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Helping the Needy and the Poor

Where do you draw the line? Who would you help? You can choose more than one


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GmH

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Very Conservative
A friend of mine has an older son 40 something to be exact. He is on SSI. He is too drepressed to deal with a job or to deal with life in general. He is not too depressed to buy a car. He is not too depressed to buy a boat. He is not too depressed too move from Idaho to South Carolina....all by his little 0l' self. He is not too depressed to go fishing all day and water sking all summer. His 73 old mother works to help support him.... This are the ones that drive Republicans crazy.

I will gladly, gladly, gladly give you a helping hand when you are truely needy, help you get on your feet, make sure you are clothed and do not go hungry. I draw the line at helping you when you sit on your butt all day and fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE DO NOT want the needy thrown off welfare, we want the bums like the one above thrown off welfare
 
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A friend of mine has an older son 40 something to be exact. He is on SSI. He is too depressed to deal with a job and to deal with life in general. He is not too depressed to buy a car. He is not too depressed to buy a boat. He is not too depressed too move from Idaho to South Carolina....all by his little 0l' self. He is not too depressed to go fishing all day and water sking all summer. His 73 old mother works to help support him.... This are the ones that drive Republicans crazy.

I will gladly, gladly, gladly give you a helping hand when you are truely needy, help you get on your feet, make sure you are clothed and do not go hungry. I draw the line at helping you when you sit on your butt all day and fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE DO NOT want the need thrown off welfare, we want the bums like the one above thrown off welfare

are you sure you are not just one of those with a little empathy.. because i've heard a lot of republicans making noise about throwing everyone off of welfare. (in order to get welfare you have to work)
 
are you sure you are not just one of those with a little empathy.. because i've heard a lot of republicans making noise about throwing everyone off of welfare. (in order to get welfare you have to work)
Sounds fair to me. If you're able to work, then why not work?
 
I know a similar story/ Woman works her adult life but she just cannot go on at 60 because of horrible back problems/arthritis. She applies for disability to get her to retirement and is denied and denied even though she can barely walk. Her grandson wanted to run the streets with his friends so he kept getting in trouble at school, got prescribed meds for ADD, got suspended again and suddenly he had a learning disability and started getting a SSI check and was "released to homeschooling" where he and all his buddies got to run the streets getting a check to do it. It disgusts me and it is perfectly legal.
 
Personally, I try to help anyone who asks me no matter their circumstances. I keep dollar bills in my car just to hand them out to panhandlers. My friends think I'm kinda dumb to do that since the money will likely be used for something that's not good. What I choose to do with my money, though, is a very different question from what I believe the government should be doing with other people's money.
 
I do work on the side in the mental health area, which means my areas are: financially strained, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, foster youth, etc.

As far is government is concerned: The poor, the disabled, etc. Basically, the status quo, and sometimes, a little more than what is currently offered for some.
 
are you sure you are not just one of those with a little empathy.. because i've heard a lot of republicans making noise about throwing everyone off of welfare. (in order to get welfare you have to work)

The op is probably referring to disability, and there are many people on it who are able-bodied, and just gaming the system.
 
are you sure you are not just one of those with a little empathy.. because i've heard a lot of republicans making noise about throwing everyone off of welfare. (in order to get welfare you have to work)

I think welfare should go to people who are working, not pay able bodied people to not work.
 
I would much rather welfare went to working families who are struggling to feed their families with the rising food and fuel costs.
 
I think welfare should go to people who are working, not pay able bodied people to not work.

My big gripe is that SSI "tells" people to go to work, but punishes them for doing so by disproportionately reducing benefits for hours worked..inducing many of the disabled to forego the desired job (and increased independence) and independent housing so they can actually afford to pay for services they need (thus leaving them unemployed and more dependent upon family/guardians).
 
The op is probably referring to disability, and there are many people on it who are able-bodied, and just gaming the system.

25% or so of the collective bargaining unit members of the United States Postal Service are on limited (job related) or Light (other disability) duty.
 
If we require someone works in order to receive welfare, what is to stop that someone from claiming they are working as a self-employed person? They do it all the time on tax returns to get the earned income tax credit and other refundable tax credits. Or do you only count wages earned as an employee and not self-employed/businesses?

It can be rather difficult to determine someone in need vs. someone cheating the system. One way you could eliminate the problem is to give whatever benefits to ... everyone. Say you determine that $10,000/year is the minimum to live off. Just give everyone $10,000 a year. No cheating (well, there'd be cheating from people drawing benefits for the deceased and so forth still). You would have to adjust taxes to cover such an expenditure. At some income level the extra taxes to cover the extra money paid out would equal $10,000. Anyone at that level or higher would effectively be paying more than they are getting, anyone below that level would be getting more than they are paying. This would also eliminate the incentive to stay below a given income level in order to receive welfare benefits.
 
25% or so of the collective bargaining unit members of the United States Postal Service are on limited (job related) or Light (other disability) duty.

I wasn't aware of that, but I remember hearing that in one of the states (can't remember which one), it is estimated that about 25% of the disability recipients are abusing the system, and I know that it's growing by leaps and bounds for the past few years.
 
I wasn't aware of that, but I remember hearing that in one of the states (can't remember which one), it is estimated that about 25% of the disability recipients are abusing the system, and I know that it's growing by leaps and bounds for the past few years.

trust me, much of those people are abusing the system.
 
trust me, much of those people are abusing the system.

