-Welfare
-AFDC
-Medicaid
-Food stamps/EBT cards
-Government cheese/government peanut butter
-Free or reduced school lunches
-WIC
-Pell grant
-Cash for clunkers
-Electric vehicle tax credit
-Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency for solar, wind or geothermal upgrades
-Unemployment compensation
-Free or discounted digital TV converter box
-Free Government Cell Phone
-Section 8 housing tenant or landlord
-HUD project resident
-First time home buyer down payment assistance
-Any other government hand out for which you or your parents when you were a minor had to request or otherwise apply
Academic and athletic scholarships and GI Bill excluded as those are earned. Social Security and Medicare excluded as well as we are all required to pay into it.
I'm actually surprised most people responding to the poll have never needed government help. I thought it would have been closer to 80% yes, 20% no. Especally considering the more accepted forms like pell grants, first time homeowner downpayment and unemployment compensation. I know a millionaire who gets section 8 money as a landlord. Business owners get FEMA help sometimes if a storm damages their business property beyond what insurance covers. Some farmers get subsidies. Oil companies get subsidies. There are a lot of government hand outs that don't carry the stigma of a free loader like food stamps and Medicare.
Everyone pays into government assistance as everyone pays taxes. Income or otherwise.
The government gave me a four year scholarship in exchange for 8 years of Army service, with 4 years minimum active duty. I don't know how else I would have gone to college without that assistance, maybe I could have gone somewhere else but back in 2006 when I entered college both Iraq and Afghanistan were experiencing some of the worst violence of the War on Terrorism. All I had to do to attend a pretty prestigious private 4 year university was give them my basic information, name, birthdate, social security number, etc, pass a physical, and of course sign on for 8 years.
I don't know if you'd call that government assistance since they certainly got something out of the deal, unlike other kinds of assistance where the government doesn't directly benefit.
That's a reward for service, part of your pay, not a hand-out.
Food stamps (when our first kid was born and we could not afford the special formula due to his allergies)
Pell Grant
Student Loans
Reduced lunch for the kids
various tax subsidies
probably other stuff
first time home buyer help
It allowed me to get on my feet and be more successful at life. I doubt I would be where I am at without it, most people are the same.
-Welfare
-AFDC
-Medicaid
-Food stamps/EBT cards
-Government cheese/government peanut butter
-Free or reduced school lunches
-WIC
-Pell grant
-Cash for clunkers
-Electric vehicle tax credit
-Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency for solar, wind or geothermal upgrades
-Unemployment compensation
-Free or discounted digital TV converter box
-Free Government Cell Phone
-Section 8 housing tenant or landlord
-HUD project resident
-First time home buyer down payment assistance
-Any other government hand out for which you or your parents when you were a minor had to request or otherwise apply
Academic and athletic scholarships and GI Bill excluded as those are earned. Social Security and Medicare excluded as well as we are all required to pay into it.
Μολὼν λαβέ;1060859606 said:Really? Most people? I've never heard that before.
With a degree becoming more and more necessary, they're truly a blessing.
Thats true but I do think I got the better end of the deal. You know the Army is the gift that just keeps on giving.
A lot of people aren't willing to admit they have received these kinds of benefits, but typically, they are lying if they say they did not.
I am thinking you are projecting a bit there, and it is not as extensive as you suggest. I suspect this because I had always assumed that, like me, most folks would rather avoid the dole until their children face hunger without it.
However, it'd be interesting to see - does anyone have any actual data on the list above? The problem I have usually seen is the EITC is often included, and it's hard to account for the people who are on multiple programs at a time.
With the cost of education spiraling, they are a poisoned apple.
What's the poison apple, the degree, or the grant?
If you get pell grants for your studies that amount to $10,000, but the prevalence of pell grants increases demand and drives up the cost of your 4-year-degree by $20,000, are you $10,000 ahead, or $10,000 behind?
I'd say more people going to college and getting an education is worth the cost.
And if you go through four years of non-productivity, lose out on the wages of those years, and then graduate to get a job that requires no degree, but which you could have gotten four years ago, is it worth that cost? Or, if like the majority of students, you do not achieve the degree, but instead take on the debt and then drop out, was it worth it? Was it worth it at inflated prices?
and you did not answer the question, if the government offers you a $10K subsidy to purchase something that it increases the price of by $20K, are you 10K ahead or 10K behind because of the action of the government?
First off, I don't agree with your premise that the government subsidy would increase the cost by 100%, that's ridiculous.
My schooling is paid in full by my Pell. Instead of working in a low end job with no other future prospects(I fail to see how this is productive) I'm going to get a degree, and enter into a profession with good pay, one that is hiring, and with lots of room for upward movement(Working as a radiological technicial).
I fail to see how these years are non-productive for me, they are quite productive for me.
And if you go through four years of non-productivity, lose out on the wages of those years, and then graduate to get a job that requires no degree, but which you could have gotten four years ago, is it worth that cost? Or, if like the majority of students, you do not achieve the degree, but instead take on the debt and then drop out, was it worth it? Was it worth it at inflated prices?
and you did not answer the question, if the government offers you a $10K subsidy to purchase something that it increases the price of by $20K, are you 10K ahead or 10K behind because of the action of the government?
No, the value lies in the future implementation of such knowledge required throughout college education, and the subsequent monetary value and job security that education may yield in the future.What makes a college education valuabe is its scarcity, just like any commodity.
If everyone goes to college, a college education stops being of any real worth.
Your Star outline a lot of what I wanted to say, but I'll throw something in as well. What kind of people help the economy more? People with the education to further develop industries, or people lacking this education? A college degree is helpful not only for an individual, but for the national and international markets.
But there has to be a market for that educational knowledge. When you have more people getting degrees than there are jobs that reqire such degrees, then you have college graduates driving trucks.No, the value lies in the future implementation of such knowledge required throughout college education, and the subsequent monetary value that education may yield.
An immediate need assumes a lack of qualified applicants. My point was the opposite. If everyone goes to college you will have loads of people with an 'immediate need' for a job but no openings because the state has flooded the market.Not if one pursues a degree in a field with an immediate need for trained professionals.
And there is, just take a glance at skilled labor and high tech fields as of late and the projections for the immediate future.But there has to be a market for that educational knowledge.
When you have more people getting degrees than there are jobs that reqire such degrees, then you have college graduates driving trucks.
1. the majority of students who go to college do not graduate 4 years later
2. of those who do, half of them do not get jobs that require a college degree
3. every college degree is not economically beneficial. my plumber having a bachelors in English Lit does not make him a better plumber. no sink requires the ability to deconstruct chaucer.
4. Debt and years of unproductivity, however, harm the economy. My plumber taking a 4 year break to study Chaucer means 4 years in which we as an economy lack his plumbing services, and the accumulation of student debt (which now surpasses credit card debt) puts a heavy burden upon our populace at the very beginning of their professional lives, and slows economic growth.
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