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

[sotoalf]

People on welfare should be ground into meatloaf and fed to the rich.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

If people stopped "working" the system, perhaps the people who honestly need a boost (be it welfare, food stamps, WIC, unemployment, disability, whatever) wouldn't get screwed.

I completely agree! I had an ex-boyfriend who's mom was on the system for 25 years, when I knew here which was about 7 years ago, and I can assure you that she is still doing it. You want to hear about the horror stories? Well, she got pregnant with my ex, went on welfare, and continued to have 5 more kids. There was no reason why this woman couldn't work, other than the fact that she didn't want to. She was a perfectly healthy woman, her excuse was because of her kids. Ok, well that's what they make babysitters for. She had 7 brothers and sister, and both her parents and her kids grandparents were alive, so either set of grandparents would have watched them. She was also with both sets of fathers and they would deal drugs on the side. She was getting income, just not legally. She would lie about the fathers names on the birth certificates so they couldn't take them for childsupport. She is currently living with her 3rd boyfriend and had 2 more kids by him and is doing the same thing. The woman is now in her early 50's and still living off the system.

Do you know what would help the system? When a woman or teenager finds out she is pregnant, and lets just say the baby's father isn't around, or the mother won't give him up for childsupport because they are in fact living together, then they should tell them, yes, we will help you, we will give you money, wic, foodstamps and child care and if they are still of school age, they need to get their diploma or GED, or if they are out of school, do job training and placment, which they are all currently doing, BUT, they need to tell them that if they get pregnant again, that is the end of all the assitance. Accidents happen, teenagers do get pregnant, women are living with someone or dating someone and they find out they are pregnant and the fathers are scared, or can't deal and leave them or some go to jail for other crimes, then yes, help them. BUt there is no reason why women are sitting around having 3,4,5 or more kids and we just keep paying for them and welfare keeps giving them money. It is not like these people have an incurable diseas and can't work, they have made the conscience decision to go out, and have sex and not use protection time and time again and keep having babies. It is not right. I don't understand why the system won't do it this way, they are breeding laziness, and unfortunately, there are people out there who do find themselves in a bind, or sick or hurt and can't get welfare because they don't have kids.

Ok, now that I have gone completely off topic, I too don't know how the government would be able to tell how the money is being used whether for vacations or what not. The best thing would be is that at the end of the year, people on welfare have to show what they did with their money. I also think this should be done with people receive child support, don't get me started on that one. Also, honestly, if someone on welfare can afford to go on a vacation, then believe me they are taking advantage of the system and have some other means of income. the amount of welfare they give out does not cover all living expenses, clothes, transportation money and food. If they are going away, there is something wrong here.

 

[huckster]

wow , i think i have enough to worry about in my own life.. let alone whos doing what with their money..and if welfare pays enough to go on a trip maybe i should quit my job.. lol

 

[KristiKelly]

I feel like everyone should be able to take vacations and that all kids should get to experience WDW. With that being said, I know of a couple with 2 kids, wife has a masters degree & just short of her doctorate. She has been offered full time jobs as a professor with universities but turns them down to stay home with her kids. They are on WIC, food stamps, health department Dr's visits, etc. I don't feel like someone with that much education, is offered jobs regularly, should be eligible for gov. assistance but... And by the way, they just got back from WDW for 12 days!!!! We are not rich, not poor, but definitely not rich and have never been able to enjoy WDW for 12 days.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

As someone who manages a county child support office, who has worked in the child support system for 17 years and who often deals first hand with payers who have a similar philosphy, I have to disagree with you.

First of all, I think that parent's who use their child support for "shopping trips while the kids wear the same clothes for years" is a significant minority. If a child has a roof over their head, the electric bill is paid, and the child is fed and clothed they are being financially supported. How can kids possibly wear the same clothes for years? They outgrow them. I know; I have a 14 year old who I have purchased 4 pairs of tennis shoes so far this year, because he has outgrown each pair.

Most child support awards don't begin to cover the cost of raising children, and they shouldn't since it's the responsibility of both parents to support their children. It is the parent's combined contribution that is supposed to meet the child's needs. Parents who earn, or have the potential to earn, more money pay more in support than parents who earn less. The average amount of child support collected and sent to families in the state of MN was $2404 in SFY 2006. The national collection average in FFY 2005 was $1450 per case. I don't know a lot of custodial parents getting rich on that kind of money.

