Welcome to Conservatism Whoopi Goldberg

Not that she realizes she did this, but Ms. Goldberg made the conservative talking point about the welfare system during a discussion with Dr. Ben Carson on The View yesterday.  

“As a former welfare mother, very few people want to be on welfare. Very few want to walk with their kids and take food stamps. Most people would rather work. I don’t feel bad about being a welfare mother because I contribute as an American – that’s what we do. And because the welfare system is so bizarre, you can’t work, they don’t allow you to work because they take the money from you. So if we fix the system so that it doesn’t hurt the people, maybe it’ll get better.”

How long have conservatives been saying this?  For decades that is how long.  Now I will concede the point that some on the right disparage people who take from entitlement programs.  I am not among them.  I go after the system, not the people themselves.  The system is broken.  It isn’t designed to help people.  It entraps them therefore keeping them in poverty.  

As long as the system stays the way it is currently set up we will continue to have the same problems plaguing it.  For instance the food stamps program is currently set up so that if you make even one dollar above the max amount you lose everything.  That tells people that taking a better job that pays $100 more per month is actually going to cost you everything you get in food stamps.  If your food bill is over that amount, which the prices of groceries today being what they are, you can’t afford to buy food.  

The only true answer to help people find their way off entitlement programs is to pro-rate the benefits.  This way a person who can slowly move their way up the ladder in the workforce isn’t afraid of taking that better paying position. Today they are.  

On this Whoppi and I agree.  The problem is most liberals say you are dissing the poor when you talk about these things.  You are trying to starve poor children.  You hate minorities.  Or whatever other insult they will hurl at you that particular day.  I am not against all entitlement programs.  I think safety nets are necessary when people hit hard times.  What I don’t like is a system that doesn’t give you a way out once you hit those hard times.  

I believe that people should be able to find better jobs without the fear of homelessness or lack of food.  But the current system isn’t designed to do that.  

I doubt that Ms. Goldberg realizes that she has a conservative view point on the welfare system, but she does.  Welcome to right Whoopi.   I know you don’t think you belong here, but your view point is more conservative than you think.