"Poor people don't pay taxes"

reply to post by theQuest


How do they get past the 60 month time limit?

www.dss.state.la.us...

In addition, according to the document above, you'd have to have a family size of 18+ to get a cash grant of $900 a month.

Do you have any links to the recent programs where an individual can draw $900 a month while not working?

Having been through the system here in Utah, I'd say they go way too far and are damaging people, especially people like me.

I worked in EVERY SINGLE STATE I lived in until I came here, where they disregard labor law, yet expect you to work regardless of barriers.

I'm NOT impressed, and I'm far worse off now than I was before these hateful people got their hands on me. I'm not the same person as I was before, and it makes me angry.

jimbyrd.wordpress.com...

here's a case that actually made the news around here, and has been the topic of debate since it was published in December. This is what Welfare looks like in Louisiana. This lady, Sharon Jasper, has recieved Welfare for 57 of her 58 years.
Yeah, there's no abuse of the system here.....

reply to post by theQuest


It's satire.

www.snopes.com...

You don't help your case when you provide quotes that are slanted to support a particular point of view.

And for every story like that one trumpeted around by the right wing, you have stories like this:

Feb. 7, 2006 | NEW ORLEANS -- Without having a lot of money, it's almost impossible to find a place to live in New Orleans. People who came here after Hurricane Katrina, seeking rebuilding jobs, figured they could rent apartments or cheap rooms. But there's little housing to be had in Crescent City, and what is available rents for double what it cost before.

With nowhere to go, dozens of people have taken up residence in New Orleans City Park, sleeping in tents or under jury-rigged blue tarps. A group of Apache Indians from Arizona has even set up a teepee. Seeking to impose some sort of order, the city contracted with an Alabama firm called Storm Force, which has corralled people into a few manageable fields and started charging $300 a month for muddy plots big enough for four or five tents, huddled close together. Showers are available for $5.

www.salon.com...

They turned the despair of homelessness into a profiteering opportunity. It's really "compassionate" to profiteer off despair.

And this one:

NEW ORLEANS - As she pushed a shopping cart of belongings through the still-life of the Lower 9th Ward, Tamara Martin knew only one source of shelter for this city’s burgeoning homeless population: the thousands of buildings left vacant and rotting nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina.

The angular 33-year-old, who takes the anti-anxiety drug Lexapro to drive away what she calls “that evil solution” of crack coc aine, slept for two months in the shell of her childhood home, rejected by family and emergency shelters who said they had no room for an addict.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Why is it that the people who abuse the system are the only ones who matter to folks like you?

The people who abuse the system are the only ones that concern me because those are the ones who are corrupting the system! For the ones that truly need assistance, I agree, they should get a helping hand to get them back on their feet. But the ones that make Welfare a career, they are the problem. And contrary to what you may believe, not only do these people exist, but they exist in far greater numbers than you can imagine. And the woman listed in the previous post, Sharon Jasper, is a true story, and is not just an isolated case.

As I said earlier, my wife works in the Social Services community, I think she knows a lot more concerning this subject than you, but if it makes you feel better you keep on believing the system is good and no one gets past the 60 month window. Whatever helps you sleep at night..

reply to post by theQuest


My point is that all the hate that gets passed around on this issue makes life very hard for those who aren't gaming the system.

In my case, it had disasterous health effects.

What's wrong with balance? Couldn't the person you pointed to be banned from the system without turning it into proof that the system doesn't work and should be abolished?

There's a lot of suffering in our country right now, yet the stories keep going around that we're all gaming the system... There are consequences to that.

Here are some myths and facts on the subject:

cobacourses.creighton.edu...

It is listed right on the Snopes site as satire.

www.snopes.com...

reply to post by AWingAndASigh



Yet again, I agree with you. There is no real way to fix the system as it is. There are many, many individuals who are truly in need of assistance. There is no disputing that. There is an elderly gentleman a few doors down from me who worked his entire life, had money saved for his retirement and truly expected to live comfortably. However, he has had so many medical problems that he found himself in and out of the hospital. Since he worked all his life, and has money, he is not eligible for the free care that is afforded to others. So he soon went through his savings. Now he is basically broke. He gets a pension from the military, which covers his bills and medications, and has little money left to do what he expected to be doing in his golden years, traveling and whatever. He is proud that he worked his entire life, but sees himself in basically the same position that a lifelong Welfare leech is in. Is that fair to him? No. The money that should be there to assist these people who truly deserve it is not available because it is being given out to able bodied individuals who do not need it, who are able to work. You worked your entire life, you too should be able to get assistance from the Gov to improve your quality of life. You earned it.
I understand my point of view on this may seem a bit harsh, but it is because I see it first hand, and hear the stories from my Wife about these things, when I have always worked hard to get what I have. Welfare is supposed to be assistance, not an expected lifeline. The way the system is set up in Utah is so much better, I would love to see that implemented here, but it will never happen.....

