Maine Just Put Welfare Leeches In Their Place

Republicans in Maine are celebrating an epic victory with their successful welfare reformation

Governor Paul LePage of Maine passed a measure last year that requires recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program to complete a certain number of work, job-training, or volunteer hours in order to be eligible for assistance. The new requirement has resulted in a dramatic decline in food stamp enrollment

Now that individuals have to complete either 20 hours of part-time work a week, volunteer for at least 24 hours per month, or get involved in a vocational program, the amount of SNAP recipients has dramatically dropped from 12,000 to approximately 2,500

Source

Ha.. Haha..
Good job, Maine! If someone isn't even willing to so much as volunteer for 24 hours PER MONTH, then they don't deserve free handouts.

clearly the meaning of the word 'volunteer' escapes you. and the republicans.

originally posted by: trollz

Republicans in Maine are celebrating an epic victory with their successful welfare reformation

Governor Paul LePage of Maine passed a measure last year that requires recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program to complete a certain number of work, job-training, or volunteer hours in order to be eligible for assistance. The new requirement has resulted in a dramatic decline in food stamp enrollment

Now that individuals have to complete either 20 hours of part-time work a week, volunteer for at least 24 hours per month, or get involved in a vocational program, the amount of SNAP recipients has dramatically dropped from 12,000 to approximately 2,500

Source

Ha.. Haha..
Good job, Maine! If someone isn't even willing to so much as volunteer for 24 hours PER MONTH, then they don't deserve free handouts.

So what happens to those who could afford daycare IF they had a paying gig...but volunteer efforts provide no money to pay a sitter? Therefore, they are even worse off? Not a lot of nuance in the Conservative world, is there?

I'm sure it hurt some of the ones that need it the most!
like the ones that don't own a car or have money for transportation.
To get to the class or volunteer places.
Homeless, etc .

the amount of SNAP recipients has dramatically dropped from 12,000 to approximately 2,500

guess they cleaned up that program !!!!!

Maine would rather go after those people who get their food subsidized before they go after the real leeches that get their paychecks subsidized?

This is why I can't politics in this country, it's so damn hypocritical.

a reply to: trollz

They tried this in Wisconsin the the 90's. The Clinton administration sued to stop it.

I expect the same to happen again. You cannot expect any public service for public payments.

Likewise, we waste tons of money on corporate subsidies that far exceed public assistance. That needs to be stopped as it is even more wasteful.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

Maybe another welfare recipient could volunteer to be a caregiver for a day.

It would be nice if there could be an organized effort to actually organize programs to help this succeed. People could gain some skills and work ethic in the interim, and a community of people would be helping each other get vocational training by volunteering to assist each other in some way needed...."I'll care for your children on Tues. and Thurs. while you take classes and you take care of mine on Mon. and Wed. while I work my hours."

That's okay- the women who now can't feed their kids will just abandon them, which will put them in the foster care program. .. Which your taxes pay for. HA HA HA HA!

Nice choice of pics for the article.

I would assume the person that wrote this article doesn't know that there are more whites on food stamps than blacks. Not to mention Maine is almost 97% white.
So now people that cannot afford food has to try and figure out a way to pay for a sitter with a job they aren't going to get paid for that makes a lot of sense. Also volunteer for what are they now free slaves for companies to use or will they be working for the state?

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

clearly the meaning of the word 'volunteer' escapes you. and the republicans.

no it doesn't, it was planned to rid the system of leeches as the OP's source title said. it is a known fact that those that scam and steal from the system aren't interested in doing any kind of work for the money they got. and don't say it's not true, there are plenty who have admitted it and have been caught doing it.

now that it's down from 12,000 to 2,500 who really are in need, and are willing to do something can get the help they need.
and if there were some who were truly needy out of the 9500 who didn't apply it's more than likely that they didn't want to help themselves or others. just want a free handout, no matter the size of the hand out.

hmmmm..do people stop eating? or do the jails fill up with shoplifters and other people trying to feed their kids and families.

originally posted by: xuenchen

the amount of SNAP recipients has dramatically dropped from 12,000 to approximately 2,500

guess they cleaned up that program !!!!!

Or people were forced to drop out due to not having any way to get care for their kids not to mention not having a way to their "volunteer" job on a regular basis. If one person winds up in the hospital or heaven forbid dies because of this these politicians should be charged with manslaughter.

originally posted by: buster2010

Or people were forced to drop out due to not having any way to get care for their kids not to mention not having a way to their "volunteer" job on a regular basis. If one person winds up in the hospital or heaven forbid dies because of this these politicians should be charged with manslaughter.

originally posted by: kaylaluv

That's okay- the women who now can't feed their kids will just abandon them, which will put them in the foster care program. .. Which your taxes pay for. HA HA HA HA!

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

So what happens to those who could afford daycare IF they had a paying gig...but volunteer efforts provide no money to pay a sitter? Therefore, they are even worse off? Not a lot of nuance in the Conservative world, is there?

WoW !!

The department announced Wednesday that it will require work, public service or job training for recipients who are between the ages of 18 and 49, who have no dependents living with them, who are not pregnant and not disabled.

LePage administration wants adults without children to work to get food stamps

a reply to: trollz

I'm with Rosclaz on this one, how do you equate volunteer with extort? For a guy who brags he has an alleged IQ of 142, your capacity to understand the meanings of words in the context they are used is sorely lacking.

Politicians make the rules, so they f-up the country by destroying the manufacturing sector and then they blame people for being out of work, and then they have the gall to punish those people by using extortion? I think you better give your head a shake and rethink your position or at least pick up a dictionary.

Cheers - Dave

This seems like the least well-fare recipients could contribute to society.

I would never want to be accused of not doing the least I can do!

No, this is legit.

They are excluding people who have dependants, etc. As yet, no one in this thread has raised an objection that really has merit, outside of the "You can't force people to volunteer". And to that I say: they are doing work typically done by volunteers....not doing volunteer work.

Call it "community service" if you like that term better. This is simply turning the hand out back into a hand up.

a reply to: xuenchen
I see you need to work on those reading skills reread what I wrote.

Or people were forced to drop out due to not having any way to get care for their kids not to mention not having a way to their "volunteer" job on a regular basis.

I said people who have kids OR do not have a way to get to their jobs. I covered two thing in that post sorry it escaped your notice.

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

As a man who was unemployed and facing a tough situation in 2009, i can tell you that requiring a person to attend job training in return for SNAP seems very, very reasonable. And were such a measure available to me in 1999, I would have been extremely thankful for it. As it turns out I got lucky and found a corporation that was willing to give me a playground to learn job skills in. Not everyone gets that kind of gig.

This is the state using the states money to make the state a better place. Not make victims, but make more capable workers. Or, at the very least, give the community something back out of their tax dollars by requiring 24 hours a month of community service for people unwilling/unable to recieve job training.

Im kind of baffled how this is not a good thing.

Maine is mostly white people. Curious why your source shows a photo that shows a bunch of black people and right under a title calling them "welfare leeches"? That is wicked racist.