This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps

[ivwshane]

Yeah yeah we know... the point was she knows what it is to be poor because on one day when her Honda wouldn't start, she had to use her husbands Mercedes and people looked at her funny. That's the very face of poverty.

I didn't misrepresent anything... you didn't read the article. But then, you never understand anything that's being discussed.

Lol! Stupid fuck doubles down on stupid! You want to try for a third time?

 

[Exterous]

Why is everyone focused on her buying a second car if they sold the Mercedes? Neither of them worked. Sell the Merc, keep the honda and pocket the money from the sale. With both being unemployed there is absolutely no reason you have to keep two cars.

From reading the article it sounds to me like is trying to make her experience sound worse than it was.

She was "scared" the first time she went to go get her WIC? $240k mortgage is suddenly 'exorbitant' even though you agreed to it? She was 'scared' someone was going to giver her money? She had to run from the person telling her about Jesus? She held on to the Mercedes because it brought them comfort?

It's like a badge of honor now to have been poor but, while she did have a brief brush of it certainly not enough for an article like this when many ended up homeless and without any cars at all let alone two

 

[MiniDoom]

Rent the car for rental income?

or a room in their house if they have a spare.

 

[dank69]

Sweet, sweet ignore.

The only thing worse than putting people on ignore is paying attention to people you have on ignore by posting about how you have them on ignore.

 

[dank69]

People are stupid. Unless you can pay cash for your house and your Mercedes you don't need a Mercedes. Nothing but a money pit preventing wealth accumulation. Obvious right? made 120K and have no savings and using food stamps.



Anyone catch this entitlement? I'm sure they felt entitled to a 6Ksqft house luxury cars etc learned behavior from their boomer parents who are also irresponsible spend thrifts living off and destroying greatest/silent generations sacrifices and habits.

$250k in 2008 in CT bought you maybe 12-1500 sq. ft. depending on the town.

 

[MetalMat]

Some people on here are just morons. I am for personal accountability but some come on people this family had some serious rotten luck.

 

[OutHouse]

and it's a QUALITY CAR. parts might be a little more expensive, but i bet the car goes for 400,000 miles if properly maintained....

 

[theeedude]

I don't get this food stamp stigma. You pay taxes all your life so you'll have food stamps when you need them. It's no different than Medicare except its a pittance in comparison. Nothing to be ashamed of. So just go get them in you Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, or whatever, and make yourself a nice meal.

 

[xBiffx]

Nothing to be ashamed of.

That's where the viewpoints differ greatly.

 

[Zaap]

Some people on here are just morons. I am for personal accountability but some come on people this family had some serious rotten luck.

"Serious" rotten luck? Like what?

The Mercedes driving husband losing his job in a dying industry was the only thing that even remotely qualifies as bad luck.

What the hell else in the story was even all that remarkable, let alone rotten luck?

 

[theeedude]

That's where the viewpoints differ greatly.

Yes, it's a fundamental difference.
Kicking someone when they are down by stigmatizing and shaming them vs giving them a helping hand to get back on their feet and avoiding long term negative consequences by making sure their children get proper nutrition in the meantime.
But even aside from that, these people have either paid or will pay enough taxes over their lifetime to pay for temporary food stamps many times over. They don't need to feel ashamed when they benefit from programs they pay for. Even their kid is going to benefit society more and pay more taxes if it gets proper nutrition as an infant. So my advice to her is ignore the haters, and do what's best for your family, and don't be ashamed of doing it.

 

[nehalem256]

I don't get this food stamp stigma. You pay taxes all your life so you'll have food stamps when you need them. It's no different than Medicare except its a pittance in comparison. Nothing to be ashamed of. So just go get them in you Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, or whatever, and make yourself a nice meal.

Yeah I am sure women like this paid taxes all their life so they could have food stamps when they needed it

Take the case of 29-year-old Jennifer Stepp, who lives in Reading, Pa. Like 14 million other people in the U.S. who live in families headed by single mothers, she's poor. And she faces incredible odds.

Stepp has three children by three different fathers. The father of her eldest child, 10-year-old Isaiah, is serving 30 years in federal prison for armed robbery.

"He's met my son one time, when he was a baby. And he decided that he didn't want him," she says.

Stepp's middle child, 8-year-old Shyanne, usually sees her father every other weekend. But the father of her younger son is also in prison. Stepp says he's been behind bars for selling cocaine since she was pregnant. He has never met 1-year-old Makai.

....
Her employer, Opportunity House, pays half the rent. It's one of many things her employer does to help her out.

Stepp says her parents also struggled, and they didn't really show her how to apply for a job or to college. She had to figure it out herself. Still, her safety net is pretty broad. Her mother stops by many nights to help put the kids to bed. Stepp also gets food stamps and medical aid for the kids.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/11/155103593/to-beat-odds-poor-single-moms-need-wide-safety-net

 

[theeedude]

Yeah I am sure women like this paid taxes all their life so they could have food stamps when they needed it


http://www.npr.org/2012/07/11/155103593/to-beat-odds-poor-single-moms-need-wide-safety-net

Then their kids will pay taxes all their life for food stamps they get as kids. It doesn't bother me one bit that people are getting proper nutrition as infants and children. If it bothers you, then it's your problem.

