86% of strident conservatives think the poor "have it easy" (1 Viewer)

[TheWalkmen]

Here is the thing... I wouldn't want to switch places with them. I enjoy my life. I like spending money. I like traveling. I like having a big yard.

All that being said, I see enough poor people(my company is located in the heart of one the worst areas in milwaukee) every day just hanging out walking around. The basketball courts are all full. They are out walking their pit bulls. They come and hang out on the front stoop of our building. They steal parts from our trucks in broad daylight.

We aren't talking about just a few people either. I literally see hundreds every day. The unemployment numbers in this area are staggering.

On the flip side I also see people waiting at bus stops wearing work uniforms. I see the same woman 3-4 times a week. I can tell by where she works she spends about an hour on the bus each day, each way.

One of these lifestyles is very hard. The other, although not desirable, isn't exactly hard. In fact it is pretty damn easy. These are the people that are most noticeable. They are loud, inconsiderate, leaches of society. They give the true working poor a bad deal. People would be far more willing to help if they knew their money wasn't going to iphones, air jordans and pit bull chow.

 

[MC Gas Money]

The people who have never been poor think they know everything about it. Its like a white person who thinks they know what its like to be black or a man thinking he knows what its like to be a woman.

With downsizing, outsourcing, automation and mega corporations destroying private local business where exactly is everyone born at the bottom of the ladder supposed to work? Walmart for 23 hours a week and sleep in a tent?

There arent enough jobs. Should they just die?

Poverty isnt always a poor persons fault. Anyone of you elitists could catch sone bad breaks and wind up poor. You are just an illness or serious injury away.

Then you will know and regret what ypu said about the poor in the past

Finally! Someone hit the nail on the head. We want them to die!

That is exactly what a lot of people want, which is what would happen if assistance was cancelled.

 

[Christo]

The people who have never been poor think they know everything about it. Its like a white person who thinks they know what its like to be black or a man thinking he knows what its like to be a woman.

With downsizing, outsourcing, automation and mega corporations destroying private local business where exactly is everyone born at the bottom of the ladder supposed to work? Walmart for 23 hours a week and sleep in a tent?

There arent enough jobs. Should they just die?

Poverty isnt always a poor persons fault. Anyone of you elitists could catch sone bad breaks and wind up poor. You are just an illness or serious injury away.

Then you will know and regret what ypu said about the poor in the past

Finally! Someone hit the nail on the head. We want them to die!

That is exactly what a lot of people want, which is what would happen if assistance was cancelled.

You are insane

 

[MC Gas Money]

The people who have never been poor think they know everything about it. Its like a white person who thinks they know what its like to be black or a man thinking he knows what its like to be a woman.

With downsizing, outsourcing, automation and mega corporations destroying private local business where exactly is everyone born at the bottom of the ladder supposed to work? Walmart for 23 hours a week and sleep in a tent?

There arent enough jobs. Should they just die?

Poverty isnt always a poor persons fault. Anyone of you elitists could catch sone bad breaks and wind up poor. You are just an illness or serious injury away.

Then you will know and regret what ypu said about the poor in the past

Finally! Someone hit the nail on the head. We want them to die!

That is exactly what a lot of people want, which is what would happen if assistance was cancelled.

You are insane

You obviously dont know the meaning of the word insanity.

Its a fact that its impossible to end poverty without a drastic change in the system. The middle class and rich dont like recieving assistance.

What exactly do they want if not for the poor to just dissapear?

 

[MC Gas Money]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

 

[Christo]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

 

[MC Gas Money]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

 

[Kevrunner]

If the poor means indigent, then they need all of the help that we can give them, but I don't think most people put poor and indigent into the same category of people.

 

[northern exposure]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

How much would the FFA have to pay you in "benefits" to just go away?

 

[MC Gas Money]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

How much would the FFA have to pay you in "benefits" to just go away?

I wont leave. You spend your days ridiculing people online. That is sad so im not going to leavefor you

 

[Christo]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

How much would the FFA have to pay you in "benefits" to just go away?

I wont leave. You spend your days ridiculing people online. That is sad so im not going to leavefor you

What do you expect when you claim some people want other people to die just because they don't make a lot of money?

 

[MC Gas Money]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

How much would the FFA have to pay you in "benefits" to just go away?

I wont leave. You spend your days ridiculing people online. That is sad so im not going to leavefor you

What do you expect when you claim some people want other people to die just because they don't make a lot of money?

It was question. Can you tell me what the anti-poor want to do about the poor?

 

[MC Gas Money]

No I wont leave. You call me pathetic but the real pathetic people are the ones who raised you to act the way you do.

 

[Sand]

Well the poor do have more leisure time than the middle class or the wealthy. So if you mean by easy "hanging out in the rocker on the front porch" then you are statistically on solid ground, anyway.

(Cool set of stats; well worth a few minutes to look at).

