Maine Adds Work Requirement to Welfare Benefits

originally posted by: grandmakdw
I think the option to work 6 hours a week volunteering to get food stamps is too little. If working 20 hours per week is required, why only volunteer for 6 hours?

If a person can't find work, then "working" for food stamps by volunteering is quite a fair trade for the community who is paying for the food. That is not unreasonable at all, nor unfair, nor mean, in fact 6 hours is way too generous for someone who is unemployed and is able bodied.

Unless of course that those six hours are at YOUR place of work and the net result being YOU have six hours less in YOUR wage packet....It's funny how Big Business aint hiring anyone, but when it comes to free labour they have jobs for everyone.

a reply to: xuenchen

On one hand, I think this is great. If you can work, work. Not only does it help you get out and about, but it helps you meet new people and possibly find a job. (Like they say, finding a job when you got a job is a lot easier than when you don't have one!)

On the other hand, I hope they make exceptions for those who can't work and are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm talking mainly about those with mental issues like extreme anxiety. There was a point in my life that if I was forced to work, I'd have taken my life because death seemed a better alternative to people.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: infolurker
Here is the trap- you pass this measure now and those with jobs, money, and stock market accounts, applaud.

Then you slowly raise the "volunteer" work hours while simultaneously destroying the economy. More and more people need assistance as the requirements to receive it increase.

End result: A nation of slaves.

ETA: A PLANET of slaves.

This is exactly what will happen...it is already in motion,slaves in prison are no longer enough they are looking for candidates on the outside...big money in slavery...

Contrast that with how many folks are already doing welfare work as it is. Tell me true: How much is it really worth ... shuffling papers around from desk-to-desk and office-to-office? And now people telecommute to do those things even.

One day ... they'll cut out all the middlemen. The sun'll be shining, the skies'll be blue ... and everyone's gonna be wandering about with a look on their face like a freshly gelded horse. Shut down logistics and utilities ... I'd give it three days.

The 6-hour requirement for those people who are able to work and have no kids and is for "community service" programs.

They aren't going to be taking ur jobs.

They can work in food pantries, goodwill stores, salvation army, or any of the community service programs.

If a person doesn't have any physical or mental limitations and does not have children which is who this applies to then they can even pick up trash on the side of roads to get their $300.00 or so dollars in government handouts for a few hours.

If a person can't manage giving back a little to their community then the community shouldn't have to take care of them.

If work can be found for these people in return for food stamps then why can't those people be paid with money instead of food? Pay them with money then they can stop claiming and buy their own food, ya know, like other working people do.

Pay people for their labour so they can get off benefits and pay their own way.

You hate those who claim benefits and resent your taxes being used to feed/clothe/house them and moan at them to get off their arses and get a job, then in the next breath you're all happy for your taxes to continue to be paid to them when work is found for them.

Do you want them to get off benefits or don't you?

a reply to: doobydoll
But if they get off benefits they will be like the rest of us, so we will have no one to look down upon and cast judgement upon.

I'd a 57 year old widow who've recently lost her husband. I worked at a printing company for 7 years before I left the company. I got tired of trying to do the work while limping around, pushing ink that was too think to get through the screens that were actually too heavy for me to lift. And my boss got tired of me not being as fast as everyone else. So we agreed that I should leave.. I took two jobs after that one and well didn't last long at all on either of them. SInce then I had been playing happy homemaker and taxi driver for my son driving him to and from college. I have no income and well hate to tell ya's all this but it seems the only things that the gov't would give me is a tad bit of food stamps and a little bit of help with the electric bill, and you are gonna need an address to get those.

Would love to know how these people are living since I was led to believe that the changes that took away most of the assistance was done at the federal level!!!

originally posted by: PorteurDeMort
I live in Maine. Let me tell you, there aren't many jobs and there are even less year round jobs. Lepage has a vendetta against people who need assistance. The man is not fit to run a town let alone a state. For a self proclaimed man of the people, his policies are in direct opposition to that claim.

Consider this:

Most poor people pay some amount in taxes somehow (sales, etc.).
Most poor people do not receive that much back in assistance.
Most people pay 45% or more (including all taxes)
It has been estimated that as much as 85% of all revenue is consumed by the bureaucracy rather than spent on the mandate of the department or agency.

Take a look at this chap. He was 'let go' from his paid job and joined the ranks of the unemployed. Then the DWP wanted him to do the same job with the same company but with no pay ...
www.theguardian.com...

A man who was let go at the end of a temporary job has been ordered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to work for the same firm for six months without pay.