Originally posted by AWingAndASigh
reply to post by theQuest

 

My point is that all the hate that gets passed around on this issue makes life very hard for those who aren't gaming the system.

In my case, it had disasterous health effects.

What's wrong with balance? Couldn't the person you pointed to be banned from the system without turning it into proof that the system doesn't work and should be abolished?

There's a lot of suffering in our country right now, yet the stories keep going around that we're all gaming the system... There are consequences to that.

Yes, and there are cases that are investigated all the time, and are dealt with. People do go to jail, I don't want to give the impression that the Sate of Louisiana doesn't try to curtail this. It's just that for every 5 they catch, 20 more are popping up.

reply to post by theQuest


You only think Utah is better because you haven't had to go through the system here.

They almost killed me.

And no, they DON'T think I have the right to get money from the government, even though I earned it.

Which is part of the reason why I'm so angry over the subject.

IMO, it's gone too far and is hurting those who the system was designed to help.

What pisses me off more than anything is the implication that I should be out all the money I paid in for SS all these years because others don't like the system or the idea that I can draw from it because I need it.

That's the situation in Utah right now, it's way, way out there, and it's hurting a lot of people.

But the attitude is who cares as long as it doesn't cost money...

You want to see heartless, talk to a few of my neighbors. When one of the locals told me that we shouldn't take care of our injured veterans coming home from Iraq because it costs money, I stopped listening to anything these cretins had to say.

It doesn't stop them from abusing me left and right, however...

reply to post by theQuest

Do yourself a favor, and reply to this tonight after you exhausted yourself today knocking on doors seeking employment.

Do yourself a favor, don't look like a fool presuming that I fall into the mold of your stereotype.

Allow me to enlighten you. I actually do go out every single day looking for work. Some days I even pick up an odd job to put a little money in the gas tank to get myself to the soup-kitchen. Other days I go hungry.

Instead of being on this damn website, where you are not going to find a job, you should be on Monster.Com or out putting in applications. You have been posting so much on Tax laws, go to H&R block and get a job filing taxes, this is peak season, they are always hiring.

Point of fact, I post here on this website, in between applying for jobs online and emailing resumes, after I have spent the whole day out looking for work. Furthermore, this happens to be my ONLY form of "entertainment." No TV, no video games, no reading a good book, and very little sleep.

And no, they are not always hiring. I was already turned down there for a job.

Then you are a poster child for the argument.

You are the poster child for the arrogant attitude that drives poor people to tie up families and burn their houses down while making off with the loot.

reply to post by jackinthebox


I'm sorry that you're going through difficult times right now. I know how hard that is. No matter how dark it seems, it will turn around, it just takes time. You just have to hang in there and keep on plugging away. It will pay off...

And I think I'm even more sorry there are people who don't understand that bad things can happen to good people and put them on the street through no fault of their own.

Try to keep your spirits up. It WILL get better.

reply to post by theQuest

If you really want to be concerned about welfare fraud, here are the REALLY big welfare frauds, that have robbed more money from the US Treasury and Americans than all the poor people you talk about, that are just trying to feed their families:

ENRON, Ken Lay, Skilling and Arthur Andersen- BILLIONS robbed from us

The Savings and Loan Scandal- the biggest robbery of the US Treasury in history: just a few examples below:

James Fail invested $1000 of his own money to purchase 15 failing S&L's. The government reimbursed him $1.85 billion in federal subsidies.

The goverment bail out will cost the taxpayers around $1.4 trillion dollars when it is over.

For a more complete list:
www.inthe80s.com...

Dick Cheney, Halliburton and all of the no-bid contracts in Iraq- Costing the US Treasury BILLIONS

Yes, welfare fraud does exist, but nothing on a scale comparable to the above cases.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Don't forget the Iraq war itself. That's a multi- trillion dollar boondoggle if I ever saw one.

And it didn't just cost money - it cost a lot of American lives.

reply to post by AWingAndASigh

I'm sorry that you're going through difficult times right now. I know how hard that is. No matter how dark it seems, it will turn around, it just takes time. You just have to hang in there and keep on plugging away. It will pay off...

And I think I'm even more sorry there are people who don't understand that bad things can happen to good people and put them on the street through no fault of their own.

