Your chickens like beds?
Mine give a big thumbs up for futons.
Posted on 01/01/2012 8:10:22 AM PST by Gen.Blather
I met some illegal Mexicans last night at a party. Several years ago I stayed with a couple of wonderful Mexican families in the Baja below California. These were well-off people. The homes, on average were beautifully tiled and some of them had mahogany inlaid walls, bookshelves and cabinetry that would cost a hundred-thousand dollars here. So, I’m guessing if they aren’t rich they’re very comfortable. The elderly not as well-off grandfather, while living in Mexico was receiving Social Security from the United States and owned a rent-free apartment in California which he used as his address to receive several forms of assistance checks from Californian agencies. He visited the apartment once a week to re-arrange things and make it looked lived in. He had a car, a Toyota Corolla that looked quite nice and had working air-conditioning. I gathered it was supplied as some form of assistance and he generally left it in California at the apartment. The apartment was about 1100 square feet and very livable. The grandfather told me most of entire complex, easily a 1000 units, were like him, on Californian assistance, but actually living in Mexico.
At the party were a couple of teenage boys from this family. Very nice kids. I’d be proud to have them as my own; diligent, hard working, trouble-free and much more adult than you’d expect from that age. They told me that they’d decided to go to high school in California instead of Mexico. They said that the (California) government gave them an apartment and they travel back to Mexico on the weekends. (I don’t know if they’re staying alone or if a family member is staying with them, but if I had to guess, they came alone.)
When I posted information on this family last time, Freepers angrily asked why I hadn’t reported them. Firstly, I was a well-treated guest. Secondly, this must be obvious to the casual observer. Even if I knew who to report it to in California, which I don’t, it is obvious that this is how it’s done. These people are only taking advantage of “benefits” put there for them. Not to avail themselves of these benefits would be like deciding not to take candy freely offered to you.
There sure is. Shut off the lights, remove the mirrors, and take the light bulb out of the fridge so every time you get a cold snack, you'll be surprised about what it is...
(hehehehehehehe)
Perhaps the number of beers consumed will shed some light on the situation.
Your chickens like beds?
Mine give a big thumbs up for futons.
Grifters by their nature DON’T work in the classical sense.
As for disability, I guess I’m one of those people that Perry says don’t have a heart. Why, because someone is infirmed or disabled, is that my responsibility?, especially when the funds for their habilitation is taken from me forcefully. It is up to their relatives, neighbors and friends.
This is precisely why I do not give to charity any more. I have no control over who, what, where and when in this equation any more.
Social Security Disability has become the new welfare - welfare without the pesky social workers or job requirements. Knew a person who came from a family of 12 kids - all of them on disability. As their kids will be ... and probably their kids... until the country is broke... broker...
If we all went to sleep from sunset to sunrise - like dragons in their natural conditions - we’d be thinner, but it wouldn’t be much fun.
My number finally came up for Dick Cheney’s book from Mecklenburg library. I’m up to the Secretary of Defense part already. What a nice man he is.
You're kidding right?
The man doesn't even have a pulse!
At the risk of making this a political thread (which it isn’t — it’s the current home of the undead Thread) I agree about the attorneys.
However, I’m going to tell you a little story. I will try to make it short, without leaving anything out.
In 1997, a woman had a well-paying job with a government entity, and she was progressing nicely through merit and cost of living raises. In mid-1997, she began to feel very tired, and never seemed to be able to catch up on her rest.
By April of 1998, she was forced to quit her job because with numerous symptoms, including fatigue she could never seem to get rid of, she was lucky if she got 20 hours on an 80-hour check because she had used all her sick and vacation pays.
She had applied for disability because she knew exactly where she was headed. She hoped she was wrong, but she wasn’t. Social security turned her down, and she was told she could re-apply with more input from doctors. She endured seven months of constant testing to “rule out” certain diseases.
In the meantime, the county/state was supporting her with room and board and food stamps, which sums had to be repayed if and when her disability was accepted by SSA.
Her second submission was returned with a letter that said she would have to appeal her case in front of a federal judge, who wouldn’t be available for another five months. She waited, but she kept a log of her illness, and made notes on how it affected her life in every aspect.
