Now new warnings, some folks could be doubledipping benefits to the give equivalent of a 20 an hour salary. Here to weigh in, Senior Research fellow at the heritage foundation. Thanks for being with us today, robert. Thank you. Gerri im not sure whatever happened to selfsufficiency but weve got a third of a countryot country makes available. What do you make of that . Im not surprised at all. For the last 30 years meanstested welfare which provides cash, food, housing, and medical care for poor people, and im not including Social Security and medicare in this account, has been the Fastest Growing component of government. We have roughly a third of the u. S. Population on at least one program and last year we spent 920 billion on these programs. A lot of people think, well this happens during recession, then it goes down when the recession ends. That is absolutely not true. What really happens is, the dependency and spending go up a lot during recessions and then they never come down again. Gerri just a totally on silt of what most people think. Weve only seen these numbers go higher. This is 50th anniversary of the war on poverty you would think which would have fewer people in poverty. It is not true. Of course, as you mentioned, were really not talking about Social Security. P people pay into Social Security. Then they tap the money they have set aside over the years. But let me tell you, theres another class of folks out there and i mentioned at the top, some of these people are now earning 20 bucks an hour when they tap several programs at one time. Are people now opting to be on the government dole, to be on handouts, rather than working . No, not really, because you can work at least part time an receive a lot of these benefits. What we simply have is a very large system, very expensive system, costs about 9 to 10,000 per recipient when you add all 80 programs together, which bows to low income people. We can ask, how can you be spending 920 billion a year and still have all these poor people . Gerri right. The answer there is government trick here which is all that spending is not counted as income and therefore has no impact on government poverty. So you could double the spending next year and there would actually be the same level of poverty. But more importantly gerri unbelievable. Unbelievable. I mean, you look at these numbers. They only grow and i want you to respond to some numbers that were out from pew. They talked to people do you consider yourself to be middle class . Today only 57 of americans consider themselves to be middle class. In 2008, that number was 72 . So somethings happening to the american mindset. What is it . I do think that what is happening here, at least in the lower 40 of the population, is that these programs do, not prohibit work but they just discourage the amount of work that is performed and, more importantly, they all severely penalize marriage. So when we started the war on poverty, 77 of children were born outside of marriage. 7 . Today that number is 42 . In low Income Community it could easily be 70 . Those mothers with very low levels of education will be dependent on the government through, a wide variety of programs for the next 20 or 30 years. And the situation just gets worse every year. Gerri almost locks you into poverty forever, right . It certainly locks you into dependence. Gerri not finishing high school, all those things, sort of guaranty lifetime poverty. Right. Gerri and it seems to me we should be trying to prevent that, not encourage it as you just said. There is another factor out there i think that deserves some attention, a poll, that found seven out of tern americans say our economy has been permanently damaged by the great recession. Is that an excuse or is that reality . I think that weve had a lot of trouble with employment for less skilled people now growing for a number of years. So i do think thats a real problem. But the question visavis welfare is, can you redesign these welfare programs so that they encourage people to work, rather than the opposite. The answer is, yes. We did a little bit of that in the 1990s unbill clinton. And it was quite successful. The problem we only reformed one program out of 80. What we need to do with these welfare programs, first of all, control the growth of spending, for example, dont grant amnesty which would put another 11 Million People in eligible for these programs. Gerri wow. And control the spending, put work requirements on any ablebodied person that is getting aid under these programs. Gerri right. And then gyp to encourage marriage, rather than penalize it which the welfare state does now. Gerri quickly, we dont have a lot of time left here but the gao came out with an interesting report on how this money is abused. And frightening when you see what is going on online, because on websites like craigs list, these food stamps are being bought and sold by people who may have no claim to them. For example, there was one offer for, for beer, you no. I give you beer if you give me feud stamps. I will clean your house if you give me clean stamps. Offers of i will give you cash for food stamps. The offer is 240 bucks with 400 worth of food stamps. Maybe people are in deep trouble with debt or drug debt this is what is going on behind closed doors. Is the amount of money were spending for welfare, is that causing some of this widespread abuse . Certainly there is a lot of fraud in the welfare system, in food stamps as well as in the earned income tax credit but the more pertinent