What the Mormons Know About Welfare

Mitt Romney has raised the issue of the social safety net. Washington could learn from the lesson of his church.

By NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY

Salt Lake City

Ever since Mitt Romney said he was “not concerned about the very poor” but would fix America’s social safety net “if it needs repair,” conservatives and liberals have been frantically making suggestions. Gov. Romney says he would consider options like restructuring Medicaid. But if he wants to see a welfare system that lets almost no one fall through the cracks while at the same time ensuring that its beneficiaries don’t become lifelong dependents, he could look to his own church.

As I ride in a golf cart through a new 15-acre warehouse on the outskirts of Utah’s capital, I can’t help but wonder: How many Wal-Marts would fit in here? How many burgers can you make from 4,400 industrial pallets of frozen meat? And how do they keep this place cleaner than my kitchen floor?

Dedicated last month, the Bishops Central Storehouse contains a two-year supply of food to support the Mormon church’s welfare system in the U.S. and Canada (primarily for church members in need) and its humanitarian program, which sends food, medical supplies and other necessities to the needy (of all faiths) world-wide.

In addition to goods from canned peaches to emergency generators, the facility also houses the church’s own trucking company, complete with 43 tractors and 98 trailers, as well as a one-year supply of fuel, parts and tires for the vehicles. Just in case.

The storehouse is not only a kind of physical marvel — it has been built to withstand an earthquake with a magnitude as high as 7.5 — but also a symbol of strength and self-sufficiency.

Launched during the Great Depression, the Mormon welfare system was designed by church leaders as a way to match the armies of the unemployed faithful with some of the nearby farms that needed temporary labor. As storehouse manager Richard Humpherys explains, goods and services were traded so that if a father needed food for his family he could get some in exchange for, say, repairing the fence of a widow down the road.

Mormons and U.S. Marines carry aid to landslide victims in central Philippines in 2006.

In 1936, Heber Grant, one of the church leaders, reported the reasoning behind this effort: “Our primary purpose was to set up insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established among our people. The aim of the Church is help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.”

Over the ensuing decades, the church acquired farms and ranches of its own. It built grain silos and dairies and canneries to store and process the food. By the end of World War II, church leaders had enough in the way of reserves that they contacted President Truman to ask if they might assist in feeding and clothing the destitute across Europe. The president readily agreed.

Because it has members on the ground around the world, the church continues to be an important force in bringing food and supplies to the impoverished and victims of natural disasters. Local church leaders contact the central headquarters in Salt Lake City to tell them what is needed — gauze pads, school supplies, wheelchairs — and the church does its best to accommodate.

The Department of Defense recently visited the new storehouse to find out how the Mormons are able to mobilize so quickly, and there is an almost military sense of efficiency and strategy to the church’s efforts. When Hurricane Katrina struck, for instance, the church had positioned its fully loaded trucks in a kind of semicircle from South Carolina to Texas because no one knew how the storm was going to move. The church used reserves of fuel that it has placed around the country, and drivers were able to bring full tanker trucks into New Orleans, powering rescue vehicles and even chain saws to remove tree limbs.

Most of the inventory in the central storehouse, though, goes to supply more than 100 smaller storehouses around the country, plus hundreds of soup kitchens and homeless shelters of other religious communities around North America. Members of the Mormon church who find themselves in difficult circumstances can go to their local bishop and ask for aid.

The bishop then fills out an order allowing them to go and receive food from the local storehouse. Seventy percent of the items on the shelves are produced by the church itself and the remainder are purchased at steep wholesale discounts. According to Rick Foster, who oversees a smaller storehouse in Salt Lake City along with the cannery and dairy at Welfare Square (the original site of all the church’s welfare services), people depend on the food at the storehouse for an average of three to six months

That’s because the church’s goal is to help them get back on their feet as soon as possible. And the storehouse is only one of the tools at the disposal of local bishops, who may also refer members to other church programs, including employment counseling or family services. The bishop may even use money from a fund at his disposal to help pay for education, housing or utilities.

The labor behind the farming, food production, counseling and even cattle ranching is provided almost entirely by volunteers. Some are retired folks who come in every day. Other times an entire ward, or congregation, will come for the day, each of the members standing on an industrial assembly line packaging bread, processing cheese or sealing jars of apple sauce.

Regular tithing by church members helps pay for the facilities, but the primary source of capital support is the Mormons’ monthly fast, as church members are asked to contribute what they would have spent on two meals. Many give much more, says Mr. Foster.

It is safe to assume that Mr. Romney is among them. The tens of millions of dollars he has given the church over the years have raised suspicion in some quarters. What does the church do with all that cash? Wouldn’t that money have been better spent paying a higher income-tax rate? But his donations are supporting the kind of safety net that government can never hope to create. Jesus may have said the poor will always be with you, but he didn’t say Medicaid would.

