The following is part of a Point / Counter-Point series highlighting important issues and platform points for both candidates in the upcoming election.
Welfare has taken backseat to other issues in the 2012 election, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important. 
Anne Buie
Gov. Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remark was cringe-worthy, but his intentions were not.
There are 47 percent of Americans, probably more, who are reliant on government programs. And maybe some of them do believe the government has the responsibility to care for them.
But is that’s not what America was founded on.
America declared independence when the citizens realized they didn’t want Great Britain’s interference.
Americans then didn’t want government assistance – they wanted freedom.
And that’s the America people should pursue.
It’s time we start looking to return to an America that is hellbent on no government assistance.
“Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream,” Rep. Paul Ryan said in The Huffington Post. “They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want the welfare state. Before too long, we could become a society where the net majority of Americans are takers, not makers.”
Romney and Ryan believe in America – they believe in the foundations we were built on.
President Barack Obama, on the other hand, believes the government is the foundation of America.
“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help…” Obama said in July. “If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Yes, welfare can help people get on their feet. But Romney and Ryan are right to remind Americans to stop relying on welfare and start depending on themselves.
Believe in America, believe in yourself – don’t believe in the government.
Buie, a sophomore political science major from Charlotte, is the Managing editor.
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