Your Welfare Dollars at Work

[haha]

Seattle welfare recipient lives in million-dollar home | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

Woman on welfare, living in a Lake Washington waterfront house and living a high life.

Ha

 

[Moemg]

Don't get me started on this . A few weeks ago we were at our neighborhood seafood restaurant at happy hour and several people who are regulars had free cell phones courtesy of us . I also was in line at the grocery store behind a woman with a large designer purse probably $400 or more using food stamps .

 

[tightasadrum]

Maybe they got a break on the rent. I doubt that the welfare department has any limitation based on where you live. Aren't those benefits need based? Then again, maybe they're scamming the state. They sure aren't the first to do it.

 

[Animorph]

Don't get me started on this . A few weeks ago we were at our neighborhood seafood restaurant at happy hour and several people who are regulars had free cell phones courtesy of us .

They've been advertising those phones on TV. 250 free minutes a month. If you qualify for some program or other. That means it must be a scam for at least the wireless companies.

 

[flyfishnevada]

People are all pissy about people receiving pensions nowadays, but even if you a receiving a gold-plated, Cadillac pension that you never contributed to, at least you worked for a few decades to get it. These people don't do anything for my money. Where's the outcry about welfare? During the budget battles her in Nevada, it was cut state worker this, cut state worker that, but never did I hear cut welfare this and cut welfare that. Seems a little backwards, but what do I know?

 

[73ss454]

People are all pissy about people receiving pensions nowadays, but even if you a receiving a gold-plated, Cadillac pension that you never contributed to, at least you worked for a few decades to get it. These people don't do anything for my money. Where's the outcry about welfare? During the budget battles her in Nevada, it was cut state worker this, cut state worker that, but never did I hear cut welfare this and cut welfare that. Seems a little backwards, but what do I know?

Where is the outcry about any of what's going on in our Government with giveaways like this. To top it all off, next year we will all vote the same thieves and scoundrels back into office.

 

[youbet]

next year we will all vote the same thieves and scoundrels back into office.

Here in Illinois, getting the same Machine politicians back term after term after term is totally automated. We don't even need to go to the polls. Votes are tabulated based on the politicians knowing who you would want if you did vote. Or, if you do go to the polls, they're smart enough to recogize a mistake and automatically change your errant vote to the "correct" one.

 

[justplainbll]

To find a purveyor of fine foods in your area that is enjoyed by SNAP participants you might want to visit-
SNAP Retail Locator

 

[nun]

Seattle welfare recipient lives in million-dollar home | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

Woman on welfare, living in a Lake Washington waterfront house and living a high life.

Ha

I understand the outrage, but for some balance here are the 99% of welfare recipients, where's the outrage about this?

AmericanPoverty.org

 

[Bestwifeever]

Why does Washington State allow this?

 

[ratto]

I also was in line at the grocery store behind a woman with a large designer purse probably $400 or more using food stamps .

Who knows, maybe that large designer purse is just a counterfeit?

Here in Illinois, getting the same Machine politicians back term after term after term is totally automated. We don't even need to go to the polls. Votes are tabulated based on the politicians knowing who you would want if you did vote. Or, if you do go to the polls, they're smart enough to recogize a mistake and automatically change your errant vote to the "correct" one.

I'm so glad that I left the "Crook" county.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Why does Washington State allow this?

I do not believe this is exclusive to Washington State. There is corruption everywhere when it comes to welfare. The powers to be in the welfare systems either don't care, or it's just too big of a problem for them to get involved or their stupid, or all of the above.

 

[donheff]

I get a kick out of the reaction to these stories. It is like we all feel we are surrounded by free loaders living the high life. The reality, of course, is that most of these stories are either misleading (e.g. somebody is on unemployment while struggling to sell an upside down home, etc.) or single out the few successful outliers who found a loophole, or expose outright criminals. The most telling line in the OP's story was this:

"Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband's name because they have not officially been charged with a crime."
​

So maybe these folks are the successful outliers or maybe they are about to get prosecuted. NBD in either event. Nonetheless - fun story to get all worked up about. Lets be honest Ha -- you were more amused than worked up, right?

 

[nun]

I get a kick out of the reaction to these stories. It is like we all feel we are surrounded by free loaders living the high life. The reality, of course, is that most of these stories are either misleading (e.g. somebody is on unemployment while struggling to sell an upside down home, etc.) or single out the few successful outliers who found a loophole, or expose outright criminals. The most telling line in the OP's story was this:

"Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband's name because they have not officially been charged with a crime."
​

So maybe these folks are the successful outliers or maybe they are about to get prosecuted. NBD in either event. Nonetheless - fun story to get all worked up about. Lets be honest Ha -- you were more amused than worked up, right?

+1, where's the outrage about the far larger corruption that takes place in politics or on Wall Street? Where's the perspective? It's like concentrating on a splinter in your finger instead of doing something to cure your cancer.

 

[donheff]

__________________
OCCUPY ER

 

[pimpmyretirement]

If they qualify for the program, they should take the benefits.

 

[ERD50]

I understand the outrage, but for some balance here are the 99% of welfare recipients, where's the outrage about this?

