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I have know enough poor families along the way to severly question the OP's veracity. Last I checked families recieving welfare checks were not allowed to have saving or investment accounts at all. They were mandated as part of the welfare terms to spend ALL of the money on survival. Why do you think Food Stamps are adminiasterd by the Ag Department?
I would like to see our taxes based on ALL INCOME FROM ALL SOURCES without any special consideration for the way the loot was obtained. That, along with a decent deduction at the 90th percentile level, would go a long way to returning out government to a pay as we go basis. This would end the biggest welfare ripoff we have.
Along with I thought you had to have children to qualify for food stamps..... Now even couples can get food stamps seniors is one thing, working couples need to buy less beer and cigarettes. Notice many have plenty of tattooing going on, must get those for free also.
I found this nifty little foodstamps calculator from North Dakota.
The maximum a family of two, with no elderly members, can make and receive foostamps is $1960.00 year. Eligibility
That's one minimum wage job, with another spouse working for +/- $4k a year. If they make any more than that, they don't qualify.
I put their rent at $400.00--it would be much higher in an urban area, potentially less in a rural area, and about that price for an older one bedroom apartment here that hadn't been updated since the 70s. The site lists standard off sets for utilities (gas, electric, sewer, etc.) at $175.
Their monthly food stamp food benefit would be $8.00 a month.
$8.00 a month--they're yucking it up with tattoos, lobster tails, steaks, and cigarettes.
If only one spouse is working for minimum wage (around $15K a year) and the other spouse can't work for some reason but isn't legally disabled or elderly (an illness, etc.), the benefit would be $156/month. Their combined income with foodstamps and salary would be $1406/month. That includes, again, spending $400 on rent, $175 on utilities and with the rest buying food, medicine, medical, eye care, dental, clothing, furnishings, transportation, doing your laundry, and incidentals like shampoo and deoderant. You also need to subtract around $900 a year for their contribution to FICA. Yeah--life of luxury.
I have know enough poor families along the way to severly question the OP's veracity. Last I checked families recieving welfare checks were not allowed to have saving or investment accounts at all. They were mandated as part of the welfare terms to spend ALL of the money on survival. Why do you think Food Stamps are adminiasterd by the Ag Department?
I would like to see our taxes based on ALL INCOME FROM ALL SOURCES without any special consideration for the way the loot was obtained. That, along with a decent deduction at the 90th percentile level, would go a long way to returning out government to a pay as we go basis. This would end the biggest welfare ripoff we have.
What you mean you don't want to have a special lower tax rule created specifically for private equity bosses, and hedge fund managers?
The maximum a family of two, with no elderly members, can make and receive foostamps is $1960.00 year. Eligibility
That's one minimum wage job, with another spouse working for +/- $4k a year. If they make any more than that, they don't qualify.
I put their rent at $400.00--it would be much higher in an urban area, potentially less in a rural area, and about that price for an older one bedroom apartment here that hadn't been updated since the 70s. The site lists standard off sets for utilities (gas, electric, sewer, etc.) at $175.
Their monthly food stamp food benefit would be $8.00 a month.
$8.00 a month--they're yucking it up with tattoos, lobster tails, steaks, and cigarettes.
If only one spouse is working for minimum wage (around $15K a year) and the other spouse can't work for some reason but isn't legally disabled or elderly (an illness, etc.), the benefit would be $156/month. Their combined income with foodstamps and salary would be $1406/month. That includes, again, spending $400 on rent, $175 on utilities and with the rest buying food, medicine, medical, eye care, dental, clothing, furnishings, transportation, doing your laundry, and incidentals like shampoo and deoderant. You also need to subtract around $900 a year for their contribution to FICA. Yeah--life of luxury.
And that is believable. I found this today:
"The number of suburban residents living in poverty rose by nearly 64 percent between 2000 and 2011, to about 16.4 million people, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of 95 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. That's more than double the rate of growth for urban poverty in those areas."
I haven't read the thread yet, but i'm 100% confident that liberals and Democrats have essentially called you a liar and that your anecdotal story can't be true because welfare fraud, waste, and abuse isn't really a problem in this country!
Meh, you would be wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoJiveMan
I hate to break the good news to you, but blindness will probably will be a lifelong disability, therefore, the child will receive disability benefits throughout his/her entire lifetime.
What the custodian of the benefits received does with the money is on that person, or persons.
If someone complains to the SS Administration that they don't believe the child's best interests are being served, the SS Administration may decide to revoke the present custodian's authority and hand it to another relative or caring family.
I can only imagine how much this fact must upset you.
Maybe you should snitch on them if you think it will benefit the child.
You do know there is a black market for food stamps? Many people sell them for cash and then buy whatever they want.
But many people will NOT, because of the legal concerns, the fact that they'd rather use it on food, and the fact that "black market" food stamp sales are 1) much more difficult now that there are no paper stamps and 2) the fact that food stamps have a value of 50% on the black market. So the many who do not sell their stamps on the black market means they will have no choice but to use those benefits for food.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
Add up the completely free housing with all utilities paid -- and no need to try to save by turning off lights or limiting water use, the free cable, free Obamaphones, completely free health care without even a co-pay, free food with food stamps, free meals for the kids in schools, WIC coupons and free babysitting at the head start centers again with free meals, and free college provided to those on welfare, it begins to add up to some very nice money.
If welfare wasn't such a great lifestyle, many more of these people would be willing to work for a living, but even as you yourself admit, millions of illegals are needed to do the work that the lazy welfare class doesn't have to do because living on welfare really isn't very rough at all.
