[deong]

The problem is that poor people need cash for lots of things. If you're poor enough that you can't go to the dentist, you're poor enough to be hurting in any number of ways. If we give you $500 and say, "now this is for the dentist -- save it in case you need it", they're quite rightly going to tell you to fuck off and go buy food and gas for the car to get to work. And then when they need a dentist six months later, we're right back where we started, except with the added shittiness of a bunch of upper middle class conservatives preaching about how they "wasted" the money.

[AnthonyMouse]

> The problem is that poor people need cash for lots of things.

That isn't the problem, it's the reason why giving them cash is better. Because if they can't afford to put gas in their car to get to work, using that money will keep them from borrowing it from the credit card company. And then in six months they'll still have $500 less credit card debt plus having not paid 25% APR for six months.

[deong]

I'm not arguing that they're wrong. I'm arguing that it isn't in any way a solution to the problem of paying for dental care.

[AnthonyMouse]

How isn't it? They can get the dental care already, the problem is that doing so will put them in debt. Giving them money cancels the debt, which solves the original "problem".

The only way it doesn't pay for dental care is if they don't buy dental care at all because they need something else more. But if they're correct to do that because the other things really are more important, what kind of idiots are we to think we should be finding a way to redirect the money back to dental care?

The only real solution then is to get them enough money that they can pay for the dental care and the more important things.