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I love my wife's family, but for years, I've been quietly annoyed with something: My wife's younger sister, her husband and her family were living extremely well thanks to government assistance. They had had an unplanned pregnancy right in the middle of college and unfortunately their daughter was born blind. This qualified them for government assistance. Lots of it apparently. They would get X amount of money per month on a "use it or lose it" basis, presumably to help them deal with the expensive challenges that come with having a blind child.
So for all the years it took for her husband to finish law school, we sat back in increasing bewilderment as they used all that money to buy things that my wife and I couldn't even dream of affording. Extremely expensive strollers, red wagons, beds, accessories, very expensive toys, a 60 inch LCD HDTV, a 45 inch LCD HDTV that they gave away as a Christmas gift, blueray players for themselves and as gifts to family, etc. And that's tip of the iceberg that we noticed while living several states away from them. Frankly I don't want to know the full extent of their exploitative drain on US taxpayer dollars.
The good news is her husband finished law school, started at a law firm making six figures and even got an immediate raise of more than $30K on top of all that. They bought a house in a very nice suburban neighborhood. Everything seems to be going great for them financially. He makes more than twice my own income and I'm happy for them. But just recently, we all met up with her at a favorite restaurant for lunch and she said something that blew my mind. "We ate better when we were still on foodstamps." She expanded on this, saying that they had lived better across the board on the US government's dime. Recalling all the expensive toys they had purchased at the time, I don't doubt it for one second.
Her husband is much too proud to allow himself and his family suck at the teet of government welfare indefinitely. They're not getting any further assistance now because he makes too much money and I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way. But it hit home in a huge way just how addictive the government the welfare dole could be. If an income of over $130K is a standard of living downgrade for them, of course other people would be willing to do anything in their power -- lie, cheat, steal, whatever -- to stay on government assistance.
My family was on food stamps when i was young... My parents belong to a union and they seem to go on strike every year... I remembered the same thing, the food we got while on food stamps was better than the food while they were working... We were a low middle class family... What we were afraid of wasn't the food but the prospect of losing the house when they couldn't make mortgage payments... I lived with another family for a short time who was on welfare, section 8, and food stamps... They were well taken care of and at the same time saved enough money to buy a house and some new cars with cash... Didn't realize they had saved up hundreds of thousands of dollars... They hid it in their home so there wouldn't be any trace...
My family was on food stamps when i was young... My parents belong to a union and they seem to go on strike every year... I remembered the same thing, the food we got while on food stamps was better than the food while they were working... We were a low middle class family... What we were afraid of wasn't the food but the prospect of losing the house when they couldn't make mortgage payments... I lived with another family for a short time who was on welfare, section 8, and food stamps... They were well taken care of and at the same time saved enough money to buy a house and some new cars with cash... Didn't realize they had saved up hundreds of thousands of dollars... They hid it in their home so there wouldn't be any trace...
All makes sense to me. I think we've all heard stories like this. But it blew my mind that the welfare dole offers a higher standard of living than a $130K household income. That's a huge income!! How did we let things get that bad??
All makes sense to me. I think we've all heard stories like this. But it blew my mind that the welfare dole offers a higher standard of living than a $130K household income. That's a huge income!! How did we let things get that bad??
Simple .... grocery stores and food brands lobbied to increase the cash to them to buy their goods... Same thing Hollywood is trying to do by being "for" whatever is popular culture (save the environment, feed the poor) and at the same time take from the wealthy and give to the poor so they would buy more dvds, go to movies, subscribe to cable, go to concerts, buy Hollywood paraphenalia, etc etc... Americans value entertainment more than anything else... Its revenue dwarfs the spending of any government program... If you tax the entertainment industry, you solve the national debt, healthcare, social security EASILY... With money left over...
130 k isnt much... That is about 5-6k after taxes per month... A 400 k house eats up a little less than 3k, student loan debt is another 1.5k per month, etc etc...
Sorry but this is all pretty much of a no-brainer.
If you have food stamps, and the only thing you can spend that money on is FOOD, obviously you'll buy the best food you can with that money.
If you got, say, $450 a month in food stamps for you, your spouse, and a little kid (they don't eat much when they are small!), you'll probably eat well.
If you had only cash with which to buy food, pay utilities, rent, gas, etc., well obviously you'll eat differently since you need that money for toilet paper, the water bill, etc. and there is a much stronger incentive to cut food costs. If someone can't use food stamps on anything BUT food though, makes sense that they'll buy better quality food.
Quote:
Originally Posted by godofthunder9010
All makes sense to me. I think we've all heard stories like this. But it blew my mind that the welfare dole offers a higher standard of living than a $130K household income. That's a huge income!! How did we let things get that bad??
