Stupid Idea; the Left Is PCing Us To Death...
FoxNews
Poor residents will be rewarded for good behavior - like $300 for doing well on school tests, $150 for holding a job and $200 for visiting the doctor - under an experimental anti-poverty program that New York City officials detailed Monday.
The rewards have been used in other countries, including Brazil and Mexico, and have drawn widespread praise for changing behavior among the poor. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Mexico this spring to study the healthy lifestyle payments, also known as conditional cash transfers.
In New York, the two-year pilot program with about 14,000 participants will use private funds Bloomberg has raised because he did not want to spend government money on something that is highly experimental. More than $43 million has been raised toward the $53 million goal, Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs said.
The theory behind cash rewards is that poor people are trapped in a cycle of repeated setbacks that keep them from climbing out of poverty. A person who doesn't keep up with his vaccinations and doctor's visits, for example, may get sick more often and struggle to stay employed.
Bloomberg, a billionaire Republican, said he believes paying people in such circumstances to make good decisions could help break those patterns. The program "gives New Yorkers in poverty a financial incentive to look ahead and make decisions that will improve their prospects for the future," he said in a statement.
But some critics have raised questions about cash reward programs, saying they promote the misguided idea that poor people could be successful if they just made better choices.
more...
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/6/19/83733.shtml?s=ic
posted by VerityINK at 6:45 AM
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16 Comments:
Sort of like lower insurance payments for not smoking, or auto insurance reduced for good driving.
LES--No, actually, it's like infantilizing some people at the expense of society.
I go to the doctor and do well on tests simply because those are the right things to do. EVERYBODY who quits smoking or drives safe gets the benefit of lower costs--with Bloomies idea, only the lower class do, and that's not fair.
The lower classes now will only have the idea that they should not do one thing to make their lives better if they are not paid for it. We will now have another class of entitlements-only people--and those who are MADE to be unmotivated to change their own lives for the better.
Do you really think they'll be motivated to do so much better that they move into the 'not subsidized' group? Not bloody likely!
I always found it a terrible message when parents gave kids money for good grades, instead of telling kids they expect their kids to do well.
Here we go on a grander scale; also, not a bad political move for someone considering higher office. PAY THEM ALL! YA>...GREAT!! THEY VOTE!!
Let's pay people to VOTE, too!!! how miserable we're becoming in this country. This is like Katrina...people EXPECT you not to loot when everyone's in misery, people expect you to help your neighbors....black kids should not have been sitting on cots smoking in the Dome in Houston instead of helping keep the Dome clean, necessitating illegals coming in and getting paid to do it....people should expect honor and dignity, but we're taking that away from them.
again. what a mistake. What a terrible message.
Z,
Well said. But the fact remains whether you can admit it or not. When we get paid for good behavior (not smoking, no points while driving, or whatever) it is the EXACT same thing as paying people to go to the doctors. The end result is that the bottom line for society is in better shape because of preventive medicine (or not smoking). Someone, somewhere has calculated the costs of paying for a well-care visit vs. emergency room attention and has decided it is cheaper.
Not saying it is right, it just is what it is. Thats all.
LES--THAT'S NOT TRUE! I DON'T GET PAID FOR GOING TO THE DOCTOR!
Only the most do-less people in NYC will get paid for it; that's not the same as stopping smoking or driving safe and getting paid. EVERYONE who stops smoking/drives safely gets a cut in price--they leave no one out. In NYC, they are leaving out MOST of the people--who DO go to the doctor etc.
TELL me that's fair instead of rewarding people for showing a lack of iniative most of their lives!
Verityink,
You also make a good point. I am not arguing the wisdom of the Republican mayors big government scheme, just hoping your readers can see that we all get some entitlements, whether it is lower cost insurance for not smoking, mortgage interest deductions on our homes, subsidized flood insurance for our beach houses or tax rebates for hiring some underserved population.
I agree, the Republican mayors plan does not pass the 'sniff test', but he is know for his fiscal acumen and I am sure he has done a cost/benefit analysis on this idea. The guy isnt a gazillionaire for nothing, right?
LES--He's about as Republican as YOU are...
LES ISN'T A REPUBLICAN????????????!!!
Let's analyze this.
If I don't smoke, then I save money on my health bills because of there are no complications from smoking. This allows my health insurer to charge lower rates to insure me. So I'm not getting paid to save money; I am saving money through my own responsible actions.
Bloomberg's actions pay people to do things that they refuse to do. They are not only costing themselves more money by refusing to care for themselves, but place a burden on society to take care of them. Now, they take their failure to act responsibly and gussy it up into some kind of right to make money. Bloomberg is spending his own money at the moment, but soon it will be the money of New Yorkers.
The difference between the two is night and day. In the first case, the money I save is due to actions I take. In the second case, I am paid to do actions I would not usually do.
ZINLA--You're very funny!
Hey stupid Less-is-not-more, Bloomie just filed to break with the GOP, so he is NOT a Republican, just as Donal said.
Boy, Donal..when you say something is SO, it's SO, huh? Donal says Bloomberg isn't a Republican and the man QUITS the party within an HOUR!! bobcat's remark is hilarious and TRUE!!!
Hey, Donal....could you tell Les that Michael Moore doesn't live in America, and Kerry and Edwards aren't stinking rich, and Hillary won't WIN? PLEEEASE!!!!
ha!
Z--LOL! That IS funny! I'm your resident soothsayer! ;-)
Hey RS,
Yes, if you do the typical naive 9th grade analysis, it is as different as night and day. However if you graduate to 10th grade you see the difference.
Ever hear of cost benefit analysis???
We all save when people who would normally go to the emergency ward use wellness programs. Even you save money.
Les Is Les is right. When you quit smoking, you get lower rates and we all save on health care with a healthier population in our respective plans. When Bloomberg pays $200 for whatever reason, we all save money because less burden on the ER wards.
STAT GUY--It's not always about the money... sigh. What do you think you'll be teaching these people in the long run? What do you think you'll be teaching their kids? Why do you think beggaring an underclass--making them even more dependent on the state than they are now--is a good thing? And, once this program is in place, what do you think the chances are of keeping it a money-saver? That has not EVER happened in regards to our welfare--esp. with all the illegals that soon will be let into our society to receive welfare/social security.
P.S. STAT GUY Don't insult or crack snide with my regular posters such as RS, or your posts will be removed. He wasn't rude to YOU--and I don't run that kind of house.
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