Reply To: Government programs are not tzedakah

squeak,

Now its not to say that people can’t get upset at those who milk the system and exploit loopholes in order to live a middle class lifestyle off of money perceived as intended for the poorest of society.

This is where I get confused. These programs are intended to prevent the circumstances of the poorest of society. The fact that people receiving EBT are not emaciated, that a family whose primary earner becomes unemployed does not have to sell their Odyssey to make the next rent payment, that we rarely encounter people literally in rags anymore, show that the programs are working as intended.

There’s a world of difference between taking HUD and EBT vs. child tax credits. The former are welfare programs, while the latter is part of a progressive tax system and/or social engineering incentives.

Can you elaborate on what this “world of difference” is? It seems to me that “welfare” programs are also a form social engineering. Also, what incentives do child tax credits provide?