Win the lottery, continue getting food stamps

[Exterous]

People love stories about someone winning the lottery and then giving the money away. They're less likely to feel fondly about Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million in the Michigan State Lottery but is still collecting food stamps.
"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton, 24, told Local 4 news in Detroit.

Back in December, a woman in Washington State fell under scrutiny when it was revealed she was receiving state economic benefits even though she lives in a $1 million waterfront home on Lake Washington.

Clayton, who says she owns two homes and a new car, receives $200 a month in food assistance from the state-issued Michigan Bridge Card, which is meant to benefit lower-income residents in the nation's eigth most economically depressed state.

Twenty-five percent of Michigan's residents receive some form of food assistance from the state. The state's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, more than a full point above the national average, but has dropped from a 10.4 percent peak in August.

And Clayton isn't embarrassed about living off the state even though she now finds herself in the nation's top tax bracket. "I mean I kinda do," Clayton told Local 4 when asked if she had a "right" to the government welfare.

She certainly doesn't the fit the mold of other lottery winners we have told you about here at the Sideshow, including the number of repeat winners of the Georgia State Lottery, many of whom chose to donate their initial winnings to charity or family members in need.

Clayton downplayed her wealth, saying she took the $1 million in a lump sump, which meant about half immediately went to taxes. "I feel that it's OK because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay," she said. "I have two houses."


Her story has already caught attention locally, where state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has sponsored a bill preventing individuals like Clayton from taking state financial assistance.

"Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches," Zorn told Local 4. The bill, which has already passed the state House and has a sister bill in the Senate, would require the state to cross check the names of lottery winners over $1,000 to see if they are also receiving state financial benefits.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sidesho...llecting-food-stamps-winning-1-201751693.html

Owns two houses a new car but still feels she kinda has a right to government welfare

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

She should be beat about the head and shoulders, metaphorically that is.

 

[Matt1970]

Typical entitlement attitude.

 

[blankslate]

Stupid people ruin it for everyone.

Now people who run the lotteries will probably be required to devote some resources to checking to see if the winners are on any sort of financial aid (not necessarily a bad thing if it prevents things like this... but if more people had "common sense" it wouldn't be needed).
Although, they may just have to state the obvious, "You don't need food stamps anymore so be sure to cancel them."

The mind boggles...

 

[JockoJohnson]

Note to Government: Don't give money away unless you can verify they really need it.

If it wasn't in this article, I read it in another about this woman. The one official said that it is against the law to collect food stamps if you no longer need them (duh) but it is up to the individual to tell the gov't to stop.

And people wonder why there is this stigma about welfare. Just about anyone can be on it because the government is too stupid to govern itself.

Is it illegal for the local/state government to check someone's tax returns (fed/state/local)? Is it such a costly process that it is not worth doing?

 

[JockoJohnson]

Stupid people ruin it for everyone.

Now people who run the lotteries will probably be required to devote some resources to checking to see if the winners are on any sort of financial aid (not necessarily a bad thing if it prevents things like this... but if more people had "common sense" it wouldn't be needed).
Although, they may just have to state the obvious, "You don't need food stamps anymore so be sure to cancel them."

The mind boggles...

People are greedy little buggers. No matter how much money they have, if free money is still coming in, why stop it....aside from the moral and ethical obligations? There should be something in place to make sure they stop getting money instead of counting on the honesty of welfare recipients.

 

[PokerGuy]

Worthless leech with a typical sense of entitlement. I hope they make her pay back the money she stole retro-actively.

 

[momeNt]

Considering it is unemployment aid, and her wealth produces no income. I don't see a problem here. It'll be a sad day when the government tells her how to manage her assets to produce income so she can get off unemployment.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Considering it is unemployment aid, and her wealth produces no income. I don't see a problem here. It'll be a sad day when the government tells her how to manage her assets to produce income so she can get off unemployment.

She has two homes and one she bought with her winnings. It's a sad day when someone has great good fortune which could be used to generate income is squandered and people don't see why the taxpayer should subsidize failure. She should be able to do what she wants but not expect others to pay her for her foolishness.

