Study: Welfare pays more than work in most states

Welfare Thee Well

Don't work in Hawaii, make $29 an hour

Looking for a good paying job? Well, look no further.

No, really, stop looking. In 35 states, welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job, according to a new study by the libertarian Cato Institute, and in 13 states welfare pays more than $15 per hour.

“One of the single best ways to climb out of poverty is taking a job, but as long as welfare provides a better standard of living than an entry-level job, recipients will continue to choose it over work,” said Michael Tanner, senior policy analyst and co-author of the study.

The study is an updated version of one Tanner put out in 1995 that estimated the full value of welfare benefits packages across the states. The 1995 study found that such tax-free welfare benefits greatly exceeded the poverty level and “their dollar value was greater than the amount of take-home income a worker would receive from an entry-level job.”

Despite efforts to curb welfare spending, many welfare programs and benefits have continued to outpace the income that many workers can receive for working an entry-level job, which disincentivizes work, according to the study.

“The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” reads the study. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and in 13 states it pays more than $15 per hour.”

According to the study, the federal government funds 126 separate programs designed to support low-income earners. Seventy-two of these programs provide cash or in-kind benefits to recipients. This is on top of additional welfare programs operated by state and local governments.

Welfare recipients in Hawaii get the most benefits, according to Tanner, at $29.13 per hour — or $60,590 pre-tax income annually. However, the state’s minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour, according to the Labor Department. Hawaiians on welfare also earn 167 percent of the median salary in the state, which is only $36,275.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Premiums on Cheap Insurance Plans in Colorado Will Rise Under Obamacare

Premiums on the cheapest health insurance policies available in Colorado will rise under Obamacare, the Hill reports.

Buyers can expect a 140 percent increase on the cheapest plan available on the market today.

Colorado approved 150 plans for sale in its exchange. Many of the other plans will be comparable to those available on the market today. 

Colorado is one of 16 states that set up their own exchanges rather than letting the federal government do so.

Via: WFB

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Obama Uses the ‘R-Word’

While hosting the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins at the White House this afternoon, President Obama referred to the team’s Super Bowl XVII opponents by their, as Slate puts it, “extremely tacky and dated” name.

Via: National Review Online

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Unemployment rates rise in 28 states in July, unchanged in 14, as job gains slow

WASHINGTON — Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum.

The Labor Department said Monday that unemployment rates increased in 28 states. They were unchanged in 14 and fell in eight states — the fewest to show a decline since January. Click here to see your state

Hiring increased in 32 states in July compared with June, the fewest to report job gains in three months. Seventeen states reported job losses. California, Georgia and Florida reported the largest job gains, while New Jersey and Nevada lost the most.

Nationwide, hiring has been steady this year but slowed in July. Employers added 162,000 jobs, the fewest since March. The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent, a 4 ½ -year low, from 7.6 percent.

And while the job market has improved over the past 12 months, the gains appear to be benefiting southern and western states most of all.

Unemployment in the West fell to 7.9 percent in July. That's down from 9.3 percent a year earlier and the biggest decline of the four regions. In the South, unemployment fell to 7.3 percent, from 7.8 percent a year ago.

Unemployment has barely dipped in the Midwest, to 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent in the past year. In the Northeast, it dropped to 7.6 percent from 8.4 percent

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Steve Cochrane, an economist at Moody's Analytics, says southern and western states have seen steady growth in manufacturing jobs. And the South is also benefiting from lower taxes and cheaper labor.

"Some of the old, long-standing comparative advantages are re-emerging as drivers of growth," he added.

Via: The Republic

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‘North Colorado’ secession movement inches forward

Voters in Weld County will vote on whether to secede from Colorado after commissioners this week unanimously agreed to put the question on November’s ballot.

Weld County, the largest of several that have been seriously discussing breaking away to form their own state, joins three other counties in putting the question to its citizens. Several others are also considering referring the measure to voters or waiting to see if citizen initiatives show support for the idea.

The so-called 51st State Initiative is a result of rural Coloradans feeling abandoned by politicians in Denver. The last legislative session, which was controlled by Democratic majorities in both chambers, saw the passage of numerous controversial laws, many of which thumb their noses at rural values, commissioners in the plains counties have said.