Secondly, instituting a system where child support money needs to be accounted for would lead to the worst form of government intrusion and it would cost a mint (not that this program doesn't already cost taxpayers a bundle) It would create huge backlogs for the courts, and force judicial officers to spend their time looking at checkbooks and receipts, and to make decisions on how parents should spend money on their child. "Let's see Ms. Smith, I note that you purchased Doritos during your shopping trip on October 1st. Are you aware that the government views Doritos as a non essential?" No thanks! There have been noncustodial parent groups in our state who have been trying for years, unsuccessfully, to push this philosphy into legislation in my state. The proposals haven't gone anywhere because the whole concept is a ridiculous slippery slope.

There is reason we have the concepts of "physical" and "legal" custody in this country, and those terms actually mean something. They determine who gets to make decisions on behalf of their child in a situation where the parents don't live together.

I can't say that I totally agree with you on this one. I have seen first hand how my husbands ex walks around with $150.00 rocawear outfits, nails and hair done every 2 weeks, a brand new pair of sneakers on, and his 2 kids walk around looking like bums. Ratted sneakers, dirtly clothes and holey underware, not including not getting haircuts. He pays more than enough for them to have food for a month, their part of the bills paid, and new clothes and haircuts when they need them. This has been going on for almost 5 years now, but there is nothing he can do about it. His ex is with a new guy, who is currently locked up now, but for the 2 years before he was incarcerated, which by the way he was a fugitive from justice and they moved all the way to Florida and hid out with her mom, he couldn't work, obviously because he was wanted on Felony armed robbery charges and also because he was lazy and didn't want to, so she was working part time and taking care of him and his daughter also. She then went on to have another baby by him, and again, he still wasn't working, so now she is raising 4 kids and her boyfriend on her paycheck and my husbands childsupport. She then took my husband back for more support, because she told her aunt SHE needed more money, notice she didn't say the kids need more money. Explain to me why out of every picture, we have seen of them, neither of them have a haircut, and they look like poor children in horrible looking clothes? I remember my stepson coming to me when he was 9 crying that he was getting teased that he was a dirty kid and that his mom is always buying herself new stuff, but doesn't care about him. Don't tell me there aren't people who abuse the system, because I know for a fact that people do, and it is upsetting, that when a case like this does happen, no one does anything about it. I am not saying every case is like this, but ours is and I am sure there are plenty more. I don't think there has to be an accounting system in place for everyone, but I think an investigation should be done in cases where the other parent doesn't believe that his children are being taken care of the way they should. Before you go ahead and flame me, I would be more than willing to give the kids more money for themselves, but there is no guarantee that it will be used for them. We have tried to fight the system, but to no avail, yet, but we aren't giving up the fight. We are trying to get custody, but it is hard since she lives in Florida and we live in PA. It cost a lot of money that we don't have. We have tried to even send them clothes and she either sends them back or gives them away. She won't let my husband see them so we have to rely on other people to get us pics or phone calls. I don't know what kind of mother would thrust mental anguish apon her kids just because she is a scorned woman and she was mad that after SHE kicked him out, she tried to get him back and he said no and moved on with his life. I think there are always special circumstances, but the people in our Family court office don't care about any of it.

I hope this doesn't sound like I am attacking you, I just wanted you to know that there are good people out here who are being taken advantage of by a system that doesn't work for everyone. It certainly hasn't worked for us.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

Gimme a break....

My mom worked her entire life, and worked awfully hard,making VERY good money as a CFO, until she became LEGALLY BLIND at age 50 from diabetes and began rec'vg SS payments, a couple years after that. The process is long and tedious and ate through any savings she had in the mean time, as well as racking up her credit card bills just to survive day to day until it FINALLY was approved.

Youre telling me, when she SAVED up money a little each month in order to go on a WDW trip with us, she was in the wrong? Its her money - she paid into it for 30 some-odd years!

I will never understand this 'holier than thou' attitude when it comes to Disney. Its not just for the rich and well-to-do. If my mom wanted to spend her whopping $1100/month on ice-cream, let her - its HER MONEY! SHE paid into it. Certainly a heckuva lot more then she was getting in return.

She passed away, due to diabetes complications in January of 2006 - so thankfully, for those of you so concerned, she wont be using YOUR money to fund her Disney trips.