 

[momeNt]

She has two homes and one she bought with her winnings. It's a sad day when someone has great good fortune which could be used to generate income is squandered and people don't see why the taxpayer should subsidize failure. She should be able to do what she wants but not expect others to pay her for her foolishness.

I agree, I think unemployment is currently very messed up, but given how it is designed it would have to be woefully more intrusive in order to guard against her particular case of abuse.

 

[Ausm]

Typical entitlement attitude.

You think you are knowledgeable isn't that considered "self" entitlement?


On a serious note only a scumbag would win the lottery and continue to collect food stamps.

 

[spidey07]

If you have any assets at all you shouldn't get any money from the government. Only after you have sold all those assets to provide for your self should any assistance be given.

Yes, that includes your escalade with "dubs".

 

[sm625]

Given the amount of money that is stolen from us and given/handed to wall street vermin, I say hell yeah, get what you can. No matter how much you own, earn, or whatever. If you qualify, then that's that. Why should anyone bend over and pay into this wall street funny money funnel and not try and squeeze a little of it back into their pocket? It's not like any laws are being broken, which is more than I can say for the wall street bankster scum who debase our currency and help drive up food prices 7% a year.

 

[jackschmittusa]

The woman is an ass with no shame.

 

[sactoking]

Both sides share blame. The woman is at fault because she is gaming the system and knows it and doesn't care. The system is at fault because it is poorly designed so that an income-based means test doesn't properly account for outlier scenarios.

 

[umbrella39]

If you have any assets at all you shouldn't get any money from the government. Only after you have sold all those assets to provide for your self should any assistance be given.

Yes, that includes your escalade with "dubs".

Why an Escalade with "dubs"?

 

[momeNt]

Why an Escalade with "dubs"?

Because he's racist.

Or maybe you're racist for assuming what he said was racist.

One thing we know for sure is that I MUST be racist for assuming that either of you could be racist.

 

[MovingTarget]

/facepalm

If you win the lottery and still get food stamps, that clearly is a misuse of our welfare system. However, it is equally facepalm-worthy to get all worked up about this considering how rare this type of situation is. Its like winning the lot....you get the idea. We should be getting outraged at corporate welfare to businesses that have been raking in the dough like never before.

 

[thegimp03]

I read this story yesterday. Today on USA Today I saw an update:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation...stamps/53411634/1?csp=hf&loc=interstitialskip

"State officials say a Detroit-area woman who won a $1 million lottery prize but continued to get food stamps has been removed from the food assistance program."

 

[Ninjahedge]

This would be one of those situations where you need to address it individually. You could run a study on every winner of the lottery in that state in less than a month to determine what their status is and if they are currently being funded, but nobody has been told to do it, so nobody does.

But the thing to remember here is, even if every single lottery winner in that state still got food stamps, how much would that amount to? 0.01%? (did a quick calc below, 0.3%?)

Population, Michigan

www.google.com/publicdata
9,876,187 - Jul 2011
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

25% of 9,876,187 = ~250,000 people.

I am guesstamating here, but weekly lottery winners for the past 10 years would be 520 (no dupes).

520/250000 = 0.28%

Combine that with other expenses and you see how STUPID this outrage is. The mere fact that so much attention has been brought to it by so many people is indicative of how we get caught up in the burrs that stick to our socks and ignore the bear standing next to us.

Is this right? No.

Is this something that Michigan state legislators need to write a new law for? HELLS NO!

 

[boochi]

Is this woman is registered, is there any doubt that she is a democrat?

 

[Ninjahedge]

Is this woman is registered, is there any doubt that she is a democrat?

1. Does it matter?
2. WTF cares? You?

Flame bait 101.

 

[Ausm]

Because he's racist.

Or maybe you're racist for assuming what he said was racist.

One thing we know for sure is that I MUST be racist for assuming that either of you could be racist.

LOL nice post! )

 

[Pens1566]

Because he's racist.

Or maybe you're racist for assuming what he said was racist.

One thing we know for sure is that I MUST be racist for assuming that either of you could be racist.

I'll go with the first just because it's spidey and his posting history leaves little doubt. That nullifies the 2nd part of your post since we're not assuming anything in a vacuum on this one.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Racists.









Um.... I somehow magically posted above Ausm.......