[SouthernTrailsG]

Originally Posted by Dax

I am all for helping out my fellow man/woman but I think there should be some rules;
* While on public assistance of any kind, you will be on birth control. I don't care that it is your human right to reproduce - as long as you can't afford to raise them - you can't have them.
* While on public assistance, you must be actively searching for work or going to school.
* If you have a mortgage that you are getting support paying, if you ever sell the house and there is a profit, you must repay a portion of the support that went into that home. (A lady down the street from me went on assistance after her divorce because she was unemployable because she couldn't read. After YEARS of assistance and schooling, she sold her home. Since the market was good, she made 50,000!!

* Common Law is marriage. If your partner is working -- your support payments must take that into account.

I heard another idea the other day,

Take a drug test before receiving taxpayers money


.

[Akhorse]

In a town I spent my high school years in, there was a population of around 600 people. They did a survey or some thing and it came to light that of 400 po boxes, 360 were welfare.
In Alaska, if you are on welfare, you must put in x number of job apps in order to keep your bennies. That said, IF you live a certin number of miles from a large town/city, you are exempt from putting in a job app.
I know people who live outside the boundries just for this reason. Perfectly healthy people who do not want to work and grow/smoke their dope. Tickes me off no end.

I know a lady that refused to get married, or let the dad live with them, till their daughter graduated, just to get more money. Once she did marry, she applied for disability and got a 50% ruling on it!

These are the ones that do not need it.

[JKetsche]

I did say the system needs reform, and I like some of these things:

Originally Posted by Dax

* While on public assistance of any kind, you will be on birth control. I don't care that it is your human right to reproduce - as long as you can't afford to raise them - you can't have them.

Not sure I agree with this one per se, but it should be encouraged (not discouraged, the way it is now). Counseling/parenting classes should also be encouraged/incentivized.

* While on public assistance, you must be actively searching for work or going to school.

While there are exceptions (disabilities, for example), by and large I agree with this one!

* If you have a mortgage that you are getting support paying, if you ever sell the house and there is a profit, you must repay a portion of the support that went into that home.

Fully agree here!

* Common Law is marriage. If your partner is working -- your support payments must take that into account.

Agree with the CLM one, too. I also agree with things like drug testing. I like the idea of debit cards that restrict what can be bought, but that restriction can't be too judgmental.

[Kicks]

Originally Posted by Kat&Ashton

Ok this is something I feel passionately about having grown up in a por family. We were so por that we couldn't afford the extra o. My family was on food stamps for a short time because my parent's just couldn't put food on the table to feed four childern. My mom said when she went in there it was not what she wanted to do but we had to eat. We had a lot of pancakes because that money only went so far.

Operative words "short time"!

Originally Posted by Kat&Ashton

Welfare is there to help when needed, it is not a career or a paycheck. It is not a way to get your bills paid and life a great lifestyle. It is just a leg up not a way of life.

Unfortunately, in today's 'world', in most (certainly not all) of cases I've personally seen/known about, it isn't help when needed, it is 'Freefare', a way of life and a percieved 'right' to pop out kids and be taken care of totally by others with no personal responsibility. 'IT' can be used as intended (as your family apparently used it) but "IT" is also a multi-generation way of life for many - way too many!

There are VERY few people who can not work in some capacity - they should be taken care of. My brother and his wife do not fall in that group though. He was born totally deaf (no nerves in his ears). She was the second of twins born in a KY coal mine area and is deaf and slightly/moderately mentally affected. [As a small child she was "spayed" though that has nothing to do with this situtation]. Both of them have worked their entire adult lives and have never taken a penny of "welfare". 18 years ago, I was the night aide for a gentleman who had come out of surgery, for a minor problem, a quadraplegic - within a year he had a computer and was back working as a salesman but using his 'puter from his house and making much more than he ever had. Yes there are those who need help through out their lives there are those who need it at certain times and then thre are just freeloaders. It's just a matter of rather or not 'you' are responsible for yourself (when/if you can be) or expect others to pay for 'you'.

[Jess!]

Well said, OP....well said.

[OhSoAppy]

Originally Posted by endurgirl

Mine is not bad (4.00-7.00 for my monthlys) but that's because my DH's insurance is very good! Before I was married, it was 15.00. So not bad, but I don't go in and pitch a fit and scream out "Fifty CENTS??!!!!!!!" when I have to pay for it. Then they have a pack of smokes sitting in the console. Er, did you scream out "Four dollars and thirty seven CENTS??!!" at the cashier at the convenience store? My bet is no.

Oh man, I wish my copay was even close to that!!

I pay roughly $350 for all my medical supplies a month, and that is after insurance pays for the first 60% of it. Now if you add my monthly Premium for this insurance....it totals to $539 a month.

I want .50 cent copays!!!

I do agree though. The system is used and abused. There are some people that genuinely need the assistance, I have no problem with them. It is the rest who choose to abuse it.

[Jess!]

My co-pay if I don't got to a Naval hospital is $3, but my husband is a Marine. I do NOT want to know what our medical is going to be when he gets out in 2013 and joins either CHP or the Border Patrol.

My sister is currently on welfare, even though she HAS a phlebotomy degree. I am beyond upset with her right now. She won't try to get a job at any place [ie: fast food], and...ARGH. She's following RIGHT in my mother's footsteps and I want to kick her in the shins because she always, always said how she was going to be better than her.

