Staying single to collect welfare benefits

[lovin diz]

Uh... WHAT? So my budget should actually go:
1. Insurance
2. Housing
3. Food
4. Transportation
5. Clothing
Or some such thing? And um... once I pay my health insurance, PLUS the extra $200 each month, how am I going to live on... -$200? Please tell me how I can do that, I am VERY curious to know! Those must be really awesome coupons!

I'm sorry, I'm being rotten I know... it just makes me so ANGRY to hear people say "jeez, just suck it up and get insurance!" when I would be working to pay for my insurance, and so would my husband, with absolutely NOTHING left over for things like... uh, electricity? Food? A car & gas to GET to work????

UUUGH!!!!

I dont know your situation, so this is a general statement...But live in a smaller home, dont go on vacation, and you dont have to buy the nice expensive cars, tv's and other gadgets...... Yes healthcare comes before the luxuries......

 

[luvsJack]

ITA...You'd rather have the huge medical bill for having NO insurance? Apparently they are "saving" for those expenses by not paying for medical insurance?

Again, a pp here on this thread said she would be paying $200 more AFTER her paycheck was taken to pay for insurance. She can't live on negative money. For some, sure, its just a matter of rebudgeting and doing without some luxury items; for a lot of people though its not.

Personally, I found a way to insure dd but didn't have dh insured for a long time. Just couldn't take that huge amount out of my paycheck and still pay the bills. So, he didn't have insurance. We weren.t "saving" for anything, we were surviving. If he got sick, we would have to pay oop for the doctor visit. If he went in the hospital, we would have crossed that path when we came to it, I guess. Luckily we didn't have to.

 

[Colleen27]

My understanding in NJ is that they ask for the DAD to be identified. If he has income and/or benefits, he must pay or add the kids to his insurance policy. Are we forgetting that these guys are making babies and not paying for them? It is not just the woman here at "fault"......... But for women where the Dad has disappeared, or passed away, or is in jail, or is just a deadbeat, those kids need help....

That's federal law, not state. A few find ways to work around it, usually by claiming the father is abusive, but for the most part the rules do work. The problem is that one exception sticks in people's minds far longer than 100 people using the system as intended.

 

[luvsJack]

I dont know your situation, so this is a general statement...But live in a smaller home, dont go on vacation, and you dont have to buy the nice expensive cars, tv's and other gadgets...... Yes healthcare comes before the luxuries......

Yes, it should but what if there are no luxuries?

Why does everyone always assume that those they say they can't afford medical insurance are living in a luxury home with big cars and a boat and going to Europe every year?

Why doesnt' everyone come to the realization that there really are people in this country going from paycheck to paycheck or month to month that have just the basics and really can NOT afford $1200 a month for family medical insurance?

 

[Colleen27]

That's actually a great idea. How are so many people staying on welfare if there is a 5 year limit? Good to hear the income doesn't increase with additional kids, maybe that will limit some of the girls who got pregnant for the increase.

That's largely an urban myth... The increase, prior to reform, was about $100 in cash and $150 in food stamps. I'm sure there have been women here and there who saw that as a "raise", particularly in the days when she could get away with not naming the father and getting child support in (unreported) cash, but it was never the epidemic the welfare reform movement made it out to be. Most people realize that isn't even enough to cover the additional expense of that new child.

 

[lovin diz]

Yes, it should but what if there are no luxuries?

Why does everyone always assume that those they say they can't afford medical insurance are living in a luxury home with big cars and a boat and going to Europe every year?

Why doesnt' everyone come to the realization that there really are people in this country going from paycheck to paycheck or month to month that have just the basics and really can NOT afford $1200 a month for family medical insurance?

I know it doesnt apply to everyone...But for the majority it does...Even some people on the boards who have been on other threads say oh i cant afford it, but yet they have tickers saying 1 month till we go to disney....

 

[Darsa]

It really, really bothers me when people make assumptions based on no information.

I dont know your situation, so this is a general statement...But live in a smaller home, dont go on vacation, and you dont have to buy the nice expensive cars, tv's and other gadgets...... Yes healthcare comes before the luxuries......

We live with my dad, in his house, and pay him rent; we each have a vehicle because we have to go to work/school separately, the cars are 6 and 7 years old and very low-end; the last time we went on "vacation" was to stay at a low-end hotel in Boston while my mom was dying of renal failure, before that was probably the Disney trip we took in 2005, when we were both employed full-time with well-paying jobs; the TV we use is my dad's, because ours was so old it crapped out just after we moved in with him... OMG I have an iPod tho, and pay $10 a month to go to the gym, trying to lose enough weight to save my mother's life with a transplant...

I try not to judge others when I don't know the facts. When I *do* know the facts, that's a different story; I'm wicked judgemental But I certainly won't condemn someone for doing something when I don't know they're doing it.

 

[luvsJack]

I know it doesnt apply to everyone...But for the majority it does...Even some people on the boards who have been on other threads say oh i cant afford it, but yet they have tickers saying 1 month till we go to disney....

I wouldn't go so far as to say the majority but I agree, there are those that won't give up thier lifestyle to afford the things they need

 

[lillygator]

I wouldn't go so far as to say the majority but I agree, there are those that won't give up thier lifestyle to afford the things they need

and yet they in turn say they can't afford insurance.

 

[Darsa]

And of course since "they" do it, everyone in the country does. Wow.

 

[threecrazykids]

Why doesnt' everyone come to the realization that there really are people in this country going from paycheck to paycheck or month to month that have just the basics and really can NOT afford $1200 a month for family medical insurance?

