Category Archives: Welfare

Voices across the political spectrum question dependency culture

Posted on January 7, 2013 by

Tweet In The New York Times, columnist Nicholas D. Kristof makes an uncomfortable point: This is painful for a liberal to admit, but conservatives have a point when they suggest that America’s safety net can sometimes entangle people in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Self-reliance, Welfare | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Intergenerational poverty, taxation and the Scrooge response

Posted on October 11, 2012 by

Tweet Earlier this week I spoke at an important conference on intergenerational poverty in Salt Lake City. Karen Crompton of Voices for Utah Children and State Senator Stuart Reid organized the conference and invited my participation as a follow-up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty, Welfare | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Romney, Obama and the 'takers'

Posted on October 10, 2012 by

Tweet Like many Americans by now, I listened to the recording of Mitt Romney talk about the “47 percent.” While there are some things to criticize about what Romney said, I have to admit that after I listened to him … Continue reading →

Posted in Self-reliance, Welfare | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Government welfare and moral excellence

Posted on September 4, 2012 by

Tweet The great demographer Nicholas Eberstadt recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal about the dramatic explosion in the receipt of government welfare. His concluding paragraphs: The prospect of careening along an unsustainable economic road is deeply disturbing. But another … Continue reading →

Posted in Welfare | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

One more hidden cost of welfare?

Posted on September 20, 2011 by

Tweet   As we’ve noted before, government welfare programs generally carry a hidden cost beyond that paid by taxpayers – a cost paid by the recipients, in whom dependency and a loss of independence are fostered. An interesting new study … Continue reading →

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Costs of Dependency

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

Tweet   Like the poor, the debate over what to do about poverty we will always have with us. Recently, unsustainable federal budget deficits have reawakened the controversy because it now seems clear that (since payments to individuals make up … Continue reading →

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Utah tax dollars used to treat drunken drivers

Posted on May 24, 2011 by

Tweet By law, DUI offenders in Utah must complete an assessment to determine whether they need substance abuse treatment. In many cases, Assessment & Referral Services (ARS) at the University of Utah provides this evaluation free of charge, at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Personal Responsibility, Welfare | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Want to fix illegal immigration? Fix ourselves first

Posted on May 17, 2011 by

Tweet During Utah’s immigration debate this year, some people argued that tightening controls on America’s southern border and strictly enforcing immigration laws in Utah would solve our problems associated with illegal immigration. In a fascinating article in the newest edition … Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Immigration, Welfare | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment