food stamps

Today at Trick or Treat so Others Can Eat, one of the guys in the houses we went to asked us what we thought about food stamps.  He didn't have any food to give to us to put in our bags and jokingly said that if we have extra we should give some to him.  Thats when he asked us about what we thought about food stamps.  He started talking more about how it seems a lot of people are using food stamps, and how that doesn't make sense to him because everyone he knows is employed, and all his friends agree that everyone they know is also employed.  First off I thought, well yeah everyone you know is employed, your friends are probably all your coworkers.  I know that sounds judgmental, but the the point he was arguing off of just didn't seem very valid to me because of that.  When he asked me and Patrick what we thought about food stamps we both didn't really know what to say and told him that we didn't know much about food stamps.  So, because I don't know much about food stamps, I decided to look it up once I came home.  

  Pretty much anyone can apply for food stamps.  To receive them, you have to meet certain requirements.  First thing has to do with how much you own, you cant have more than $2,000 in resources, but that changes if you have someone over 60 living in your house, then it turns to $3,000.  Also, not everything you own counts, for example, your house and land do not count.  You also need to meet a certain income limit.  Income limits vary by how many people live in the house, and this changes every year.

Now knowing a little more about food stamps, I can somewhat answer the man's question about what I think of them.  As far as I can see, I think its good that there are food stamps because, it seems to me, those people might end up going hungry without them.  But I also heard that food stamps don't get you just any type of food, there is a limit on what you can use them for, and mainly its just junk food (at least thats what I heard).  Its good that they will have food in their stomachs, but what about malnutrition?  Thats a different topic though.  As far as I can see, I don't really see how food stamps could be abused because you have to meet a requirement in order to use them, so the people using them must need them.

Federal Funding- Where do our taxes go? p.301

       Looking at the chart on page 301 in the textbook, I found it interesting that the amount of our taxes going towards Interest on Public Debt decreased from 31.1% in 1800 to 8.6% in 2008.  I would think that it would be the opposite due to that our public debt is now over 10 trillion dollars.  Now we aren't paying as much attention to paying off our debt as much as before, but I think it should become more of a priority to do so.  The reason, it seems to me, why our taxes aren't focused on paying our interest on debt is because now we pay for other things too, such as social security.  The government wasn't in charge of taking care of social security and other things before, so there is a more range in what we need to cover.

       I know I have talked on the topic of debt and taxes already, but when I read this I found it really interesting and felt like discussing the chart.  Some other aspects of the chart other then the interest on public debt, is how much is put into our military, veterans benefits and other things.   What stood out to me was the differences in percentages of what taxes went into.  In the 1800's and 1900's there was no need to pay for health, social security and public welfare because these things weren't taken care of by the government in those days.  Now they are, so our taxes have to become more split between everything.  Education, scientific and medical research, transportation, and foreign aid are all now in the picture too.  This is because now we have the means to do these things, which before we didn't.  Its good that our taxes go to these things, which all together add to about 56% of our taxes.  But, as more of our taxes go to these things, our percent for the amount of taxes we have going to interest on our public debt decreases.  I think that our taxes going towards paying off our public debts should be increased so that we can get out of debt sooner, if we ever do get out.

27th Amendment

         The 27th amendment has to do with congressional pay.  It forbids members of congress to raise their own pay during their term.  I think this is good.  Senators and representatives today are being paid 174,000 per year, and sometimes even more.  I understand that their job is really important, so they deserve that pay, but I don't think that they should be paid any higher, personally.  Along with their pay they also receive a lot of great benefits.  One example is how they have a tax deduction because the government understands that most senators and reps have two houses because they have to have a second house there in washington for when they stay there for the long meetings.  They also get travel allowances for their flights from their state to Washington for meetings.  
         I think that it is good that the 27th amendment took place because the senators and reps already are paid a lot of money and have special bonuses.  If they were able to set the standards for their own salary, they would most likely give themselves a raise.  They are already receiving a lot of money and great benefits so I don't think that they should be able to raise their pay, so I think its good the 27th amendment was set in place.

Taxes

In an unrealistic world, I would say no one should pay taxes, but in the real world we do have to pay taxes.  I've wondered if there is another way for getting money into the economy other then taxes.  There could always be large donations, but that would never be accountable enough to cover the debt we are in and the expenses we need to pay, so that wouldn't work.  I don't like the idea that once I get a real job, one where i'm not just paid "under the table", that I'll have to give some of my money away that I worked so hard for, that I wont be receiving ALL the money I make.  But then the money I'm giving in taxes will help me and other people, so its not like my money will just be going to waste.  Although I don't like the idea of taxes, I believe that all our money from taxes that help pay for the roads we use, schools, jobs, our representatives ect. are good causes and really couldn't  be paid for in any other way.  So although I don't really like taxes, the idea that I'll not be receiving all the money I make, I do agree that paying taxes is necessary and helps our economy and is needed.