tates cromptons

Reading this gives me irritable bowel syndrome.

It doesn't sound to me like the Tates are worse off. In fact, look at the two family pics and it's easy to see which ones are worse off. Sometimes less is more. Working for it can make you a better person. That's what I tell my kids anyway.

Also, the US is the same way. Thousands upon thousands of 'poor' people get checks every month to live off of. They have more kids to increase the check size. Also, if one or more of the kids act nuts they can get what they call 'crazy money'. It's sick.

I had a whole raft of things to say about this but none reached the level of civil communications so I just won't say anything about this fornicated-up situation!

Politico - I was a single mom for SIX years. I tried to apply for WIC when I had my daughter and I was told I didn't qualify because I didn't have enough children - on my income, I would have had to have 2 kids to get WIC. Oh, I'm so sorry, I was only irresponsible enough to have one unplanned pregnancy at the age of 20. I HAVE half a brain (some times 3/4 of one) so I went out and got two more jobs. Yes, I worked THREE jobs while taking care of my daughter and NOT getting any kind of child support or government support. I didn't have a "nice" apartment or a "nice" car, but my daughter was fed and healthy and taken care of. So when I see people in the "Hood" waiting for that government check then going down to the liquor store to spend it, yeah, I get a little irritated.

My wife works as the School Secretary at the public school that my kids go to. In first grade there is a little boy who acts insane. Always disrupting the class and the other kids education. One day my wife was talking to his older sister, who is a good student, and she told my wife that her mom tells the boy to act that way. He doesn't act like that at home 'cause momma would bust his ass. By him 'being crazy', momma gets another check each month for assistance. No, momma doesn't work but she does know how to spread her legs seeing as how she has 8 kids.

I've also heard the same kind of things from a friend of mine who is a public school teacher in Orleans Parish. In fact his stories would make you want to cry.

Politico in D.C, the last time I was "in the hood" was a batch of years ago when my family's store sold to most of the folks "in the hood" on (no interest) credit. I saw, time and time again, women with a live in "boy friend" and umteen kids all being supported by tax dollars.

The best bumper sticker I've seen in many a decade read,
If you can't feed'm
don't breed'em."

KW, the only time in my life I applied for unemployment was after I got out of the Navy and moved back home to Illinois. The drunk in front of me picked up his check and I'm sure the foul smelling individual behind me got his but I just didn't qualify. No biggie as I had a job four days later helping to keep those poor suffering men in wine!

Politico -- you're perfectly entitled to your opinion (shared by many of my friends) that redistribution of "wealth" (and it WAS wealth until it was converted into tax dollars by new taxes) is a good thing. I prefer to choose how much of my "wealth" (such as it is) goes to support others (deserving or not -- there's plenty of both). I don't need the big fat government coming in and taking it away and deciding for me where it would best be spent. I donate a large percentage of my income to charities, and I regularly volunteer at a homeless shelter and rape crisis center. I'd have more time to volunteer, but I'm too busy working so the government can put more taxes on me.

BTW, I grew up just above the poverty line, put myself through college and law school and made a good life for myself.

When I was in college I worked as a cashier at a grocery store and I could always tell when the food stamp money was disbursed because of the increase in women roaming the store with 8-10 kids in tow. They'd use their food stamp money to buy potato chips, fruit punch with no real fruit in it, cookies, sugary cereals, etc. I even had someone pay for their wedding cake with their food stamps. The only thing they couldn't buy with them was any already prepared hot foods (rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, etc.) Rarely did I see any of them buy fruit or vegetables. Every time I'd see it, all I could think was "great, my taxes are paying for their junk food and one day my taxes will be paying for all the health problems they'll develop from eating all that junk food."

Years ago I worked in a seafood market. Food stamps back then looked like money with bills having certain denominations. They would come in and buy 5 pounds of crawfish and we would have to give them real money as change because it's not like we had food stamp change. Then they would turn around and get a case of beer that they would then pay for with the real money change we had just given them. Made me sick. These days food stamps are offered on a credit card and can only be used for food.