BEGGARS DEFEND LIFESTYLE (Follow up to "Affluent Beggars"

Medford Mail Tribune (Oregon) ^ | January 13, 2006 | DAMIAN MANN

[RexBeach]

Says a lot for Ashland, Oregon and good, old liberal Oregon where EVERONE deserves a second, third, fourth and fifth chance, plus food stamps, free medical care at the ER and the dollars of lots and lots of liberal meatheads.

[bkepley]

It's mostly leftys giving them money I suspect. Why shouldn't they take advantage of it? It's pretty funny really.

[mtbopfuyn]

I thought panhandling was illegal.

[Publius6961]

Pancoast and Johnson said getting jobs would mean sacrificing time with their children.

What a pantload. Normal people manage to work, support their children and send them to college; yes, sacrificing some time with their children as a result.

It's called adult responsibility.

[Little Ray]

Can't get credit for a loan. No credit rating, no job, no visible means of support.

[WestCoastGal]

I was recently in one of the larger cities in Texas and was shocked to see beggars on almost every corner. In California you might see them here and there by the freeway ramps but that was it. This city had them everywhere.

[absolootezer0]

This a logical extension of the socialist agenda. I can't see why in the world the leftists in Oregon should be upset by this.

no no no no ... this is TOTALLY AGAINST the socialist agenda. these people don't have jobs, they should be on gov't assistance, there's no way they can survive without the gov't helping them..
these people are proof that the good will of people towards their fellow man can benefit them much more than the gov't. i do not approve of this myself, but i like how it shows that charity can do more than welfare.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I had friends that traveled to India several years ago. Apparently beggars there intentionally maim themselves to get sympathy from American and European tourists for more $$$$.

[Physicist]

Pancoast, who estimates he and his wife can make $30,000 to $40,000 a year panhandling, said he doesn’t understand why someone with the kind of wealth and influence of DeBoer would begrudge him from using the money to keep his family safe.

Because. You. Didn't. Earn. It.

[Serb5150]

I thought the same thing.

[Bookie1066]

Ashland is a small college town. It's the home of Southern Oregon University. I graduated from there in 1988 when it was a state college. For four years I was a very out numbered hell raising conservative. This town has the biggest collection of liberal whack jobs just short of San Francisco. For example foam coffee cups are outlawed so to protect the environment and it's a sanctuary city for illegal felons (aliens). Loved reading this story and finding out how those liberal nut cases were taken. It couldn't have happened to a better bunch of people.

[Sensei Ern]

"Pancoast and Johnson said getting jobs would mean sacrificing time with their children."

I bet it is difficult to find a job that they only have to work from 6am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm and will pay $1500 take home each week.

IN the DC area, the average panhandler makes $800 per day. One of the new ploys are the groups of people who have a bucket and purport to get money for some charity or worse for the fire department. They pull in double the amount. Some corners, triple.

Near my house, there is a guy with five kids working the corner. I suspect that at night, he prostitutes them out.

Some corners are so valuable that the "charity" groups will pay the single bums a couple hundred to not stand at the corner.

One time, I saw a beggar holding a sign that said, "I cannot offer you anything for your money, except prayers." I drove by later that hour and saw him talking on a cell phone (back when cell phones were too expensive for the average person).

I NEVER give panhandlers money any more. I am generous to the Baltimore Rescue Mission, though.

[sarasota]

Oh. Of course, and thanks.

[Tax-chick]

Pancoast, who admits he has a different perspective on reality than most ...

Nicely phrased.

[ApplegateRanch]

P.S. Please ping me when the IRS visits these con artists. :)

If I hear anything, I let you know.

BTW, did you see the original post last Sunday? She is from (ahem!) Madison, WI!

If you missed it, click "Affluent Beggars" here!

[Howlin]

lol.....right.

it's theirs!

[Conservababe]

I once worked with a sweet man with a soft heart. One day, on his way home from work, he stopped and gave this bum begging on the interstate ramp ten dollars.

He then went on a couple of errands and stopped to buy beer at a convenience store. When he got to the check-out, there was the bum paying for a suitcase of premium beer, while my friend had a less expensive brand.

He told the story the next day and said that from then on he would only give food. Well, another co-worker spoke up and told him that it wouldn't be a good idea. This man had stopped and tried to give one of these bums, who was wearing an "I'll work for food" signs, a couple of hamburger meals. The bum told him "don't give me that s**t man, I need money".

[ApplegateRanch]

This town has the biggest collection of liberal whack jobs just short of San Francisco.

In 1984, I took a job at Rogue Valley Medical center, and my wife & I rented in Ashland for about 3-4 months, while looking for a real place to live.

We spent the next 18 or so years in the Applegate Valley. Believe me, Trashcan has only gotten more whacked over the years.

BTW, when I retired in 1997, I was still barely making what this BUM is taking in...maybe less even, considering he is also getting $500/month in food stamps, and doesn't have to pay for medical, dental, etc.

[Tokra]

Nothing beats the guy that used to stand at the Woodward/8 Mile Rd bridge in Detroit with his left leg tied up and an IV taped to his arm with a sign saying "I Have Cancer - Please Help". It was obvious to anyone who took a close look that his "missing" leg was merely bent back and tied.

I once stopped at a guy at a corner with a "Will Work for Food" sign and offered him a job mowing lawns. He laughed at me and said "and why would I do that when I make three or four hundred dollars a day doing this?"

Good question.

[Physicist]

When he got to the check-out, there was the bum paying for a suitcase of premium beer, while my friend had a less expensive brand.

"How do you think I got 'So Rich'?"