(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Since the inception of welfare programs, they have been abused by opportunists content to leech off taxpayers instead of working to better themselves. Welfare junkies in Georgia, however, awoke to a nasty surprise after refusing to work for their food stamps.
The state of Georgia has taken nearly 8,000 “able-bodied” and unemployed people off food stamps as the Trump administration continues to crack down on the federally funded program:
In 2018, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, the state administers of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), dramatically increased the number of people removed from the program because of the work requirement.
In the six months from October 2017 through March 2018, the state removed an average of 356 people a month from food stamps for failure to meet the work requirement. From April through October of this year, the average increased 20-fold — to nearly 8,000 a month. [Source: AJC]
According to the New York Post, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requires recipients over the age of 18 without children to work at least 20 hours a week or go to school in order to be eligible for food stamps. Georgia officials have been using a new data management system — dubbed the “Georgia Gateway” — to help identify people who don’t qualify.
“We have more data elements available to us with this system than we have had with any of our other eligibility systems,” explained Jon Anderson of the state’s Division of Family and Children Services, which handles SNAP.
“We are more confident in the system being able to identify ABAWDs [able-bodied adults without dependents] than we were in earlier systems,” said Anderson.
Luckily for these able-bodied adults, finding work has never been easier. Thanks to President Donald Trump’s booming economy, for the first time in history, there are actually more jobs available than people looking for work, CNN reports. Thus, there is simply no excuse for those who are physically able to work not to do so.
The jobs market is of particular importance among the black community, which is now experiencing the lowest unemployment numbers in recorded history. Trump is giving this demographic, in particular, a hand up instead of a handout.
Even CNN was forced to admit in June:
The black unemployment rate fell to 5.9% in May — the lowest since the government started keeping track in 1972. It’s a notoriously volatile number, but the trend is clear: This economy is strong, and everyone is reaping the rewards.
“The jobs market is firing on all pistons. It is benefiting all workers,” said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank. “There are more jobs to be had for all Americans.”
As the overall unemployment rate continues to fall — the lowest since 2000 — it’s also shrinking the gap between black and white unemployment. It is the narrowest on record.
Black unemployment dropped sharply last month, down from 6.6% in April. The gap between black and white unemployment shrank to 2.4 percentage points, the first time on record it’s been less than 3 points.
The figures were part of a jobs report Friday that showed overall unemployment at 3.8%. That was a clear sign that the economy is strong — and that there are opportunities for just about everyone.
The left loves to label conservatives as discriminatory and heartless for wanting to institute programs like work requirements for welfare recipients, but the only people being discriminated against are those who take advantage of the system.
No children lost their food in Georgia as a result of the state’s mandate, yet thousands were cut from the food stamp program. This has proven to be a very effective way to trim the fat, so to speak, and other states ought to seriously think about doing the same thing.
