People have talked about it. Some say it's unfair, while others say it's long overdue.
And it's coming. Under pressure from constituents and our new governor, it's looming closer and closer.
I'm talking about welfare reform.
Usually, the first ones crying foul are those who are truly in need of it. Namely, senior citizens and those who are physically or mentally disabled.
However, those are also the same groups that read only the headline and not the whole story, or are just unable to comprehend it.
And the whole story is this...welfare reform is designed to discourage those who take advantage of a system designed to assist, not support.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has one of the highest numbers in the nation of able-bodied people under the age of 65 who receive public assistance.
Here in western Pennsylvania, we have a growing number of people moving here from sunbelt states because they've either exhausted their benefits there or the laws have changed requiring them to work for a living, rather than wait until the 3rd of each month for their check.
And the system here is cruelly and shamelessly abused. EBT cards (which replaced food stamps) are sold on the street for cash or traded for drugs, as are WIC checks intended to feed infants, the most helpless members of society cast aside like dirty socks so mommy and daddy can get a fix in between their visits to the methadone clinic across the street from where I work. And I'm not exaggerating when I say this...I see them with their baby carriers in tow.
My native Michigan has one of the strictest welfare reform programs in the country. You draw from the system, and don't eventually find success getting a job on your own, they will find a job for you.
Whether its sweeping floors, flipping burgers, or anything you might feel is 'beneath' you, you're gonna do it. And if you think they can't make you do it and don't show up, guess what...you're not getting your check.
Not that it's completely infallible. People do find a way around it, but it's much more difficult than it is here. It never ceases to amaze me...those who work so hard trying to buck the system would probably be quite successful if they applied that same philosophy to honest work.
Notwithstanding, I've still found that the vast majority of people who are on welfare, don't want to be on it. Mentally and physically challenged people who are unable to hold a typical full-time job and have to depend on 'the system', do sincerely want to give back what they take to sustain them.
And they do.
You'll find them ringing the bell at the Salvation Army kettles each holiday season. Or working at your local Goodwill Industries store. Or sweeping floors at the courthouse. Perhaps even doing volunteer work at a nursing home.
Though Bill Clinton was a pretty liberal Democrat, he also instituted a national welfare reform policy (even endorsed by conservatives) that helped single mothers enter the workforce by not only finding them jobs, but providing them with childcare assistance while at work. The latter especially is what was needed and the results were overwhelmingly positive.
This is what the system needs to be...one of assistance, and not total support.
Welfare reform has to happen NOW in Pennsylvania. Drug testing, work assistance for the able-bodied, you name it. We need to get back on the job and off the dole.
NEXT WEEK: Why Work Works
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Traditions You Make
I'll preface this week's column with a sincere thanks to those of you who cut me some slack last week with the death of a family friend, and especially to those who left messages of condolence. It was much appreciated.
Now back to the ranch.
One of my favorite holiday traditions has been to have dinner with my family.
Both my own and the one I married into.
I still remember the days as a child when my paternal grandmother hosted Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve dinner in the finished basement of my grandparents' home. She did all the cooking herself, because like any good Polish woman of her generation, that's just what you did. And Grandma prided herself on that.
Then, as the years went by, Thanksgiving was left up to the children, because Grandpa felt that Thanksgiving and Christmas were too close together and it was too much work for Grandma's advancing years.
Then Easter went. Then Christmas Eve one year, but Grandma missed it so much she pledged to do it until she died.
I'm proud to say that at 91, she still cooks the feast at Christmas. However, there's no set time to eat. The food's out if anyone wants to come.
So my dad and stepmom have done the holiday meals in recent years. My wife Margie and I had kicked around the idea, but never really decided firmly on anything.
Until right before this past Thanksgiving.
Her parents were going to Hilton Head Island for the holiday. Her brother was having dinner with his own in-laws. My dad's home is relatively small, not exactly the right size for a sit-down family dinner.
And now that he's retired and on a fixed income, they're getting to be expensive.
I kicked around the idea in my own head, but didn't verbalize it. But I didn't have to.
Margie beat me to the punch and suggested it.
It only made sense to me, since we have a bigger house, and a non-human dishwasher. My only concern was the work involved, as my wife will only allow me so much to do, for she likes some things done 'her way'.
I was in charge of the deep-fried turkey, a rather skilled art I've been perfecting since receiving a turkey fryer in an office Christmas party in 2008.
Two boneless breasts, thoroughly injected with garlic and herb marinade, along with lasagna, cornbread casserole, homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls, with apple pie and chocolate cake for dessert, it was more than enough for me, my wife, our daughter, my mom and dad and my younger brother.
I'm more than happy to keep Thanksgiving dinner a tradition at my house. And perhaps Savannah will want to pick it up when she gets older.
I can only hope so.
NEXT WEEK: Fare Thee Well
Now back to the ranch.
One of my favorite holiday traditions has been to have dinner with my family.
Both my own and the one I married into.
I still remember the days as a child when my paternal grandmother hosted Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve dinner in the finished basement of my grandparents' home. She did all the cooking herself, because like any good Polish woman of her generation, that's just what you did. And Grandma prided herself on that.
Then, as the years went by, Thanksgiving was left up to the children, because Grandpa felt that Thanksgiving and Christmas were too close together and it was too much work for Grandma's advancing years.
Then Easter went. Then Christmas Eve one year, but Grandma missed it so much she pledged to do it until she died.
I'm proud to say that at 91, she still cooks the feast at Christmas. However, there's no set time to eat. The food's out if anyone wants to come.
