America’s Rich Poor
February 21st, 2008
I received an email today purporting to show a Louisiana lifelong welfare recipient complaining that the system was abusing her. She was shown sitting in a bathrobe, next to a big screen TV, on fine hardwood floors, decorated with plenty of interior designer items, and a narrative that described her as ungrateful for the dependent lifestyle she had been taking from the rest of us.
I don’t know about you, but when I get emails like this, I am a little skeptical. So I look them up on snopes.com, a wonderful website dedicated to debunking internet cons.
I was surprised to find snopes.com list the status on the saga of our rich, yet ungrateful, poor as “multiple.”
America must have the richest poor in the world.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
This woman is the CREATION of Liberalsim. She, undoubtedly, will vote Democrat as she is the product of ‘womb to tomb’ dependency and doesn’t even know it! Her will to survive is governed by her will to accept what the government will give her. A sad day…
The real question is, ‘when she dies, when she faces her maker, what will she claim as her contribution in life?
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 am
No wonder Obama is so popular, hold on to your wallets!
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:38 am
In Sweden, every working person contributes a portion of their paycheck to an unemployment fund. If you become unemployed, you recieve 80% of your income for 18 months. If you are still unemployed after 18 months and you own a car, house, or life insurance, you are REQUIRED to sell all of your assets before continuing on unemployment. A local person in Sweden reports that social welfare beyond the 18 months is so small and uncomfortable (as it should be) that people in Sweden know they are better off taking some type of job near the end of their 18 months.
I have been working part-time since age 16, full time since age 22. I do not own a big screen tv and have regular standard carpet. –Quite frankly, my tax money probably helped pay for this woman’s nice floors, when as a working person, I could and should be enjoying those in my own home.
There has got to be a firm cut-off date for unemployment/welfare, 18 months sounds good to me. And, get rid of Section 8 Housing. What ever happened to earning your way into the middle and upper class?
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:24 am
You can point the finger at Republicans for this as well - if not completely. Republicans had all the control for 4 years to cut people like this woman off and did little or nothing to end this. Republicans literally could have ended this abuse, but were too focused on “priorities” such as trying to ensure that Bob and Steve didn’t get married - and trying to see that rape victims had to carry their attacker’s babies to term.
Republicans as a whole have lost sight of the mission and we’re all about to pay the price. Also, remember Republicans created one of the biggest useless wastefull bureaucracies in history - the mammoth and moronic Department of Homeland (Waste) Security.
Not to mention being engaged in this moronic “war” (for lack of a better word). More like “economic sinkhole from which we will likely never recover”. I hope a real war doesn’t pop up with a real enemy.
Don’t worry - money is running out and the dollar is floundering. Hopefully the first thing to go will be this sort of thing here. Unreal.
PS: Nice leather couch as well.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am
When the Government pays more for something, they get more of it. I tell our leaders, If you pay more for unemployment (ie. extend unemployment benefits) you get more unemployment!
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I want to ditto Doug’s comments. Republicans should stop trying to push their social agendas, the drug war, the privacy act, etc. and stick to those tasks granted to government by the constitution. This is all bread and circuses, pandering for votes.
As far as Section 8 housing, on more than one occasion I’ve had employees quit their jobs because they were making too much money to qualify for “housing” and they didn’t want to lose that.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:37 am
First and formost, there is a huge difference between unemployment and welfare. Unemployment means that you at least have BEEN Working. Also, the Employeer pays for most of the costs of Unemployment. The cut off is 18 months (at least in Nevada) and so it should be.
Welfare goes on for generations! People on Welfare are not required to work and the working people of America are the ones paying for it. Most Welfare recipients have never even learned how to work and I find that unacceptable.
The woman in the picture certainly has a nicer home than mine. The exception is that I can take pride in the fact that I and my late husband worked to earn my home.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
We do have short memories don’t we? The welfare reform of 1996 which the Republican congress pushed down the throat of Bill Clinton does not allow federal tax dollars to be paid out in welfare from generation to generation anymore. There is a 5 year life time limit on welfare benefits.
This woman may have grown up on welfare prior to welfare reform, however the real source of her current dependancy is most likely the New Orleans welfare system.
There is a seperate tax on all forms of entertainment in New Orleans that is specifically for their local welfare program, and yes there are many who are multigeneration on this system.
One of the reasons that the impact of Katrina was so much worse on New Orleans than the other states that were also hard hit is the learned dependancy.
People sat in their apartments waiting for someone from the government to come and rescue them as they had no idea how to get themselves out of their flooding homes.
I’m not sure what the heck allowing a new benefit, gay marriage, or accepting the destruction of 4000 human preborn lives has to do with this, but what the hey!
February 24th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
The five year limit was placed on cash assistance, just one of six or so federal components of welfare (Nevada has at least two additional components that come to mind off the top of my head, taxicab coupons and power bill reimbursements). All the other components of welfare do not have the time limit, so (for example) section 8 housing goes and goes and goes.
I remember how disappointed I was to learn all this during my first session in Carson City.