AmericanPoverty.org

Two things - first, outrage over the article could be consistent with outrage over the 99%. People who cheat the system (assuming that is the case here) are taking money from the others that may really need it. So there's my outrage for you!

And second, this is a news article about this particular occurrence. Not every article takes in the whole universe of stories surrounding it. I'm sure there are stories about truly needy people - should we criticize those stories for not also showing the cheaters in the same article?

I get a kick out of the reaction to these stories. It is like we all feel we are surrounded by free loaders living the high life.

I see this as a technique that some people use to try to discredit/dismiss the story. Makes no sense to me, and I don't believe it is true.

I see the story for what it is - a story about a single (alleged) cheater. It does not lead me to believe that all benefit receivers are cheaters. And that does not change how (allegedly) bad this case is. We get the same responses in many of the pension threads 'Hey, not everyone is getting spiking or whatever' . SO? That doesn't change how bad some of the problems are that do exist.

When you read a story about a murder, do you say "Hah - most people are not murdering, what's the big deal?"

The most telling line in the OP's story was this:

"Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband's name because they have not officially been charged with a crime."​

IMO, the most telling line in the OP's story was this:

... traveled around the world to locales in Turkey, Tel Aviv and resort towns in Mexico, according to court records.

-ERD50​

 

[dgoldenz]

You can buy Starbucks drinks, beer, wine, and cigarettes here with EBT money. Every time I swipe my CC at the grocery store it asks me if it's credit or EBT. What a great system.

 

[MichaelB]

Does this discussion have anything to do with FIRE?

 

[ERD50]

If they qualify for the program, they should take the benefits.

OK, but that means the program requirements/documentation should be tightened, so that...

Does this discussion have anything to do with FIRE?

our retirement portfolios are not depleted feeding a broken system.

-ERD50

 

[HFWR]

Before Porky arrives...

NCCP | Texas: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Cash Assistance

Earnings limit for a single-parent family of 3: $4812/yr

Recipient asset limit: $1,000

Monthly maximum benefit for family of 3: $223/mo

There is a lifetime time limit of 60 months on a family''s receipt of federally-funded benefits, but states may exempt up to 20% of their caseload from this limit and/or use state funds to extend benefits.

Where do I sign up?

 

[flyfishnevada]

I don't mind an individual applying for "benefits" they are legally entitled. It is the government that makes the "benefits" so easy to get is the problem. Then the people that do scam the system are allowed to get away with it for any number of reasons that boil down to the government pretty much does everything, except going to foreign countries and killing bad guys, poorly. There isn't much the government has made itself responsible for that isn't worse than it used to be. Health care, education, airport security, you name it. Sure it gets bigger and more money is thrown at it, but it doesn't get better and many times gets worse.

Maybe more people are being "helped" by welfare than were being helped by churches and service orgs in the past, but how much more does it cost? How much more fraud and waste is there? And how many more people have become dependant on the seemingly endless support from the government? I'm not saying we shouldn't have some kind of social safety net for those truly in need, but they way we do it now is wrong for so many reasons.

 

[Koolau]

Does this discussion have anything to do with FIRE?

It does seem we are focusing on the "cheats" or whatever they are. But, regarding FIRE, every dollar spent on "welfare" is a dollar that has to come from some form of "confiscation" by government (taxation, fees, "contributions", borrowing via the Treasury, etc. etc.) Most (all?) of us who are FIRE'd do not receive as much as we put into the system, so our standard of living (or else our FIRE date) is affected. So, yes, it does have something to do with FIRE. I guess we've just sort of chosen to gripe about it instead of analyze its specific effect on FIRE.

Hows that for making it a FIRE discussion?

Oh! YMMV

 

[Bestwifeever]

It does seem we are focusing on the "cheats" or whatever they are. But, regarding FIRE, every dollar spent on "welfare" is a dollar that has to come from some form of "confiscation" by government (taxation, fees, "contributions", borrowing via the Treasury, etc. etc.) [-] Most[-][/-] (all?)[/-] some of us who are FIRE'd do not receive as much as we put into the system, so our standard of living (or else our FIRE date) is affected. So, yes, it does have something to do with FIRE. I guess we've just sort of chosen to gripe about it instead of analyze its specific effect on FIRE.

Hows that for making it a FIRE discussion?

Oh! YMMV

FIFY

 

[MichaelB]

It does seem we are focusing on the "cheats" or whatever they are. But, regarding FIRE, every dollar spent on "welfare" is a dollar that has to come from some form of "confiscation" by government (taxation, fees, "contributions", borrowing via the Treasury, etc. etc.) Most (all?) of us who are FIRE'd do not receive as much as we put into the system, so our standard of living (or else our FIRE date) is affected. So, yes, it does have something to do with FIRE. I guess we've just sort of chosen to gripe about it instead of analyze its specific effect on FIRE.

Hows that for making it a FIRE discussion?

Oh! YMMV

Well, since you ask, when the discussion is about outrage, welfare cheats, and confiscation, using key words like FIRE or portfolio do nothing to make it a legitimate topic. It is at best tenuous and just as likely to end with Mr. Porky.