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So it's okay for wall street to hand out multimillion dollar bonuses with everyone's tax money when they failed, but it's wrong for everyday Americans who struggle with their bills to be on welfare with a nice cell phone? WAKE UP!!! Remember, there is always someone who will do it, and do you know what medical expenses and debt they may have, not to mention the lack of real jobs in your area. Even when the economy is "good", it's still a struggle. Get what you can and be grateful for what you got.
Every day I am disgusted as to what I see going on here on Long Island. I am a middle class American citizen. I do not receive any government assistance. I work hard for everything that I have, and I understand the value of a dollar. Welfare is a means of getting on your feet, not a way of life! Now I am not talking about EVERYONE on welfare. There are many people on public assistance who use it how it is meant to be used - as a hand to help you up when you are down. Unfortunately, the welfare system is flawed and therefore abused.
When I go food shopping I look for items on sale, purchase in bulk, & buy non brand name items to get the most for my money. I have noticed customers with gold chains & these fancy new expensive cell phones on line paying with food stamps. Not only that, their carts are filled with all NAME BRAND items regardless of if they are on sale or not. Steaks, candy, cookies, soda ect without regards to price. Many times I have been approached by a person offering to sell me food stamps for 50% cash. What about the drug addicts that receive all these benefits? They get health care, schooling, all kinds of public assistance, even DENTAL! I see many drug addicts on welfare who use all of that money on drugs, have no food in the house, no clothes for their kids yet nothing is done. After making several phone calls about a family with kids in a very unhealthy environment I asked the State employee about issuing drug tests. I was told that it was too costly to drug test everyone on public assistance and also an INVASION of their PRIVACY!!! Are you kidding me? They are being supported by the taxpayers & we're worried about invasion of privacy?!? What about protecting an investment or looking out for the innocent children being neglected and abused? A neighbors 3 year old child was walking 2 houses down from where they lived. He wanted to be with mommy who walked down the block & no one else in the house was watching him as he ran right out the front door! This was not the first time this has happened and there has been complaints filed yet nothing has changed.
Over the summer, president Obama issued $200 for every child living in a household on welfare. This was in the form of $200 per child being put onto their EBT card. Most kids from families NOT on welfare that DO NOT spend $200 on school supplies. This one family in particular, with 4 eligable children, received a total of $800. The mother then went down to a church where she received a voucher for the thrift store AND school supplies. The youngest of the children received NOTHING. The other 3 children each got $30 to spend, plus a couple of school books. Think back to the end of the summer. I find it kind of ironic that after that money was given, the amount of old tv sets & empty new TV boxes I saw in the trash.
I know of THREE families all on welfare, & all living in the same house. NONE of them work! They live in a very nice house. They receive help from the state with the rent on the house, & they also rent the house out to the 2 other families! All three families are on welfare but the other 2 families use the address of family members which is never investigated or verified. To top it off, all THREE families receive a fuel voucher - yet 2 weeks ago they called asking to borrow money because they were OUT OF FUEL. For TWO days they had no heat or hot water. There are 8 children from the age of 2 - 13 in that house! (Not to mention 6 adults & 3 children over 18). I failed to mention that 8 people in that house smoke cigarettes & 7 have cell phones. One person even has 2 cell phones. Mind you, very nice phones at that.
So you mean to tell me that the children have to suffer with NO HEAT & HOT WATER because they cannot afford oil yet they all have a full pack of smokes & a fancy new phone?!??!?!
Something is seriously wrong with the system. Where is the incentive for these people to go out & get a job?
Even as someone who doesn't believe in the welfare system as it's currently designed, I am really beginning to get disgusted w/ these rants on how it's "Welfare Moms destroying America!" (and especally if they are Black or Brown). How do you even know all this about them? They got 200 dollars, OMFG! But I guess if AIG gets 200 billion, well hey, it's all peaches!
Fact: the biggest entitlement programs in America are Social Security and Meidicare. I somehow don't see people calling seniors moochers.
