One of the biggest things that’s supposed to be helping Americans is honestly holding them back, it’s Welfare. I chose Welfare as my topic because I began wondering where my taxes went when I got my paycheck, and found out that a nice chunk of it goes to individuals receiving Welfare. This topic is very important to me because it is something I believe is hurting Americans more than it is helping them. The United States Welfare system needs to drastically be reformed. There are more negatives than positives when it comes to Welfare. For one, it costs the government close to $1-trillion dollars every year just to manage and keep up with today’s Welfare programs. Secondly, Welfare promotes dependence instead of encouraging citizens to get out of poverty. Lastly, Welfare simply is not fair to other Americans that do not receive Welfare benefits. The amount of money it costs just to maintain Welfare in America is outrageous. It costs the Government nearly $1-trillion dollars a year just to keep Welfare programs afloat (Gaiser). This number is going to keep rising over the next 2-3 years due to the increased amount of individuals signing up for Welfare benefits (Levin). Welfare is now costing more than defense and education (Gaiser), two very important aspects to our country which I believe are much more important than Welfare. One of the major negative aspects of Welfare is the state of mind it creates. Welfare helps diminish material poverty, but at the same time it generates what is known as behavioral poverty (Gaiser). According to Welfare policy-makers, behavioral poverty is a state of mind that is created from receiving Welfare benefits. It basically means the dissolution of work ethic. When people begin receiving money from the government, they begin believing that it is actually a legitimate source of income. This is why I consider Welfare promotes dependence and not self-dependence. It’s not actually helping Americans actual