So my dad and stepmom have done the holiday meals in recent years. My wife Margie and I had kicked around the idea, but never really decided firmly on anything.
Until right before this past Thanksgiving.
Her parents were going to Hilton Head Island for the holiday. Her brother was having dinner with his own in-laws. My dad's home is relatively small, not exactly the right size for a sit-down family dinner.
And now that he's retired and on a fixed income, they're getting to be expensive.
I kicked around the idea in my own head, but didn't verbalize it. But I didn't have to.
Margie beat me to the punch and suggested it.
It only made sense to me, since we have a bigger house, and a non-human dishwasher. My only concern was the work involved, as my wife will only allow me so much to do, for she likes some things done 'her way'.
I was in charge of the deep-fried turkey, a rather skilled art I've been perfecting since receiving a turkey fryer in an office Christmas party in 2008.
Two boneless breasts, thoroughly injected with garlic and herb marinade, along with lasagna, cornbread casserole, homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls, with apple pie and chocolate cake for dessert, it was more than enough for me, my wife, our daughter, my mom and dad and my younger brother.
I'm more than happy to keep Thanksgiving dinner a tradition at my house. And perhaps Savannah will want to pick it up when she gets older.
I can only hope so.
NEXT WEEK: Fare Thee Well
Sunday, December 4, 2011
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Column...
...with a special report this week. I promised you one on traditions, but sorry, this just can't wait.
This week's column deals with one of the greatest women I never knew.
Yet I salute her in this week's column.
Why? Because my wife knew her, as did my sister-in-law.
No, she's not a family member. But to those whose lives she touched, she may as well have been.
Amy Monteleone ended her 11-year battle with breast cancer this past Friday at the age of 42, leaving behind her parents, step-parents, and her 12-year-old son.
Eleven years is a long time to have to fight for your own life. Amy spent about half that time making a difference.
Many people who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness tend to withdraw, or cling only to the most immediate family, internalizing their suffering and struggling through the battle alone.
Not Amy. With the help of her friend Bonnie Forsythe, together they organized Spring for a Cure. It's an annual luncheon held at the Atrium in Prospect, Pennsylvania to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. This year's goal was to raise $25,000.
They exceeded that goal by $2,000. This brings the grand total of money raised to $84,000 since its inception in 2008.
The event quickly gained momentum since its beginnings. My colleagues Bonny Diver (who founded Hair Peace charities after her own battle with cancer) and Shelly Duffy have made appearances in support of it.
Despite frequent visits to the hospital for chemotherapy and other 'niceties' that go hand-in-hand with battling cancer, Amy still worked hard to make a difference in the lives of women with cancer and those touched by this terrible disease that still somehow manages to survive the advances of the most modern medical science.
This despite the fact that her cancer returned with a vengeance five months after being given a clean bill of health. Just a few months prior to her death, I had heard from her pastor that Amy stopped her chemo treatments.
My wife Margie, her mother, and my sister-in-law were staunch supporters of Spring for a Cure since its inception. I found myself touched simply by association.
Because that could very well have been Margie receiving that proverbial death sentence. It still hurts to even think about it as a possibility...because one in eight women have now been diagnosed with breast cancer.
I too felt the tears well up in my eyes when I held my wife as she told me that night that Amy had passed away.
It made me all the more grateful for what I have in this life and never to take it for granted.
Amy, we can all learn something from you.
I know I did.
Thank you.
NEXT WEEK: Back on Schedule
This week's column deals with one of the greatest women I never knew.
Yet I salute her in this week's column.
Why? Because my wife knew her, as did my sister-in-law.
No, she's not a family member. But to those whose lives she touched, she may as well have been.
Amy Monteleone ended her 11-year battle with breast cancer this past Friday at the age of 42, leaving behind her parents, step-parents, and her 12-year-old son.
Eleven years is a long time to have to fight for your own life. Amy spent about half that time making a difference.
Many people who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness tend to withdraw, or cling only to the most immediate family, internalizing their suffering and struggling through the battle alone.
Not Amy. With the help of her friend Bonnie Forsythe, together they organized Spring for a Cure. It's an annual luncheon held at the Atrium in Prospect, Pennsylvania to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. This year's goal was to raise $25,000.
They exceeded that goal by $2,000. This brings the grand total of money raised to $84,000 since its inception in 2008.
The event quickly gained momentum since its beginnings. My colleagues Bonny Diver (who founded Hair Peace charities after her own battle with cancer) and Shelly Duffy have made appearances in support of it.
Despite frequent visits to the hospital for chemotherapy and other 'niceties' that go hand-in-hand with battling cancer, Amy still worked hard to make a difference in the lives of women with cancer and those touched by this terrible disease that still somehow manages to survive the advances of the most modern medical science.
This despite the fact that her cancer returned with a vengeance five months after being given a clean bill of health. Just a few months prior to her death, I had heard from her pastor that Amy stopped her chemo treatments.
My wife Margie, her mother, and my sister-in-law were staunch supporters of Spring for a Cure since its inception. I found myself touched simply by association.
Because that could very well have been Margie receiving that proverbial death sentence. It still hurts to even think about it as a possibility...because one in eight women have now been diagnosed with breast cancer.
I too felt the tears well up in my eyes when I held my wife as she told me that night that Amy had passed away.
It made me all the more grateful for what I have in this life and never to take it for granted.
Amy, we can all learn something from you.
I know I did.
Thank you.
NEXT WEEK: Back on Schedule
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