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As someone who has been in situations where I was unable to save or blew through my savings making it harder to get on my feet again I'm not a fan of this and glad to see most states aren't either but to see that maine is, well its disheartening. Anyway just curious what locals and others interested in making maine home think?
"Most Mainers would agree that before someone receives taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, they should sell non-essential assets and use their savings,” LePage said in a written statement.
This is not just a Maine issue but one which is becoming more national as more conservative administrations begin to audit and examine their social assistance networks. The bottom line is that they can't continue the way the are because they will bankrupt the states at their current levels. Maybe Gov. LePage's statement appears to be a bit ham-fisted but something has to be done to preserve the entire system or it'll all go broke.
I don't want to beat that discussion to death as it has been already in so many other venues. I would, however, like to ask any younger people reading this to do some research about what "welfare" was like back only 30 years ago in most communities. To wit, when most people went on welfare THEY WERE EXPECTED TO PAY IT BACK. Yep, it wasn't a hand out but a hand up to help them get back on their feet and then repay the system so that money could go to help someone else. I can see you asking yourself " how do they do that!" Simple, they go back to work and become contributing members of society. I personally know a woman with two young boys, widowed and on welfare. She did go back to work using the welfare to get some education and then found a job and did pay 100% back. She went to have a fine career and raise her boys showing them her ethics.
What do we have today? Third and fourth generations of families on welfare waiting every month for their EBT card to be refilled and welfare check to arrive in the mail. Yet many (certainly not all) have big-screen TVs, cell phones better than mine and assistance on just about every front you can imagine. We, the ones pulling the wagon, are the ones funding this through our taxes. We are compassionate about helping people and maybe our church or civic organization helps those in need but where does it stop? Of course a lot of this can be dumped on the current administration's doorstep since it is documented by the government themselves that there are 98 million fewer people looking for work and 'out of the work force". This crap about a 5.5% employment rate is just that, crap. If there are no jobs for educated, previously productive people to find, how do we expect those in poverty to find them? So, the government simply feeds the masses pablum with their giveaways because they've created this job vacuum.
So, lend a hand to those who desperately need it. Those with serious mental illness are still in the streets with little recourse. They are the most vulnerable because, unlike the healthy welfare recipient who is simply uneducated or not inclined to find a job, mental illness can be totally debilitating and they are the ones that government might want to concentrate on helping get off the streets. Maybe the system should be audited and the fund directed to helping those who truly need the help because they can not help themselves.
I'll close this by simply saying that everyone applauded Clinton when he adopted Pres. Bush's plan to revise welfare during his term. Heralded as the " Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" the bill, which came out of the "Contract With America" program in Congress, was overwhelmingly passed and did positively affect the welfare system. People forget that this was born in the conservative Congress but Clinton knew it was the right thing to do.
So, here you have Gov. LePage standing strong against all the liberal objections offering up something similar and he is criticized for it. I don't see how that criticism will help resolve the issues that Maine faces economically. And, yes, some people will be hurt here. With a system that had its tentacles so deeply embedded in some communities it's bound to do that but hopefully something positive can come of it.
I agree with this too. I shouldn't be forced to pay for the luxuries of others that I can't afford myself. No one will starve because of this. Maine has long had a reputation as being a welfare magnet state. That reputation has caused the state a lot of harm, shedding it can only do good.
What do we have today? Third and fourth generations of families on welfare waiting every month for their EBT card to be refilled and welfare check to arrive in the mail. Yet many (certainly not all) have big-screen TVs, cell phones better than mine and assistance on just about every front you can imagine. We, the ones pulling the wagon, are the ones funding this through our taxes. We are compassionate about helping people and maybe our church or civic organization helps those in need but where does it stop?
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I agree with this too. I shouldn't be forced to pay for the luxuries of others that I can't afford myself.
Yeah, I've *seen* this stuff and it ticks me off. There was one in particular that *really* ticked me off when I was house-shopping- I looked at a two-family that was fully occupied by the same [extended] family, on Section 8. They had new flat panel TVs (and Direct TV package), new computers with flat-panel monitors, snowmobiles and ATVs, and better cars than I had...and all the time in the world to play with them because *none* of them worked. GRRRRR!
It bugs me to see people buying *crap* 'food' with EBT. We were on 'welfare' for a little while when I was young, around 1970, we got powdered milk, powdered eggs, cans of "meat" and boxes of "cheese", 'USDA Surplus'. Twinkies? Chips? Soda? Not a chance.
I've seen lots of this kind of thing, and not just in Maine. I was a manager for a couple of security companies in Boston, and had contracts for a number of the 'Public Housing' projects. This kind of abuse runs rampant, I've seen it with my own eyes, I'm not running off hearsay.
I *know* people who are scamming the 'system' and it ticks me off.
Yes, I know that there are *some* people who legitimately need help, don't want to be in the 'system', and who want to get off it as soon as possible. But I've seen that there are many more who have no intention of getting off it, it's a way of life for them.
Ya know.......again looking at Maine from a neighboring state, I don't see it as a haven for welfare communities. I really don't. And when I visit, I don't see huge swaths of neighborhoods that would look like Section 8 or welfare communities. Here in CT they are really easy to find. Just drive through about 50% of Hartford and you don't have to look hard. Same for many larger towns and cities. And, yes, you see direct TV dishes pop up like mushrooms after a warm rain. Hard to believe that people can live like that, really.
Certainly when you ask outsiders what's the first thing that pops into their heads when asked about Maine has to be beautiful waterfront and quaint cities and towns and, of course, lobster as it's a big export item for you. No one mentions Maine as a destination for welfare. If you live there, of course, you're more aware of the situation and arguments for and against it. It comes as s surprise to us when the discussion is exposed to us out-of-state.
As the subject of welfare reform in Maine begins to take shape I'll bet fewer and fewer recipients will look toward Maine as a destination. They'll end up going to a state whose welfare is still generous.......like CT. Ya know, we're supposed to be one of the highest per-capita income states in the country. That's only because of one small section of the state where mega-monster owners live along the NY border. Movie stars, producers, business giants all live three in multi-million dollar estates. Excise them from the equation and the financial picture of CT would be scary. Maine has their head on right and it'll be better for everyone if the current administration succeeds in restructuring your welfare system. We're cheering you on.
Ya know.......again looking at Maine from a neighboring state, I don't see it as a haven for welfare communities. I really don't. And when I visit, I don't see huge swaths of neighborhoods that would look like Section 8 or welfare communities. Here in CT they are really easy to find. Just drive through about 50% of Hartford and you don't have to look hard. Same for many larger towns and cities. And, yes, you see direct TV dishes pop up like mushrooms after a warm rain. Hard to believe that people can live like that, really.
In Maine there are housing complexes or tract-housing built with one road leading into them and no outlet. At least that is how they present in Bangor. Old military base housing tracts left over from when the big Cold War bases closed decades ago.
As a tourist, passing through you would never see them.
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... Certainly when you ask outsiders what's the first thing that pops into their heads when asked about Maine has to be beautiful waterfront and quaint cities and towns and, of course, lobster as it's a big export item for you. No one mentions Maine as a destination for welfare. If you live there, of course, you're more aware of the situation and arguments for and against it. It comes as s surprise to us when the discussion is exposed to us out-of-state.
92% of Maine is forest. Maine does have long stretches of road where homes are a mile apart. One home will be nice, in good shape, and a few toys [ATVs, sleds, boats] scattered about. Then the next home you see needs paint, the roof line sags, and the barn next to it has collapsed.
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