Yeah, I know they are. I see them regularly as a part of my job, and I have more friends on it than I would care to admit, and most of what I see is BS.
 
The only way someone should get welfare is if they are physically, or psychologically unable to work. Psychologically as in birth defect, or severe accident that causes irreparable damage.
 
I don't understand the question... who would I help personally? or who do I think we need to use the government to help?

Personally, To me, government is not a tool to help people, it is the law of the land and is their to enforce freedoms. Now people like me, charities, business, and private organizations can and should help anybody they feel like.
 
Personally, I try to help anyone who asks me no matter their circumstances. I keep dollar bills in my car just to hand them out to panhandlers. My friends think I'm kinda dumb to do that since the money will likely be used for something that's not good. What I choose to do with my money, though, is a very different question from what I believe the government should be doing with other people's money.

I used to do the same, until I realized that I wasn't helping them by encouraging self-destructive behavior. I'll keep a sharp eye out for the outliers that seem like they uniquely need it, but fit, young to middle age males.... not so much.
 
25% or so of the collective bargaining unit members of the United States Postal Service are on limited (job related) or Light (other disability) duty.

To be fair, due to hiring preferences a disproportionate of USPS employees are veterans with variant measures of disability.
 
I used to do the same, until I realized that I wasn't helping them by encouraging self-destructive behavior. I'll keep a sharp eye out for the outliers that seem like they uniquely need it, but fit, young to middle age males.... not so much.

I remember one guy I gave a couple dollars to swore up and down that he needed the money for food (or something else legit). I stopped him and told him that once I gave the money to him it was his to spend it however. That's how I look at it. Once I've made the decision to give someone something, what they decide to do with it is on them. Totally get what you're saying though. My friends think I'm being naive - I'm not though.
 
A friend of mine has an older son 40 something to be exact. He is on SSI. He is too drepressed to deal with a job or to deal with life in general. He is not too depressed to buy a car. He is not too depressed to buy a boat. He is not too depressed too move from Idaho to South Carolina....all by his little 0l' self. He is not too depressed to go fishing all day and water sking all summer. His 73 old mother works to help support him.... This are the ones that drive Republicans crazy.

I will gladly, gladly, gladly give you a helping hand when you are truely needy, help you get on your feet, make sure you are clothed and do not go hungry. I draw the line at helping you when you sit on your butt all day and fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE DO NOT want the needy thrown off welfare, we want the bums like the one above thrown off welfare

Bi-polar depression/anxiety attacks/ADHD/back problems. The latest scams to collect SS Disability. When the medical community finally decides that alcoholism is a disease, we're screwed. ;)

I don't mind a hand up -- in fact, I think we should probably do even more for people who are genuinely disabled. But a hand out? God, I wish we didn't do that as often as I think we do.
 
A friend of mine has an older son 40 something to be exact. He is on SSI. He is too drepressed to deal with a job or to deal with life in general. He is not too depressed to buy a car. He is not too depressed to buy a boat. He is not too depressed too move from Idaho to South Carolina....all by his little 0l' self. He is not too depressed to go fishing all day and water sking all summer. His 73 old mother works to help support him.... This are the ones that drive Republicans crazy.

I will gladly, gladly, gladly give you a helping hand when you are truely needy, help you get on your feet, make sure you are clothed and do not go hungry. I draw the line at helping you when you sit on your butt all day and fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE DO NOT want the needy thrown off welfare, we want the bums like the one above thrown off welfare

Then get your corp s to hire him........but one look and they will not. So he will remain on SSI.
 
I have a new difinition of "disability".

If you send out resumes to all companies in 40 miles (or within bus system) and if they refuse to hire you in 90 days. Then you are disabled untill they do hire you.......

PS

I have spent 5 years suing for disability I paid 27 years into............so I know about the disability system.........

you get nothing......
Most of the homeless are SSI people, they dont get enough to afford a place to stay.
it takes min of 2 YEARS to collect disabiltiy......
 
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I understand your sentiments. My wife before we we got married was on WIC. Yesterday I swallowed my pride and as business has slowed down as a family we are back on WIC. Being on wic saves us roughly $50-70 a month and is heavily restrictive which is fine by me as its for things we would buy anyways. I think if other social programs were made to be more temporary as well it would encourage more to do more for themselves. In my particular case, I pay a good amount of state taxes, some federal, and of course Ssi and Medicare. I'd rather a contributor benefit rather than a leech wouldn't you?
 
My big gripe is that SSI "tells" people to go to work, but punishes them for doing so by disproportionately reducing benefits for hours worked..inducing many of the disabled to forego the desired job (and increased independence) and independent housing so they can actually afford to pay for services they need (thus leaving them unemployed and more dependent upon family/guardians).

This isn't exactly true, Fiddy. It's WORSE than that. My brother is on SSI. He can keep his benefits if he works a certain amount. If he works ONE DOLLAR over that amount, he receives NOTHING. The SSI plus his part time job allow him to live independently, pay rent, buy food, etc... Without the SSI, he would be unable to do any of those things, would need to go into government subsidized housing and go on welfare. A pro-rated system would be far better for him. It would encourage him to work more, become more independent, etc... But the way the system is set up, this cannot happen.

The system needs an overhaul. All or nothing doesn't work. It doesn't encourage anyone to get off assistance.
 
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