Try to keep your spirits up. It WILL get better.

Well said, my friend. I don't think anyone could have put it better.
Peace and good fortune to both of you.

reply to post by AWingAndASigh

Don't forget the Iraq war itself. That's a multi- trillion dollar boondoggle if I ever saw one.

And it didn't just cost money - it cost a lot of American lives.

Yes, American lives and Iraqi lives. I lot of innocent people were bombed into oblivion during "shock and awe".
In addition, as you've indicated, our economy is being bombed back to the stone age. We don't have enough money to provide health care for all of our citizens (the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't), but we have plenty of money to bomb the heck out of towns and cities.

Perhaps I am the poster-child for this argument.

In my younger years, I grew up in a family that was quite well off. In my teens, I had a rude awakening. My father lost his business, and left us in a house that was crumbling. The roof was literally caving in the last Winter before we lost the house. I slept in a room where the back wall was a sheet of ice.

I started working at age 14. When I couldn't work, I made money in black-market sales. School became my sales floor instead of an education in books. All of this so I could contribute to a failing household. To keep the heat on, to buy bread to make mayonnaise sandwhiches. To keep my mother's jalopy running. My brother, though younger, also worked as soon as he could.

When they finally came and threw us out of the house, I was homeless until I started shacking-up with a girl that was no good for me to be around. When that ended, I was homeless again. This time, for longer.

Eventually, my brother and I managed to scrape up enough money to make the deposit on an apartment. Neither of us could afford to live on our own, but managed to get by pooling our incomes. That ended for me when my brother joined the Army. I could not follow because of bad knees.

Over the next few years, I maxed out my credit cards paying the bills. No new cars, no new electronics. In fact, I had picked my TV out of a dumpster.

Then I brought in another girl to shack up with. She wasn't too bad, but it was not much more than a mutually beneficial arrangement. She also worked, but could not afford a place on her own, even though she made a little bit more money than I did even. Within a few years, we grew to hate eachother, and I was alone again.

The last two Winters I spent there, I couldn't afford to turn the heat on above 55 degrees. No television. Use one light bulb at a time to save on the power bill. Then I lost my job. I wore a shield until I broke my arm. Two months later, I was homeless again.

I have heard every excuse in the book now why I can't be hired, after the few interviews I have actually been able to get. I don't speak Spanish, so I can't flip burgers. I'm "overqualified" for other jobs. Others don't even bother to give me an excuse or to return my calls.

I can't go back into my field until I have some legal problems cleared up, not that I really want to wear a shield anymore anyway the way this country is going. So I went for some help for job training. Catch-22. No dollars can be alloted until I secure a stable housing situation.

And even after all of this, I still have to pay taxes this year.

[edit on 3/3/0808 by jackinthebox]

The real point to sharing my story, is that there are plenty of people out there who have worked, and are willing to work, but still cannot afford to get by. That's all there is to it. Why bother getting up and goint to work everyday if that job doesn't even pay enough to provide for the basic necessities of life? No wonder why people say "f*** it, I give up, show me the welfare check and the free ramen noodles."

[edit on 3/3/0808 by jackinthebox]

Originally posted by jackinthebox
The real point to sharing my story, is that there are plenty of people out there who have worked, and are willing to work, but still cannot afford to get by. That's all there is to it. Why bother getting up and goint to work everyday if that job doesn't even pay enough to provide for the basic necessities of life? No wonder why people say "f*** it, I give up, show me the welfare check and the free ramen noodles."

[edit on 3/3/0808 by jackinthebox]

Wow really? Your right just dont get up, dont find a job, dont try to make life better for yourself, just mooch off of society for the rest of your life. What a JoKe! I understand people go through tough times and need some help everyonce in a while but if you are just going to give up, you do not deserve a welfare check or anything else from anybody.

reply to post by bakednutz


Why not? I'll just be taking it from all "you people" who are too good for me anyway? I am physically disabled by laziness. I am mentally disabled from the depression cause by millionaries who preach about what it means to be poor.

EDIT to add:

What's the point of trying to find a job? I haven't been very successful so far. And even if I do find one, I still can't afford to support myself on the pay.



[edit on 3/3/0808 by jackinthebox]

reply to post by jackinthebox


Do you really think that it is cool to mooch off of all us hard working Americans? You are disabled by laziness? Is that suppose to be funny? Do you think all of those million aires got where they are today by putting into practice the same attitude you have? If there are millions of illegals in this country that can find jobs and make a decent living, you can to. If anything, it is your attitude and outlook on life that is keeping you down. No more self pitty.

I wish you the best of luck in your search for a job.