Welfare queen

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|[It's] a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency|||[[Paul Ryan]], who paid for his university education by living off his father's [[Social Security]] benefits. Hmm.}}
+
{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|[It's] a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency|||[[Paul Ryan]]... who paid for his university education by living off his father's [[Social Security]] benefits.}}
"'''Welfare queen'''" was a term out of many other [[Trees cause pollution|dumb terms]] coined by [[Saint Reagan]], this time to refer to people who scam the [[government]] through the [[welfare]] system to live easy on [[tax]]payer money without trying to work.  Reagan gave a very memorable speech in 1976 which described a welfare queen drawing an easy living by scamming veteran's and [[Social Security]] benefits from four (fake) dead husbands, as well as using eighty different aliases.  The closest case to the one he described was of a single woman who scammed the government out of $8,000.<ref>[http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.mendacity-index.html The Mendacity Index], Washington Monthly</ref> ''Whoops''.
+
"'''Welfare queen'''" was a term out of many other [[Trees cause pollution|dumb terms]] coined by [[Saint Reagan]], this time to refer to people who scam the [[government]] through the [[welfare]] system to live easy on [[tax]]payer money without trying to work.  Reagan gave a very memorable speech in 1976 which described a welfare queen drawing an easy living by scamming veteran's and [[Social Security]] benefits from four (fake) dead husbands, as well as using eighty different aliases.  The closest case to the one he described was of a single woman who scammed the government out of $8,000,<ref>[http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.mendacity-index.html The Mendacity Index], Washington Monthly</ref> who, upon further investigation, wasn't emblematic of welfare users in general.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2013/12/linda_taylor_welfare_queen_ronald_reagan_made_her_a_notorious_american_villain.html The Welfare Queen], ''Slate''</ref> ''Whoops''.  
  
 
Today, "welfare queen" has evolved into a more general version of [[dog whistle politics]] against the new [[evil]] of "[[Entitlement program|entitlements]]."
 
Today, "welfare queen" has evolved into a more general version of [[dog whistle politics]] against the new [[evil]] of "[[Entitlement program|entitlements]]."
  
It plays very well into pitting people of different [[social class|classes]] and [[race]]s against each other.  [[Race]] resentments factor into this, since only ''certain'' kinds of people (disadvantaged minorities) are portrayed living on welfare.<ref>West, Laurel Parker. [http://www.marial.emory.edu/pdfs/wp016_02.pdf Soccer Moms, Welfare Queens, Waitress Moms, and Super Moms: Myths of Motherhood in State Media Coverage of Child Care.] Emory University, MARIAL Working Paper 16, April 2002.</ref> Many opponents of welfare use the welfare queen [[stereotype]] as a way to rile up members of the lower middle class and [[working class|working]] [[poor]] against those on welfare/unemployment/Social Security/[[Medicaid]] benefits.  This is by making [[PIDOOMA|wild claims]] that welfare queens are living "high on the hog" while the poor folks have to work hard to barely scrape by.
+
It plays very well into pitting people of different [[social class|classes]] and [[race]]s against each other.  Race resentments very much factor into this, since only ''certain'' kinds of people (disadvantaged minorities) are portrayed living on welfare.<ref>[http://www.marial.emory.edu/pdfs/wp016_02.pdf Soccer Moms, Welfare Queens, Waitress Moms, and Super Moms: Myths of Motherhood in State Media Coverage of Child Care.] Emory University, </ref> Many opponents of welfare use the welfare queen [[stereotype]] as a way to rile up members of the lower middle class and [[working class|working]] [[poor]] against those on welfare/unemployment/Social Security/[[Medicaid]] benefits.  This is by making [[PIDOOMA|wild claims]] that welfare queens are living "high on the hog" while the poor folks have to work hard to barely scrape by.
  
One argument that popped up in the [[Obamacare|health care]] debate<ref>[http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2009/08/31/welfare_wedge Salon.com - The return of the welfare queen]</ref><ref>[http://timeonhands.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/why-repeal-obamacare/ WHY REPEAL OBAMACARE?] (Interesting name for a blog, too.)</ref> is that people on Medicaid get free [[medical]] care on your dime, using purely the example of the documented rates of "plastic surgery" for Medicaid patients, while poor folks pay an arm and a leg to wait forever to see a general practitioner.  What was not said is that the term "plastic surgery" in a hospital contains covered procedures for the replacement of skin for burn patients and rebuilding of parts removed for [[cancer]] surgery (such as mastectomies).  Medicaid (and every other insurance) has never covered any purely cosmetic surgery - and you'll find the same [[Universal health care|around the world]].
+
One argument that popped up in the [[Obamacare|health care]] debate<ref>[http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2009/08/31/welfare_wedge The return of the welfare queen], ''Salon''</ref><ref>[http://timeonhands.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/why-repeal-obamacare/ WHY REPEAL OBAMACARE?] (Interesting name for a blog, too.)</ref> is that people on Medicaid get free [[medical]] care on your dime, using purely the example of the documented rates of "plastic surgery" for Medicaid patients, while poor folks pay an arm and a leg to wait forever to see a general practitioner.  What [[Lying by omission|was not said]] is that the term "plastic surgery" in a hospital contains covered procedures for the replacement of skin for burn patients and rebuilding of parts removed for [[cancer]] surgery (such as mastectomies).  Medicaid (and every other insurance) has never covered any purely cosmetic surgery, and you'll find the same [[Universal health care|around the world]]<ref>[http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0552-e.htm Take Canada, for example.]</ref>  — but apparently it's difficult for [[Republican]]s to do research.
  