thing is, what youre seeing there with people selling food stamps is that they actually have more aid probably than they can spend on food. So theyre trying to cash them out. The real problem is just simpler though. We have for example in the Food Stamp Program close to four million ablebodied, nonelderly adults that dont have kids. Theyre just guys. You know. And they get assistance, around 2,000 a year. Theyre not required to do anything. So the simplest thing to do is say, look, we dont want to put you on the street. We dont want to make you hungry but if were going to give you assistance at the expense of the taxpayer you ought to come down to the office and look for a job under supervision. We know when we do that the number of people who want to stay on the rolls goes down a whole lot. But clearly the liberals dont like any type of work requirement like that, which is why they have undermined the tiny work requirements that do exist in law. Gerri robert, thank you for coming on tonight. Have a great labor day weekend. You too. Gerri that is where were going next. The Holiday Weekend upon us. Thats the good news. We have last Minute Travel alerts plus tips to help you cut down on your costs. We have the Senior Petroleum analyst for gasbuddy. Com and has great news tore drivers. Lets get right to that. Gas prices down. How much . Gerri, nationwide gas prices will be down 12 cents a gallon lower where they were at the same point last year. Gerri that is very good news for people out there who are expecting to try. What is the traffic going to look like . A lot of people get that their cars, theyre fired up, theyre ready to go. What will they find . People have to be prepared for pretty stiff traffic on the interstates especially in the coastal areas, any place that, any places that are the vacation destinations. That is where people are going. They want to be closer to water. So believe me, any of the major arteries, those are places you will likely going to see the greatest traffic buildup. Gerri why are prices so low this year . A number of reasons really contribute to it. The most important one is that we really had a production boom. Oil production in 2014 is at a rate that is a Million Barrels per day higher than what it was last year. Last year we were at. 4 Million Barrels a day. 7. 4 million. Today were at 8. 4 Million Barrels a day. Gerri drill down a little bit into those prices. Tell me the states where travelers will get the best deals, pay the least for gas . In the south we see the lowest prices, south carolina, mississippi, virginia, louisiana, alabama. Those are the five states with the lowest prices nationwide. Gerri that highest unfortunately gerri go right ahead. The highest unfortunately is in addition to alaska and hawaii, you have california and the pacific northwest. Those states are much higher than the rest of the country. Gerri this is sort of traditional. This is sort of traditionally the way it works. The good news your company has an app to help folks find the cheapest gas in the area. Tell us about that. Thats right. This app was started in 2010. Since then we have had 41 million download. The success of it is really driven by crowdsourcing and wordofmouth advertising. People who use this app recognize that theyre saving money on every purchase of gasoline. We say, give it 15 seconds you will save 15 cents a gallon on your purchase of gasoline because that is often the difference between the price that they can pay when they use the app, versus the higher prices that they find in those metro areas. Gerri thats great. A nice tip tip for people out there who are getting into the car. If youre not getting into the car, watch out because flying is 2 more expensive this year. Staying in a hotel, will cost you, if you stay in nice one, cost you 9 more. On some fronts folks are facing higher cost, right. No question about it. Gerri okay. Well, greg, thanks for coming on tonight. Great stuff and as always we love having people on from gas buddy. So thank you. Thank you, gerri. Gerri we have more and more and more to come this hour including your voice. Your voice is important to us. Thats why during the show we want to you facebook me or tweet me gerriwillisfbn. Send me an email by just going to the website gerri willis. Cop. At the bottom of the hour i will read your tweets and email. Next a town in minnesota, listen to this, facing a similar fight to one that raged recently in new york city. Can officials stop a mosque from being built . Our legal panel weighs in next. She inspires you. 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The group wanted to convert nearly 13,000 square feet of an Office Building into a mosque. The city council denied the permit claiming a zoning violation s that legal . Joining me our panel. Sharon is a attorney in denver and bill. Is a partner. Bill, why is the Justice Department getting involved in this. This is discrimination against a Islamic Group shown a need for temple or islamic center. Gerri not a temple. There you go. That was my first mistake. Actually, no. Well, friday is their sabbath, as saturday is the sabbath. Anyway getting back to the chase. On this particular issue the government has to show compelling interest why they cant practice religion in this area. They permit ad Catholic Church in similar zoned area. They also let a union haul on commit in this area which rents, is banquet space out for religious events. So this whole thing i think is very strong and that is why the u. S. Attorney is behind this. Gerri