 

[northern exposure]

Christo with tha ad hominem attacks because he cant refute what I say. What a loser

Yes, they all should just die!

You still havent answered the question. You just make stupid remarks.

How much would the FFA have to pay you in "benefits" to just go away?

I wont leave. You spend your days ridiculing people online. That is sad so im not going to leavefor you

We've heard this tune from you before. It's okay. I'm a patient man, I can wait for what we all know will eventually occur.

 

[MC Gas Money]

Well the poor do have more leisure time than the middle class or the wealthy. So if you mean by easy "hanging out in the rocker on the front porch" then you are statistically on solid ground, anyway.

(Cool set of stats; well worth a few minutes to look at).

They have nothing to do with this so called "leisure time?

Struggling to survive is not leisure

 

[Sand]

Struggling to survive

This doesn't mean what you think it means.

 

[MC Gas Money]

Struggling to survive

This doesn't mean what you think it means.

I know exactly what it means from experience.

Its not leisure when you have nothing.

 

[jon_mx]

The people who have never been poor think they know everything about it. Its like a white person who thinks they know what its like to be black or a man thinking he knows what its like to be a woman.

With downsizing, outsourcing, automation and mega corporations destroying private local business where exactly is everyone born at the bottom of the ladder supposed to work? Walmart for 23 hours a week and sleep in a tent?

There arent enough jobs. Should they just die?

Poverty isnt always a poor persons fault. Anyone of you elitists could catch sone bad breaks and wind up poor. You are just an illness or serious injury away.

Then you will know and regret what ypu said about the poor in the past

Finally! Someone hit the nail on the head. We want them to die!

It won't help much though. They will still vote and collect food stamps.

 

[timschochet]

Didn't the punk rock band Dead Kennedy's address this very question decades ago?

 

[Christo]

Didn't the punk rock band Dead Kennedy's address this very question decades ago?

Too Drunk to ####?

 

[Ditka Butkus]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/kansas-welfare-restriction-law/index.html

Kansas to ban use of welfare on tattoos, cruises, psychics

Having a great life, per the bill, means that welfare recipients cannot spend their government aid on body piercings, massages, spas, tobacco, nail salons, lingerie, arcades, cruise ships or visits to psychics.

The bill also forbids spending the funds at theme parks, dog or horse racing tracks, a "sexually oriented business or any retail establishment which provides adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment, or in any business or retail establishment where minors under age 18 are not permitted."

Democrats say the bill is unnecessarily discriminatory and, intentionally or not, will have the effect of exacerbating stigmas against the needy.

"I just think we are simply saying to people, 'If you are asking for assistance in this state, you're sort of less than other people and we're going to tell you how and where to spend your money, '" said state Rep. Carolyn Bridges during the House debate on the bill, according to the Associated Press.

 

[Cjw_55106]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/kansas-welfare-restriction-law/index.html

Kansas to ban use of welfare on tattoos, cruises, psychics

Having a great life, per the bill, means that welfare recipients cannot spend their government aid on body piercings, massages, spas, tobacco, nail salons, lingerie, arcades, cruise ships or visits to psychics.

The bill also forbids spending the funds at theme parks, dog or horse racing tracks, a "sexually oriented business or any retail establishment which provides adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment, or in any business or retail establishment where minors under age 18 are not permitted."

Democrats say the bill is unnecessarily discriminatory and, intentionally or not, will have the effect of exacerbating stigmas against the needy.

"I just think we are simply saying to people, 'If you are asking for assistance in this state, you're sort of less than other people and we're going to tell you how and where to spend your money, '" said state Rep. Carolyn Bridges during the House debate on the bill, according to the Associated Press.

This stuff just blows my mind. I grew up poor and my mom would have never considered discretionary spending.

 

[The Commish]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

 

[lombardi]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/kansas-welfare-restriction-law/index.html

Kansas to ban use of welfare on tattoos, cruises, psychics

Having a great life, per the bill, means that welfare recipients cannot spend their government aid on body piercings, massages, spas, tobacco, nail salons, lingerie, arcades, cruise ships or visits to psychics.

The bill also forbids spending the funds at theme parks, dog or horse racing tracks, a "sexually oriented business or any retail establishment which provides adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment, or in any business or retail establishment where minors under age 18 are not permitted."

Democrats say the bill is unnecessarily discriminatory and, intentionally or not, will have the effect of exacerbating stigmas against the needy.

"I just think we are simply saying to people, 'If you are asking for assistance in this state, you're sort of less than other people and we're going to tell you how and where to spend your money, '" said state Rep. Carolyn Bridges during the House debate on the bill, according to the Associated Press.

This stuff just blows my mind. I grew up poor and my mom would have never considered discretionary spending.

I think that's sort of the point. If you have the money for tattoos, cruises, and strip clubs... are you really poor?

