Welfare does not contribute to the welfare of the American People.
The more that people depend on government, the more they feel compelled and entitled to depend on government, which today has become insolvent and undependable as municipalities and states face the growing unsustainability of providing core services with shrinking revenue streams and exploding entitlement liabilities.
The American People do not need to live on the government. Just ask those who lived during the Great Depression. While core manufacturing constituents were closing down and moving on, people still pulled their weight. Those were tough times, fare worse than what we are facing today during the Great Recession.
Besides, private facilities and charitable organizations can provide better care and reintegration for the poor and marginalized in our communities. Even the disastrous Chicago fire of the late 1800's did far less danger because of coordinated efforts by the community, without government help! There is also the more recent example of Welfare Reform enacted by President Clinton with Gingrich's Republican Congressin 1996. Contrary to widespread liberal fearmongering, people did not die in the streets from eviction and starvation. In fact, more people were able to get off welfare and back into taking care of themselves, a welcome improvement in economic and social morale.
Welfare cannot improve the general welfare of Los Angeles County. Government agencies which cannot protect orphans from abusinve and predatory foster parents to court systems which fail to channel conflict into mediation, it is welcome necessity that the state has become so poor that its citizens will have to fend for themselves