The day finally came when she went before the federal judge, bringing along her documentation. The judge asked if she had an attorney. She replied that she did not, because no one knew her particular disease like she did.
She was granted the disability claim within two weeks, but all the money the county and state had spent on her was subtracted from the amount of the settlement that was retroactive from the day she had to quit work.
One more glitch: Since she had been working for the county during the years she was paid the most, no SS taxes were taken out, so her social security was converted into disability and it was under $200 a month.
When her ex-husband died two years later, she immediately applied for his social security. Her total income, between her own SS/Disability and her late husband’s SS, was a whopping $679 a month.
Now. The story doesn’t end there, because fighting with the beuracracy made her sicker, and she will never ever be able to work again or have any social life. She is pretty much home-bound. And yes, she is aware that people have defrauded the system, but all it has done is make it harder for people who are truly disabled to get their own SS as disability.
And if you think this is what she wanted out of life, you are dead wrong.
Well, that’s not his fault!
At least some people still send her cans of Bean with Bacon soup...
Heh, I sent her Dick Cheney's old mechanical heart.
A heart-breaking result for sure. I’m sure you have a connection here and I commiserate. But, I would remind you that there are stories like this, real and concocted, that inundate our free society. It is still not my problem. It is government’s job to root out the fakes so, hopefully, real problems like you relate are addressed within the limited ability government should have in such cases.
Yes, they do!
And she is SSOOOOO grateful! LOL!
You don’t need to remind me of anything, really. All it would take is for a few people to blow the whistle on the defrauders so that people with ligitimate dibilitating illnesses wouldn’t have to be lumped into the “welfare nation” that you mention.
I hope the day never comes when you or someone you know and love has to go through this type of situation, but if you/they do, please remember that until we have a police state and/or socialized medicine, the defrauders will continue to take what they want. And of course with the former choices, the aged and the disabled will be euthanized, so there will be no problem.
People who really need the help are forced to beg for it, sometimes for years, and finally, in desperation, they turn to an attorney. Educate yourself about what you can do instead of blaming the government. They will never know of the loopholes until someone speaks up about them.
Will you be that person?
If our government weren’t raping real tax-paying Americans of much more than they should, charity would be more prevalent to address real need. As it is, I’ve become fed up with largesse, taxes and hard-luck stories. If these situations are to be addressed, it will have to be from what government takes from me, because I won’t be giving any extra.
As for my personal situation, I’ve planned for eventualities - and have saved, too, in addition to paying off everything I owe to anyone, anywhere. I won’t be a burden on anyone, neither will my children.
Government doesn't do that job. Most "government" employees perceive their function is to help their department grow, thus not only "doing their job" but ensuring its continuance as well.
Leaving this function in the hands of "the government" is merely shirking it. That is your right, as far as I'm concerned.
But if you want to see the problem of the truly needed being resolved, you should assist in developing a responsible charity to do it. There are such. There should only be such, but Sturgeon's Law applies.
No, you don’t develop a backup to do the job. You insist (vote) to make what should happen - happen.
It won't. It just won't. Government cannot and should not try, to deal with charity.
Every attempt to do so has resulted in grift, graft, and corruption.
The problem has been that functional charities that have made a difference, and been ethically run, have been displaced by indifferent bureaucrats doling out the bennies on a first-come, first-served basis. See Bea Arthur in "History of the World, Part One".
That technique simply doesn't work for long.
I suppose we can’t sell Dick Cheney’s former heart to raise enough money to make us all comfortable ...
I’m not seeing my Scouts, yet, but I’m going to have to declare Naptime. Where is my catz, anyway? It’s not naptime without the furrypersons.
Good for you in your quest for independence. Not everyone has had the choices in life that you have, nor have they been blessed with wisdom to make the right choices.
If you see my story as “hard luck,” then all I can say is, you might find better conversation on a thread that appreciates your independence and morals. Here, we are all family, and we do what we can from behind computer screens to make life easier for those who are going through difficulties. May God bless you in your efforts to “not be a burden.” Not everyone has that opportunity.
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