Welfare Checks for Dog-Whistling Dummies

Police officer making welfare check

Are you familiar with the term "dog-whistle"? It's sometimes also known as a code word, something that most people will find innocuous while the intended audience "knows exactly what you're talking about." Donald Trump is often accused – correctly, we suspect – of using dog-whistles in those rally speeches. One such politically loaded phrase, dating from the Reagan era, is "welfare check"; and eHowian William McFadden (aka Artesia Peluso? aka Jennifer vanBaren?) jumped right on that dog's back in the Sapling.com article "What Is a Welfare Check?"¹

Those of us who pay attention to what's going on around us are quite aware of the welfare check that McFadden describes, since they're so well-known that one would not expect anyone unfamiliar with the term to be bright enough to use a computer and search engine. On the other hand, there is another meaning of the phrase besides the one William predictably seized upon and described as,

"...a check distributed by the government to people whose low income places them below a prescribed living standard called the poverty line..."

...in which he also managed to misuse the word "prescribed." Duh.

Well, William/Artesia/Jennifer, why not try this other definition on for size. It's one that doesn't immediately call to mind images of welfare moms driving Cadillacs and chowing down on lobster bought with "food stamps." It's what's known as a "police welfare check": at the request of a friend, relative, or neighbor, the local police will dispatch an officer to the home or office of someone who is not responding to contact. The officer will knock on the door and, if no one answers, announce him-or her-self as law enforcement and enter the building to check on the welfare of the occupant – in other words, see if he or she is ill or incapacitated.

But no, McFadden fell for the dog-whistle... and in the process misinformed readers by claiming that "food stamps" and low-income energy assistance programs are welfare checks, and rattling off the confusing (and non-parallel),

"To qualify for these programs, applicants must meet several stipulations that fluctuate based on the program. Some categories of qualifications include people lacking job skills and applicants must have dependent children living in the household." It's a pretty safe bet that the OQ had probably heard the phrase "welfare check" in a public safety setting and was confused. Suffice it to say that anyone who wonders the same thing and googles the phrase is likely to end up reading the bullshit answer McFadden supplied. All hail our Dumbass of the Day for this contribution to the stupidification of the internet.

¹ Wow: Leaf Group sent this one to the rewrite team and the clean-up hitter must have Googled the term and found this post... whatever the case, the new answer references a "police welfare check." If you'd like to see McFadden's dumbassery, though, feel free to use the WayBack machine at aarchive.org. The URL was ehow.com/facts_7614079_welfare-check.html

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