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If you can afford alcohol, drugs, iPhone etc you shouldn't get entitlements

Should people be able to get entitlements if they are getting these other things?


  • Total voters
    49
Forgive my curiousity, but what industry do you and your husband have your work histories in? And is it the geographic pull-apart of the volatile job market that prohibits the 2 of you to get a new job?
I'm in healthcare, Medical Assisting and pharmacy tech, My husband worked at Chuck E Cheese in management for 5 years and was just given the "we are making cutbacks thanks fir your time here" speach last month.
 
And how much do you pay for a smartphone? Monthly rates? Uh...yeah. Learn to cut back, sweetheart. Welfare is for people in need, not people in need of a lifestyle.



So you guys start a huge family while living paycheck to paycheck, saving very little money, and having all sorts of disposable income not being retained so that you can have all those cool tech toys like a phone that does everything. Allow me to break out the violins.

Wouldn't wanna get you pregnant again. We've already determined that it would be an awful idea.[/QUOTE

Well beginning of this year we had $9300 in the bank, put a down payment on the house, and worked a collective 90 hours a week. We both got laid off within a month of each other and have been looking for work since but have hit the bottom of our savings with rent, utilities, car insurance, and everything for the kids. Um I already paid for the phone last year and $35 from walmart talk and text is hardly breaking the bank when we have no chance of getting a job without a valid number.
 
Heh I do the Straight Talk thing. I'm not about to give up a 17 inch screen to stare at a phone screen of what, 4 inches? But hey, that's me. So many Americans have to be "cutting edge".

I can sympathize to the plight of many. Times are tough, and the economy is tougher. However, I've seen far too many people (not saying you, but just in general) that don't sacrifice...and by sacrifice, I mean truly sacrifice. I've been tight on money to the point where I eat hamburger instead of T-bone, do Straight Talk instead of some 100 buck a month cell phone bill (of course I do this because I'm cheap anyway, not because of money shortage), and other similar cutbacks.

Sh*t happens. Sorry it happened to you. You apparently had a hell of a run of bad luck with both of those jobs ending at around the same time. Unfortunately, I see way, way too many people who don't want to let something like unemployment stop them from driving around in their Lexus to the Red Lobster and the mall afterward.
 
It doesn't mean you should assume everyone is living that way though.
 
I will when the situation you described for yourself is the rule and not the exception.

When you see people trading food stamps for smokes in the parking lot of a grocery store, or people buying better food than I usually eat with stamps, you become skeptical and judgmental too.
 
I can see why. But today we had chorizo, eggs and tortillas, and then rice and top ramen for lunch. Lol I'm assuming you eat better than that.
 
I'm in healthcare, Medical Assisting and pharmacy tech, My husband worked at Chuck E Cheese in management for 5 years and was just given the "we are making cutbacks thanks fir your time here" speach last month.

I'm sorry you were laid off, but you could always pick up a minimum wage paying job somewhere else. If you work 90 hours a week combined, you could both pick up a job that pays 7.50 an hour and work 90 hours a week. That would be 32,400 a year, compared to the 15,000 you would be getting in unemployment and food stamps.
 
Chicken sandwich and Dr. Pepper. Of course, I love chicken and am not too much into Mexican food. Well, I can do Taco Bell, but I'm not about to sit down at some restaurant and be nauseated by the speakers playing Cielito Lindo while two waiters pretend that I can't understand what they're talking about when they stand 3 feet behind me.
 
I'm in healthcare, Medical Assisting and pharmacy tech, My husband worked at Chuck E Cheese in management for 5 years and was just given the "we are making cutbacks thanks fir your time here" speach last month.

What do you consider the biggest hinderance for the 2 of you to get a new job? Most people/analysts would (naively?) believe that as the healthcare sector has been rising so well, a lot of future job openings would be expected there. Even college ads pound on that. What is the reality?
 
I'm sorry you were laid off, but you could always pick up a minimum wage paying job somewhere else. If you work 90 hours a week combined, you could both pick up a job that pays 7.50 an hour and work 90 hours a week. That would be 32,400 a year, compared to the 15,000 you would be getting in unemployment and food stamps.

This is unfair. I read it somewhere that you would rather starve on a street after Walmart destroyed your corner shop that you owned, plus your degreed office job went to India whilst you are still repaying your student loans. How can we take away people's survival resources and then tell them to smile at a slave counter?
 
