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Have you every received some form government assistance?

Have you ever received governmrnt assistance?

  • Yes

    Votes: 43 65.2%
  • No

    Votes: 19 28.8%
  • My parents did on my behalf when I was a kid

    Votes: 4 6.1%

  • Total voters
    66
-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

I have bolded those which I know I or my family have qualified for at various points, and have underlined the ones that we took.

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.

If I stay in the military, I will probably pass on my G.I. Bill to my kids, if I get out, I will probably not fully use it. Both Social Security and Medicare are unlikely to be there for me in my older years.
 
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.

:) To many, perhaps. For the rest of us? God Bless America :).
 
Everyone pays into government assistance as everyone pays taxes. Income or otherwise.

Apparently you only saw part of the conversation. Receiving medicare is not receiving assistance any more than having health insurance if you paid for it.
 
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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.

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.
 
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.

Really? Most people? I've never heard that before.
 
-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.

My mom was on and off foodstamps/wic and welfare while me and my sisters were growing up, and got free school lunches.And pell grants paid for part of my schooling with my GI bill.
 
Μολὼν λαβέ;1060859606 said:
Really? Most people? I've never heard that before.

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.
 
With a degree becoming more and more necessary, they're truly a blessing.

With the cost of education spiraling, they are a poisoned apple.
 
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.

Maybe so, (I tend to suspect the same about myself) but you engaged in trade, you did not receive aid. Of course you think you got better than you gave, that's why it's called "mutually beneficial trade". :)
 
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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.
 
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.

I assume most people would avoid assistance as well, but most people who went to college went to public schools and got student loans for example.

There is far more to this than things like TANF.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
First off, I don't agree with your premise that the government subsidy would increase the cost by 100%, that's ridiculous.

I do not claim so, though over time that is certainly plausible. However, the prevalence of government support certainly fuels education inflation. There are two industries that are mostly paid for by government - healthcare and education; and the cost inflation in both of them is skyrocketing.

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).

hooray! I congratulate you on beating out half of our generation and having a job lined up that actually requires your degree. :) Sadly, yours is not that common an experience. :(.

I fail to see how these years are non-productive for me, they are quite productive for me.

That is because, assuming you graduate in 4 years and do indeed get a job that requires your degree, you will be in a distinct minority of your college freshman class.
 
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?

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.
 
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.
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.

Not if one pursues a degree in a field with an immediate need for trained professionals. There is still large demand for skilled and knowledgeable individuals in specific fields, regardless of the volume of gen ed college graduates.
 
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.

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.
 
No, the value lies in the future implementation of such knowledge required throughout college education, and the subsequent monetary value that education may yield.
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.

Not if one pursues a degree in a field with an immediate need for trained professionals.
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.
 
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.
And there is, just take a glance at skilled labor and high tech fields as of late and the projections for the immediate future.

Currently, the truck driving graduate is as much a victim of labor market conditions as opposed to an flooding of qualified applicants. There is still large amounts of slack in the labor force within specified, skilled labor fields.
 
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.

Do you think the only kind of workforce we need is one chocked full of plumbers? The problem here is that you're not looking at the big picture. I'm sure anyone would agree that the kind of worker we need right now is an engineer, or someone that, like an engineer, can help the US adapt to a changing economy. You really think a plumber is going to develop an alternative energy economy when we run out of Oil? Develop more efficient shipping techniques? Treat patients?

Your view on the world economy is incredibly narrow and you fail to see that a majority of jobs do require a college education - that these jobs are ones that allow for the creation of others. The US is one of the world's microcosms of development, we are not a nation of plumbers - not one where we aim to halt development by refusing to educate ourselves.
 
I have enjoyed the benefits of government-funded health care but not in the US. In America, I have received no more than the standard benefits of living in the country - police, firefighters, safe travel on maintained streets roads and highways - you know the usual.
 
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