I wish those on welfare would worry about themselves and not how to bilk me for more welfare money.
If there were no inome taxes my wage and your wage would go up 30% instantly, the gov't will never give a worker more than he paid into a program anyways which means that if you think the gov't will take care of you when your old or sick or unemployed it is a pipe dream, the gov't would be even more broke than it is if it gave unlimited uninsurance to everyone.
Whatever happened to personal responsibilty. There use to be a thing called co-ops in america and they covered people for all kinds of insurance at affordable rates. Since the co-ops were run by the people who were in them cost were kept down and you had less fraud.
My point is that there should be no tax in the first place to administer these government insurances because it encourages people to collect when they are able to do better in their lives.
The problem is gov't, if the gov't never taxed you so much, you would not go out of your way to try to get your money worth
Welfare, as defined in the OP, is at most 5% of most government budgets. pump it up to maybe 25% if you add medicaid. The biggest money pits are social security (shoulda been privatized) and Meidicare. After that it's the government employees themselves and the schools, then the military.
Let's stop playing around and get to the heart of this issue: America has a serious case of classism (with a pinch of racism for added flavor) when it comes to this issue. Having family on LI, I am well aware of the "mindset" that drives the OP:
OMG, the poor and the minorites are ruining America!
Most so-called "Poor People" work way, way, way harder than many of our so-called "Successful" and often times are far more respectful and god-fearing as well. It's disgusting the attitude people have towards someone just becuase they have less than them.
Of course, everything HAS to change, as a nation grows from an pre-industrial agrarian colonial backwater to a speed-of-light digital oligarchy. The founders did the best they could, promising pursuit of happiness in a more perfect union. The question is, who gets to steer the change? Those with a vested interest in keeping things they way they have always been ("conservative"), or those who seek to change with the times and circumstances ("liberal")?
Welfare, as defined in the OP, is at most 5% of most government budgets. pump it up to maybe 25% if you add medicaid. The biggest money pits are social security (shoulda been privatized) and Meidicare. After that it's the government employees themselves and the schools, then the military.
Let's stop playing around and get to the heart of this issue: America has a serious case of classism (with a pinch of racism for added flavor) when it comes to this issue. Having family on LI, I am well aware of the "mindset" that drives the OP:
OMG, the poor and the minorites are ruining America!
Most so-called "Poor People" work way, way, way harder than many of our so-called "Successful" and often times are far more respectful and god-fearing as well. It's disgusting the attitude people have towards someone just becuase they have less than them.
Wonderful post +1.
The attitude towards the poor in America is a disgrace. No wonder many turn to crime here.
Not everyone is blessed with the attributes needed to succeed in today's world. The "choices" of those who are less fortunate are far more limited than those who are born either wealthy (or middle class), with good looks, a stable upbringing, free from major illness and normal brain chemistry.
Of course, a lot of it (success) boils down to luck too.
Somehow, I doubt people on welfare give a flying toot at a rolling donut about bilking you. As others have said, you're raging on the wrong people. Look at Wall Street and the health insurance industry for the real crooks.
Well you have a huge bias, when you hear welfare you think of the poor, when I say welfare queens I am talking about all of them, from the local crack addict to the one on wall street, they all need to be cut off.
i don't understand the post. i merely illustrated how the system is and you counter with how you don't like the system but then you defend the system and reasons of economic disparity. it's back to square one. your unrealistic on several points because even though bill gates is very wealthy, he can't possibly spend all that money so he's basically giving it back to society or to charity. the only difference is instead of the government deciding how that money is utilized or redistributed, he can. again, technically it's not a perfect system but a round about game of economics.
it's just a reality that some people will fall through the cracks for one reason or another. when i mention the living standards of the middle class, i'm referring to having the means to a decent life and i said nothing about taking taxes from the middle class anyways. i morally disagree with your value system on this one. i don't think just because you are middle class that you somehow deserve to have a decent life but someone who is working just as hard but of lower class somehow doesn't which you implied. why not? how the hell do you have a right to have a good life but not someone who fixes your plumbing or serves your dinner or collect your garbage? they provide a service or a necessary service. it could be argued equally that they shouldn't have to pick up your damn garbage if they can't make a decent living. if you don't think it's worth it, do it yourself.
