Free Republic

HONOLULU — Hawaii has some of the most generous welfare benefits in the country, and one man took full advantage of them. The man, who went by the name “Vaughn Sherwood” — a name he apparently stole — took more than $200,000 from taxpayers, the FBI said. On Thursday, shackled in handcuffs and dressed in a white prison uniform, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to four counts related to theft of government property, identity theft and illegal possession of a firearm.

The economy added a paltry 113,000 jobs last month, well below the estimated 185,000; also a historically paltry number. Yet, right on cue, the unemployment rate magically dropped from 6.7% to 6.6%. Once again, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has dumped thousands from the workforce – roughly 10 million since 2008 – in order to concoct such laughable numbers. These are federal workers, paid by struggling taxpayers, who can’t even give the public an honest answer. How do they know all of these people dropped out of the workforce? Did they ask each one? Are there enough quality jobs for...

The Democratic Party has found what seems to be a winning formula in both state and national elections – a “War on Women” being waged by the Republicans. The “War on Women” is based on the premise that women are oppressed if they do not 1) have access to free birth control, 2) have unlimited access to abortion, 3) receive “equal pay for equal work” based on credentials rather than performance, and 4) have the support of the state if they have a child out of wedlock. On closer examination, however, this “War on Women” turns out to be something...

WASHINGTON — The Senate failed to move forward on a three-month extension of assistance for the long-term unemployed on Thursday, leaving it unlikely that Congress would approve the measure soon and dealing a setback to President Obama’s economic agenda. The vote was 55-to-42, falling short of the 60-vote threshold to break a Republican filibuster effort. Republicans and Democrats, many from the nation’s most economically depressed states, had been trying to reach a solution that would allow people who have exhausted their unemployment insurance to continue receiving benefits as long as the government offset the $6 billion cost. Ultimately, how to...

A new government estimate shows yet another way how Obamacare may ding the economy, and the law's defenders are at pains to explain how this is a feature, not a bug... It's also important to note the CBO estimate does not include the effects of Obamacare's employer mandate.... ...many employers have already cut workers' hours to get under the 50-full-time-employee threshold, beyond which the mandate kicks in. So some reduction of hours -- and not the voluntary kind -- has already taken place.

Looking at labor markets, my biggest concern is the drop in labor force participation. The data from the Labor Department on the employment-population ratio, for instance, suggest a permanent reduction in the share of the population that is working. And since economic output and living standards ultimately depend on thequality and quantity of labor and capital that is being productively utilized, it obviously is not good news that millions of people are no longer employed. But if I had to identify a second-biggest concern, it would be the “Europeanization” of long-run unemployment in the United States. Specifically, we have a...

The White House and congressional Democrats tried to limit the fallout Wednesday from the politically damaging conclusion in a Congressional Budget Office report that the Obamacare entitlement creates a major incentive for some people not to work. While some critics focused on a finding by the CBO that Obamacare will result in 2.5 million fewer workers over a decade, conservatives said the bigger fundamental issue highlighted in the report is one familiar to the welfare state — that taxpayer-funded government subsidies provide disincentives for full-time work. “People used to be stuck in jobs because they needed the health insurance,” said...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)You might think MSNBC is a pretty friendly venue for Democratic politicians, and usually you’d be right. But woe unto the Democrat who strays even slightly from the progressive line — as Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow found out the hard way Tuesday afternoon. Stabenow was in the middle of a victory lap with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, after the agriculture chair’s farm bill sailed through the Senate to the president’s desk. The massive bill approves nearly $1 trillion in spending over the next decade, with most of the funding for the food stamp program. The Democratic senator explained how she was...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he does not see any way the Democratic-controlled Senate and GOP-led House will agree on immigration reform legislation this year. ADVERTISEMENT McConnell’s comments, which came after he met with the Senate GOP conference over lunch, poured cold water over the growing buzz there could be an immigration deal this year. McConnell said a deal’s unlikely given what he called the “irresolvable” differences between the Senate and House. “I think we have sort of an irresolvable conflict here,” he told reporters. “The Senate insists on comprehensive [legislation]. The House says it won’t...

Budget cuts aimed at weaning Americans off of public assistance may make the start of 2014 lean for many African-Americans. Last month, after much debate, Congress began implementing it’s budget cut plan to reduce funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program otherwise known as SNAP. The program provides monetary help for families in poverty and alleviates food insecurity. SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is used by approximately 47 million Americans. But with funding reductions and bans for convicted felons many people wonder how Americans will finally be able to climb out of poverty. Who needs SNAP? The...

