What should be done when people on welfare spend money on vacations?

[cardaway]

So whats your position on disability then? Vacations...yay or nay?

Obviously SSI type programs are totally different than the others on your list. It was like one of those 'one of these things is not like the other' games.

 

[jagafen]

Everybody needs a holiday, far away from each other................

Hold me now.......
It's hard for me to say I'm sorry......
I just want you to stay.....
And after all that you've been through.....
I will make it up to you.........
I promise you, baby.........

I used to Peter Cetera!!! (and the rest of the band!)

 

[phorsenuf]

Obviously SSI type programs are totally different than the others on your list. It was like one of those 'one of these things is not like the other' games.

Great. Now I have the stupid song stuck in my head!

 

[nut4disney]

All the above. Why should anybody getting tax based assistance not have to put their own money towards the things the assitance is for until they are no longer getting that help?

It's like me getting a second job and not reporting the income to save on taxes. Butof course that's illegal. The folks doing it anyway are sure to spend that money on things like vacations that are hard to track and can't be taken away.

If you don't know the difference between SSI, WIC, and Section 8, then you should calm down instead of being all upset.

SSI is Social Security disability. Paraplygics, people with cancer who are totally disabled, and American military veterans with brain damage can all apply for SSI. So can other people with very severe disabilities.

SSI requires that the recipient have less than $2000 in TOTAL assets. SSI payments are definitely below the poverty line. None of those vacations are going to be Disney vacations, that's for sure!

If you ever meet a dying, totally disabled person who gets SSI and can somehow manage to take one last vacation, I hope you show more compassion for them then you've shown so far.

As for WIC, it's a food and milk program for pregnant women and their children under six years old. There are strict eligibility requirements (which, if I may be bold - you probably don't know anything about), and I can assure you most people on WIC are probably hard pressed to buy toilet paper, much less go on vacation.

/Facts are good.

 

[JoyG]

I don't think anything should be done with them.

I personally know LOTS of families on welfare. I teach in the inner city. Truthfully, the vast majority of them never go anywhere. The kids have never left the city and it's pretty sad in my opinion. A few kids have taken road trips, but it's almost always to see relatives.

Travel is a learning experience and can help to inspire children to grow up and raise themselves out of their current positions in life.

Travel can also be done extremely cheaply. One person's idea of a WDW vacation could be 5-7 grand. Another family could do it for less than a thousand.

We don't know people's individual stories. I don't think we should worry about who's taking a vacation or not. From the families I've met, I personally don't think people scamming the system by staying at Disney deluxe properties is that big of a problem.

 

[autumnsmommy]

Many military families qualify for WIC. They deserve a chance at WDW if they can do it.

 

[splashmountain31]

People who have been on the Dis for a while know that most would rip your head off for "stealing soda out of a refillable mug," but it's OK when a person takes thousands of dollars out of my pocket (and other responsible taxpayers) to be on "welfare" because they can't keep a job? Why should they enjoy a vacation that I have bust my hump to afford? Ridiculous.

No, it is not ok for someone to take 4 and 5 Disney vacations per year while on state assistance while I go to work every day to afford to keep food on my table.

Next thing you know Disney will be accepting food stamps for Turkey Legs. It's disgusting.

I should note that I am only speaking of Welfare Recipients NOT people who have been disabled in some way.

 

[JennyMominRI]

If you don't know the difference between SSI, WIC, and Section 8, then you should calm down instead of being all upset.

SSI is Social Security disability. Paraplygics, people with cancer who are totally disabled, and American military veterans with brain damage can all apply for SSI. So can other people with very severe disabilities.

SSI requires that the recipient have less than $2000 in TOTAL assets. SSI payments are definitely below the poverty line. None of those vacations are going to be Disney vacations, that's for sure!

If you ever meet a dying, totally disabled person who gets SSI and can somehow manage to take one last vacation, I hope you show more compassion for them then you've shown so far.

As for WIC, it's a food and milk program for pregnant women and their children under six years old. There are strict eligibility requirements (which, if I may be bold - you probably don't know anything about), and I can assure you most people on WIC are probably hard pressed to buy toilet paper, much less go on vacation.

/Facts are good.

There are 2 types of SS assistance
SSI , which is means tested and
SSDI SS Disability Insurance...One qualifies for SSDI If they have earned anough credits by paying into the SS insurance program.
I recieve SSDI

 

[Akkadian01]

People sometimes need to get away............ So let them.