What? Where? I have a relative who lives on housing and is disabled. She gets a disability check of about $800 a month (I can't recall if it is $700 or $900 so I am taking the middle number here), she pays 1/3 of that income towards rent. She pays the same utility bills everyone else does so she's averaging $100 to $200 a month in electric, another $40 for water. She does not have free cable. The fact that she gets housing assistance has nothing to do with her other bills. She qualifies for $15 a month in food stamps. She has Medicare or Medicaid (can't ever remember which) but I know she has many prescription costs she must pay out of pocket. After she pays her rent, electric (and she has medical issues that require her to maintain a certain temperature due to her breathing), water, basic home landline phone service, buys a bus pass to get to and from the doctor and grocery store, pays her prescription costs, toilet paper, laundry coin-op, soap/shampoo/toiletries, you know, all the stuff everyone pays for, she has less than $100 a month, if that leftover.
Great lifestyle, I know.
Additionally, I was on section 8 housing for a brief period, many many years ago (but I know others on it now so I know this has not changed) and I, much like my relative, paid 1/3 of my income towards rent and the housing voucher was completely separate from utility costs. I paid full utility costs, no discounts. I did not qualify for any sort of medical for myself (Medicaid) once my son was a year old. Head Start, depending where you are, often has very long wait lists, same with housing. Often the wait list in my city is closed and when it is open it can be years before someone who would qualify can actually get housing assistance.
The "free college" issue has already been addressed. Most assistance programs actually discourage college attendance because students have different work requirements in order to get assistance. The only time they waive those requirements are when you are participating in an "approved" short term program, in my area it is often a 3 month sort of job training program. If you enroll in a regular community college or university there is automatically a work requirement of 20 or 30 hours per week in order for a student to receive food stamps (and then, most likely only someone with a dependent child). Or when they meet other requirements with regard to having a minor child (under 12), etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547
If it's post high school job training (it can't include a bachelors or graduate degree--only two year or less technical or AA programs), they would qualify for somewhere around $4K a year in Pell grants (college aid for low income students) to help cover costs in an accredited program while they're on welfare. Any really low income kid would qualify for those funds, but my understanding is that there's a limited pot of money, so you have to apply early to get it. I don't know the details, but completing your GED is basically completing High School. The cost of any public High School is paid for through our tax dollars to begin with. I can't see how a GED is any different. They basically go back to High School, but in a class for adults geared toward passing the GED. Some may just need to take the test to get it without a refresher course.
Welfare to work means you have to either work at least 20-30 hours a week (depending on the state) to get welfare benefits, and those benefits are reduced based on your income, or you have to be a full time student in an approved career training program. Some states will only let you be on welfare for a maximum of 21 months in your lifetime. There are exceptions for caring for a disabled or very young child, etc. If you are disabled yourself, you'd get supplemental SS vs. welfare.
First I wanted to thank you for your posts on this thread, I appreciate you taking the time to debunk the rampant misinformation. I just wanted to address a couple of things here, to clarify or illustrate how things can vary.
I am betting there are a lot of variations by state in this regard with the schooling limitations. I only know about Texas. In Texas someone who is a full time college student must also be working. I think it's 20 hours a week, might be 30, I can never recall which. There is no restriction with regard to whether or not it is a 2 year or 4 year program of study. Either type of student is still considered a student and must meet the work requirements in order to qualify for food stamps, with the exception of someone who is a full time student AND parent or otherwise responsible for a minor child under age 12 with no child care, or caring for a disabled person in their home.
As I mentioned already, there are certain programs often sponsored by the unemployment/work office (Texas Workforce Commission in this case) that are very short term job training programs, usually no more than 16 weeks long, and if someone is approved and accepted into those programs they provided cost free and as far as I know, that person then meets the "work requirement" and is not penalized in any way for their student status. These would be certificate programs at the most.
Also the full Pell max is now $5500 a year.
I know you said it varies by state so I just wanted to chime in with what I know about Texas. For food stamps the time limit mentioned applies to able bodied adults without dependents -- 18 to 50 in age, and they are limited to 3 months of food stamp benefits out of 36 months unless they work at least 20 hours a week or participate in an approved work search/training program. Texas has a 60 month lifetime max for TANF recipients, I believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547
I'm guessing they have to get a job, even if it's minimum wage. I know that if you're on welfare and you haven't completed your undergraduate degree, you can't do that while you're receiving services either. You could go back and get an Associates in nursing for two years if your state allows that, or take a truck mechanics course, but you couldn't finish a 4 year degree in engineering, etc. that you're half way through.
In Texas you can, but only if you meet the requirements, dependent minor child under age 12 and no child care, or you are meeting the previously mentioned work requirements. Then they will allow pursuit of a 4 year degree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3~Shepherds
Along with I thought you had to have children to qualify for food stamps..... Now even couples can get food stamps seniors is one thing, working couples need to buy less beer and cigarettes. Notice many have plenty of tattooing going on, must get those for free also.
What a silly post. Free tattoos, really? See the above regarding able bodied adults without kids an the limitations on food stamps. Even my relative who is disabled only qualified for $15 a month. The exact requirements vary from state to state but there are restrictions like that in pretty much all states as far as I am aware.
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.
Someti?es the Chinese store buys them.
Sometimes some of them stand outside a grocery store and ask;its $7 per $10 in food stamps. Its not very economical for me to buy them.
Unless there are certain details being left out of this story, it makes no sense. If her husband was making 130K there is no way she would qualify for any assistance unless she was living seperately from him. She would have had to lie and say the father was gone. If they were legally married I'm sure it would have shown up on some kind of background check. Usually what women do is say the father of their kids is gone and then they get the benefits and he secretly lives with them.
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Now even couples can get food stamps seniors is one thing, working couples need to buy less beer and cigarettes. Notice many have plenty of tattooing going on, must get those for free also.
