Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Some work the system. They have other sources of undeclared income.
The irony is that the benefits are meager, not really enough to live on, which is what a lot of people want because that's supposed to inspire folks to get a job (or get a better job, if they are the working poor).
But, what really happens is people resort to any means necessary to get more money, and those methods are typically not legal. So then the same people who want the benefits low get mad because now folks are "scamming the system" or are buying extra stuff with money they got through hustling on the side.
It's an endless loop. Not sure what the answer is.
I tried to paste link above, but this sad story is a frank illustration of how welfare benefits are abused. Woman has spent her entire life on benefits. She has never been gainfully employed. Sec 8 pays her rent, even after her kids have been removed. Her alcoholic baby daddy lives with her illegally. She receives cash for her "disability" of addiction, which she of course uses to buy drugs. She converts food stamps into money for drugs. She illegally rents out rooms in her sec 8 apt to dealers, in exchange for drugs. She refuses inpt drug rehab, out of fear of losing her sec 8 voucher. Even though she has lost custody of all her many previous children, she has not gotten sterilized, and dcf lets her keep and neglect yet another two. It took dcf 4 or 5 years to finally remove these last two kids. Can you imagine at what risk of molestation they were put when mother sublet rooms to her dealers? And of course dcf is working on family reunification for this mother and her neglected children.
That's quite the interesting interpretation of this article. ....
Skinny white upper class males are also addicts. This women never had a chance with such an upbringing:
"Drugs have been the one constant in Raquel’s life. Born poor in Chelsea, the daughter of an addict and an alcoholic, Raquel is haunted by memories of sexual abuse and drug use as a child. By 19, she said, she was pregnant and selling crack..”
^ You are upset that this woman is "living off the system?" Seriously? What did you really expect of her?? Brains cannot and do not develop "normally" in such an atmosphere not to mention the genetic loading. People who grow up like this do not all of a sudden "forget" past abuse and have the ability to live "healthy" and "normally" the second they turn 18.
I hope you are pro choice at the very least. Yikes.
And she is not on disability for "addiction." NO ONE currently gets SSI and/or SSDI for "addiction."
And inpatient rehab is also in no way a "miricle cure." I wouldn't want to risk losing my sec 8 voucher either and neither would you if walking in her shoes.
The irony is that the benefits are meager, not really enough to live on, which is what a lot of people want because that's supposed to inspire folks to get a job (or get a better job, if they are the working poor).
But, what really happens is people resort to any means necessary to get more money, and those methods are typically not legal. So then the same people who want the benefits low get mad because now folks are "scamming the system" or are buying extra stuff with money they got through hustling on the side.
It's an endless loop. Not sure what the answer is.
Excellent point. People get so jealous of people who get $770 a month. As if that is livable. And most on welfare are not so lucky to have free rent.
The irony is that the benefits are meager, not really enough to live on, which is what a lot of people want because that's supposed to inspire folks to get a job (or get a better job, if they are the working poor).
But, what really happens is people resort to any means necessary to get more money, and those methods are typically not legal. So then the same people who want the benefits low get mad because now folks are "scamming the system" or are buying extra stuff with money they got through hustling on the side.
It's an endless loop. Not sure what the answer is.
I saw it calculated that welfare benefits in MA were worth over 40k recently. Meager? LOL
"
In nine states — Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maryland — as well as Washington, D.C., annual benefits were worth more than $35,000 a year. The median value of the welfare package across the 50 states is $28,500.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Welfare benefits are not taxed, while wages are, so we calculated how much money a welfare recipient receiving these six benefits would have to earn in pretax income if she took a job and left the welfare rolls. We computed the federal income tax, the state income tax, and the FICA payroll taxes one would have to pay on wage income; we also took into account both federal and state versions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as well as child tax credits where available (these helped increase the relative value of work but did not fully offset the taxes due)."
I like the states who have made it mandatory for people to be drug tested before receiving/staying on certain benefits. I support this nationwide, personally. Welfare benefits are meant to help people get back on their feet, not support them and their lazy, illegal habits for life. It's a good system in theory but it is heavily abused, which is to be expected quite honestly, which makes it far less effective and worth it IMHO.
While generally somewhat liberal (or at least more left than right) and feel that some of these stories are overdone and hurt those who really do need it, I agree with you, there's no harm in having this requirement.
How is it possible that she was deemed capable of raising 2 young children despite a permanent mental disability?
I would hate to see us impose laws that would allow the automatic removal of children from the homes of people with a mental disability. Children should only be removed from parents who have demonstrated that they either won't or can't care for them- not on the basis of a psychiatric diagnosis.
