Snitker for Senate 2010

I know that there are Americans that have fallen on hard times. In this economy, unemployment is up, job opportunities are down, and many are looking for help. Some are or are otherwise disabled, or for some other reason are unable to work or provide for their family. There should be a new coordinated response to this problem.

The first step is the FairTax. This will give every American an instant stimulus. It will create jobs by decreasing the cost of hiring and employing people. The FairTax prebate, a rebate coming at the beginning of each month, for the taxes on the minimum level of goods and services will relieve every American from paying taxes up to the poverty line.

The next step is to ensure that every person that needs help has a plan to be self-sufficient again in a short amount of time. We know that market-based solutions are more efficient than government, and we know that giving people incentives based on performance is the best motivation. The best solution is to implement free market ideas in solving the overwhelming problem of dependence on government assistance.

The federal government, using funds already budgeted for entitlements, pay private companies to act as counselors to those on government assistance. Their goal would be to free as many individuals as possible from the loss of self respect and the loss of individual empowerment that comes with accepting government assistance.

These companies would only be compensated when an individual they had counseled had been free of government assistance for two years, and had shown the ability to provide for themselves and their family. The compensation to these companies would be comparable the amount that the government would have paid the individual on government assistance for that period.

With this plan, it would be in the best interest of the companies providing counseling to ensure that the individual and families were counseled in all aspects of self-reliance, such as job training, health care, budgeting, childcare, and debt reduction. This counselor will give them the help they need to achieve independence from the government.

The job of this counselor is to get this family back on their feet again as fast as possible. And they should be rewarded for it. This job is vital to bring true freedom to this country one family at a time. These counselors need to be given an incentive to get these people back on their feet.

The goal of the caseworker and that of the family should be the same: To make sure the counselor is no longer needed.

People must learn that accepting money from the government always comes with a sacrifice of freedom, and a level of dependency. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for life.

I believe one of the best ways to control government spending is with a general public that doesn’t need the government.