 
[[Stereotype|Stereotyping]] welfare recipients is an easy way to get voters to get rid of these programs. It also has the benefit of [[appeal to emotion|manipulating the very people]] who benefit from these programs the most into getting rid of them.
 
[[Stereotype|Stereotyping]] welfare recipients is an easy way to get voters to get rid of these programs. It also has the benefit of [[appeal to emotion|manipulating the very people]] who benefit from these programs the most into getting rid of them.
Line 14: Line 14:
  
 
===Even more irony===
 
===Even more irony===
Putting Reagan's [[Hollywood]] past into perspective, for some reason [[Republicans]] have really taken a liking to the 1986 [[film]] ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'',<ref>[[wp:Ferris Bueller's Day Off#Reception|No, seriously]]</ref> despite the movie's entire premise being a teenager who weasels out of an [[education]], breaks the law, and ruins his rich friend's [[car]] just because he wants to.<ref>[http://www.cracked.com/article_18902_5-horrible-life-lessons-learned-from-teen-movies.html 5 Horrible Life Lessons Learned from Teen Movies], ''Cracked''</ref>
+
Putting Reagan's [[Hollywood]] past into perspective, for some reason conservatives have really taken a liking to the 1986 [[film]] ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'',<ref>[[wp:Ferris Bueller's Day Off#Reception|No, seriously]]</ref> despite the movie's entire premise being a teenager who weasels out of an [[education]], breaks the [[law]], and ruins his rich friend's [[car]] just because he wants to.<ref>[http://www.cracked.com/article_18902_5-horrible-life-lessons-learned-from-teen-movies.html 5 Horrible Life Lessons Learned from Teen Movies], ''Cracked''</ref>
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 04:34, 9 May 2014

Guide to:

U.S. Politics

Icon politics USA.svg
Hail to the Chief?
Persons of interest
[It's] a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency
Paul Ryan... who paid for his university education by living off his father's Social Security benefits.

"Welfare queen" was a term out of many other dumb terms coined by Saint Reagan, this time to refer to people who scam the government through the welfare system to live easy on taxpayer money without trying to work. Reagan gave a very memorable speech in 1976 which described a welfare queen drawing an easy living by scamming veteran's and Social Security benefits from four (fake) dead husbands, as well as using eighty different aliases. The closest case to the one he described was of a single woman who scammed the government out of $8,000,[1] who, upon further investigation, wasn't emblematic of welfare users in general.[2] Whoops.

Today, "welfare queen" has evolved into a more general version of dog whistle politics against the new evil of "entitlements."

It plays very well into pitting people of different classes and races against each other. Race resentments very much factor into this, since only certain kinds of people (disadvantaged minorities) are portrayed living on welfare.[3] Many opponents of welfare use the welfare queen stereotype as a way to rile up members of the lower middle class and working poor against those on welfare/unemployment/Social Security/Medicaid benefits. This is by making wild claims that welfare queens are living "high on the hog" while the poor folks have to work hard to barely scrape by.

One argument that popped up in the health care debate[4][5] is that people on Medicaid get free medical care on your dime, using purely the example of the documented rates of "plastic surgery" for Medicaid patients, while poor folks pay an arm and a leg to wait forever to see a general practitioner. What was not said is that the term "plastic surgery" in a hospital contains covered procedures for the replacement of skin for burn patients and rebuilding of parts removed for cancer surgery (such as mastectomies). Medicaid (and every other insurance) has never covered any purely cosmetic surgery, and you'll find the same around the world[6] — but apparently it's difficult for Republicans to do research.

Stereotyping welfare recipients is an easy way to get voters to get rid of these programs. It also has the benefit of manipulating the very people who benefit from these programs the most into getting rid of them.

Contents

Pull out your irony meters, folks!

The vast majority of welfare recipients live in red states.[7]

Even more irony

Putting Reagan's Hollywood past into perspective, for some reason conservatives have really taken a liking to the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off,[8] despite the movie's entire premise being a teenager who weasels out of an education, breaks the law, and ruins his rich friend's car just because he wants to.[9]

See also

Footnotes

  1. The Mendacity Index, Washington Monthly
  2. The Welfare Queen, Slate
  3. Soccer Moms, Welfare Queens, Waitress Moms, and Super Moms: Myths of Motherhood in State Media Coverage of Child Care. Emory University,
  4. The return of the welfare queen, Salon
  5. WHY REPEAL OBAMACARE? (Interesting name for a blog, too.)
  6. Take Canada, for example.
  7. Republican-Heavy Counties Eat Up Most Food-Stamp Growth, Bloomberg
  8. No, seriously
  9. 5 Horrible Life Lessons Learned from Teen Movies, Cracked
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support