of course it is ideal that everyone should be able to work and provide a decent living and afford some luxuries in life. that is what makes us human and gives us some dignity rather than just scraping by with no dreams other than mere survival. how dare you think some person should have to live like that because their job should be of lower pay that they can't provide for themselves and have a life. do you think a waitress that works thier butt off doesn't deserve to have a good life? why do you think people try to 'climb the ladder'. of course, those who have jobs with more skills and education should be logically paid more BUT anyone who works ethically should also be able to afford enough to take care of themselves and afford a few luxuries. why this is logical is because there will always be people needed on the bottom to do jobs that are necessary for society. if these weren't services provided to society, then it would be excusable as frivolous provided there were plenty of jobs to go around for them as well.
as for taxes, evidently you are obligated to pay taxes so you need to argue with government as to how they utilize it.
if you want it, people need to lobby government to abolish taxes then.
heh, i just caught this. the bottom earners pay taxes between 15 to 28 percent. it's even worse because they don't earn that much. if you work or have worked you would know this already. i didn't like the fact i saw almost 350 dollars deducted from my check every week that cut my pay almost by half! maybe it was the state i was in at the time. usually it's about a third. i could only claim myself, still it's a hefty amount. you pay less taxes if you have family members to support or can claim more deductions.
besides, taxable income is usually factored into salary in most jobs meaning if your position is worth 70k, you may be paid 100k.
according to that then you earn about 40k a year which is more than the national average so you are not a bottom earner
Welfare, as defined in the OP, is at most 5% of most government budgets. pump it up to maybe 25% if you add medicaid. The biggest money pits are social security (shoulda been privatized) and Meidicare. After that it's the government employees themselves and the schools, then the military.
Let's stop playing around and get to the heart of this issue: America has a serious case of classism (with a pinch of racism for added flavor) when it comes to this issue. Having family on LI, I am well aware of the "mindset" that drives the OP:
OMG, the poor and the minorites are ruining America!
Most so-called "Poor People" work way, way, way harder than many of our so-called "Successful" and often times are far more respectful and god-fearing as well. It's disgusting the attitude people have towards someone just becuase they have less than them.
I admire the poor who try to work their way up, I have no sympathy for the poor on welfare who soot up drugs. welfare is a crutch and more often encourages millions of americans not to work. Most americans would be better off with no taxes, and less gov't especially the poor.
The gov't is the enemy of the poor, he makes drug dealers rich by pushing up the price of drugs and giving drug addicts money to go give to dealers ruin ing entire cities.
However it is not just poor people on welfare, rich people are the #1 welfare receipants. If your rich and you build your beach house on purpose too close to the ocean the gov't will buy you a new house. I believe when you factor in all those forms of welfare, if you eliminated them along with gov't most americans would be rich in 5-10 years as their incomes would rise by 30% or more almost instantly.
The biggests barriers for the poor are in this order
-education
-taxes
If you have no education well your poor because you can't find a good job. That is squarely your fault if your in that position. Don't blame others, if you had gone to class like everyone else and got at least B yo would have got into some college or something. But once you get your 4 year college or community college your not poor anymore your just working and have the gov't taking all your money. It is this class of people who cannot escape lower middle classdom and who keep people "poor".
You will find that 100k a year is basically poor when the gov't gets through with you. The gov't prevents the working lower class from getting rich it is that simple. They tax everything so how can you save any money?
The only people who should be taxed are those making over 1 million year at the current rate. The government should tighten its belt in other areas and privatize most transit systems and just about anything it cannot do for a profit except national security. end the bogus war on drugs and other bs, thats a waste of money. Tell israel, south korea, and taiwan to go defend themselves, reduce the size of the army and if anyone gets out of line just nuke them because it is cheaper than sending 100k people to go fight a war.
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