Maybe before we talk about taking kids away from their parents we need to look at the availability and quality of mental health services, particularly to the poor. In many parts of the country the only mental health care for medicaid patients is through "crisis clinics" which are not usually adequately staffed to deal with the long term care and treatment of the chronically mentally ill -so once they are 'stabilized' no further treatment or care is provided.
One of the biggest problem with taking kids away from their parents is - what do we do with them then? The foster care system is a disaster- the outlook for kids in foster care pretty much parallels what kids left in homes with inadequate/abusive homes experience..so is it even worth it to take them out of the home unless they are in danger of physical harm when we don't have a better option for them?
I saw it calculated that welfare benefits in MA were worth over 40k recently. Meager? LOL In nine states — Hawaii, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maryland — as well as Washington, D.C., annual benefits were worth more than $35,000 a year. The median value of the welfare package across the 50 states is $28,500.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Welfare benefits are not taxed, while wages are, so we calculated how much money a welfare recipient receiving these six benefits would have to earn in pretax income if she took a job and left the welfare rolls. We computed the federal income tax, the state income tax, and the FICA payroll taxes one would have to pay on wage income; we also took into account both federal and state versions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as well as child tax credits where available (these helped increase the relative value of work but did not fully offset the taxes due)." Welfare: A Better Deal than Work | Cato Institute
Cato is a libertarian think tank, what they and Heritage have done is added up every single available welfare benefit and come up with grossly inflated numbers. They add in HUD housing vouchers yet only 24% of the poor receive any housing assistance, that alone can add $10,000-$20,000 to the "value of welfare". They also add in medical care even though they fail to mention that even the middle class receive a form of 'welfare' when they get a ACA subsidy on health insurance.
In Nevada a mother and two children on welfare receive $383 cash and $500 in SNAP benefits. The wait list for a HUD voucher is about 5 years, those receiving a HUD voucher have a hard time finding a landlord who will accept it. The only other benefits she is entitled to are WIC vouchers for formula and baby food if she has a child under 5.
What are you basing this on? You are saying no one went hungry or cold or homeless during the depression or any number of other hard times, that private charities were able to take care of everyone who needed it? BS, JMO.
No. I'm saying that churches and other private groups did a very good job of helping those in need. They still do. They weren't perfect but neither is todays government handout system. There will always be someone living on the streets. But today there are not enough of those church and private resources to help as many of the poor (as a percentage of all poor) as they did before. The sad fact is that people were far more self reliant back then. The Depression was terrible but most people didn't demand a welfare check in those days. Today they demand a welfare check and much more. People have changed and, in many ways, not for the better.
No. I'm saying that churches and other private groups did a very good job of helping those in need. They still do. They weren't perfect but neither is todays government handout system. There will always be someone living on the streets. But today there are not enough of those church and private resources to help as many of the poor (as a percentage of all poor) as they did before. The sad fact is that people were far more self reliant back then. The Depression was terrible but most people didn't demand a welfare check in those days. Today they demand a welfare check and much more. People have changed and, in many ways, not for the better.
What are you basing any of this on? are you simply making assumptions about folks in the past/charities in the past?
No. I'm saying that churches and other private groups did a very good job of helping those in need. They still do. They weren't perfect but neither is todays government handout system. There will always be someone living on the streets. But today there are not enough of those church and private resources to help as many of the poor (as a percentage of all poor) as they did before. The sad fact is that people were far more self reliant back then. The Depression was terrible but most people didn't demand a welfare check in those days. Today they demand a welfare check and much more. People have changed and, in many ways, not for the better.
In my experience Catholic Churches at least are still very helpful to the poor/homeless/any other suffering group. You're right though that it's not enough alone, and it shouldn't be church's or other religious places' responsibility anyway (not solely) but Catholic Churches are quite charitable. I can't speak for other Christian denominations. I also agree that people's mindsets have changed. I do think some people today feel entitled to a lot of things.
Local churches host holiday dinners for the homeless and also developmentally disabled adults who live in homes and often have no family. An acquaintance of our family's (developmentally disabled man who lives in a home but is rather independent) attended dinner at a church this Christmas Day. My church still takes donations for the homeless. They also do regular food and clothing drives for those in need. I know that dinner and some collections aren't enough but churches also have to support themselves, something many struggle with today since attendance is so down. A lot of churches are low on money. Perhaps this is also why you feel that there aren't enough churches to help out for the number of struggling people - they're there, but are struggling themselves.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Brains cannot and do not develop "normally" in such an atmosphere not to mention the genetic loading. People who grow up like this do not all of a sudden "forget" past abuse and have the ability to live "healthy" and "normally" the second they turn 18. 
