South Carolina Lt. Gov. André Bauer said Wednesday he expects to air his first television ads this week in his campaign to become the state's next governor. To read more, CLICK HERE.

When we say "welfare," we primarily think of the Department of Social Services' family independence program, which in 1995 began limiting the time families could draw cash benefits and began tying that assistance to training and job searches. But welfare is not a single benefit as much as a series of uncoordinated programs offered by numerous state and federal agencies. It includes:

• Food stamps from the Department of Agriculture.
• Housing/rental assistance from the State Housing and Development Board and local housing authorities.
• Medicaid health care from the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Child care through DSS.
• Women, Infants and Children supports from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
• Subsidized school lunches from the Department of Education.
• Earned Income Tax Credits from the IRS.
• LIHEAP energy assistance through the governor's office and community action agencies.
• Transportation from DSS, DHHS and the Office on Aging.

At a forum this week, I spoke out in favor of finding ways to break the government's cycle of handouts and dependency.

Yes, I believe government is "breeding a culture of dependency" which has grown out of control, and frankly, amounts to little more than socialism, paid for by hard-working, tax-paying families against their wishes.

At the same time, I feel strongly that we can and should help our neighbors who are truly needy. In fact, I've spent much of my last seven years helping those in need traveling the state to help provide blankets, shoes, food and health care to those who need it most.

However, there's a big difference between being truly needy and truly lazy.

My suggestion to require parents of children who receive free lunches to attend parent-teacher conferences is simply a common-sense idea to help break the cycle of dependency, while at the same time providing a better education and a brighter future for the children affected.

Requiring drug testing for adults receiving tax-funded benefits is also just good, plain, common-sense.

Yes, I am speaking out for such requirements, even though they may be "politically incorrect" in the eyes of the news media. It's better for the children, it's better for the taxpayers, and, in the end, offering a hand up instead of a hand out will be better for those who have become taxpayer dependents.

Americans are a compassionate people who will always help their brothers who are truly in need. But we cannot and will not allow those who are simply "riding the system" to continue to do so without consequence.

Warren Buffet once said, "No one washes a rental car."

He's right. We must find ways to instill some sense of responsibility or consequence into those who are now a part of the cycle of automatic hand-outs.

Generational welfare is bad for the people on it and bad for the state of South Carolina.

Also, please CLICK HERE to hear the audio file from my speech last night.