 

[jonessed]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

Why would it be difficult? The money is distributed through a debit/credit card. They could just lock out those industries (or fine a business that takes it as payment). Recipients could pull out cash if they desperately wanted that tattoo.

The idea that poor people given free money shouldn't be using it to gamble, go on cruises, get tattoos, etc. doesn't seem mean-spirited at all. It seems more like common sense.

 

[TobiasFunke]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

 

[whiskey7]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

If it doesn't just naturally occur to someone (who don't have a pot to piss in nor a window to toss it out of) that spending their welfare money on a new tat or fake nails is a bad idea, what/how are you going to teach them? You just cant hold people's hands and help them with everything. At some point, a person has got to be able to think/fend for themself a little bit.

 

[The Commish]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

We disagree on what the "problem" is here and honestly, I don't see what's mean-spirited about telling people what they can't use their welfare on. I do agree that education is one of, if not THE, most important aspects of helping people out of poverty. Welfare's expensive if you're going to do it correctly They should be real with themselves about what it'd cost to manage a program. IMO, that's one of the primary flaws of the welfare system. They don't have balances in place to make sure people are following the program as it was designed. They rely on people to do the right thing despite the mounds of evidence to the contrary. For those reasons, if a state is unwilling to do the things necessary to manage their welfare program, they probably shouldn't have one because it's just going to get abused.

Implementation is relatively simple in implementation but it'd cost a ton of money. You have automated systems (much like FSA/HSA systems) that can be used to approve transactions. It's tied to a clearly labeled card that everyone can identify. If a business chooses to accept it and the transaction gets rejected, they are SOL.

 

[Fennis]

My mom was s first generation Italian immigrant and grew up during the Great Depression. The horror stories she used to tell literally kept me up at night. They raised rabbits - for food.

We can't bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. I didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

 

[bigbottom]

Admittedly not on topic, but:

Mean Tweets

 

[roadkill1292]

My mom was s first generation Italian immigrant and grew up during the Great Depression. The horror stories she used to tell literally kept me up at night. They raised rabbits - for food.

We can't bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. I didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

 

[MaxThreshold]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

 

[MaxThreshold]

Admittedly not on topic, but:

Mean Tweets

One dude was homeless for 47 years? WTF?

 

[cstu]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

How many people making $50k are getting welfare benefits they shouldn't?

 

[cstu]

My mom was s first generation Italian immigrant and grew up during the Great Depression. The horror stories she used to tell literally kept me up at night. They raised rabbits - for food.

We can't bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. I didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Are there a lot of Kansans on welfare going on cruises? That seems pretty unlikely.

I'd be fine if they prevented everyone from going to psychics.

 

[Cjw_55106]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

How many people making $50k are getting welfare benefits they shouldn't?

Not nearly as many as there are able bodied people that refuse to work and are getting benefits. Or those who have working adults that live with them, but dont report it.

 

[igbomb]

Again, the US shows that we value our poor less than any other developed nation on the planet. Just sad how we've let the rich convince so many of the common people to cast the sharp, critical eye on those making the least instead of those making the most.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

We disagree on what the "problem" is here and honestly, I don't see what's mean-spirited about telling people what they can't use their welfare on. I do agree that education is one of, if not THE, most important aspects of helping people out of poverty. Welfare's expensive if you're going to do it correctly They should be real with themselves about what it'd cost to manage a program. IMO, that's one of the primary flaws of the welfare system. They don't have balances in place to make sure people are following the program as it was designed. They rely on people to do the right thing despite the mounds of evidence to the contrary. For those reasons, if a state is unwilling to do the things necessary to manage their welfare program, they probably shouldn't have one because it's just going to get abused.

Implementation is relatively simple in implementation but it'd cost a ton of money. You have automated systems (much like FSA/HSA systems) that can be used to approve transactions. It's tied to a clearly labeled card that everyone can identify. If a business chooses to accept it and the transaction gets rejected, they are SOL.

By problem I meant more the logistical (and logical) flaw of a law like this. Sure, you can cut off payment cards at certain locations and limit cash withdrawals. But if someone is getting $100 in aid and has $100 of other income, you can't stop them using the aid money at "approved" locations and the other income to do whatever they want. At the end of the day the money all goes into and out of the same budget. Blocking the cards at specific locations because we don't think it's a proper use of assistance money has near zero practical implication.

If we want our assistance programs to be more efficient, getting rid of means testing altogether is probably a better place to start than making the already over-complex system more complicated.

 

[MaxThreshold]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

How many people making $50k are getting welfare benefits they shouldn't?

I don't know. How many?

 

[The Commish]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

As a percentage it's very low from my personal experience....under 5%. But in net dollars even that little bit of abuse adds up very quickly.

 

[Fennis]

Are there a lot of Kansans on welfare going on cruises? That seems pretty unlikely.

