BrainTorque

When you are young, and live under your parents roof, they typically have control on what you are allowed to have. Typically, until you are able to make the money yourself, and even live on your own, you do not have full control. This idea should apply whenever anyone is giving you ‘free money’ as it is their money/investment in you, and therefore the government should be allowed to place controls/limit some freedoms on those people that are on welfare.

Method of enforcement

Most of the purchases that would be controlled could be done by a machine that looks up a drivers license and identifies the person as a welfare recipient or not. This would cause some inconvenience for most people, but would reduce the amount of people abusing the welfare system.

Another method would be to provide the welfare money into a special bank account, with limits on how much money can be withdrawn a month, and any purchases made on the card would be tracked and limited based on the store, category the goods fall under, and previous spending habits.

Alcohol and Tobacco

When purchasing either substance, they should force everyone to provide their licenses, not only for age verification but to verify that you are not on welfare. This system can be used to limit the amount of money allowed to be spent on either substance.

In terms of tobacco, the amount allowed to spent should gradually decrease forcing the recipient to either get a job, or quit smoking within a year, as this will only cost the tax payers more money in medical costs. Otherwise it would be a bad investment for the government to fuel something that will kill you one day.

As for alcohol, the amount should be low, not enough to abuse the substance, but enough to be able to relax and have the occasional drink.

Vehicles/Cars

Everyone should be entitled to some mode of transportation, but in some cases people on welfare manage to buy brand new vehicles that are more of a want than a need. In most cases they should be fine with a decent used car, which can be reliable and very cost effective.

Other Luxuries

Many people working every day can not afford many luxuries, and it is quite unfair if a person on welfare has a big screen TV, while the hard worker has to settle for less. So in terms of electronics, they should be limited to bare necessities, such as small screen TVs.

Conclusion

Now I understand that some people are on welfare not by choice, and may want to provide some luxuries for their families, but they should work for it in some fashion. They can either find a job, or perhaps the government can hire them to do some misc duties such as cleaning up the city they live in. Perhaps any work they do for the government will increase the limits on some goods they are allowed to buy, not necessarily make them more money.

The government should also attempt to educate those on welfare and try to get them back into the workforce, perhaps hassle them monthly when it comes time to receive their check. Also, those capable to work, should be pressured more to work than those less capable.

What it comes down to is that a large amount of people work hard to have what they have, and it seems unfair that one can enjoy the same luxuries while living off the taxes those people pay.