He says he was happy to work for LAMH under the now-defunct future jobs fund for the minimum wage in 2010-2011, but refuses on principle to do the same job unpaid.

The taxpayers have to pay people when they don't work, and now they also have to pay them when they do work.

The tax-dodging company bosses are rubbing their hands with greedy glee, they are getting the same work done without paying for it because YOU, being the taxpayer mugs that you are, are now bearing their labour costs. And you're all for it.

Someone please tell me why taxpayers should pay people to work for a profit-making private company? Where is the return for taxpayers on this investment in private companies? It's in the pockets of CEO's and shareholders that's where, and all the taxpayer gets out of it is a big two-finger salute.

a reply to: Grimpachi

I agree too. No free handouts. There is plenty of work that could be done to earn welfare. Earned income credits and Child credits should be earned too. Explain to me why the money I earned working should be handed freely to people for nothing in return?

Welfare is a symptom and not a cause ...

A government is duty bound to care to for it's citizens ... whether they do or not is highly debatable.

Yet governments act independently of the peoples wishes and many know they are conned.

The closing down of many industry's and trade deals with Asia ... importing goods made by "Slave Labour" quite often ...
And in the "Land of the Free" skills are being lost ... whilst mindless drone like work is increasing .

originally posted by: PorteurDeMort
I live in Maine. Let me tell you, there aren't many jobs and there are even less year round jobs. Lepage has a vendetta against people who need assistance. The man is not fit to run a town let alone a state. For a self proclaimed man of the people, his policies are in direct opposition to that claim.

I, too, live in Maine (howdy!) but I'm afraid I've got to take senior psycopaths side, here.

-I've been steadily employed since I got my first job out of high school- at first it was steady full time warehouse work while I was doing full time college.
-By the time I was done with college, it was full time work in my current career path, plus part time retail sales.
-From 2010 to 2014, I doubled my "adjusted" income (according to my w-2's)

And according to the research I've done recently, a smart move now would land me between 30 and 50% more income than I'm making.


And yet, every day I go to work I see dozens (if not hundreds) of 'homeless' roaming the streets begging for money. I see them ride the busses, paying with their unlimited bus ride passes they get from the state when they can schedule three or more doctors appointments (also paid for by tax dollars) in the course of a month. I've seen them hop on the bus just to ride three blocks. Those busses get their funding from tax dollars based on how many people ride them, so there are plenty of city sponsored loopholes giving out free rides to anyone who has the time to just ride the bus all day.
I see them smoking cigarettes, and I see them swiping their EBT cards at the ATM in front of the liquor store.

I recently started tracking my dollars- and something like 47% of them evaporate into taxes. I couldn't afford to smoke cigarettes even if I wanted to- but someone who is either unwilling or unable to work can buy a pack on me.

I work for a company in an industry where we have been trying to hire people for two years, now. If there's a lack of jobs, it's a lack of jobs that don't require people who can think- because there's no lack of work that needs to be done.

Maybe it's not so much a lack of available jobs, but a surplus of incompetent humans unfit to work?
If he sat down and couldn't find people abusing the system, someone needs to take a good hard look at how they define abuse.

a reply to: Xeven
there isn't even plenty of work for those who are wanting to support their own families!!! And many of those jobs they want to tap into the volunteers used to be paying jobs.

raising children IS work! keeping a home is work. And guess what I've done both while also holding a job for 40+ hours a week. it gave me maybe 4 hours a sleep a night and that was with a husband and alot of the housework never did get done completely!

I approve of this decision. It's been long enough since the economic crash. There are enough jobs out there to have one. They may not all pay fantastically, but that's what these programs are for.

originally posted by: doobydoll

Take a look at this chap. He was 'let go' from his paid job and joined the ranks of the unemployed. Then the DWP wanted him to do the same job with the same company but with no pay ...
www.theguardian.com...

A man who was let go at the end of a temporary job has been ordered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to work for the same firm for six months without pay.

He says he was happy to work for LAMH under the now-defunct future jobs fund for the minimum wage in 2010-2011, but refuses on principle to do the same job unpaid.

My son works for LAHM,(payed, 6 Months then back on the dole) Since they were exposed they said they are no longer involved in Workfare...Lies, And here's where it gets even more sinister.