 

[Aidensmom]

My brother and his wife receive an SSDI check every month for my disabled neice, and she also gets Medicaid. I don't begrudge them their vacations, the money they receive is actually used on special care and medications needed for my neice. My brother and his wife both have jobs.

If someone is supposedly completely depending on government income to live, and they take vacations paid for by themselves, I think there is a high probability there is fraud taking place, truly living on welfare out of need doesn't leave money for vacations. However, if a relative invites someone on vacation and pays for everything, that is their right as an American, like it or not, those relatives have the freedom to spend THEIR money on such a thing.

I do think that fruad needs to be stopped, but I don't agree with the concept that someone on welfare can't have a vacation provided by someone else because that is taking away the freedoms of that "someone else" to decide what to use their money for. How to stop the fraud though is not something I really have an answer for - unless you want to get a little Big Brother and put some kind of monitoring device on people who recieve assistance to know what they are doing and where they are at all times.

 

[cardaway]

If you don't know the difference between SSI, WIC, and Section 8, then you should calm down instead of being all upset.

And you should go back and read all my posts on this thread.

 

[JennyMominRI]

My brother and his wife receive an SSDI check every month for my disabled neice, and she also gets Medicaid. I don't begrudge them their vacations, the money they receive is actually used on special care and medications needed for my neice. My brother and his wife both have jobs.

.

Are you sure they don't get Medicare and not Medicaid..Usually SSDI entitles you to medicare after 18 months.

 

[nut4disney]

I think that cardaway and splashmoutain31 are just ranting.

Cardaway, I asked you in post #13 to provide some evidence that your assertions are true. GAO audit? A federal Health and Human Services report? ANY evidence that this is actually happening?

No reply from you.

Then, Saavymom asked for clarification from you regarding the "type" of vaction. Funeral? Aunt's house? Or what?

No reply from you regarding her questions.

So, that leads me to conclude you and splashmoutain31 are just mad at the poor today. Because neither of you are presenting any data that would prove your assertions.

And yes, if you're going to blast an entire class of people you need to bring facts to the table.

 

[Aidensmom]

Are you sure they don't get Medicare and not Medicaid..Usually SSDI entitles you to medicare after 18 months.

You may be right, I'm not sure which one it is.

 

[cardaway]

However, if a relative invites someone on vacation and pays for everything, that is their right as an American, like it or not, those relatives have the freedom to spend THEIR money on such a thing.

I do think that fruad needs to be stopped, but I don't agree with the concept that someone on welfare can't have a vacation provided by someone else because that is taking away the freedoms of that "someone else" to decide what to use their money for. How to stop the fraud though is not something I really have an answer for - unless you want to get a little Big Brother and put some kind of monitoring device on people who recieve assistance to know what they are doing and where they are at all times.

But that is a source of income, and income that could be used on essentials rather that relying on public funds. Once again, if tax PAYERS get a large enough gift they are breaking the law if they don't claim as income.

It' just my opinion, but that is messed up. Family should help with the essentials if they are going to help with anything at all.

 

[Tybug]

nut4disney, just hop over to the budget board and take a read. You don't need stats to prove it, the people who are doing it are right here on the DIS.

I personally don't like it. I've been there, we've been in a position to where we were on WIC, where medicaid stepped in to pay for hospital bills, we never qualified for food stamps though. And I can tell you at that point of our lives a vacation was the very last thing on our minds!

When I read on here about those on WIC and planning a Disney vacation... it makes me sick. If you can't afford milk, cheese and cereal to feed your family... then you can't afford a Disney vacation. Period! End of discussion!

 

[Aidensmom]

It' just my opinion, but that is messed up. Family should help with the essentials if they are going to help with anything at all.

I think so too at a personal level, but the thing is that telling people what kind of gifts to give is, IMO, infringing on their rights.

 

[cardaway]

I think so too at a personal level, but the thing is that telling people what kind of gifts to give is, IMO, infringing on their rights.

People relying on aid should have to play by some rules. Why should it be any other way?

 

[RNMOM]

I'm not sure it is any of my business how their money is spent.

On a smiliar note, I know a few people who have good incomes "under the radar" in that they have no checking/savings accounts and no credit cards. They pay everything in cash or money orders. I finally found out it is to keep from paying taxes.

How is this any better/worse than welfare fraud?

All I know is I have to live my life to my own standards and that includes following the laws of the land and being an upstanding person. I can't control what other people do but it doesn't keep me from feeling this way.

 

[cardaway]

nut4disney, just hop over to the budget board and take a read. You don't need stats to prove it, the people who are doing it are right here on the DIS.

Some people would rather do anything other than look at the ample evidence right in front of their face.