Your example is not really accurate though and hardly represents the "average" family on assistance. I am not sure what, exactly, someone receives in assistance for having a blind child but how many people fit into that special category anyway? Your family's example is an unusual one.
Sorry but this is all pretty much of a no-brainer.
If you have food stamps, and the only thing you can spend that money on is FOOD, obviously you'll buy the best food you can with that money.
If you got, say, $450 a month in food stamps for you, your spouse, and a little kid (they don't eat much when they are small!), you'll probably eat well.
If you had only cash with which to buy food, pay utilities, rent, gas, etc., well obviously you'll eat differently since you need that money for toilet paper, the water bill, etc. and there is a much stronger incentive to cut food costs. If someone can't use food stamps on anything BUT food though, makes sense that they'll buy better quality food.
Its not just better quality but a lot higher volume... If people are buying the cream of the food on food stamps, you do realize that is not the intent of the program because it is wasting money by doing that...
I love my wife's family, but for years, I've been quietly annoyed with something: My wife's younger sister, her husband and her family were living extremely well thanks to government assistance. They had had an unplanned pregnancy right in the middle of college and unfortunately their daughter was born blind. This qualified them for government assistance. Lots of it apparently. They would get X amount of money per month on a "use it or lose it" basis, presumably to help them deal with the expensive challenges that come with having a blind child.
So for all the years it took for her husband to finish law school, we sat back in increasing bewilderment as they used all that money to buy things that my wife and I couldn't even dream of affording. Extremely expensive strollers, red wagons, beds, accessories, very expensive toys, a 60 inch LCD HDTV, a 45 inch LCD HDTV that they gave away as a Christmas gift, blueray players for themselves and as gifts to family, etc. And that's tip of the iceberg that we noticed while living several states away from them. Frankly I don't want to know the full extent of their exploitative drain on US taxpayer dollars.
The good news is her husband finished law school, started at a law firm making six figures and even got an immediate raise of more than $30K on top of all that. They bought a house in a very nice suburban neighborhood. Everything seems to be going great for them financially. He makes more than twice my own income and I'm happy for them. But just recently, we all met up with her at a favorite restaurant for lunch and she said something that blew my mind. "We ate better when we were still on foodstamps." She expanded on this, saying that they had lived better across the board on the US government's dime. Recalling all the expensive toys they had purchased at the time, I don't doubt it for one second.
Her husband is much too proud to allow himself and his family suck at the teet of government welfare indefinitely. They're not getting any further assistance now because he makes too much money and I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way. But it hit home in a huge way just how addictive the government the welfare dole could be. If an income of over $130K is a standard of living downgrade for them, of course other people would be willing to do anything in their power -- lie, cheat, steal, whatever -- to stay on government assistance.
I don't believe your story. "We ate so much better when we were still on food stamps." Yeah, right.
I love my wife's family, but for years, I've been quietly annoyed with something: My wife's younger sister, her husband and her family were living extremely well thanks to government assistance. They had had an unplanned pregnancy right in the middle of college and unfortunately their daughter was born blind. This qualified them for government assistance. Lots of it apparently. They would get X amount of money per month on a "use it or lose it" basis, presumably to help them deal with the expensive challenges that come with having a blind child.
So for all the years it took for her husband to finish law school, we sat back in increasing bewilderment as they used all that money to buy things that my wife and I couldn't even dream of affording. Extremely expensive strollers, red wagons, beds, accessories, very expensive toys, a 60 inch LCD HDTV, a 45 inch LCD HDTV that they gave away as a Christmas gift, blueray players for themselves and as gifts to family, etc. And that's tip of the iceberg that we noticed while living several states away from them. Frankly I don't want to know the full extent of their exploitative drain on US taxpayer dollars.
The good news is her husband finished law school, started at a law firm making six figures and even got an immediate raise of more than $30K on top of all that. They bought a house in a very nice suburban neighborhood. Everything seems to be going great for them financially. He makes more than twice my own income and I'm happy for them. But just recently, we all met up with her at a favorite restaurant for lunch and she said something that blew my mind. "We ate better when we were still on foodstamps." She expanded on this, saying that they had lived better across the board on the US government's dime. Recalling all the expensive toys they had purchased at the time, I don't doubt it for one second.
Her husband is much too proud to allow himself and his family suck at the teet of government welfare indefinitely. They're not getting any further assistance now because he makes too much money and I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way. But it hit home in a huge way just how addictive the government the welfare dole could be. If an income of over $130K is a standard of living downgrade for them, of course other people would be willing to do anything in their power -- lie, cheat, steal, whatever -- to stay on government assistance.
Must be very informative but also a curse to see the problems of society upclose among family and friends.
~never-more
As if anyone on income assistance receives anywhere close to $130K, or has a lifestyle even approaching what is possible on an income like that. I believe the OP's post is a made-up lie.
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