No capacity? Are you serious?

Then I guess we fail as a nation for not teaching the average American the simplest of math. Damn, if you can balance a checkbook, you can set aside some sort of rudimentary budget.



I've taken psychology, and at no point in the class did I learn that most human beings are born with a complete ineptitude toward counting and common sense.

I refuse to accept the concept of babying these people. It's absurd, disgusting, and morally repugnant. Where I come from, you chop off a gangrenous limb so it doesn't kill the entire body.

You haven't been with them. I have been with them many times. I have found that some, more than you think, "human beings are born with a complete ineptitude toward counting and common sense." It is really something to see a small section 8 apartment complex full of them.
 
You haven't been with them. I have been with them many times. I have found that some, more than you think, "human beings are born with a complete ineptitude toward counting and common sense." It is really something to see a small section 8 apartment complex full of them.

And people bitch about me being a social Darwinist. This seems like an excellent argument for it.
 
And people bitch about me being a social Darwinist. This seems like an excellent argument for it.
If the majority mechanism was Darwinist they would die out, would have happened a long time ago. What can happen now is things like the mother was too overweight an got pregnant and now has a child that will be a candidate for section 8 housing. We have known her for several years. Or a mom to be that drinks too much. Etc. My relative that has a defect, no bigger than 1 mm that is blocking normal drainage from the arachnoid discovered incidentally in a CT scan for another reason. No cause is known and it's not genitic. The result was Oh ....! That's why! It's not his fault.
 
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I wonder if the people who agree with this sentiment would feel the same way if the "entitlements" we were talking about were things that middle-class people often used as well: Federal student loans, social security, etc. If a college kid can afford alcohol, should he be getting government assistance?

I think people are a lot more judgmental in the case of entitlements associated with poverty, because what it really boils down to is some rather negative (and generally false) assumptions about poor people.

This is the dumbest ass thing I've seen in this thread so far. I have student loans and guess what? I actually pay them off because they are loans not grants. Look up the definitions it can help you in the future when "debating".
 
You dont have to be ultra poor to receive food stamps, it might not be great priorities but, everyone I know who has been on food stamps still managed to buy some beer every now and again. I don't think a 6-pack of Coors is really on par with having a brand new iphone as I could find the change to buy a 6 pack in my truck.

Welfare as in TANF, is a much tighter program, I almost assure you that if you see someone with fancy stuff on TANF they are either making money illegally (such as dealing drugs) or lying to the government about thier situation, a crime in any case.

As to pictures, sure you could find needy looking people with new Nikes and phones but what would that prove?

Good post.

Clearly no one likes cheaters and yet if a person on unemployment decide to give up privacy and live with 5 other people in one room so they can afford an iphone ... who I am to decide their priorities?

Cheaters and parasites always destroy safety nets and not only take money that is not intended for them ... they harm the people in dire need that do need a temporary safety net.

I can think of many examples ... what if someone completely sacrifices almost all they have because an iphone allows them internet to begin a business or job search or read.

Alcohol is legal ... is someone is out of work and they scrape together a few bucks for beer ... seriously people?

Illegal drugs? I think people on the system for long periods of time should be drug tested randomly. That is a major cause of unemployment in some groups is positive drug tests.

Case by case ... is why I voted other.

If I had a relative that was truly on hard times I might consider paying for an iPhone if it gave them an opportunity to step out of the situation ... if they were not just parasitic or using the system.
 
Absolutely not, very few things tick me off more than some dumbass with an iPhone in an SUV picking up prescriptions covered under Medicaid. We should not subsidize poor financial planning.
Have you actually seen this? Have you snuck up at the counter at the pharmacy then followed the customer out to see what they drove? How many times? I was just at my pharmacy, used my cell phone. Then partial payment was with my Medicare card. Then went out and got in my 2010 Mazda 5. From what you could see of me would I rank as a dumb ass?
 
This is the dumbest ass thing I've seen in this thread so far.

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I have student loans and guess what? I actually pay them off because they are loans not grants. Look up the definitions it can help you in the future when "debating".

