- Democrats and Republicans--- in the public square.
For working class families, a poverty wage job is no better than no job. This is something the well-heeled, muddle-headed, middle class intellectuals backing Obama as "the lesser evil" will never understand. Just like these uncaring mental midgets will never understand that Obama's wars are just as bad as Bush's wars.
