Crystal Edwards Blog Post#2

Carrots, Sticks, and Piss Tests for the Poor

I really enjoyed this section on the deserving poor vs. the undeserving poor. I am between if we should alcohol and drug test to see if individuals are eligible to receive aid. On one hand I think it is a great idea. I can’t tell you the amount of times, we will have individuals that ask if we take the Medical Card to cover their drug and alcohol evaluations that are required when someone receives a DUI. In these cases and many others is all a matter of what you are willing to spend your money on. Looking at the other hand, if we test individuals to be eligible to receive food and other public aid such as health benefits and they fail, will they be the ones that suffer in the long run? It is my notion that they are not the ones that are going to suffer in the long run. If they are not in the mind-set that they want help and they want to change then they are not going to stop using to pass testing. In the long run I feel it is going to be an innocent child that has no food that is going to be the one we are hurting by implementing testing. It is a question of what is the most likely outcome.

Bubbles and Busts

There are a countless number of aspects surrounding homelessness. No-one is exempt from falling victim to this unfortunate epidemic in our Nation. Individuals and families lose their homes for many reasons. Just a few of the cases might be job losses, medical expenses, domestic violence, and struggling veterans; just to name a few. For the most part homelessness is not a choice and is a hardship that will be extremely difficult to overcome. In my families situation, I don’t know how long we could survive if my husband lost his job. Our savings would not pay our mortgage for very long after that ran out and how long would it take before the bank took over. Just thinking about this situation as a possibility gives me a sense of overwhelming hopelessness. Even if he settled for a temporary job if it did not meet his current salary at the company he has worked for over 11 years, would still leave us struggling.

When the Going Gets Tough the Tough take it out on the Vulnerable

It is incredibly sad that our Nation’s financial crisis has far outreached the point of no-return. Instead of making cuts in areas that would not have that great an impact on the programs they are funding. We have cut areas and increased qualifications for recipients. Such as the single mom that was mentioned on page 218. I know every9one has their opinion and if the government would just listen to what we all had to say then we wouldn’t be facing such a great financial crisis. Bottom line is our system is greatly broken. There are so many individuals that are in desperate need of assistance and for one reason or another they are not eligible. Then there are those that have been able to essentially cheat they system, how is it that we can have such a broken system?