Now, that's all behind her, and she's wiser. She says she's trying to get her life on track. These days, Stepp works full time at the Second Street Learning Center in Reading. The center provides round-the-clock day care for working poor families.

She is contributing to society, I don't begrudge her having a meal at society's expense, unlike you.

 

[Zaap]

I don't get this food stamp stigma. You pay taxes all your life so you'll have food stamps when you need them.

No. Most people pay taxes all their life to pay for other people to have food stamps.

Paying taxes isn't food insurance.

I see nothing wrong by the way with the person in the article having used them. It's just not anything all that remarkable (which clearly even the author didn't think so either, or she wouldnt have had to trot out the ONE DAY Mercedes tale and make that the centerpiece... which clearly people who fall for obvious emotional drek fell hard for).

Her use of food stamps temporarily (despite which car she used to sign up for them) didn't make her poor. And I'd bet most of her tales of other people's reactions were largely in her own imagination. Not sure why a person who gave up a decent job (ah see, another detail of the tale of woe were not supposed to notice) should exactly feel proud of using food stamps anyway.

Sure, you're no longer the poster of middle class and "failure being harder than success" but a long freaking way from impoverished.

 

[xBiffx]

Yes, it's a fundamental difference.
Kicking someone when they are down by stigmatizing and shaming them vs giving them a helping hand to get back on their feet and avoiding long term negative consequences by making sure their children get proper nutrition in the meantime.
But even aside from that, these people have either paid or will pay enough taxes over their lifetime to pay for temporary food stamps many times over. They don't need to feel ashamed when they benefit from programs they pay for. Even their kid is going to benefit society more and pay more taxes if it gets proper nutrition as an infant. So my advice to her is ignore the haters, and do what's best for your family, and don't be ashamed of doing it.

Over sensationalize much?

No one is kicking them while they are down. Anyone should be ashamed for themselves to be on food stamps or welfare. We often times have to do things that we don't want to but the important thing is to learn from that and make choices that prevent you from having to do those things again. But then again, there are many people on the public dole who don't see a problem with it. That is the root cause of this problem. So if they don't feel shame, then its up to society to educate them on why they should.

Many people pay many taxes. Not many people see payback on those taxes. I pay property tax, most of which goes to schools. I have no children so I see no direct payback on that money. Sure, I might benefit from educated children but that's debatable (the extent I benefit that is) and its indirect anyways.

If the attitude is going to be, well they paid for those services then they should get them. And then everyone carries that attitude, the system breaks completely. The system is setup so that only a fraction of those who pay for it, draw from it. Plus, the majority of people who draw from it, likely use more than they put in to begin with, so they aren't paying their way or using only their share. Again, this should not be something they are ever comfortable with.

You want to make them comfortable with consuming public resources that they didn't completely pay for. I do not. Its okay to use them when the need arises but becoming comfortable with it creates a bigger issue.

 

[nehalem256]

Then their kids will pay taxes all their life for food stamps they get as kids. It doesn't bother me one bit that people are getting proper nutrition as infants and children. If it bothers you, then it's your problem.

She is contributing to society, I don't begrudge her having a meal at society's expense, unlike you.

Wrong. Spreading you legs for thugs and then extorting money from hard working Americans doesn't count as "contributing to society".

Funny though that liberals threw a big fit about those evil Teahadist hostage takers when you are engaging in the same thing.

 

[OutHouse]

Anyone should be ashamed for themselves to be on food stamps or welfare.

does that include active duty military junior NCO's with two kids who qualify for WIC?

 

[sm625]

Eligibility is based on income not assets.

 

[nehalem256]

does that include active duty military junior NCO's with two kids who qualify for WIC?

Why shouldn't it?

Does serving in the military mean you can do no wrong?

 

[OutHouse]

Why shouldn't it?

Does serving in the military mean you can do no wrong?

what wrong would that be? working a fulltime job and having a family?

 

[nehalem256]

what wrong would that be? working a fulltime job and having a family?

Having more kids than you can feed.

 

[xBiffx]

does that include active duty military junior NCO's with two kids who qualify for WIC?

Yes, of course. Why would any of that matter. If you aren't carrying your own weight, you should be ashamed.

Everyone of those details is a choice. A choice that someone has made for themselves. Why should they get free money/food because they made choices that resulted in not being able to carry their own weight?

Also, the person who you did mention would most definitely not like having to be on food stamps. Its also very ironic because I know two individuals who fit that description almost to a T. Neither of them are taking food stamps because they'd be too ashamed to do it. They make other sacrifices in order to avoid that decision.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

On a sidenote, I like how Dave "quotes" an article but selectively cuts out certain lines. Like this one:

I climbed the ladder quickly, free to work any hours in any location for any pay. I moved from market to market, always achieving a better title, a better salary. Succeeding.

Guess she wasn't as skilled as she thought.

Anyone catch this entitlement? I'm sure they felt entitled to a 6Ksqft house luxury cars etc learned behavior from their boomer parents who are also irresponsible spend thrifts living off and destroying greatest/silent generations sacrifices and habits.

See quote above that Dave conveniently omitted from his article "quote." I wonder what else he didn't quote.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

does that include active duty military junior NCO's with two kids who qualify for WIC?

That's why some of us waited to become senior NCO's before having children.

 

[xBiffx]

That's why some of us waited to become senior NCO's before having children.

Bravo Zulu!