Federal welfare in the United States originated in the 1930s during the Great Depression. In the midst of the misery, President Franklin Roosevelt took it upon himself and his pet Congress to attempt to "relieve" the nation of its problems. Unfortunately, most of the measures of the New Deal did nothing but prolong the Depression and set a precedent for implementation of socialism in America's future (http://goo.gl/oOyd3). For years, the money used for social welfare continued to build. In 2010, $700 billion was spent on federal welfare programs (http://goo.gl/AAsZN). To put that in perspective, that is enough money to buy every person on earth a Kindle Touch, or enough to give every person in America below the poverty line almost $15,000. So, if taxpayers are spending that much money in a year to help the poor people, why is 15.1% of America still living below the poverty line? (http://goo.gl/I4uPh)
The reasons for the failure of the federal welfare system are many. First, the federal government is filled with corrupt politicians, and these people are the ones making decisions on how to distribute our $700 billion. In fact, Wikipedia has a list of notable federal political scandals in the United States. The list contains over 40 scandals just in the past decade, many of which involve several politicians (http://goo.gl/Imslj). If we care about the poor and those in need, why on earth would we let an organization as corrupt as the federal government help them for us? For that matter, why let such an inefficient organization handle money for charity? This is the same government that lost $25 billion in 2003 (http://goo.gl/Aksj6). There is also the matter of practicality. The government bureaucrats who manage these systems are normal people, separated from the hurting families by hundreds of miles and dozens of social connections. When struggling families ask for help, bureaucrats see paperwork and numbers, not human beings. They simply do not have the resources to be human in their work. Their position makes it almost necessary to be automatic instead of compassionate. Add to all of these problems the fact the poverty line is legally rising even when wealth does not change, and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. Ultimately, the poor end up getting half-baked programs to subsidize their daily lives while the pseudo-poor (like druggies and the lazy) take up extra resources because they can, and the government cannot tell the difference.
So, when all of this is considered, it becomes apparent that the poor are not the only ones hurting. The middle class and the rich find themselves heavily burdened with welfare taxes that are not even accomplishing the compassionate purpose for which they were created! Now, according to Americans for Fair Taxation, a family making $50,000 a year will pay almost $8,000 in visible federal taxes, and that number raised to almost $12,000 when counting the invisible (http://goo.gl/nZ4u4). That is about $4,800 going to an ineffective welfare system that does not even begin do its job! Average people who work hard for their money are wasting almost $5,000 a year to subsidize someone's low-quality life. That is a problem, and it needs to be resolved.
In addition to all of this, federal welfare is letting the Church fall asleep. God told us, Christians, to take care of those in need (Matt. 25:31-46, Prov. 14:31, 1Ti. 5:3, Jas. 1:27). The Bible is very clear that the Church is supposed to help those who cannot help themselves. Unfortunately, this has fallen on the back burner. Since we have voted to let our government do our job, the body of Christ is too busy sleeping to actually help! Only a few significant examples of Christian help for the poor and the needy remain in the United States. Interestingly enough, though, these work brilliantly, far better than any government program (http://goo.gl/c38Dn). Christianity believes in a free man, able to give charitably as God grants him the means and will (2 Corinthians 9:7), and that works better than any tax-funded program. Even so, we would rather sit on our blessed-assurances than get up and be the body of Christ. The government is not the Church, and it is the responsibility of the Church to extend the blessings of Jesus Christ to the poor and the needy, along with the eternal power of the Gospel. If this statement were embraced, the Church could be revived and our nation could change. Poor people could become rich in Christ, and maybe even get out of poverty. Who knows? We have not tried in so long that it is hard to imagine what impact we could have.
In the end, the only solution is to cut off the federal government's "Robin Hood" arms and begin doing charity as Christ would have us do it. The current system does not help the poor, it hurts everyone else, and it leaves the Church to sleep. Unless these problems are resolved, people will only get poorer, and hearts will only grow harder. So stand up, vote against worthless programs, and help those who need it from their wallets to their hearts. That is the job of the Church.
In the end, the only solution is to cut off the federal government's "Robin Hood" arms and begin doing charity as Christ would have us do it. The current system does not help the poor, it hurts everyone else, and it leaves the Church to sleep. Unless these problems are resolved, people will only get poorer, and hearts will only grow harder. So stand up, vote against worthless programs, and help those who need it from their wallets to their hearts. That is the job of the Church.