Of the 15 or so workforce, 7 are payed the rest are not, but the sad part is. The ones who are not being payed were once employed by Remploy,

For those who are not familiar with Remploy they were company set up in the 1940's to help those with Learning disabilities, A company the Tories cut funding to laying them all off, only to be rehired by Bastards like LAHM for free.
I know one guy personally, His name is Robert, he's a bit slow, probably got a mental age of about 12...Where Robert was once classed as the same as the rest of us, classed as a contributor to society, he had a job and he had dignity.. Robert now works for his benefits...Do not believe for one minute that this is a one of situation BTW..

a reply to: lordcomac
what are these positions that are open?
does the company do a credit check before they hire and well use the credit scores when deciding to hire? Because there's a ton of people out there that have crappy credit now!
do they require experience and special skills before they are hired on?
do they require heavy lifting and other physical activity that those you are seeing wandering the streets would be unable to do?
and are they paying a living wage or just enough to get them off the welfare rolls but in reality leaving them worse off then they were while on them?
I am not legally considered handicapped but I got to tell ya now that I would rather die homeless and starving before I would go back to limping around and being in pain 24/7 just to earn a wage that still keeps me struggling just to get by!

originally posted by: dawnstar
a reply to: lordcomac
what are these positions that are open?

Network engineering.

does the company do a credit check before they hire and well use the credit scores when deciding to hire? Because there's a ton of people out there that have crappy credit now!

No- but we do a background check.

do they require experience and special skills before they are hired on?

Of course they do- we're not stocking shelves at walmart, here. At the very least, it requires someone who has a basic understanding of how the internet works, and it requires someone who can type. Someone who can think, and do basic math.
Aside from the ability to think, all of these skills were highschool level classes.

do they require heavy lifting and other physical activity that those you are seeing wandering the streets would be unable to do?

Nope- I miss the good old days where I got exercise at work. These days, it's a whole lot of sitting on ass.

and are they paying a living wage or just enough to get them off the welfare rolls but in reality leaving them worse off then they were while on them?

The listing we've got up right now shows a starting pay of 60k-75k a year. IIRC minimum wage is something like 20k. Welfare pays more than minimum wage does- what a mess.

I am not legally considered handicapped but I got to tell ya now that I would rather die homeless and starving before I would go back to limping around and being in pain 24/7 just to earn a wage that still keeps me struggling just to get by!

I can't argue, there. I'm also not considered handicapped, but if I'm on my feet on a concrete floor for more than two hours my whole body aches.

I didn't read the whole thread but I read enough of the comments to see that many here seem to think that this is a good thing somehow.

Giving people food in exchange for work without pay is a giant step backward toward something that took many years of fighting for workers rights to correct.

You dummies who think this costs you anything need to stop running your mouths about things you know nothing about.

If the corporations that supply and sell the food have no complaints I suppose they must enjoy some benefit from partaking in the entire mess while many ignorantly repeat the stupid rhetoric they hear on TV and from people who have no clue of what they are spouting off about.

What we have here is a real need for a change to be made but those who benefit from the way things operate now don't wish to step aside and allow things to change and improve.

It isn't so much that jobs have gone overseas that is harming our workforce as it is their jobs being replaced with technology which makes their labor unnecessary and no longer needed.

originally posted by: MyHappyDogShiner
I didn't read the whole thread but I read enough of the comments to see that many here seem to think that this is a good thing somehow.

Giving people food in exchange for work without pay is a giant step backward toward something that took many years of fighting for workers rights to correct.

You dummies who think this costs you anything need to stop running your mouths about things you know nothing about.

Who exactly DOES it cost then? Because frankly, nothing is free. Last I checked, tax money goes to pay for these services, so while this is a state issue and only Maine taxes go to this program, it certainly DOES cost the taxpayer something. To say otherwise is idiotic.

If the corporations that supply and sell the food have no complaints I suppose they must enjoy some benefit from partaking in the entire mess while many ignorantly repeat the stupid rhetoric they hear on TV and from people who have no clue of what they are spouting off about.

Of course they don't complain, they are getting paid for their food regardless of where the money is coming from.

What we have here is a real need for a change to be made but those who benefit from the way things operate now don't wish to step aside and allow things to change and improve.

It isn't so much that jobs have gone overseas that is harming our workforce as it is their jobs being replaced with technology which makes their labor unnecessary and no longer needed.

What's wrong with working for the food you eat? The economy isn't in the toilet anymore. Get a job, even if it is low paying.

What I don't understand is how someone who is broke and not working and hungry can afford to say no to the jobs programs, what are they living on now?

Back in the day many years ago you had to look for work if you were able and your children were in school, when did that all stop?

They would even place you in jobs.

They didn't supplement your income either, once you found work there was no more food stamps no free medical.