' ra - December 12, 2012
COMMUNITV OPINION
Page 5
from
the welfare of the
Editor's note: A version
of this article first appeared at
Forbes.com.
By Sylvain Charat
Welfare has become a char-
acteristic of President Obama's
domestic policies. There has been
a surge in American citizens on
welfare over the last four years,
including a 50-percent increase
in people on food stamps (from
32 to 47 million). It is a form of
"welfareship."
As a citizen of France, I
know such a society very well.
France has 60 years of experience
with entrenched welfare policies,
beholden to a kind of welfareship.
It is a democratic society based
heavily on welfare, and distrust-
ing the values of free markets.
In 2009, 11.2 million French
persons received welfare pay-
ments, out a total population of
65.3 million. This amounted to
$78 billion in payments.
Moreover, these 11 million
beneficiaries have families (par-
ents, spouses, children); thus,
more than 35 million p4ople are
actually benefiting directly or in-
directly from welfare payments,
which is more than 50 percent of
the French population. If this rate
were applied to America, 'about
157 million Americans would be
relying on welfare.
Owing to the amount of mon-
ey poured into welfare, should it
be expected that there is a "social
return on investment" and that
the living conditions of French
citizens are improving? In other
words, does this welfareship
work?
Let's consider three indica-
tors: the poverty rate; the "Ac-
tive Solidarity Income," which is
France's most important welfare
payment; and a private nation-
wide charity ~alled "Restos du
Coeur," i.e., "Restaurants of the
He art."
First, the poverty rate: In
1990, 13.8 percent of the French
population was poor; in 2009, the
percentage was almost unchanged
at 13.5 percent. In 20 years, pov-
erty did not significantly decrease,
despite all the welfare payments.
Second, the "Active Soli-
darity Income," which symbol-
izes France's welfare system: It
has replaced a previous payment
called the "Minimum Income for
Insertion."
These two are the same thing;
only the name has changed. The
latter was implemented in 1989,
when 370,000 people benefited.
In 2009, this "income" was giv-
en to 1,697,357 people. That is
a huge increase. Failure must be
acknowledged.
LETTERS TO TIlE blTOR
Editor's ndte: Generally, we
avoid running letters from a single
author in successive issues, but
because the following corrects a
statement the writer made in the
previous edition that was incorrect,
we're including it today.
Students need
tougher standard
Editor:
In my letter last week con-
cerning school days, the correct
number was 56. not 36 days. Kids
are not required to attend school.
The problem "with schools is a
lack of standards. They are so low
they ericourage lackadaisical com-
placency.
The person responsible for
this is the commanding officer.
You might say of our little slice of
school heaven that this is Superin-
tendent Donald Schrader. As the
head honcho, receiving $80.000-
plus per year. he is required to step
up and make a difference.
In the school district Of Sweet
Home children are only required
to pass any test with 70 percent
correct answers. That needs to
be raised to 88 percent to pass a
test.
To complete and receive a
diploma from our district, the fol-
lowing needs to be implemented:
(1) Walk or run a mile in eight
minutes or less;
(2) 20 sit-ups;
(3) 20 push-ups;
(4) 10 pull-ups;
(5) A 50-question quiz about
the Bill of Rights and the Constitu-
tion to pass. Kids must get 48 of
the 50 questions right.
Students should be required
to read the following books, fol-
lowed by a 1.000-word paper on
each book:
(1) To Kill a Mockingbird:
(2) Hamlet;
(3) The Odyssey;
(4) Genesis:
The third indicator is a na-
tionwide philanthropic organiza-
tion called the "Restos du Coeur."
It was created in 1985 to fight
poverty. It provides meals during
the winter to the very-low-income
population.
During the winter of 1985-
86, 8.5 million meals were given.
Since then, it has never stopped
increasing.
During the winter of 2010-
11-, about 109 million meals were
given--a 1,282-percent jump in
25 years.
(5) Origin of the Species;
(6) The Grapes of Wrath;
(7) 1984;
(8) The Art of War;
(9) Kidnapped; and
(10) Our Town.
In conclusion, Mr. Don
Schrader, do you, Sir, Mr. Com-
manding Officer, have what it
takes to set proper standards for
our local kids to succeed in school
and life?
Royce Cantrell
Sweet Home
Local newspaper
never a dull read
Editor:
I love The New Era and think
everyone who lives here should
subscribe! We get all the local
news and this week a great edito-
rial about the fun we missed at the
Christmas tree auction!
By far. my favorite is your
Public Safety information. It is
In practice, France's wel-
fare system is a failure, and there
is an economic explanation for
this. Welfareship does not create
wealth; the're are no incentives to
create wealth. Despite its good in~
tentions, welfareship has created
a "poverty trap."
Consider: Let's take an un-
employed mother living alone
with two children between six and
10 years old. In 2010, there were
284,445 French families in this
situation that were on welfare.
This mother will be given
the "Active Solidarity Income."
Since she has two children, the
amount will be $1,100.
