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A Hidden Weapon against the Entitlement State
New York Post ^ | May 21, 2012 | Noah Rothman

Posted on 07/21/2014 7:29:32 AM PDT by CharlesOConnell

NY Post Columnist: ‘Sense Of Shame Is Gone’ For Entitlement Recipients

New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss the increase in food stamp recipients and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s refusal to allow New York City to fingerprint residents who receive nutritional assistance to root out fraud. Goodwin said recipients of food stamps have ballooned while barriers to entry into the program have decreased; as a result, the “the sense of shame” among entitlement recipients is gone.

“Shame used to be part of this,” said Goodwin referring to the culture that used to accompany applying for and receiving government assistance. “Now we look at it – we’ve seen this explosion of entitlements and the sense of shame is gone.”

Goodwin says that under Presidents Bush and Obama the food stamp rolls have “exploded.” Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was blocked in an attempt to fingerprint food stamp recipients by Gov. Cuomo.

“New York City has added 600,000 people to the food stamp rolls in the last four years and that’s not enough,” said Goodwin. “There are those who say fingerprinting is a stigma, it’s a barrier and, as Bloomberg says, well it’s not keeping many people away if we’ve added 600,000 in the last four years.”

“So you argue that ‘come and get it’ could be the new national motto in this country,” said co-host Gretchen Carlson.

“The people arguing this are basically saying, forget the shame. It’s your—not only your right to get what you can from the government, it’s your obligation,” Goodwin continued. “The New York Times editorial page, talking about ending the fingerprinting, says, ‘think of all the people who would get food stamps—that’s a lot of money for New York City.’ As though this is the role of the citizen – to go out and get as much federal money as you can and spend it like a stimulus program.”


TOPICS: Catholic; Moral Issues; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: foodstamps; welfare
I think it's too soon to dismiss welfare recipients out of hand. I'm now so poor, I can't afford the soap to wash my clothes. I decline to accept food stamps, as my grandparents before me did in the 1930s, because of the shame of welfare officials' unnecessarily probing questions.

I recall reading an article from about 1967, gainfully employed minority people were told, "Don't keep that job, just go down to the welfare office, they'll pay you not to work."

I think people stuck as dependents of the entitlement state are fully aware of what a vicious cycle they're in. The real tragedy is that they're discouraged from the opportunity to be philanthropic to others. At the same time that I'm destitute, I run a small, self-funded charity that has given baby showers to 150 Moms who have chosen life since 2009.

I read part of a book about charity written by someone on the religious left. The most important principle is that the poorer someone truly is, the quicker they are to find someone even poorer, to share with.

Mother Theresa took a bag of rice to a desperately poor Hindu woman. She couldn't wait, even to finish properly thanking Mother Theresa, before she excused herself, put half the rice that her starving family needed into another bag, went out the back door to her Muslim neighbor's house who was even poorer than her family, to give her half the rice.

The Widow who gave the Two Mites (smaller than pennies) to the Temple Treasury, in our Blessed Lord's judgment, gave more than all the King Croesus', Medicis, Roth Schilds, JP Morgans, JD Rockefellers, Warren Buffets, Bill Gates' and George Soros' put together. That Widow shames me.

1 posted on 07/21/2014 7:29:32 AM PDT by CharlesOConnell
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To: CharlesOConnell

tyrannical governments turn citizens into their victims, this current US government is following that rule.


2 posted on 07/21/2014 7:40:45 AM PDT by drypowder
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To: CharlesOConnell
“Now we look at it – we’ve seen this explosion of entitlements and the sense of shame is gone.”

Replaced with a sense of pride about how much "free" stuff one can get.


3 posted on 07/21/2014 7:43:16 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: CharlesOConnell
the FSN and their EBT cards will be the death of us yet...
4 posted on 07/21/2014 7:46:50 AM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: CharlesOConnell

I got fingerprinted for a driver’s license.

Didn’t care for that, but if taxpaying people get fingerprinted, certainly tax consuming people should be.


5 posted on 07/21/2014 7:50:26 AM PDT by Jewbacca (The residents of Iroquois territory may not determine whether Jews may live in Jerusalem)
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To: CharlesOConnell

Not really interested if those like Cuomo are shamed or not. Make them accountable for creating this mess by throwing them in prison. They will have the welfare they subject the people to. Just not what they are use to. Make them pay back all the money they have mishandled and stolen from the people, ban them from ever entering anything connected to politics.