Ms. Riley, a former Journal editor, writes frequently about religion.

Wall Street Journal article on 2/18/12: What the Mormons Know About Welfare

I Went To The Welfare Office

This morning I went to sign my dogs up for welfare.

At first the lady said, “Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare”.

So I explained to her that my dogs are mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can’t speak English and have no frigging clue who their daddies are. They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing and medical care, and feel guilty because they are dogs.

So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify.

My dogs get their first checks Friday.

Damn this is a great country.

—-
While this is funny, it shows us a much greater problem that has been going on in our great country for far too long… the problem of welfare.

We are a generous country, giving foreign aid to about 158 of 182 countries around the world, many of who don’t even like this country!

We are giving welfare to millions of illegal immigrants who come to this country knowing that we won’t turn them away. We have a president who continues to bypass Congress, ignoring Federal laws regarding immigration laws, apparently afraid he would be deporting future Democrats. Because neither the feds or most of the states have enough guts to enforce immigration laws, many states are headed for bankruptcy like California, who lost over $1.25 Billion, YES, BILLION last year alone just in lost revenue from treating illegals at hospitals and other medical care.

When is Congress and America in general, going to wake up and realize that they can’t keep spending money like water? They are going to have to make some hard choices and stop the welfare and free medical for illegals. 12 million illegals X $???? = a serious deficit for a country that can’t afford to be spending without any hope of getting paid back.

Luckily there are a few bold and courageous states that are trying to pass laws similar to Arizona’s SB1070, that will address the illegal immigration problem. But Congress needs to step up and allow the police to enforce the laws that are already on the books.

I have no problems with immigrants that want to come here for a better life, but they need to do it the right way. They need to get a green card, a job and pay taxes like the rest of us. They need to get an education, and become a legal citizen.

Then, and only then can they realize the American Dream, without draining our limited resources.

Air Force One – OBOZO’s TAXI

It’s hard to believe that CBS actually said something that wasn’t flattering to this so-called President!

This is from Mark Knoller of CBS.

The pilots and crew of Air Force One are flying more hours than a rookie on a beer run. They are tired of it too, and are adding more crew to Air Force-1; – I know this for a fact because I’m one of the instructors that trains the crews.

Our company (Atlas Air) has had the Air Force-1 and E-4 contract for over two years and I’ve been doing it for about 8 months now.

Last year (2010) Obama flew in Air Force One 172 times, almost every other day. White House officials have been telling reporters in recent days that the Democrat doesn’t intend to hang around the White House quite so much in 2011. They explain he wants to get out more around the country because, as everyone knows, that midterm election shellacking on Nov. 2 had nothing to do with his health care bill, over-spending or other policies, and everything to do with Obama’s not adequately explaining himself to his countrymen and women. And with only 673 days remaining in Obama’s never ending presidential campaign, the incumbent’s travel pace will not likely slacken…

At an Air Force-estimated cost of $181,757 per flight HOUR (not to mention the additional travel costs of Marine One, Secret Service, logistics and local police overtime), that’s a lot of frequent flier dollars going into Obama’s carbon footprint. $80 Million every time it lands & takes off.

We are privy to some of these numbers thanks to CBS’ Mark Knoller, a bearded national treasure trove of presidential stats. According to Knoller’s copious notes, during the last year, Obama made 65 domestic trips over 104 days, and six trips to eight countries over 22 days. Not counting six vacation trips over 32 days.

He took 196 helicopter trips, signed 203 pieces of legislation and squeezed in 29 rounds of left-handed golf

. Obama last year gave 491 speeches, remarks or statements. That’s more talking than goes on in some entire families, at least from fatherly mouths.

In fact, even including the 24 days of 2010 that we never saw Obama in public, his speaking works out to about one official utterance every 11 waking hours. Aides indicate the “Real Good Talker” believes we need more.

Obama has spent over $100 million taxpayer dollars flying around in Air Force One, and probably another $100 million on his entourage. Obama is just another tin-pot dictator living lavishly at the expense of his subjects.

And we seniors have to “tighten our belts” because we aren’t getting a COLA again this year… And none last year!

If you voted for Obama to prove you aren’t racist, vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you aren’t stupid.

THANK YOU NOTE from Michelle Obama

THANK YOU AMERICA!

Dear American Taxpayer,

For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242 thousand dollars for my vacation in Spain.

My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time.

Honestly, you just haven’t lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night private 3-story villa at a 5-Star luxury hotel.