Actually, I think you are missing the point. I am all for helping my fellow man. I think welfare and social security should be there for people who need it, not for people who decide just not to work because they don't feel like it, or decide to raise 6 kids with no job just because. I have seen it first hand as I used to live in the inner city. Sadly, I know quite a few people who were sick with cancer and HIV and some couldn't get it, and some who did get it but it took months and months of waiting for approval to get it and one even ended up homeless. I am glad that your mom was able to get the assistance she needed, but sadly because of so many people using the system, ones who really need it, like your mom, can't. My mom was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, she had to wait months for approval for disability and my grandfather was paying for all her medical out of his pocket, since she couldn't work, and before she was diagonsed, she was self employed, so she didn't have benefits, and had to wait months for disability medical insurance would kick in. We almost lost our house because of it. You know what kills me, my husbands brother is addicted to crack, he owed a drug dealer money and when he didn't pay, he went looking for him. He shot him six times in the leg, which my BIL later had amputated. He has a prostesis, and even with his crack problem, he can work, and he does, under the table, and he still gets a disability check. I know people in wheel chairs that work, why can't he? I know about 10 other cases like these going on that I can name, and yes, I actually did call the ss offices fraud line to report him, and you know what happened? Nothing. I am telling you there is just so much welfare and social security fraud going on, that eventually there will be nothing left for those of us who might ever need it. I think that's the point everyone is trying to make.

 

[kribit]

I completely agree! I had an ex-boyfriend who's mom was on the system for 25 years, when I knew here which was about 7 years ago, and I can assure you that she is still doing it. You want to hear about the horror stories? Well, she got pregnant with my ex, went on welfare, and continued to have 5 more kids. There was no reason why this woman couldn't work, other than the fact that she didn't want to. She was a perfectly healthy woman, her excuse was because of her kids. Ok, well that's what they make babysitters for. She had 7 brothers and sister, and both her parents and her kids grandparents were alive, so either set of grandparents would have watched them. She was also with both sets of fathers and they would deal drugs on the side. She was getting income, just not legally. She would lie about the fathers names on the birth certificates so they couldn't take them for childsupport. She is currently living with her 3rd boyfriend and had 2 more kids by him and is doing the same thing. The woman is now in her early 50's and still living off the system.

Do you know what would help the system? When a woman or teenager finds out she is pregnant, and lets just say the baby's father isn't around, or the mother won't give him up for childsupport because they are in fact living together, then they should tell them, yes, we will help you, we will give you money, wic, foodstamps and child care and if they are still of school age, they need to get their diploma or GED, or if they are out of school, do job training and placment, which they are all currently doing, BUT, they need to tell them that if they get pregnant again, that is the end of all the assitance. Accidents happen, teenagers do get pregnant, women are living with someone or dating someone and they find out they are pregnant and the fathers are scared, or can't deal and leave them or some go to jail for other crimes, then yes, help them. BUt there is no reason why women are sitting around having 3,4,5 or more kids and we just keep paying for them and welfare keeps giving them money. It is not like these people have an incurable diseas and can't work, they have made the conscience decision to go out, and have sex and not use protection time and time again and keep having babies. It is not right. I don't understand why the system won't do it this way, they are breeding laziness, and unfortunately, there are people out there who do find themselves in a bind, or sick or hurt and can't get welfare because they don't have kids.

Ok, now that I have gone completely off topic, I too don't know how the government would be able to tell how the money is being used whether for vacations or what not. The best thing would be is that at the end of the year, people on welfare have to show what they did with their money. I also think this should be done with people receive child support, don't get me started on that one. Also, honestly, if someone on welfare can afford to go on a vacation, then believe me they are taking advantage of the system and have some other means of income. the amount of welfare they give out does not cover all living expenses, clothes, transportation money and food. If they are going away, there is something wrong here.

I feel so sorry for all those kids, because chances are pretty good that they will follow practice what they've been taught when they become adults. It's just terrible.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

A BIG YES to the above poster! Actually, 2 of the boys are in prison, 2 turned out sorta ok, which means they are working, but the 1 already has 2 kids herself, one was killed in a drive by. She had just turned 16, but tell me honestly, what was a 16 year old doing out at 1:30am on the street corner? Where was her mother? I will tell you, at home, pregnant. Sad, very very sad. That girl had a lot of potential.