Welfare and Poverty

As a nation we have the duty of providing for the poorer among us, and regardless of political affiliation, I do not think any one of us ever wants anyone to go without food on the table, clothes on our backs and a bed to sleep on.
But the question we need to ask is, "What is the best way of providing for the poor and ending poverty?"
A large portion of people, no matter how well they mean, get the answer wrong and are convinced that we need welfare programs-in any and every area that people need help, the govermnent should provide at tax payer expense! Food, housing, clothes, healthcare, etc.
But ever since the War on Poverty came on the scene in America, poverty has skyrocketed in this country!
You see, poverty can't be solved by Government because although there certainly may be some good short-term effects of welfare programs, the long term effects are vastly more dangerous and complex.
Welfare programs eventually create a dependency on government, a loss of liberty, and ruins the incentive for charitable giving.
The most efficient means of helping the poor is through free market economics. The only places on earth that have escaped severe poverty and all it's sad effects are those countries that have embraced free market capitalism and the protection of individual freedoms.

What we need to do to help the poor and end poverty is to lower or abolish the majority of taxation in our state and throw off those heavy tax burdens that do nothing but harm the lower and middle class. We also need to get government red-tape out of our economy so that smaller businesses and individuals can compete in growing markets and create more jobs and more wealth. We need to let competition and consumer freedom lead the way in improving the lot of the ordinary man. We need to end minimum wage so that those who are less educated or experienced can get jobs at lower wages and gain experience and move up the ladder into higher paying jobs.

The result of this growth of wealth is not only more jobs but more funds going to private charities that would then be more than capable of providing for those people who absolutely cannot provide for themselves.

And we also need to fix our welfare system so that it assists people into slowly transitioning into providing for themselves without the government holding them back.
An example of this could be a slow gradual lower in the amount of welfare money they get until they are finally completely financially independent.