Budget Cuts 1.0 - Welfare Program

There are dozens of government agencies and programs that I would LOVE to see trimmed back or completely eliminated.  I am contemplating writing blog entries about each of these ideas and open up the ideas to debate here on the blog.

To test if this is a good idea or not; I am opening up with:

Welfare Program

I base my life on my relationship with Christ and as such, have different motivations and purposes than what our Country has evolved into.  Our Country started out on a pure and God centered focus but as compromise after compromised has slipped in and slowly eroded the baseline values of our Nation, we have drifted a great deal away from where we had started.

My Bible (I say my because many versions have been printed in the latest years which twist and change and modify the Bible to suit their own political needs and spiritual needs in pulling more people away from Christ)...

My Bible offers a plethora of scripture which impresses the need of the followers of Christ (and God: Old Testament for Jews) to provide for the needy, the poor, the widows, etc.  It clearly puts the duty of caring for those in need on the Church (those that follow God).

We have a clear blueprint of who has the responsibility of taking care of the poor.  (Note: A Widow in the culture in the Old Testament times was destitute.  Without a man for income, she was immediately homeless and helpless.  Much like an orphan the culture offered a widow no real hope for a future).

So we fast forward to the United States of America and our history.  The development of soup kitchens, church run orphanages, work training programs; all of which get tax-free status to continue the work of Christ in all the cities across our country.

Why did we need to give the Churches a tax-free status?

Slipping into the time-machine of our Country you'll find that there was a time not too long ago that an income tax did not exist.  A person would work on a farm and sell their crop at market and then have that money to spend as they wished.  If they were a factory worker, a deli owner or a seamstress it was the same.  The money you earned was yours to decide what you wished to do with.  You could buy flour at the store, a bag of sugar, a new stove for your cabin, supplies for a trip out West, new windows for the 2nd floor of your home.

It was also your choice and within your power to give of that money to your church so that they could continue on with the work of Christ.  Spreading the Gospel of Christ, helping those new to Christ to grow in their relationship with him and for the care of those in need in the community (Church funded Welfare).

Then... along came the income tax and those farmers and seamstresses found out that when they earned some money, laws now required them to send off a percentage of what they had earned to someone in Washington D.C. or be fined and/or imprisoned.  Ah yes, much like when we had lived under a King which demanded payment for the honor of being called his servants/slaves.

So, now the farmer and seamstress no longer had as much freedom to give as freely to their Church.  Sure, they still paid their 10% tithing to the church, but offerings given above and beyond were more difficult to hand over in the offering plate.

As the years progress, the men in Washington D.C. decide they have more and more purposes in which to authorize them to take more and more of that farmer and seamstresses earned money.  Each year that passes the earned money of the farmer and seamstress gets less and less and less, with more and more of their money going to Washington D.C.

The Church finds itself no longer able to provide as they had for the poor and needy in their communities.  Thus comes the tax-free status which Churches are able to negotiate with the slave-owners in Washington D.C.  Thus, they get a short term fix to carry on the Work of Christ in their communities.

But, the taxes continue to go up and up and many people in the Church cut their 10% tithing back to 9%, then 7% and some down below 5% as they try to keep their children in clothes and shoes.

The Church and their ministry to care for the poor and needy continues to suffer and they can't be as effective as they were.  A visible and problem segment of our society begins to develop because the Churches can no longer keep up with the demands.

So, Washington D.C. steps in and creates a Welfare program of their own.

One of the major problems as I see it is that now people are no longer giving to the needs of the poor and needy themselves.  They are being robbed (without recourse) by their government and then the government is burning and wasting those funds on their Welfare programs.

A church in its community is very frugal.  The members on its board or supervisors or the pastor is directly held accountable to those giving them the money (tithe/offerings).  If the members of that church see their hard earned money being frivolously wasted you can bet that that board or that pastor will be quickly reminded of his responsibilities and the fat would be trimmed and the program(s) would become efficient again.

While the programs are overseen from the Overlords in Washington D.C. though, they waste, they pilfer from the funds and they burn through the money they've recently stolen from you earnings.  They have no fear of the wrath of those they are stealing from for they are detached both geographically and emotionally from those they get their funding from.

Additionally, a persons relationship with God is damaged.  If you give freely of your income to the church and for the Work of Christ there is a profound and deep purpose and connectivity with Christ that comes from being a part of his Work in the world.  But, what are your feelings and spiritual growth when you are robbed at payday and your money instead is spent to buy a wide screen t.v., a second car, an X-Box and cartons of cigarettes?

The care for the needy and the poor in our Country has evolved into a system that ensures that generation after generation of families never even seek out employment or becoming a contribution to the community in which they live.  Parasites are created and encouraged to suck off the marrow of those that struggle to keep their freedom from the slavery system of the Government.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω

that is,

If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

The Greek phrase θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι means “is not willing to work”. Other English translations render this as “would” or “will not work”, which may confuse readers unaccustomed to this use of the verb “will” in the obsolete sense of “want to, desire to”.

The slogan is said to have been used by John Smith when establishing the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia after an experiment with a common store system was abandoned (1607-1609).

Indeed, there are a great many truly needy people out there today that are unable to work and to earn a living in this world.  Just as their always has been in this world.  It is a wonderful opportunity for people to give beyond themselves and to bless others; thus growing closer to God in their acts of services.

But what do we do with those MILLIONS of people in our Country that are absolutely capable of earning a living and just shrug it off and play with their X-Box while chain smoking their cigarettes while eating their free food in their free housing?

It's this segment of our society which needs to be cut off completely.  100% of any funding to these people need to be immediately cut off.   Not even the Churches are to provide any assistance to these people.  "Let him not eat".  Not eat?  To me that sounds pretty plain.  If you do not eat.. you die.  If the Bible is so plain as to say if you are not willing to work, you should just starve and die.... then so be it.

A simple and lazy fix to this would be to do means testing for Welfare recipients.  If a person is able to work, they get no Welfare support from the Government support system.  But this would only encourage hundreds of thousands of new government employees to go into each family across the Nation to snoop and ask questions and rule over the people even more.  Which, in turn.. would authorize a dramatic increase in even more taxes to pay for all this manpower; the continued growth of the Government.

Instead.. I say:

Create a flat-tax for every income owner in our country at 17%.  Not a penny more.  If you earn $7 an hour you pay 17% in income tax.  If you earn $50,000 an hour you pay 17% in income tax.  The socialist promote the "fair share" continually.  Well, wouldn't a fair-share mean everyone pays the same percentage of their income to taxes?

Second, completely disband the Welfare system.  100% abolished, 100% flushed down the toilet.

Third, if a person or family wishes to hand-out or a hand-up, they are to proceed directly to their local church for assistance.

Now you have local accountability, the reduction of waste and fraud and those that are able to work and do not will either lose weight dramatically (will not eat) or will promptly learn that they must earn a living if they wish to live.

Summary:  Flat Tax - Individuals can easily contribute to their churches - Eliminate the entire Welfare Program.