6 posted on 07/21/2014 7:50:49 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: freekitty

Just once I would like to hear a reporter ask about these welfare programs or the influx of illegal ‘children’ this question: “Is this sustainable?”


7 posted on 07/21/2014 7:56:20 AM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: Yo-Yo
We'd mentioned to some acquaintances that we had canceled our Verizon family plan when the contract was up for renewal and replaced them with pay-as-you-go TracFones which we mostly kept in the car for emergencies and also use for occasional travel. Roughly $80 per year versus $80 per month.

They told us how easy Obama Phones were to get and thought we were crazy not to apply for the "free" phone. We told them the phone weren't free as even our TracFones carried a small surcharge to pay for them.

8 posted on 07/21/2014 7:56:57 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: sportutegrl

It’s not about sustainability,

it’s about liberals’ sense of self righteousness.

You go talking about taking that away, and they get their backs up real quick.


9 posted on 07/21/2014 7:59:11 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: CharlesOConnell
I think people stuck as dependents of the entitlement state are fully aware of what a vicious cycle they're in.

I don't, not for one minute. The Majority of those dependents are breed into the system from 3-5 generations of parisites. They don't see it as anyting other than their right to lay around and get free stuff.

10 posted on 07/21/2014 8:06:16 AM PDT by VRWCarea51 (The original 1998 version)
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To: CharlesOConnell
“New York City has added 600,000 people to the food stamp rolls in the last four years and that’s not enough,” said Goodwin.

It is amazing that anyone can think moving money from one place to another through a very expensive government bureaucracy (shaving off 50-75%) is some kind of economic boon.

11 posted on 07/21/2014 8:08:47 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: CharlesOConnell

“...not only your right to get what you can from the government...”

How does a person have a ‘right’ to something they DID NOT earn and have no intention of repaying?


12 posted on 07/21/2014 8:09:12 AM PDT by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
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To: Yo-Yo

I’ve noticed that people who use EBT cards still try to hide what they’re using.


13 posted on 07/21/2014 8:17:50 AM PDT by rbg81
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To: Yo-Yo

NOPE!


14 posted on 07/21/2014 8:23:29 AM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: CharlesOConnell

Shame is not just a tool for the elimination of the welfare state, but to force homosexuality out of the mainstream, marginalize promiscuity and irresponsible sex, and enforce sane social norms. Certain behaviors that are destructive to a society can be justifiably shunned.


15 posted on 07/21/2014 8:47:02 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Yo-Yo

That Obama phone idiot looks well-fed!


16 posted on 07/21/2014 9:33:14 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (I don't want to feel "safe." I want to feel FREE!)
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To: rbg81

“Thou shall not steal” is “written on their hearts”,

not matter what the left tries to do, that’s always going to be there.


17 posted on 07/21/2014 9:35:02 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: CharlesOConnell
Looks like the First Class net tax gobblers are wanting more raises from their socialist political parties. It appears that subgroups of that constituency haven't quite realized that they'll have to take it from other subgroups with big salaries (big bucks for teachers there).

Heavy Hitters: Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2014
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $60,949,129 [Democrat] 81% [Republican] 1%”
National Cmte to Preserve Social Security & Medicare $10,414,606 [Democrat] 82% [Republican] 17%

Leviathan (Uncle Sam employs more people than you think)
National Review ^ | 02/03/2011 | Iain Murray
"...nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government."

Spendthrift ways are ways of government-linked socialists.

About "70 million" people are receiving good incomes but are also steeped in debt and can't borrow more for big ticket items.


18 posted on 07/21/2014 9:54:18 AM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: rbg81
"I’ve noticed that people who use EBT cards still try to hide what they’re using."

It's been funny on occasion, running a debit card while dressed in work clothes and seeing a mob of government employees from a City rich on nothing more than debt straining to get a look at the card. But it's time to use cash from now on, spend very little and be very selective about where it's spent. Before long, they'll be begging on the streets for real jobs.


19 posted on 07/21/2014 10:03:54 AM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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