Book Review: In Our Hands—A Plan to Replace the Welfare State

This book was a fast read for me—not even two hours. Amazing, since I fall asleep after three pages.

Charles Murray, author and member of the Manhattan Institute (a libertarian think tank), sets out a plan to end welfare and all other “transfer” programs with a simple direct-payment plan.

The barely-over-200-page tome, published by the American Enterprise Institute (an economic think tank), proposes to end the welfare, Social Security, and Medicare systems we currently have, and replace them with an annual $10,000 check to every citizen who is 21 or older.

This check would start on the 21st birthday, and end at death.

Mr. Murray goes on to show in his book how this replacement plan is actually cheaper to run than our current entitlement plans, and would cost less per person in the end—but I have questions:

1. Who funds the $10,000 per person annual checks?

2. Do immigrants and aliens get in on the action, or just natural-born citizens?

3. What about incarcerated people?

Mr. Murray’s goal is to reinstill some rather old-fashioned family values back into society in order to earn this $10,000 annual check—cutting down on the number of out-of-wedlock births, encouraging marriage, encouraging low birth numbers, and encouraging “satellite families” to live together and pool their money for the benefit of all.

Privacy and individuality are not encouraged with this plan.

Further, he proposes to place demands on that check by recommending that some deductions come out:

1. an estimated $3000 for medical insurance
2. an estimated $2000 for retirement savings
3. a number set by a judge to pay any child support due

These deductions would be taken and managed by Uncle Sam. All annual check proceeds would be tax-free. All annual checks would go directly into a bank account, accessible by Uncle Sam for insuring child support payments, medical insurance premiums, and retirement contributions. He will also be able to directly deposit and freeze accounts as needed.

In this proposed system, we would no longer have Social Security cards. Instead, everyone would have passports with scannable barcodes—either issued at birth and used for program registration, or issued at the inception of the program.

Work would become an option to us, and it would still be taxable. If mothers want to stay home with their kids, they can now do so, making more money than the current welfare system provides them (in cash and benefits). If mothers marry the fathers, they can pool their checks and make even more to offset the loss of income, or use that money to pay for daycare. If both parents work, and that work provides health and retirement benefits, then they can elect NOT to have federal deductions taken out of their annual checks.

In this plan, “family unity” is encouraged, even if it isn’t true family. An example: if six or seven guys want to go in on renting a house in Cape Cod and spend the rest of their lives sailing or windsurfing, they can do it by pooling their money—up until someone decides to drop out of the arrangement. Because the money is completely portable, so is the person (to a point).

In all, the people who would benefit most from this plan are young married parents, single mothers, those married without kids, and the homeless. Everyone else would just be getting a leg up, but it would be a very important leg.

The plan is doable, but I still have questions. The book is intriguing, spells out everything in black and white, and uses very little “intelellectualese”. If you’re a would-be policy wonk, or just interested in ways to end the entitlement state, this is a good read. Short but good, and it will never come to fruition with the current political realities we have now.