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.
That's too bad. I'm pretty sure it's allowed in the regulations and would probably be a great help to him. I guess the fear is it would make it look like he could work full time.
My brother would love to work full-time. It's not his fault he was born on the spectrum. He's had many jobs, but can't keep them because he just does not understand how to get along with people and he cannot conform his behavior to an employer's expectations. It's not that he doesn't try - it's that he can't. People are pretty much a complete mystery to him. He depended on my mother while she was alive.
Both my parents, when they were living, and his other siblings have always worked and have paid plenty of taxes. I don't begrudge my brother, or any of the 100 or so other people living where he lives.
One of my friends has two autistic brothers that will probably never be able to secure jobs and housing of their own. They're both a joy to be around because they have such distinct personalities and interests despite being nonverbal. Anyone who thinks they deserve to be treated as second-class citizens just because they do not have the ability to be "productive" in a job... well, you can't fix ugly like that.
FWIW, I think the other user owes you a proper apology for going off on a tirade against your brother. Even if they didn't understand what being on the spectrum means.
As for the topic, I can't think of a single non-disabled person in my circle of friends who does not work and has everything provided to them. With or without children. I know a couple who are in income-limited housing. I know some who get food stamps and WIC. I know some who get Medicaid for their children. But each of them works. One is even a military family.
I think we've gone too stringent and restrictive in regards to social welfare programs, under the guise of the ZOMG WELFARE QUEENS ARE ABUSING ALL OUR MONEY boogeyman. For someone who literally can not work, sure they probably shouldn't be living it up in mansions and eating filet mignon every day... but the conditions they're relegated to are extremely paltry.
I think we've gone too stringent and restrictive in regards to social welfare programs, under the guise of the ZOMG WELFARE QUEENS ARE ABUSING ALL OUR MONEY boogeyman. For someone who literally can not work, sure they probably shouldn't be living it up in mansions and eating filet mignon every day... but the conditions they're relegated to are extremely paltry.
I think there is some truth to that statement, but there are welfare queens and kings abusing public assistance. And there is no real effort to encourage them to do otherwise.
Everywhere I go now days people are talking about lazy people living on welfare. But other than one relative, I don't know anyone living totally on welfare.
(I am not talking about older people on Social Security)
I am not talking about someone getting a few hundred dollars in food stamps or Medicaid to help with their health care.
What I am talking about is someone who is being totally supported by the government. The government sends them a check for living expenses. Pays their rent, food and utilities. They don't work, they just sit home and relax and wait for the welfare checks to come in all paid by the taxpayers.
Do you know anyone like this and what is their story?
I can take you to several cases here in Mississippi.
It is called "crazy money" in some circles. I personally know of 2 cases. Welfare is their only income.
But if I know 2, how many are there?
Quote:
The problem is that so many young people, especially men, are claiming they are nuts. Yes, this is the biggest scam since the welfare queens of the 1980s, and it’s getting worse. They call it “the crazy check” and there are wide swathes of men playing the system for these checks......
It is very easy to go to the Social Security office and say the recession is making you depressed and begin collecting a monthly check of $1,111.
For a man trying to feed his family, this is a paltry amount, but for a bum with no rent, mortgage, car note, educational loans, electric bills, and living with his mother or grandmother, this is a lot of dough........
That's too bad. I'm pretty sure it's allowed in the regulations and would probably be a great help to him. I guess the fear is it would make it look like he could work full time.
Yup.
The housing is the biggest issue. He is now living where he's lived his whole life, where his friends and church are. Given how difficult it is for him to deal with change and establish new relationships - well, we have a backup plan, but it would require this 59-yo man to leave the area that's been his home for his entire life, and to once again live dependent on a relative. We REALLY don't want to do that unless we absolutely have to.
THEN A SOCIAL WORKER friend clued me in. Many of the poor also collect federal disability benefits in the form of Supplemental Security Insurance, or “crazy money” as it is known on the streets, since one must “act crazy” to receive it.
SSI was enacted in 1974 to supplement the Social Security benefits of disabled low-income seniors, and, as an afterthought, to help pay for the care of severely disabled children from poor families. As with any federal program, SSI has ballooned to Hindenbergian proportions, and now covers virtually any low-income person with any long-term ailment. Not surprisingly, easy-to-fake learning, behavioral, and mental disorders are the most common complaints, especially among children, making up 55 percent of all cases.
Poor adults, who in pre-welfare reform days were offered incentives to be idle and proliferant, are again incentivized to be idle and proliferant.
Everyone I know works, except for one woman who receives food stamps (and Medicaid) for her child because she is unable to work, but not for herself.
I did work with one nursing assistant years ago who worked part-time, but refused to work full-time because it would interfere with her "benefits". She's a classic case of scamming the system, but in the end it's a pittance compared to the multinational corporations and billionaires who scam our system for billions and billions every year.
the only way to "completely live off of gov't welfare is to qualify for paying 30% of your income for rent (subsidized housing/section 8). And those waiting lists are long...many years
Exactly. Also, those people do not live well. I met a few people who lived in subsidized housing years ago (job related) They became very ill at a young age (i.e., stroke, kidney failure) and hadn't worked long enough to build up their Social Security benefits. One woman, for example, got $600 a month and paid 1/3 for housing. Most people on SSDI get Medicare and the poorest often qualify for Medicaid, but those people live well below the poverty level.
So the answer is people who take advantage of the system i.e., people taking advantage of the tax payer, should not be defended. By doing so, people become less sympathetic. Able bodied people should have to work even if they have kids. Working women have kids, why can't welfare moms. People are really sick of the welfare mentality.
I know people who you would look UP to. You would consider them the Kings of their Castles. They have businesses, jobs, skills, family, smarts, etc.....they work, often pretty hard.
Some of them also commit insurance and other fraud, cheat on their taxes and engage in a long list of other behaviors which is costing AMERICA a heck of a lot more money than any section 8 tenant.
What do you think about people like this? How would you every know who they are? They are doctors, lawyers, manufacturers...I even know two state judges who engage in this behavior.
Law Enforcement? Wow, probably billions served (in terms of money, drugs and other shenanigans).
All those politicians you get your talking points from? Suffice it to say I had the pleasure of being close to the inside of the political world. They make the other people I mentioned above look like saints.
So you are acting as the perfect sap. They told you to "look over there" at that fantasy "welfare king or queen", whereas the truth of the matter is the true welfare mentality is MUCH bigger than what you think..
I owned a couple retail stores. A state judge came in and bought a big ticket item. When I gave him the invoice he claimed "I NEVER pay tax - I want you to remove the sale tax". This was, of course, completely illegal - and so this public servant whose salary is paid with our taxes doesn't want to pay any.
I could write a book but will instead quote some words "Oh, thou hypocrites".
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.
