Nothing wrong with helping people, but spending 3K in heating costs when your income is $11,148 is a bad decision. Living in an area with a median home price of 340K on her income is a bad decision.
boomerang
Lifer
- Jun 19, 2000
- 18,883
- 641
- 126
Yup
Unhappy when you're heating your house and unhappy when you're not heating your house. They're just not happy.
I'm studying in Boston right now. Roxbury is like a 15 minute walk from my place. I can tell you this place would BLOW to live in as a poor person. What the fuck are these old people doing in this gentrified shithole?
Everything costs easily 20-50% more than other parts of the US and its got rodent issues amongst other pest.
I would never have come here for school had I known. Glad I get to go to Texas for break where things are relatively sane.
Everything costs easily 20-50% more than other parts of the US and its got rodent issues amongst other pest.
I would never have come here for school had I known. Glad I get to go to Texas for break where things are relatively sane.
- Oct 30, 2000
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- 0
I lived in the area.
I have seen people (elderly & poor) using heating assistance that are smoking, have a liquor stash and a stash of scratch and lottery tickets.
$20 of lottery tickets goes a long way toward keeping your place warmer (not just by burning the tickets).
Pack of smokes is at least $5. Many do at least a pack a day. Those can cover a fuel drop every other month easily.
They have a choice of pleasure or heat. They choose pleasure.
People survived before there was government handouts when it was cold.
SOB story
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
- 5
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Roxbury & Jamaica Plain back in the 60s was still a shithole. There were riots every week or so.
People were determined to destroy their own neighborhoods.
Liberals would whine about conditions but would never leave their Back Bay or Beacon Hill areas to even visit.
Little Joe K's project for heating oil was about the only decent thing for that community that the liberals ever did. the rest of the time they convinced the community that it deserved handouts and special projects to bootstrap itself.
There are small communities within that people grew up in and retired. They were unable to move away when working or after retirement because of the stigma attached to the area - lack of buyers.
I wonder how they used to stay warm when they first settled that area way back in the 1400's...hmmm layers and fire go a long way.
IndyColtsFan
Lifer
- Sep 22, 2007
- 33,655
- 687
- 126
Why does Obama hate warm people?
Maybe Rick Perry can step in and stop Obama's war on cold people?
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
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More like the liberal system is failing her. Kept giving her heating assistance instead of weatherproofing the trailer.
Like feeding a person with fish vs teaching them how to fish.
The lady is old enough to have experienced this situation previously. This is not her first winter.
She also knows what needs to be done. Lower the temp and weatherproof.
A reporter went seeking out a sob story to post it.
Maybe the writer should have spent 1 day and $50-100 of materials to help weatherproof the trailer.
PingSpike
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2004
- 21,741
- 569
- 126
Natural gas != oil heat though. Old trailers are basically a tin can. Put an ancient inefficient and probably unserviced oil furnace in the thing and anything is possible. I don't spend that much on heat but I do pay $209/mo on my budget plan so its not way less.
For a thousand dollars of assistance, they could probably spray her trailer with foam insulation, and then she wouldn't need to buy heating oil ever again, or even run the AC during the summer.
Only upkeep is paint it ever three to four years to protect the foam from rotting in the sun.
Only upkeep is paint it ever three to four years to protect the foam from rotting in the sun.
PingSpike
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2004
- 21,741
- 569
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I actually kind of understand the position of the elderly. You buy a dumpy house and build up a support network in an area likely near your family. If they moved not only would it be difficult learning a new area but they'd lose their entire support network. And once you get to be 92...let's face it you'll be lucky if you are still firing on all cylinders. You're not pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and getting another job at that point unless you're one of a lucky few. So they're actually pretty stuck.
The social security inflation increase is based on the government's BS statistics. Its no secret energy and food are way up, which is all old people buy really. Flat screen TVs being cheaper is cold comfort.
That said, heating your house using a government charity program is not a good long term strategy. A lot of people have been using this program for decades and it has removed any incentive to adapt to the changing cost of heating, whether it be to move, insulate the house, switch to a cheaper fuel source or whatever. Why would I spend my tiny amount of money on insulation or a new boiler when the government has that covered for me? But now they're older and even less capable of adapting than at the start and the carpet is being pulled out from under them.
At least they found a better case than they did around here. The newspaper had some 50something guy complaining about the lack of heating assistance. They had a photo of him staring at the thermostat set to 75 degrees. I've never set a thermostat to 75 my entire life! I've heard some stories as well but you know how those go.
The social security inflation increase is based on the government's BS statistics. Its no secret energy and food are way up, which is all old people buy really. Flat screen TVs being cheaper is cold comfort.