I totally understand your point...and for those who ARE working and doing everything they can and still can't make ends meet I have NO problem with my tax dollars going to assist a family in need. Where my problem lies is with those who sit on their behinds and don't work, and expect others to take care of THEIR financial responsibility...sometimes for the rest of their life.

And without sounding harsh...in regards to your first statement...

"Why don't people realize that your children/husband/wife are NOT my financial responsibility!"
Times are tough, people go through extremely hard times, but dang it why should I have to pay for you AND my family to have insurance? How is THAT right? (when you either OPT out of insurance that IS available or you choose not to work?)

 

[Colleen27]

Unfortunately, my elected officials don't seem to care too much about the will of the American people either...

Who are these people who are working hard and nothing is coming from it?

The American middle & working classes, as a whole.

"For a quarter of a century, from 1980 to 2004, while U.S. gross domestic product per person rose by almost two-thirds, the wages of the average worker fell after adjusting for inflation."

http://www.monthlyreview.org/0607wkt.htm

Yes, there are individual success stories, but the overall trend isn't good for the hard working American. And while most of us are posting here because we've done fairly well for our own families, I think it is essential that we step back and look at the bigger picture which is of a middle class that is squeezed between skyrocketing prices of certain essentials (health care, energy, and education) and wages that aren't even keeping up with overall inflation.

 

[lovin diz]

It really, really bothers me when people make assumptions based on no information.


I try not to judge others when I don't know the facts. When I *do* know the facts, that's a different story; I'm wicked judgemental But I certainly won't condemn someone for doing something when I don't know they're doing it.

not to be rude...but did you miss this part??
I dont know your situation, so this is a general statement..

i am not saying that everyone who needs help is a lazy bum... I dont think anyone on this thread is saying that at all...but there are MANY who do abuse the system and that needs to be fixed

 

[Darsa]

Nope, didn't miss it. It kinda reminded me of the people who say, "No offense, but..."

I don't like when people give "helpful suggestions" like "don't go on vacations, don't buy expensive gadgets and luxury cars, and youll be able to afford insurance" without knowing the facts. I find it to be judgemental, especially when it comes on the heels of my own posts saying I can't afford insurance.

But again, that's just me and my opinion. YMMV.

 

[Colleen27]

We taxpayers also spend boatloads of money on corporate welfare, but no one seems to cry much about that. I have never seen a thread here on the boards where people are complaining about subsidies (oh yeah...that would be welfare) to the oil companies, but we have had oodles of them complaining about "people" on welfare.

That's what drives me crazy. We give "big boxes" huge tax subsidies to build new stores, then turn around and blame the employees who can't make ends meet on the wages they offer. Well, DUH! When we spend taxpayer dollars to bring in businesses that provide low wages and no benefits, often with the unintended effect of crowding out competition from companies that offer better working conditions, we shouldn't then turn around and blame the people who take the available jobs for not being able to make ends meet. We created this mess, with the constant demand for more-better-cheaper regardless of any costs not reflected at the cash register, and now we're going to have to deal with it.

 

[shrubber]

Things like gym memberships don't strike me as being necessities.

My sister is currently on welfare and she "makes" more money on assistance than off. Between unemployment, food stamps, rent assistance, child care, school tuition ect, she is getting about $28,000 a year ....

Why get a job?

 

[shrubber]

That's what drives me crazy. We give "big boxes" huge tax subsidies to build new stores, then turn around and blame the employees who can't make ends meet on the wages they offer. Well, DUH! When we spend taxpayer dollars to bring in businesses that provide low wages and no benefits, often with the unintended effect of crowding out competition from companies that offer better working conditions, we shouldn't then turn around and blame the people who take the available jobs for not being able to make ends meet. We created this mess, with the constant demand for more-better-cheaper regardless of any costs not reflected at the cash register, and now we're going to have to deal with it.

PLease clarify how we spend taxpayers dollars to bring in business?

 

[Darsa]

Things like gym memberships don't strike me as being necessities.

*sigh* I never said it was. Never mind...

 

[blanq]

Can we come to some agreement here? Yes, there are people who lie and cheat the welfare system. Just as there are people that lie and cheat on their taxes (or just flat out don't pay them: The IRS has a huge gap between what taxpayers should pay and what is collected and have estimated that the annual net tax gap — the amount of taxes that go unidentified and uncollected each year — amounts to nearly $300 billion), lie and cheat on their spouses, lie and cheat whenever an opportunity comes up to allow them to lie and cheat. I don't like liars or cheaters, and I doubt that anyone does. Many of us also don't like liars or cheaters who try to justify their lying and cheating.

For some reason the issue that prompted this post causes more ire than when lying or cheating is tied to another issue. There have been oodles of threads on this topic over the years. They all end up bashing the majority of people on welfare. I honestly don't feel that the majority of people on welfare are lying or cheating. Every thread here on this issue takes a turn away from lying and cheating to harp on people who are on welfare for long periods of time, and how they spend their money, regardless if they actually qualify for these programs or not, or happen to be honest people.

I also think that there are many who respond to these kind of threads need to education themselves more about the culture of poverty. Middle class culture and the culture of those in poverty are like night and day, and those of us blessed enough to not be poor have a very difficult time understanding or relating to the thought processes of those who have grown up poor and know nothing else. It is easy for so many to point our well-fed fingers and tell others to "pick themselves up by the bootstraps" because those doing the finger pointing have the skills and knowledge to allow them to do so. I am saddened when I read how judgmental and uncompassionate some in our society have become.

 

[princessmom29]

PLease clarify how we spend taxpayers dollars to bring in business?

I know our local officals have mande many, many trips at taxpayer expense to court new business into the area. They have been to Germany and France prticularly this year. They bring those executives here at taxpayer expense as well.