If she is renting an apart-
ment for $650, she will be given
FOR ii!iiiΈΈΈ
FeEE Έ
I LAMESTaE.ER TIO..
hilarious. Do the world's dumbest
lawbreakers live here? This week
someone actually called the police
because a cone was in the middle
of the street!
If you are criminally inclined,
you should stay away from Circle
K. Another called police because
her car was egged! So go get a hose
and wash it!
Also PLEASE tell me what
kind of paper box is worth $790.
And here. I've been recycling
mine.
Being banned from Chewy's
is pretty serious too.
There is a certain mobile home
area which is really a drain on our
police resources. Is not the man-
ager or property owner responsible
for cleaning out the undesirables?
I love that EVERY name is named
no matter who it is. I'll bet you get
calls on that. Keep up the great
work!
Sharon Toth
Foster
the "'Housing Customized Aid,"
amounting to $620. Then she will
receive "Family Allowances,"
which amounts to another $160.
Finally, let's add the payment
known as "Allowance for the start
of the school year," which is $750
once a year, or $62.50 per month.
(She might even benefit from
other aids, but these are the most
common.) She will be given a to-
tal of $1,942.50 per month.
Now imagine that this moth-
er has found work and will be
paid the "legal minimum wage,'.'
which amounts to $1,820 gross--
or$1,430 after taxes.
Since she would be earning
$1,430, she will no longer receive
the "Active Solidarity income."
Her "Housing Customized Aid"
will be lowered to $460, but she
will still be given "Family Allow-
ances" and the "Allowance for
the start of the school year."
Therefore, her total income
will amount to $2,112.50. She
will then belong to the 50 percent
of French workers earning $1,960
per month.
For this mother of two, work-
ing again will bring her family an
additional income of only $170.
Moreover, this $170 is likely to
be lost in the cost of transporta-
tion to work, since the cost of gas
in France is $7 per gallon.
In any case, such a small
amount of money is not an incen-
tive to go back to work. Between
staying home and working, the
choice is simple: welfare is a bet-
ter deal.
This mother, like manY in
France, has fallen into the "pov-
erty trap." Since work cannot sig-
nificantly bring a real improve-
ment in daily life, it is better to
stay "poor" and do nothing, which
is not rewarding. Assistanceship
becomes more important than en-
trepreneurship.
Americans need to under-
stand these lessons from across
the Atlantic. They must know
that welfareship is not optimal.
The more welfare, the less well-
being.
Dr. Sylvain Charat ts a
graduate from the University of
the Sorbonne, Paris. was chief
of staff for a former French Min-
ister of Finance in the French
National Assembly, and is now a
public affairs consultant, special
izing in the welfare system. He is
also a contributing scholar with
The Center for Vision & Values
at Grove City College, and his
daily analysis can be found at his
"Welfareship Explained" blog.
" ...... -Contact- ' ;ffrLo-ca/ ...................... ....... "
Government Representatives
I
II City of Sweet Home
I Craig Martin, City Manager, (541) 367-8969
I - Cmartin @ci.sweet-home.or.us
City Council
I Craig Fentiman, Mayor, (541) 367-6826
I e-mail: cfentiman@cLsweet-home.or.us
I Jim Gourley, President Pro Tern (541) 367-5517
I Marybeth Angulo, Councilor (541) 367-7798
I Michael Hall, Councilor, (541) 570-2044
I Greg Mahler, Councilor, (541) 401-0110
Scott McKee Jr., Councilor, (541) 405-6191
I Ron Rodgers, Councilor, (541) 401-2590
I
I School District No. 55
I Don Schrader, Superintendent, (541) 367-7126
Don_Schrader@Sweethome.kl 2.or.us
School District No. 55 Board of Directors
Jason Redick, Chairman, (541) 401-8601
Dale Keene, Vice Chair, (541) 409-1034
Michael E. Adams, Foster, (541)367-1003
Kevin Burger, Cascadia, (541) 367-3773
Jenny Daniels, Liberty, (541) 367-4080
Chanz Keeney, Holley, (541) 367-7999
Mike Reynolds, Sweet Home, (541) 367-5601
Janice Sharp, Member at Large, (541) 367-7242
David VanDerli p, Crawfordsville, (541) 367-3856
Linn County Commissioners
Roger Nyquist, rnyquist@co.linn.or.us
.John K. Lindsey jlindsey@co.linn.or.us
Will Tucker wtucker@co.linn.or.us
Federal Government
I
I
Sen. Ron Wyden (D) (202) 224-5244 I
e-mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/ II
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) (202) 224-3753
e-mail: http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/contact/cfm I
Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D) (800) 944-9603 I
e-maih http://defazio.house.gov/emailme.shtml I
State Government II
Sen. Fred Girod (R, Dist. 9) (503) 986-1709 I
e-mail: sen.fredgirod@state.or, us
Sen. William Morrisette (D, Dist. 6) I
(503) 986-1706 e-maih sen.billmorrisette@state.or.us I
Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R, Dist. 17) I
(503) 986-1417 e-mail: rep.sherriesprenger@state.or.us I
Rep. Phil Barnhart (D,Dist.11) (503) 986-1411
e-mail: rep.philbarnhart@state,or, us
I
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