That said, heating your house using a government charity program is not a good long term strategy. A lot of people have been using this program for decades and it has removed any incentive to adapt to the changing cost of heating, whether it be to move, insulate the house, switch to a cheaper fuel source or whatever. Why would I spend my tiny amount of money on insulation or a new boiler when the government has that covered for me? But now they're older and even less capable of adapting than at the start and the carpet is being pulled out from under them.
At least they found a better case than they did around here. The newspaper had some 50something guy complaining about the lack of heating assistance. They had a photo of him staring at the thermostat set to 75 degrees. I've never set a thermostat to 75 my entire life! I've heard some stories as well but you know how those go.
dank69
Lifer
- Oct 6, 2009
- 36,045
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I was not commenting on liberal/conservative policies, merely the amount of bile in this thread.
Texashiker
Lifer
- Dec 18, 2010
- 18,811
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The US should be ashamed of itself because of the way it cares for the elderly. We treat people like they are disposable.
People work the best part of their lives away, pay taxes, and then those people are discarded when they need help.
Capitalism is not always a good thing. In some cases, I think socialism is better then Capitalism. If the US federal government can send money overseas, why cant we take care of our own?
People work the best part of their lives away, pay taxes, and then those people are discarded when they need help.
Capitalism is not always a good thing. In some cases, I think socialism is better then Capitalism. If the US federal government can send money overseas, why cant we take care of our own?
rudder
Lifer
- Nov 9, 2000
- 19,441
- 86
- 91
The lack of compassion is not directed toward the person in this article. It is more a frustration with the entitlement mentality. This lady did nothing to improve her situation because the government handouts were always there. Money to heat an old drafty house was there. Now, in this economy, the amount of money available to help pay this ladies heating oil bill has dwindled.
What if it that money had never been available? Would the lady have frozen to death? or would she had made different decisions to secure better living arrangements?
Just like the frustrations we will see with peoples attitudes about their retirement. Why save for retirement when there is that social security paycheck? Should we show compassion to people 40 years from now.. when after a life of financial mismanagement and SS dries up... that they are suffering financially because there are no SS checks coming?
- Oct 30, 2000
- 42,589
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- 0
Some people can always make a case that those overseas are worse off than our own and we have a moral duty to lend a helping hand.
Do it once, it is appreciated; do it multiple times and is becomes expected and complained when the assistance does not arrive.
Similar to the same situation at home - take from those that have and give it to those that want.
Texashiker
Lifer
- Dec 18, 2010
- 18,811
- 197
- 106
How can someone possibly save enough money to last them through retirement, with all of the other stuff going on in life, unforeseen increases in cost of living and fraud?
Look at what happened with enron, MCI and the recent bank bailouts. In the past 10 years how many people have lost their life savings? How are people supposed to save for retirement, when everything they save is wiped out ever 10 years? After enron collapsed, there were news articles interviewing people who were set to retire in a couple of months, and lost everything when enron collapsed.
There is a family I know from southeast Texas who lost their home to hurricane Ike. The couple is in their late 70s, the husand retired from Texaco in the early 1990s. With no flood insurance, the family had to use their retirement money, somewhere around $80,000 to pay for a new home. Thank goodness they had the money, but it was a little irresponsible to not have flood insurance.
As for the people who lost their home, with insurance going up every year, how does someone plan 20 years ahead of time for unseen changes in the economy?
Another family I know, the husband worked for a certain company for 25 years. The company was bought out, and all of the retirement plans were moved to the new company. A few years later the new company went out of business, and all of the retirement plans disappeared. One guy had somewhere around $250k just disappear from his account overnight. The company went out of business, has been dissolved, and now nobody knows where the money went.
Who is to say the lady in the OP did not have a retirement, and it was cleaned out due to fraud?
Another liberal with misguided compassion (you're probably young, stupid, and still idealistic too aren't you?) You fail :thumbsdown:
This country is turning into a bunch of emotional non street-smart sissies.
Does the woman have family? Have they offered to help with the bills or let her move in with them or help her to move to a warmer climate?
What... she doesn't want to move, won't take money, and wants to stay "in her own home till the day she dies" ? Okay....
1prophet
Diamond Member
- Aug 17, 2005
- 5,313
- 534
- 126
The US can not be ashamed of itself because the corporations have instilled a me first mentality from the CEO who only cares about his bonus and pay to the welfare mom who has no shame popping out more kids for more money.
Atreus21
Lifer
- Aug 21, 2007
- 12,001
- 571
- 126
There is no nirvana in this life, Texas. People are going to get screwed over by circumstances no matter what type of economy, government intervention, or assistance is in place.
There is absolutely no way we can enact a society in which every possible scenario in which a person gets screwed out of their money is completely removed.
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