Posted on 01/10/2014 11:20:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
St. Petersburg - A few weeks before Thanksgiving, staff at the Loving Care assisted living facility in St. Petersburg realized something had changed in Malcolm Ramsey's life.
Relatives who had never paid much attention to Ramsey, 55 and mentally incompetent, suddenly started showing up in droves. Bulging bags from T.J. Maxx and Bealls filled his half of a tiny, shared bedroom. Boxes of new athletic shoes — Nike, New Balance, K-Swiss — towered against the wall.
Then there were the rumors that Ramsey had hit it big in the Florida lottery.
Ramsey's legal guardian got involved. So did St. Petersburg police, an adult protective services worker and, eventually, a judge. And slowly, the story came out.
Sometime in October, Ramsey had won "$500 a week for life" on a scratch-off Florida Lottery ticket. With the help of a cab driver, he had gotten an ID, a copy of his birth certificate and a ride to Tallahassee to claim the prize. He took it as a lump-sum payout — $403,288.
In barely four weeks, Ramsey blew through more than half the money, with little of value to show for it. He says he wanted the cash, but by taking it all he is in danger of losing the government benefits he has relied on to survive.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
Don’t State and Federal tax regulators get their cut before lottery distributions???
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I don’t think FL has a state income tax.
You have to go to the article to find this:
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It took a few days before Ramsey’s winnings, $302,446 after taxes, became available.
end snip
Maybe he was the male version of Imelda Marcos?
It’s disgusting how families act like this; treating the ‘failures’ like pariahs and the ‘successes’ like celebrities. Just a bunch of freeloaders looking for an easy ride.
Laughlin said she might ask Pinellas County’s legislative delegation to consider a change in the law.
“This brings to light one of the problems that can come up,” she says. “I don’t know how many times lightning can strike but you can’t give these people that kind of money.”
Had she known of Ramsey’s winnings early on, Laughlin says she could have set up a “special needs trust” that would have allowed the money to be spent for his benefit — but not for other people — without jeopardizing his government assistance. As it now stands, Ramsey could lose his Medicaid, which pays his medical bills, and SSI, a needs-based program that covers his $1,000-a-month room and board and would pay for costlier nursing care he might need in the future.
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He had fun and now taxpayers get to pick up his tab for care. They are not going to kick him out, it would be ‘racist’ and the nursing home would face a lawsuit by some puke attorney.
Exactly. No one envies his life as-is, but he is able to calculate with cunning...something the poorest, most miserable seeming people the world over are able to do. This makes them responsible before God, whether or not society deems them “incompetent”.
Jesus asked the paralytic “Do you want to get well?” for a reason. Building your life around sickness and helplessness (even when real) can leave you avoidant of a cure. To be cured means back to work, paying taxes, life problems!
TNB
Good story.
I know a person whose net is probably at least $20-30 million. His kids are completely rude to him and his wife, their step mother. He told me earlier this week that he’s changing his will/trusts situation next week, and each of his 2 children will get $2, the rest will go to a charitable foundation. He said he’s just sick and tired of the kids treating him like they do. I think they are going to be very surprised when he passes on.
OMG you made me laugh really hard!
Same here and the part about all the long lost relatives showing up.
I love my family, and don't think of them as leeches. However, should Mrs. henkster and I ever win the lottery, we have already agreed on one thing. With the exception of the accountant and tax lawyer, NOBODY KNOWS. Not even the kids. The lawyer goes on TV to do the press release. We keep working our jobs (for a while, anyway) and lie low. Charitable contributions will be done through an anonymous third party trust we set up.
Winning a lottery just puts a target on your back. But I'm not worried about this ever happening; I hear you have to buy tickets to win.
The Lottery is an ignorance tax
He is too incompetent to spend the Lotto winnings yet he is competent enough to spend on Lotto tickets?
Spending money on Lotto tickets takes a high degree of incompetency to start with so why quibble on how he spends the winnings?
So since only fools play the Lotto then all winnings should be administered through a state run trust.
Thought: Let the Lotto accept EBT and other gimme dat cards. Then have all Lotto tickets cashed at casinos only. This would put a high % of welfare payments right back into taxpayer’s pockets via the taxation of gambling and job creation. Oh heck allow welfare to be spent on any high tax item, cigs, booze, mj... It ends up there anyway so cut out the middleman.
while you and i may not, he might not have the mental cognizance to not do this.
“You clearly can’t be giving this kind of money to people who have had the right to manage their own financial affairs removed”
-Sums up how liberals feel about the working class
I bet he had help from a “friend” or long lost relative...
A famous American entertainer ounce said:
“There’s a sucker born every minute and 10 to take him.”
My thoughts too. But liberals feel especially entitled to control the lives of “these kinds of people” whom they have nurtured into dependency for so long (’cause they want their cut).
I could be nice to him.. Tell him to drop by
You and I have a similar frame of mind. Hubby and I have already discussed this. Nobody knows. Set up a trust for the kids for later. I think the reason people go around telling is ego. They need to feel important. We don’t have that issue. And we know how to keep our mouths shut.
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What do you expect from such simple creatures?
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You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
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Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100.
People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them.
New shoes don’t cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
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If someone forgets to invite you,
He or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough..
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Everything on your face stays its original color.
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On December 24 in 25 minutes.
___________________________________
Men Are Just Happier People
NICKNAMES
If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Bubba and Wildman.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
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A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t need but it’s on sale.
BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel.
The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.
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A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
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A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
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A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change, but she does.
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A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
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Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing!
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