Why don't we just put words in my mouth instead. It makes discussions a lot easier when you do both sides.
What I see in that real life example is that the system needs improvement. No more, no less. You can rationalize it all you want but, like with tax credits such as earned income, child tax breaks, etc - many programs are not run well and, therefor, people who really need assistance and credits desperately do not get as much as they could. The government doesn't have to be as inefficient as it is but so many people just rationalize the inefficiencies away that it probably will never change and the people that need the most help will always be short changed. Sad, really.
But you really don't have anything to judge the situation except a Hyundai Santa Fe which may or may not belong to the woman in question. She may be in the process of having her car repossessed. Or maybe this is the only asset this woman has. I'd be more interested in your opinion of whether you think making people sell off all their worldly possessions and driving them into abject poverty is really what we should be doing before we allow them to collect any welfare?
300 a month? Really. Would you run down a typical week in groceries here? I liked to find out What I am doing wrong. I spend nealy twice that. And that isnt steak every meal. Thanks.
I'm going to be 52 this April. I grew up an orphan since I was 8 and never knew my parents. I have been a single Father of 4 children,the youngest being autistic. I have served in the Army and have 2 honorable discharges. I am a very proud and yet humble person. Life has given be blows worse then a prizefighter recieves later in his career,yet to this day I have never recieved aide. I suppose there are many who don't deserve aide until they can show some effort on their part to help themselves,but alas,so few. I don't agree with the drug testing or some other mandatory requirements. I am neither Republican nor Democrat,the system has been broken for many years and the government is more corrupt then most people could even comprehend. I am sick and fed up with the way massive corporations have their way with our country. I am sick of the way the common people are treated in this country. I am sorry for the younger generation and the garbage we are constantly piling and leaving for them. I dont really give a rats ass what most people think since they are not the ones who have made an impact or tried at least an attempt to free America from the tyranny and government control which is gradually increasing year by year. You stand on your soapboxes and yell "Justice where are thou?" Do you really believe the government and big corporations could care less how you feel? Corruption and deception are the mainstream in Washington D.C. Other countries look at us and shake their heads in bewilderment. I know there are many,many people in the United States who want so dearly to believe in the principles on which this country was founded. I know there are many,many people who deep inside are fed up with the current situation and most likely have been for awhile. People cursed Bush,and now Obama,it never ends does it? All I know is the more you allow the government to control your lives and dictate how you should live it,the freedom the forefathers fought so hard for,is slowly spiraling down the drain of illusional abyss we call our government. One day you'll wake up with someone knocking at your door and wanting to send you off to get repatriated. Sounds really familiar doesn't it? Freedom is so damn precious,we need to all fight like we have never fought before! I will be joining 80,000+ Americans who will protest the gas prices. It's our God given right and there are so many other wrongdoings we as a United people should demand answers for. trust me, we can handle the truth. So, I suppose I agree and disagree with this particular forum. I totally agree that people shouldn't get handouts for nothing,but I also disagree with the government and Big brother tactics. I am not trying to disway anyones beliefs or political standing, just voicing my opinion until they take that away from me as well.
I always wonder why "government" that amorphous organization that is defined a hundred different ways if you ask a hundred different people, takes the blame for all of our ills while the far greater force affecting our lives is big money, big business, and big industry and they get a pass. I know government is supposed to govern and be the voice of the people and doing a pretty poor job of it but only because we elect people through participation or lack of participation in the democratic process that sell us out to people equally if not more amorphous than “government” that are even more uninterested in the welfare of the average citizen. Sure the people we elect are not doing their job but neither are we. Our representatives are only as good as we expect them to be and when billionaires have more say over policy than hundreds of millions of citizens, well our voices are effectively silenced. People in this very forum cheer on the dismemberment of the middle class they themselves belong to. They find victory in a U.S. Supreme Court decision like Citizens United that elevates the power and influence of billionaires over average citizens. They frequently defend State Governors like Scott Walker that has effectively if only temporarily taken hundreds of millions of dollars out of struggling working class people’s pockets and shifted it into already wealth corporate coffers. When you have people applauding their own demise, I just find it hard to blame “government” for the stupidity of the people. We have become a country that can be defined by low information voters, a divided citizenry, a poorly educated population, distracted by the latest Hollywood scandal, and deep into consumerism. The government isn’t failing us. We are failing to hold our government accountable. We are just ripe for the picking and have no right to expect any less.
