Allegheny County Food Stamp Recipients Chart (Philadelphia, Republic: crime, home, transfer)

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by aw_now_what

You sound like an overweight, unshaven 63-year-old white guy sitting in front of your tv, muttering in agreement with Fox News. You've claimed a high IQ in past posts, but your recent comments seem determined to refute that.

I think some peoples' issues are more EQ than IQ... What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? | Psych Central

[Copanut]

Fortunately, I have never been poor enough to rely on food stamps, knock on wood. I do recall for a time my family qualified for government cheese, my Mom worked, but made very little. It was good stuff, pre-Velveeta. Those who honestly deserve and need it I'm all for. There are always going to be those who scam the system. How those people can look themselves in the mirror is beyond me. Back in my college days there were students who were able to qualify for food stamps and ate like Kings. This was a private school and when the administration heard about it the students were given 2 choices: stop getting the stamps or leave campus. Simple as that.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Copanut

....Those who honestly deserve and need it I'm all for. There are always going to be those who scam the system. How those people can look themselves in the mirror is beyond me.....

You'd be surprised...or maybe not. The pompous self-entitlement is beyond comprehension.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

You'd be surprised...or maybe not. The pompous self-entitlement is beyond comprehension.

I have a friend who owns an auto dealer. He wanted to promoted a kid from detailing cars and get him into auto repair for a decent rate while training and then on to a good career. Kid said no, a raise in income would make him ineligible for all the entitlements that he gets from Uncle Sam. Not my way of thinking, but it's out there.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I have a friend who owns an auto dealer. He wanted to promoted a kid from detailing cars and get him into auto repair for a decent rate while training and then on to a good career. Kid said no, a raise in income would make him ineligible for all the entitlements that he gets from Uncle Sam. Not my way of thinking, but it's out there.

Every once in a while I get an applicant who tries to make sure enough of his income could be "under-the-table" so that he won't lose any of his disability benefits. It's really soured my attitude towards social services programs and how they monitor people, if at all.

[steindle]

It's a great example of how successful the elite have been in driving the increasing class divide, that so much much hand-wringing is done about drop-in-the-bucket, limited instances of social program abuse by the poor while vastly more of our tax dollars go toward corporate welfare and frivolous defense spending.

[SammyKhalifa]

Meh. Food stamps have to be spent at local grocery stores, right? So even if somehow 100% of the recipients were defrauding the system all of that money is still going into the local economy.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by steindle

It's a great example of how successful the elite have been in driving the increasing class divide, that so much much hand-wringing is done about drop-in-the-bucket, limited instances of social program abuse by the poor while vastly more of our tax dollars go toward corporate welfare and frivolous defense spending.

I love being lower-middle-class and paying thousands of dollars annually in taxes so able-bodied people who work less by choice can have that money redistributed to them as a reward. Social services programs should be in place to help primarily those are are burdens of the state due to being orphaned; those whose physical and/or mental handicaps prevent them from supporting themselves; widow(er)s who now have to struggle to raise children after a tragedy zapped their late spouse's earnings; someone struggling with a chronic illness that precludes them from being a productive member of society; etc. I shouldn't know of so many able-bodied people who are gaming the system by pumping out more children to receive progressively greater benefits and tax refunds with each successive year while I as a single unmarried male with no dependents get zapped.

[Der Schwabe]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I love being lower-middle-class and paying thousands of dollars annually in taxes so able-bodied people who work less by choice can have that money redistributed to them as a reward. Social services programs should be in place to help primarily those are are burdens of the state due to being orphaned; those whose physical and/or mental handicaps prevent them from supporting themselves; widow(er)s who now have to struggle to raise children after a tragedy zapped their late spouse's earnings; someone struggling with a chronic illness that precludes them from being a productive member of society; etc. I shouldn't know of so many able-bodied people who are gaming the system by pumping out more children to receive progressively greater benefits and tax refunds with each successive year while I as a single unmarried male with no dependents get zapped.

Thousands, per your previous post, seems like an exceedingly sensationalist way to say $4000. I would be thrilled if that were all I had to pay. Check the taxes for those making a solid middle to upper middle class income and you'll see who is taking the hit. You're not even covering property taxes on many houses.

I'm all for changing the incentives to reduce waste when you are talking about disability programs and the like, but the debate as you are regurgitating it isn't framed that way. Anecdotal stories are more powerful than meaningful reform. Reform is dull but attacking perceived takers sure gives you a self-satisfied rush. You are a shining star example of how extraordinarily effective the campaign has been to pit the lower middle class against the poor and most disadvantaged in society.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Der Schwabe

Thousands, per your previous post, seems like an exceedingly sensationalist way to say $4000. I would be thrilled if that were all I had to pay. Check the taxes for those making a solid middle to upper middle class income and you'll see who is taking the hit. You're not even covering property taxes on many houses.

I'm all for changing the incentives to reduce waste when you are talking about disability programs and the like, but the debate as you are regurgitating it isn't framed that way. Anecdotal stories are more powerful than meaningful reform. Reform is dull but attacking perceived takers sure gives you a self-satisfied rush. You are a shining star example of how extraordinarily effective the campaign has been to pit the lower middle class against the poor and most disadvantaged in society.

I also earn much less in terms of compensation than most and owe this $4,000 after making numerous permissible business-related deductions. How many of you use your vehicle daily for work other than commuting from Point A to Point B?

So from what I understand in order to be a good East End liberal I should hate the 1% for being successful through hard work?