My best friend's mom has tenants in trailers on her property, and there is one girl who is just 19 and had her baby and is living off welfare, WIC, etc. AND she was just saying the other day about how she is thinking of "playing the crazy card" to get SSI!

[joce]

Another thing that drives me nuts are the patients I have who would love to work and could handle a couple days a week but can not because they would loose their disability. Sitting at home all day alone with nothing to do does not help any mental illness. Going to work and seeing people helps and is cheaper than hospitalizing them more often.

There are some great places that offer small jobs for people like this and if you ever get a chance support them. It think it was bonnie bell that our MR workshops packs and ships out and wendys here used to pay them to be greeters. The MR board makes it so they are able to do a small job and get disability but for others who are not under some bigger program its hard. Our mental health board here is good with helping those who are truly sick even find volunteer jobs to give them something to do and work for when they are well and it helps. But the ones who are more well get frustrated not having a "real job".

And we get fake crazys into work a lot. At least know many do get caught because trying to fake that for a long time gets tough, unless they really do have some issue-and to fake that you have some issue going on!

[Berlunz]

Originally Posted by sirius-dressage

Isn't there some rule that if you are on welfare and you have another child you don't get money anymore? Maybe that's just some states? I don't know where I heard that.

Thats sort of right and sort of wrong. Once you are on welfare, many states make it that you will not get extra money for any children you have once on welfare. So if you have 2 kids and go on welfare you get paid to cover yourself and the 2 kids, if you have another kid they wont redo it, you had two and shouldnt have been having another.

Originally Posted by Kat&Ashton

I think that the people on welfare should get tested for drugs monthly. My job requires me to get drug tested, why shouldn't they get drug tested? I pop positive for drugs, I lose my job. End of story.

I also think that there should be a matrix for the welfare useage. That every year someone who is on the system should have goals that need to be met. For some it could just be working on a high school diploma. I am not talking about huge goals that are not attainable but something basic that gives people something to work towards.

Personally while I agree with the monthly drug tests, there are so many ways to get out of it. Considering how broken this system is, how seriously do you think they would administer the testing? People would be walking in with bottles of pee and handing them over. Not to mention the cost just to test these people to keep them on welfare.

Same with the suggestions of birth control, I love the idea but who here wants to pay for it? Plus lets think of this, how many of these people are intentionally going out and getting pregnant vs just being stupidly careless. I can guarantee the later is a greater amount and giving them birth control would just give them more excuse to keep going where they are going. For a lot of (not all) people, a baby is incentive to shape up. Unfortunately in this situation, its hard. You cant cut down the benefits because now they have a kid to raise. I think in a lot of situations individual evaluation is needed and perhaps the forceful removal of the child via CPS for adoption.

I think certain handouts need to be limited (and I know some are but not nearly enough). Not necessarily in amounts but more in time. A few years should be more than enough time for anyone to pick up the pieces of a shattered life and get it together and get off welfare. I dont mind supporting someone who escaped a bad relationship with their kids and now needs help. But you shouldnt be sitting idly by and cashing checks you need to work and get your life together and start paying for yourself.

Disability is another big one that gets me.. I have known several people on "disability" that were more than capable of working they just chose not too. Its amazing how they could walk across town to get Mcds and junk food but their "Back so bad they couldnt stand for more than 15 mins". I knew one who managed to get almost 100% disability but he still got a side job that paid him under the table. I have seen others of people who have disabilities that qualify them but really arent things that stop them from getting jobs or doing jobs they just say they are. I wish someone would go through and evaluate each case and investigate a little. I would rather pay the money towards people who are going to spend their time doing each case right and indepth and catching people then having it go to someone who had an injury and got better but dont want to lose their extra moola.

I think a lot of the issues stem from the system being too push button generic. If you make under this and have this many kids we will give you alll of this money. If you have this injury we will give you allll of this money. Instead of going, okay this family makes over this but based on their bills (and I am talking reasonable bills) and the current cost of living they need food stamps. Or this person may have injured their back but not badly enough to need this money for the rest of their life.

[Kat&Ashton]

Originally Posted by Berlunz

Disability is another big one that gets me.. I have known several people on "disability" that were more than capable of working they just chose not too. Its amazing how they could walk across town to get Mcds and junk food but their "Back so bad they couldnt stand for more than 15 mins". I knew one who managed to get almost 100% disability but he still got a side job that paid him under the table. I have seen others of people who have disabilities that qualify them but really arent things that stop them from getting jobs or doing jobs they just say they are. I wish someone would go through and evaluate each case and investigate a little. I would rather pay the money towards people who are going to spend their time doing each case right and indepth and catching people then having it go to someone who had an injury and got better but dont want to lose their extra moola.

I know several people who are on disability who can work. One was working a cushy job at a state hospital but was getting migraines, so she quit. Went back to being on welfare and got disability checks.

Another one gave a whole list of reasons she is on disability and not one of them is what I consider a real disability. She has all the extra channels on satellite, DSL, and does pay per views. A couple of winter's ago her trailer had a whole in the floor. She cried to the community and it got fixed. The next month they were going to Disney for vacation. OK...why didn't take that money they would spend at disney and fix her own floor.

I know a guy that has been trying to get on disability for a while now. he has Cerebal Palsy and it is getting worse as he gets older. He has been trying to get a job but the pain is sometimes so bad that he can't get out of bed...so he loses the job. He has been denied several times for disability. HE has cerebal palsy and can't walk without his cane.