Thank you also for the use of Air Force Two and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times. By the way, if you happen to be visiting the Costa del Sol, I highly recommend the Buenaventura Plaza restaurant in Marbella; great lobster with rice and oysters! I’m ashamed to admit the lobsters we ate in Martha’s Vineyard were not quite as tasty, but what can you do if you’re not in Europe, you have to just grin and bear it?

Air Force Two (which costs $11,351 per hour to operate according to Government Accounting Office reports) only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. These are only rough estimates, but they are close. That’s quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and drive less too, so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.

I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table and trying to make ends meet. So I do appreciate your sacrifices and do hope you find work soon.

I was really exhausted after Barack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days.

Cordially,

Michelle (Moochelle) Obama

P.S. – Thank you as well for the $2 BILLION dollar trip to India from which we just returned!

PPS: Thank you, too, for that vacation trip to Martha’s Vineyard; it was fabulous.

And thanks for that second smaller jet that took our dog Bo to Martha’s Vineyard so we and the children could have him with us while we were away from the White House for eleven days. After all, we couldn’t take him on Air Force One because he might pee on some wires or something.

PPPS: Oh, I almost forgot to say thanks also for our two-week trip to Hawaii at Christmas. That 7,000 square foot house was great!

PPPPS: don’t forget my ski trip to Vail this winter and now the girls and I are in Africa with my mom. All this while Barack golfs and campaigns to keep my trips coming for the next 4 years!

Love ya!

Remember, we all have to share the pain of these economic times equally! Love to -redistribute- share- the wealth.

_____________________________________________________________________

NOW SEND THIS TO EVERY AMERICAN –

STAND UP, SPEAK UP.

Which Situation is Worse?

To Pee or Not To Pee – The Welfare Problem

Like most folks in this country, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit.

In order to get that paycheck, in my case, I am required to pass a random urine test (with which I have no problem).

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don’t have to pass a urine test.

So, here is my question: Shouldn’t one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their BUTT—-doing drugs while I work. Can you imagine how much money each state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? I guess we could call the program “URINE OR YOU’RE OUT”!

Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don’t. Hope you all will pass it along, though. Something has to change in this country – AND SOON!

P.S. Just a thought, all politicians should have to pass a urine test too!

A Texan’s Answer to Welfare?

This was in the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco, TX – Nov 18, 2010

Put me in charge…

Put me in charge of food stamps.

I’d get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

Put me in charge of Medicaid.

The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.

Put me in charge of government housing.

Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your “home” will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.

In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a “government” job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the a common good.

Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules… Before you say that this would be “demeaning” and ruin their “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago that taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.

If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.

AND while you are on government subsistence, you can no longer VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a government welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.

Now, if you have the guts – PASS IT ON…

Maine’s New Governor

In case you haven’t heard about this guy before, his name will stick in your mind! The new Maine governor, Paul LePage, is making New Jersey’s Chris Christie look like an enabler. He isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. Judging by the comments, every time he opens his mouth, his popularity goes up.

He brought down the house at his inauguration when he shook his fist toward the media box and said, “You’re on notice! I’ve inherited a financially-troubled State to run. Observe…cover what we do…but don’t whine if I don’t waste time responding to your every whim for your amusement.”

During his campaign for Governor, he was talking to commercial fishermen who are struggling because of federal fisheries rules. They complained that 0bama brought his family to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park for a long Labor Day holiday and found time to meet with union leaders, but wouldn’t talk to the fishermen. LePage replied, “I’d tell him to go to hell and get out of my State.” The Lame Stream Media crucified LePage, but he jumped 6 points in the pre-election poll.

The Martin Luther King incident was a political sandbag which brought him National exposure. The “lame stream” media crucified him, but word on the street is very positive. The NAACP specifically asked LePage to spend MLK Day visiting black inmates at the Maine State Prison. He told them that he would meet with ALL inmates, regardless of race, if he were to visit the prison. The NAACP balked and then put out a news release claiming falsely that he refused to participate in any MLK events. He read it in the paper for the 1st time the next morning while being driven to an event and went ballistic because none of the reporters had called him for comment before running the NAACP release.

He arrived at that event & said in front of a TV camera, “If they want to play the race card on me, they can kiss my ass!” And then he reminded them that he has an adopted black son from Jamaica, and that he attended the local MLK Breakfast every year that he was mayor of Waterville. (He started his morning there on MLK Day.)

He then stated that there’s a right way and a wrong way to meet with the Governor, and he put all special interests on notice that press releases, media leaks, and all demonstrations would prove to be the wrong way. He said any other group which acted like the NAACP could expect to be at the bottom of the Governor’s priority list!

He then did the following, and judging from local radio talk show callers, his popularity increased even more: The State employees union complained because he waited until 3 P.M. before closing State offices and facilities and sending non-emergency personnel home during the last blizzard. The prior Governor would often close offices for the day with just a forecast before the first flakes. (Each time the State closes for snow, it costs the taxpayers about $1 million in wages for no work in return.)