sharon, what do you say . Is this a case of the government trying to retek religious freedom or is it judicial overreach . It is judicial over reach. The u. S. Attorney should mind his own business and stay out of politics and that is what this is b the city is well within their right to do what they did. This is industrialized, zoned area, which means the businesses that are there are businesses. Theyre manufacturing, theyre Office Buildings. They generate jobs. They are not zoned for churches. And i disagree with my opponent, that they did not allow a Catholic Church. Or a church did try to apply in 2011 but they turned them down. Because they did not permit a assembly and that is part of what this group is saying, is, well, if they can assemble, we can assemble. No, that is not true because they denied that request of the church. The union hall, that was done, like in the 90s. The zoning was different then. So they were just grandfathered in. But the citys fine. Gerri okay. Well, big debate here. And bill, what im wondering is, would the same thing be happening if these folks who want to put together a mosque put a mosque on the site were putting a church into the site . What would you say . That is exactly the point. The church permitted was in commercial zone. Gerri debate over the facts here. Commercial zone and Light Industrial zone, what is really the difference . That is why they permitted the church. However, the big difference. The issue here is the religious purpose of assembly is fine. I mean there is no compelling reason for why they cant be there. They looked all over the city for places. It wasnt like they just picked this area. Only place it could be, the government has to have compelling interest to shoot it down. Gerri sharon, youre shaking your head, my friend. Yes i am because i disagree. There is industrial zoning and there commercial zoning. Yes the church is permitted in the commercial zoning as would the mosque be permitted into the commercial zoning this is zoning, Light Industrial zone something what it is categorized. There are a reasons for zoning rules and regulations. To permit certain use and exclude other uses. The city is doing what they need to do. The, the mosque can be set up anywhere in this city but it is not convenient for them because they have a congregation from one end to the other and it is inconvenient for everybody to drive to some location that where they could put the mosque legally. This is just a Central Location that they want. Not that they have to have it. Not that there is no alternatives. There are. Right. But the point is this, the compelling interest the government has would have to be significant. What is difference between Industrial Zone and commercial zone . That is just verbage. There is no difference. Gerri sharon cant belief you. Sharon is disagreeing with you, she thinks there are two different things. I hope you can hear us, sharon. I couldnt hear the bass part, my sound going in and out. They demonstrated they looked all over the city for other places. There were no other places usable. The Planning Commission approved it and city council gerri sharon, go ahead. Hey im sorry, zoning means something. The feds cant just come in and say, were the big guys and were going to tell you what you can and cant do. If they were discriminating, that is one thing but they arent. Theyre simply following their own rules an regulations. And the mosque doesnt belong there. They can go to other areas. This is just most convenient for them. So theyre fighting this and u. S. Attorney is taking up their cause. That is just wrong. Gerri great debate with the two of you tonight. Sharon and bill, thank you so very much. Thank you. You. Later in the shoaf, why has americas love affair with hollywood faded . Will it ever return . Next we have outside look at cocktails this friday on the willis report, were eating and drinking. I will give you a clue, it is not champagne in those bottles. Gerri it is a battle of the bubbly, thats right. Worldwide sales of preseco topped champagne sales better much why is it bubbling to the top while champagne sales are falling flat . Joining me the owner and producer, i hope i said that right, david noto. Thanks for having me. Gerri youre preaching to the choir. I love prosecond co. Tell us about prosecco, why you think it is better. I wouldnt say better but it is different. It has half the sulfides of most champagnes. There are a lot less yeast in the wine itself. I think it is less sugary. So if your objection to champagne it is sugary, prosecco is your drink. Well, prosecco is little sweet as well. It depend whether it is dry, extra dry or brut. Gerri you will take us on a tour. Start with the first prosecco. Tell us about that. This is a lovely wine, prosecco from the growing region of prosecco in northeastern italy, in the veneto region. Its a light wine. It is dry. It is, it has accents of apples. That is what i was trying to say. Trying to memorize my apples, it is very lovely and the least expensive. Gerri tell you this is 11 for a bottle. That is much different than champagne. Gerri number two is la marka. Thor both from the region. Gerri you said around venice, right . Near venice. Veneto region on of italy. This is just to the east. Gerri youve got raspberries here. Youve got chocolate here. What else would you eat with prosecco . You could have desserts, entrees, appetizers by itself. It goes well with whoo. Very nice. I just wanted to see if i could do that. Fantastic, yes. Gerri your third is a