Opinion

A HAND UP, NOT OUT

I am writing to wholeheartedly support the column “Welfare: A Step Back,” by former Sen. Raymond A. Meier (“PostOpinion, Aug. 10). Meier does an exceptional job highlighting the fact that New York state is looking into the abyss of an economic disaster.

At this time, when so much is hanging in the balance, Gov. Paterson and his minions are changing the face of welfare as we know it by removing incentives for families to work.

Welfare is meant to be a helping hand for those temporarily in need, not a handout to reward those who don’t want to work. The governor’s plan would bring us back to the bad old days when New York was known as the “Cadillac of welfare states.”

State Senator Marty Golden, Brooklyn