All I see is more rationalizations. Which is the impression I get of a lot of liberal thought. Who cares if the programs are actually helping the people who need them the most...the program existing is all the success that is needed. Problems solved. Pat ourselves on the back. We have A Program for it. I live in a rural community and work at a veteran's hospital. I see real abject poverty and homelessness every day up close and personal. I don't just read about it in a newspaper or theorize about it. I see it all the time. I even talk to them. gasp. So, in as direct a manner as I can provide... I would absolutely not use part of the finite resources available on an individual who drives a late model, gas hogging SUV to the most expensive grocery store in a 50 mile area to use their link card. No matter whether it is theirs or not or whether they are paying for the gas or not. No matter whether there is fraud or not. If they have resources and/or a support system like that, they have a lot more than a lot of people I see most every day.
My average is about $300 a month. Some months are more. But I buy a lot of things on sale and use the store brand. I may have to stop for the occassional staple once in a while when it is not grocery week, as I only get groceries once every two weeks. I am only feeding me and my fiancee as well. Do you have a family?
C'mon. Do people need to be destitute to get a little help? And no matter how many times someone ''suffered'' eating noodles and peanut butter & jelly during college, dont tell me they didnt have a decent meal once in a while. Or drive to Mom and Dads for a weekend and get a bounty of home cooking.
And David what became of the money in that Kentucky county in which those lazy-asses were no longer qualified? Was it sent back to the Feds?
Yes I have a family. And single people rarely quailfy for welfare. Can you give me and itemized list of what the avaerage grocery list consists of. Just in general. Most welfare recipients have two or more kids.
For two weeks I buy a few loafs of bread, coffee, one to two dozen eggs, sugar, four to five pounds of hamburger, up to four gallons of milk, cheese slices, a few things of lunch meat, sometimes yogurt, steak for one night, four to five pounds of hamburger, chix breast for a few nights, pork steak or pork chops for a nights, side dishes like noodles or mac and cheese, cereal, juice, fish, potatoes, french fries, fresh fruit, canned veggies. Enough for fourteen suppers, lunches to take to work and the weekend breakfastes.
Rationalization is a valid defense mechanism but it has little to do with being rational. In it's most basic definition, it is simple 'making excuses'.
bread:2.50, coffee:9.00,24 egss:3.00,4lbs of chopped meat:18.00, 4gal.s milk:10.00, cheese:2.50, lunch meat:12.00, yorgurt: 1.50, steaks:12.00, chic brst:3.00, pork chops:3.00, noodles:3.00, cereal:2.00, juice(OJ):2.00, fish:5.00, potatoes(5lbs):7.00,fries:3.00, fruit(av. per lbs)1.90, canned goods:3.00. Thats an average of 96.00 just for one week. And thats for two people. I am editing thise because you said you shop twice a week. So cut the hamburger in half and the coffee. But double up on everything else. Comes out the same.
Actually, you seem kind of offended by my comments. It didn't mean to offend you and I'm sorry. I respect your opinions here even if I don't always agree with them. I tend to walk my own path and I never completely agree with anyone here which is why watching several other posters here nodding in agreement with each other so often is kind of repulsive to me. I look at that type of behavior as the epitome of sheeple. Anyway, I don't think, for lack of a better phrase, walking a mile in someone else's shoes is rationalizing anything. It is a difficult thing for me to do as my wife will tell you. Whenever I see some idiot driving like they think that they are the only one on the road, I tend to judge them harshly to put it mildly. My wife on the other hand, tends to give them the benefit of the doubt. She says maybe they have a loved one that just died, maybe they just got some really bad news, maybe they just need a little understanding right now. Of course that always just makes me even madder. But I do understand what she is saying even though statistically speaking it is far more likely that I am right and the idiot behind the wheel annoying me is probably just a bad driver. Like I said, people find themselves in many different places on the way down the ladder when they suddenly find that they qualify for assistance. There simply isn't one level of need that fits all situations and as I said, it certainly doesn't pay to drive people into severe poverty before society should begin to help them. Stabilizing people in their current financial situation makes a lot more sense than trying to bring them back to self-sufficiency from the depth of financial despair and probably a lot less expensive in the long run.
My monthly food bill is usually between 1200 and 1500 dollars. That is for two adults and three teenage boys. I think I am getting off cheaply.
