Wednesday, April 8, 2015

The Nanny State

Conservatives are always going on about how they want Americans to have less government and more freedom, get away from regulations and not have unfeeling state agencies and bureaucrats micromanage our lives.

Well, that sounds good, doesn’t it?  We all want to enjoy the great life, right?  So when Kansas decided to update their rules for people receiving government assistance through a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), it was clear that they would trust their fellow citizens to do right by it.  Heh.

If House Bill 2258 is signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) this week, Kansas families receiving government assistance will no longer be able to use those funds to visit swimming pools, see movies, go gambling or get tattoos on the state’s dime.

Those are just a few of the restrictions contained within the measure that promises to tighten regulations on how poor families spend their government aid.

State Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Wichita Republican who has advocated for the bill, said the legislation is designed to pressure those receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to spend “more responsibly.”

“We’re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended,” O’Donnell, vice chair of the state senate’s standing committee on public health and welfare, told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life.”

The bill also limits people to withdrawing $25 per day from ATM’s, which means if there’s any kind of emergency that might cost more, they are out of luck.

So I guess the lesson here is that if you’re well-off and don’t need any help in getting through a rough patch in life, you deserve all the limited government and more freedom that you can handle.  But if you’re poor and need help, you’re obviously incapable of being treated as an adult, and remember, it’s the Democrats who are the proponents of the nanny states.  Got it?

HT to Melissa.

2 barks and woofs on “The Nanny State

  1. I really don’t know how anyone pays rent, or a vehicle payment when all they can get is $25 a day. As with GOP everywhere, the intent seems to be punishing people for being poor.

    I left Kansas when I was 20. I am 61 now and have NEVER regretted vacating the premises.

  2. Will we be placing the same restrictions on those “people (Corporations are people, my friend!) who receive corporate welfare?

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