If you compare the number of welfare fraud cases prosecuted with the number of people on welfare, you would see that it is a relatively small portion of the population. Of course your view of the welfare system will be skewed, you are seeing those people that are abusing the system. What you must not do is generalize and assume that all those people in line are fraudulent welfare abusers.
I may actually agree with you on the Cash programs, namely the Federal TANF program. This is when people, mostly women with children, receive money for having kids with absent parents (either mother, father, or both). This is probably the most widely abused program. Conversly, it is also the program with the least amount of people enrolled in it.
What you fail to realize is that in order to receive cash every month (without having children), people must have a verified temporary or permanent disability as stated by a licensed physician. Kind of hard to get a job when you have been designated "disabled."
I can appreciate that your parents work hard for their money. I work two different jobs, so I know exactly how they feel. I just want you to realize that there are people out there that actually NEED these programs and they do, in fact, outnumber the people who are just looking for a free ride. I had the same opinions as you when I first started working here. But opinions can change through experience....which I hope yours may change somewhat as well through your own experiences.
Wayne
