THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180020
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
During the debates on the budget, food-stamp programs, school lunches and Social Security have been in the forefront of the battle. These programs are used to pit citizen against citizen as never before. But the programs have taken the responsibility for living out of the hands of the individual and made society responsible for the irresponsibility of the individual.
The food-stamp program was meant to help people who have had a sudden loss of income from a divorce, job loss, injury or death in a family. It was never intended to be a lifelong support.
The same with the school-lunch program. It was intended to help children whose families are in poverty. Both programs have degenerated into a permanent support to families. Not only is it a lunch program but a breakfast program as well.
Parents should be held responsible for the feeding of their children. If they are too lazy to get up in the morning to open a box of cereal and pour the milk over it, the kids should be able to do that.
Also, schools are required to serve hot breakfast and hot lunch. What happened to sandwiches? At one time schools had no kitchens. Parents supplied their children with breakfast and lunches.
Schools are also required to take good food and throw it in the garbage. They are not allowed to take the food to homeless shelters or places where meals are served to the homeless.
Social Security was intended for those who reach retirement. But Congress has added disability to the mix. Now 40 percent of all recipients are under 25 years of age. That includes children with learning disabilities.
We citizens wonder where our tax dollars are going. Go to your local school. See what is going on there. See our tax dollars at work. Then write your representative and tell him what you saw.
CYNTHIA MORGAN
Chesapeake, March 11, 1995 by CNB