I'd be fine if they prevented everyone from going to psychics.

I knew you are going to say that

 

[The Commish]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

The problem is that money is fungible, and TANF already has work requirements as part of the program. How much would the state have to spend to try and enforce something like this? How do you even enforce it? Follow TANF recipients around to see what they are doing all day? Post pictures in every tattoo parlor of people receiving aid so they aren't served?

Maybe instead of writing mean-spirited and logistically unfeasible laws like this, the state could think of ways to get better basic financial planning information and education to people receiving aid?

We disagree on what the "problem" is here and honestly, I don't see what's mean-spirited about telling people what they can't use their welfare on. I do agree that education is one of, if not THE, most important aspects of helping people out of poverty. Welfare's expensive if you're going to do it correctly They should be real with themselves about what it'd cost to manage a program. IMO, that's one of the primary flaws of the welfare system. They don't have balances in place to make sure people are following the program as it was designed. They rely on people to do the right thing despite the mounds of evidence to the contrary. For those reasons, if a state is unwilling to do the things necessary to manage their welfare program, they probably shouldn't have one because it's just going to get abused.

Implementation is relatively simple in implementation but it'd cost a ton of money. You have automated systems (much like FSA/HSA systems) that can be used to approve transactions. It's tied to a clearly labeled card that everyone can identify. If a business chooses to accept it and the transaction gets rejected, they are SOL.

By problem I meant more the logistical (and logical) flaw of a law like this. Sure, you can cut off payment cards at certain locations and limit cash withdrawals. But if someone is getting $100 in aid and has $100 of other income, you can't stop them using the aid money at "approved" locations and the other income to do whatever they want. At the end of the day the money all goes into and out of the same budget. Blocking the cards at specific locations because we don't think it's a proper use of assistance money has near zero practical implication.

If we want our assistance programs to be more efficient, getting rid of means testing altogether is probably a better place to start than making the already over-complex system more complicated.

I don't disagree with you. This is something I work with every week. We have an area "support center" where we have classes on personal finance etc. Handling this via legislation or even via providing of money to individuals isn't the way to help. It sorta goes to TF's post above. For our other benefits we provide our citizens they aren't in the form of cash. I don't find the specific points in the article all that compelling as they really aren't apples to apples, but I get the jist. Honestly, the form in which we provide the assistance should change and change more towards hands on education of the individuals, providing them the tools to get out of their situation rather than simply throwing some cash at them and hope they figure it out on their own.

 

[Ditka Butkus]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

Read the article and it does not reflect what is actually going on in poor communities. Maybe the commentator should visit a convenience store within a poor community, or follow the police when they bust a drug mill and find dozens of EBT cards taken on trade or watch them whine about not being able to pay their water bill and yet they have a brand new tattoo or pedicure. In my experience most poor people are poor because they have horrible priorities.......

 

[TobiasFunke]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

Read the article and it does not reflect what is actually going on in poor communities. Maybe the commentator should visit a convenience store within a poor community, or follow the police when they bust a drug mill and find dozens of EBT cards taken on trade or watch them whine about not being able to pay their water bill and yet they have a brand new tattoo or pedicure. In my experience most poor people are poor because they have horrible priorities.......

If you're going to argue that a published article with links to studies is not an accurate reflection of what's going on in poor communities and then tell everyone what's really going on, it seems like maybe you should have some links and studies of your own for us

 

[Ditka Butkus]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

Read the article and it does not reflect what is actually going on in poor communities. Maybe the commentator should visit a convenience store within a poor community, or follow the police when they bust a drug mill and find dozens of EBT cards taken on trade or watch them whine about not being able to pay their water bill and yet they have a brand new tattoo or pedicure. In my experience most poor people are poor because they have horrible priorities.......

If you're going to argue that a published article with links to studies is not an accurate reflection of what's going on in poor communities and then tell everyone what's really going on, it seems like maybe you should have some links and studies of your own for us

I study each and every day in the streets and homes where they live.

 

[jonessed]

"Have it easy" in comparison to...??

And it's absurd that they have to write into laws that welfare can't be used on this stupid #### listed above.

They don't have to do it. People abusing welfare benefits like that is very rare, and it's a ridiculous double-standard that we require them to be accountable while not worrying about the behavior of other recipients of government benefits. Give this a read.

I don't believe that for one second.

How many people making $50k are getting welfare benefits they shouldn't?

I don't know. How many?

It's pretty easy. You just don't get married. One partner works the higher paying job and the other works part-time and collects benefits.

I can think of five families that I know 100% do this. It's basically free medical care for the kids and the food program. Once you are accepted for one they sign you up for the other. The benefits are actually quite good in CA. I don't know what it's like in other states though.

 

[The Big Guy]

Next you will tell me that they are not going to be able to spend their welfare money on Newports and Marlboros. (Trying to keep race out of my snarky comment)