There's a group called “The Living Wage”, and they have documented how much a family of four, with one parent working 40 hours and the other working 20 hours, would need. Of course, each year, the cost of living goes up or whatever. It should be adjustable. I do agree that, according to the needs of each person, they should have available to them the basic amount to take care of their needs.
I was just telling someone about a gentleman that I had met at meetings. He was one of our group. He would be the police representative and would come back to us with reports. He had worked in radio and was just a wonderful gentleman. He came to the door one day and he said, you know, I'm so glad that you're answering the door because I wanted to let you know why I come to your hot meal, why I come for your food: I have such a low pension that by the time I pay my rent and the $200 I need for medications that are not covered by the health plan, I don't have enough money.
The government's role is really to take care of people more than just to watch how more money can come in from corporations, or whatever the description is. It needs to do that.
One of the things I mentioned just briefly is the after-school care of kids. If both parents are working almost full time, the father sometimes two jobs and the mother sometimes two jobs, just to get enough money to feed the kids and pay the rent and do all they need to do, who takes care of those kids? Where are they going to go for companionship? They're going to go to the smart alecks who are already on drugs. Then there is what we have to spend on jails and on youth correction facilities and all that. Plus there's the fact that lives are ruined.
When we don't take care of our kids, we're in trouble--all of us.