Wal-Mart stores and its Sam's Club chain are apparently hurting from the cuts in the federal food stamp program that went into effect in early November. The impact from the government's reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits had a much greater effect on the world's largest retailer than originally expected by the company. Combined with consumer fears about the economy and winter storms that also hurt store business nationwide, the cuts made a bad situation for Wal-Mart even worse, according to a statement from Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley carried by the Associated Press. The estimated $5...

by Brian Hayes | Top Right News Yet another welfare and illegal alien insanity story -- while amnesty pimps like Sen. Dick Durbin keep telling us "undocumented immigrants can't collect welfare". The head of the largest heroin operation in Polk County, FL history, along with numerous others who work for him, are illegal aliens who collect foodstamps. Four of the operation's women also collect WIC payments. In addition to raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug money, the ringleader collected $900 every month from the government. "You, the hard working taxpayer of this state, were paying him for this,"...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - Welfare State MadnessPosted By Arnold Ahlert On January 30, 2014 @ 12:49 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments Another dubious record has been set during the Obama administration. As of the end of December, a staggering 10,988,269 Americans were receiving federal disability benefits, a number that exceeds the entire population of Greece. The December totals mark the 202nd straight month that the number of disabled workers in the nation has increased. Furthermore, according to the latest Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, “mental disorder” is the top “diagnostic group,” comprising 35.5 percent of all disabled beneficiaries. Within...

Rep. John Conyers has been introducing a Reparations Bill in the House for decades [Reparations Moving Forward] There is a lot of hatred against African Americans in the United States even though as a group, we have done little or nothing to earn it. Most of us were brought here against our will. This has been an odd way to act toward people you forced to be part of your population. An example of this hatred is easy to see in the irrational reaction of many toward the twice legally elected President of the United States, Barak Obama. In my...

Fair Share? Barack Obama and his progressive thugs claim they'll stop at nothing to make sure the less fortunate get their ‘FAIR SHARE’. Well, are these so-called victims doing their FAIR SHARE of work? And how about those struggling, hard-working Americans who are being bled dry in the name of social and economic justice? Obviously the countless hours the employed spend working, educating themselves and sacrificing for their families means nothing to the rabid left or our “concerned” Government. Is America still the home of “We the People” or just “those” people? Real leaders unite, empower, and lead by example....

The Associated Press reported today that 28 percent of households that receive food stamps are headed by someone who has at least "some" college experience. In 1980, this figure was eight percent. Seven percent of households who receive food stamps are headed by someone with a bachelor's degree. In 1980, this figure was only at three percent....

When it comes to gaining true freedom, the words and actions of our most revered Black authentic leaders emphasized economic empowerment. Unfortunately, many of those who spoke the truth and tried to establish an economic foundation for Black people were ostracized, caricatured, vilified, and even assassinated. Despite their sacrifices and refusals to back down from fighting for the most important collective aspect of true freedom, economic empowerment, the vast majority of Black folks either ignored them or chose to follow Black “misleaders” who took our people down the wrong road. Now in 2014, Black folks are still suffering from and...

A “blind” Wisconsin man’s $175,000 Social Security disability fraud scheme ended when federal agents caught him driving a speedboat, according to the inspector general. Lawrence Popp, 58, was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday for defrauding the Social Security Administration... Popp, a wealthy businessman, continued to work and go on lavish vacations in the Cayman Islands while collecting disability benefits for five years. A record 10,988,269 people received federal disability benefits in December 2013, according to the SSA. A 2012 report from Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) found that more than 25 percent of benefits are awarded with...

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21 It looks like the Marxists want to talk about anything but their failures. We have the worst economy in 75 years and they want to talk about a bridge and women’s libido like a magician using smoke and mirrors. Oh, they have their feigned outrage routine down of how insulting any talk of their victim groups is hate speech, but have no problem that 25% of this country is out...

A shoplifter, a recovering drug addict and a young couple barely able to feed their kids are among the stars of Benefits Street - a smash hit reality show featuring welfare recipients that has stirred up a storm of controversy in Britain. The program zooms in on a rough Birmingham street where 9 out of 10 people are said to live off state payouts, chronicling over five episodes the lives of jobless neighbours as they struggle with their daily problems. The show has struck a strong chord in a nation fresh out of recession and still reeling from its most...