Give up welfare? Corporations, you first

I am an undergraduate student at Fresno State, I am writing to express my concern about a topic we have recently been discussing in class, welfare.

I live in the Fresno County and it is no surprise to someone who resides here that employment is not great in the Fresno area, and because of this families may rely on welfare programs to meet ends meet.

I recently became aware, from a 1999 investigative report, that the federal government gives hundreds of billions of dollars to corporations as a form of welfare annually. Today that amount has increased significantly.

People have the right to know that congressmen want to end welfare programs that help lower income individuals, but the government gives billions of dollars to corporations that do not need the money.

Instead of giving all this money to corporations, they should be distributing this money to cities that do need it.

Fresno would greatly benefit from more federal funds. An article should be published making all individuals aware of the true welfare situation. Shaming people for being on welfare is not OK, especially if it is a working family who is struggling in today’s economy.

This story was originally published October 29, 2017 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Give up welfare? Corporations, you first."