LePage was CEO of the Marden’s chain of discount family bargain retail stores before election as governor. He noted that State employees getting off work early could still find lots of retail stores open to shop. So, he put the State employees on notice by announcing, “If Marden’s is open, Maine is open!” He told State employees, “We live in Maine in the winter, for heaven’s sake, and should know how to drive in it. Otherwise, apply for a State job in Florida!”

Governor LePage symbolizes what America needs; refreshing politicians who aren’t self-serving and who exhibit common sense!

We need more like this. I wonder what Arizona, Illinois, California, & many other states would be like with this guy. Awesome, I think……… Love it.

Senator Calls Senior Citizens Greediest Generation

Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama’s deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared “Social Security” to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. August, 2010…

Here’s a response in a letter from an unknown fellow in Montana, I think he is a little ticked off! He also tells it like it is! I couldn’t possibly agree more with this letter! It’s too bad we can’t make this into a form letter and send it to every pathetic political bastard in D.C.!

Hey Alan, let’s get a few things straight

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy and Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67… NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us greedy for calling bullshit on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are greedy. It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

PASS IT ON!!!!



Obama’s ineligibility for office

Look at this comment thread. HOW IN THE WORLD did we let this guy get in??? Congress spends days or even weeks vetting nominees for the Supreme Court. How is it that no one even questioned ANY of the qualifications that Obama supposedly presented? Or that he has spent nearly $2 million to suppress access to his personal records- (school, work, residence, birth certificate, etc.)? Obama has lied to the American people (hidden the truth), used his position to push his Socialist agenda and put this country so far in debt that we may never recover. He has engaged in behavior, that were it any other person, Congress would be asking for his head on a stick!

Congress is also complicit in this unbelievable assault on the USA. No one reads the Constitution, no one even follows the Rule of Law; no one cares about what is happening to their neighbors; millions of people are unemployed, with no jobs in sight; people are losing their homes as foreclosures and bankruptcies run rampant. Congress has ignored the very people who elected them to office, and “We the People” responded in November, with more to come in 2012.

//

Wvcrowcall I have just received an email which states that the SCOTUS is currently reviewing one of the lawsuits brought to determine/expose O’s status as a resident or not. Is there any truth to this, or is it more of the usual wishful thinking? I have seen no mention of it here or anywhere else. Thanks!   23 hours ago . Yottyhere I had not heard that was happening from any of our sources. Will be interesting to see if anyone has heard it.  22 hours ago . Belwhatter It may have come from World Net news – they have been staying on top of this issue very doggedly in spite of some derisory comments from high places.  22 hours ago . Ramasis World Net Daily or wnd.com  22 hours ago . OnTheBall There are so many on-going law suits against Obama now before the Supreme Court, that were this George Bush, the entire ‘alphabet news media’ would be marching in the streets ripping off their clothes in ‘high dugeon’ as they say. Orley Taitz alone is representing dozens of active duty and retired military members law suits against Obama. If you accept Obama’s own written and oral testaments to his own recorded history, he stands convicted as an illegal occupant of the White House. His mother had him when she was 17 or 18 yrs of age. By Federal Law she had to have been an adult for five (5) full yrs ~prior~ to Barry’s birth for her to confer the Federal status needed to allow Obama to run for President. That and that alone pre-empts Barry from having ever run for president. He is an illegal occupant of the White House and was assisted in arriving there by Nancy Pelosi’s willing and knowing HIGH TREASON against this nation!  21 hours ago . OnTheBall high dudgeon ….that is to say….  21 hours ago . Yottyhere oh geeze  21 hours ago . OnTheBall Yotty the Federal Laws are very clear. When a person wishes to run for president and one of their parents is not an American citizen, the remaining American parent has to have lived inside the USA for five (5) full years, prior to that person’s birth. Clearly Obama ”’IF”’ he had been born inside this nation, does NOT qualify and as such Nancy Pelosi violated Federal Law, in allowing him to be certified. Facts are facts.  8 hours ago . OnTheBall the remaining Ameircan parent has to have lived in the USA a full five (5) yrs AS AN ADULT prior to that child’s birth….  8 hours ago . OnTheBall Obama’s mother was under twenty when he was born, case closed.  8 hours ago . Yottyhere I repeat oh geeze.  Enough other stuff to worry about than that inane claptrap.   5 hours ago . MsCharlotteVale Our laws haven’t been followed in some years so it really doesn’t matter nowadays. We have millions of foreign nationals here who are demanding special treatment and their own system of law. They want the same system of law from the hellholes they left. Go figure.  3 hours ago .

//