The government subsidizes the interest on many student loans. Furthermore, the government acts as the guarantor on behalf of the student for many loans, so it enables people to get assistance who otherwise could not (or who would otherwise have to pay an exorbitant interest rate to compensate for the high risk). It is simply not correct that they are merely loans, with no direct benefit from the government to the student.

Yet most people are rarely so judgmental as to think that college kids shouldn't be allowed to have federally-subsidized student loans if they can afford beer.
 
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The government subsidizes the interest on many student loans. Furthermore, the government acts as the guarantor on behalf of the student for many loans, so it enables people to get assistance who otherwise could not (or who would otherwise have to pay an exorbitant interest rate to compensate for the high risk). It is simply not correct that they are merely loans, with no direct benefit from the government to the student.

Yet most people are rarely so judgmental as to think that college kids shouldn't be allowed to have federally-subsidized student loans if they can afford beer.

Regardless of how you try to cut it your point is weak. I personally never knew anyone buying beer with their student loans they had jobs for that kind of stuff. If you think someone who chooses to not work or will work less hours because it helps them keep their government help is the same as someone that will likely be a Netgain to society, then you don't live in any reality I know.
 
I see this one often and I actually totally agree and do in fact agree that you shouldn't be able to get welfare, food stamps, section 8, etc. If someone has images that say this please post. Thoughts?

Thing is that an Iphone functions like the poor man's version of the computer.

It's what they use in the place of a tablet, laptop, or desktop.
 
Regardless of how you try to cut it your point is weak. I personally never knew anyone buying beer with their student loans they had jobs for that kind of stuff.

I can't speak to anyone else's experience, but I certainly did. Generally speaking, you can get federal student loans for both your tuition and your living expenses...and you can spend the living expenses money on anything you want, including alcohol. The money just goes directly to your bank account.

If you think someone who chooses to not work or will work less hours because it helps them keep their government help is the same as someone that will likely be a Netgain to society, then you don't live in any reality I know.

This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that these views are often based on negative impressions of poor people and their motives. Both a poor person getting food stamps and a college kid getting federally-subsidized loans have the same goal: To improve their lives. Just as it's hard to get a better-paying job without an education, it's hard to get (or keep) a better-paying job if you don't have enough to eat.
 
Thing is that an Iphone functions like the poor man's version of the computer.

It's what they use in the place of a tablet, laptop, or desktop.

Trust me i know this all to well as for a few months I had to do it when the computer went bust, difference is I wasn't using any of these programs at the same time. The library is a wonderful thing as well.
 
I can't speak to anyone else's experience, but I certainly did. Generally speaking, you can get federal student loans for both your tuition and your living expenses...and you can spend the living expenses money on anything you want, including alcohol. The money just goes directly to your bank account.

This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that these views are often based on negative impressions of poor people and their motives. Both a poor person getting food stamps and a college kid getting federally-subsidized loans have the same goal: To improve their lives. Just as it's hard to get a better-paying job without an education, it's hard to get (or keep) a better-paying job if you don't have enough to eat.

Up until about two years ago I lived in poverty or near it. I speak directly from experience. Just because you imagine these programs are used for their intended purpose all the time doesn't make it true.
 
Up until about two years ago I lived in poverty or near it. I speak directly from experience. Just because you imagine these programs are used for their intended purpose all the time doesn't make it true.

I didn't say they always are. But it's rather judgmental to say that people on food stamps should lose their assistance if they're able to afford beer, and not say the same thing about college kids. Most poor people are just trying to make ends meet, not abuse the system. At least not any moreso than my friends and me buying beer in college was an abuse of the system. In fact, I would venture to guess that the average college kid probably drinks a lot more beer than the average food stamp recipient.
 
Trust me i know this all to well as for a few months I had to do it when the computer went bust, difference is I wasn't using any of these programs at the same time. The library is a wonderful thing as well.

Fair enough. However, while an iPhone may not be the most responsible choice in terms of saving up capital (as opposed to libraries which are free), with a family plan it is the easiest way to ensure everyone in the household has consistent Internet access.

Aside from the quality of life issue of providing entertainment and joy, in the Information Age, consistent Internet access can be a considerable economic advantage.

It's not too much to say that some families may have gotten ahead on their iPhones, used properly.

That being the case, I'm not convinced having a couple of Iphones in and of itself qualities as an abuse of the system.

Having iPhones and desktops at the same time might be.
 
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