Chief among them was a controversial bill requiring rural electricity cooperatives to double the amount of renewable energy they offer by 2020, a mandate that doesn’t apply to city utilities and which opponents have said will raise electricity rates on rural customers.

County leaders have also been alarmed at attempts to strengthen regulations on oil and gas developers, which are heavily invested in rural counties. And they’ve also been riled by tough new gun laws that limit the size of ammunition magazines and require universal background checks for all firearms transfers.

Representatives from as many as 11 counties met throughout the summer to discuss the secession proposal and other measures that would amplify the voices of rural Coloradans. Also under consideration is a measure to amend the state constitution to allow for more political representation in Denver and even an idea to be annexed by neighboring Wyoming.

“The concerns of rural Coloradans have been ignored for years,” Weld County commissioner chairman William Garcia said in a statement reported by the Colorado Observer. “The last session was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many people. They want change. They want to be heard.”

Via: Daily Caller

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[VIDEO] Chris Matthews: House GOP''s 'Ideological Zealotry Trumps' 'Minimal Loyalty' to U.S.

Ultra liberal Chris Matthews may be losing his 5pm time slot, but he isn't going quietly. On Tuesday, Matthews sneered that House Republicans who are attempting to defund Obamacare have "ideological zealotry" that "trumps" "even the most minimal loyalty to the common national interests." Yet, later in the show, the anchor bemoaned Republicans who, regarding Barack Obama, won't "speak the language we normally speak in civilized political debates."

Matthews highlighted the possibility of connecting the defunding of Obamacare to the debt ceiling. According the host, "Some on the American right are plotting the global explosion of a default on the U.S. national debt this fall." He added, "Do they dare to sabotage the American economy and much of the world economy in order to defund a program, the Affordable Care Act that is the law of the land?" Questioning the patriotism of such conservatives, Matthews lashed out: 

"Is this the extreme case where ideological zealotry trumps even the most minimal loyalty to the common national interests where anything goes, where the ends justify whatever means there are to be had, no matter how menacing to the country or the world?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Proving that Matthews truly doesn't listen to himself, the left-wing journalist said this in a later discussion of birtherism: "They refer to him as Obama. They don't say the President. They don't say a law. They don't even speak the language we normally speak in civilized political debate. They've changed it so much that he's actually not really supposed to be there."

Civilized political debate? Like, essentially, calling your opponents traitors?

Via: Newsbusters

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Obamacare: Multi-Million Dollar Corruption Central

In a frightening glimpse of the potential for corruption in Obamacare, the government is giving dozens of leftist organizations$67 million to help people “navigate” health insurance exchanges that haven’t even been fully established.

The “navigators” receiving the taxpayer dollars will help people shop for and enroll in plans that will eventually be available on the new federal government market places. The so-called navigators will perform their duties in a “culturally competent manner,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency doling out the cash.

The money will be divided between 105 mostly leftist groups (surprise, surprise) that will help the uninsured sign up for coverage and understand their options. Here are a few examples of the community organizations receiving navigator grantsfrom the government; an Arizona nonprofit called “Campesinos Sin Fronteras” that provides services to farm workers and low-income Hispanics; a south Florida legal group that will provide navigators in “racially, ethnically, linguistically, culturally and socioeconomically diverse” communities; three Planned Parenthood branches—in Iowa, Montana and New Hampshire—got a combined $655,000 to serve as navigators.

Here are a few other grant recipients worth mentioning; the Arab Community Center in Michigan is getting nearly $300,000 to reach out to and engage uninsured community members through “multicultural” media. A Black Chamber of Commerce in South Carolina is receiving north of $230,000 to “provide outreach around new coverage options” and a Hispanic aging group in Texas will receive over $646,000 help members that are “socially isolated due to cultural and linguistic differences.”

It’s tough not to see that there is a huge racial component in the administration’s efforts. The government is spending big bucks targeting minorities in a seemingly desperate effort to salvage the president’s hostile takeover of the nation’ healthcare system. There is another factor in all of this; for Obama’s healthcare law to succeed millions of people must purchase insurance through the government’s new markets and it doesn’t appear like that’s going to happen.  

Via: Judicial Watch

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