Ananas

Interesting to read the different opinions about a volatile issue. From a personal standpoint: After spending months in the hospital, I'm finally home recuperating. I will not be able to return to work anytime in the forseeable future, so I set about exploring my options in the wonderful world of state/county/federal assistance programs.

1. Apply for disability. I will have to wait up to 180 days before a final decision is made on my case. Mind you, I am applying for money I've put into the system through Social Security (FICA) deductions on my paycheck for almost 30 years. What do I do for food, rent, etc. in the meantime.
2. While I wait, I am supposed to apply for other "interim" assistance programs: food stamps, medical, emergency care, etc. In order to qualify for these programs I must meet eligibility requirements including, little or no income, no savings, no retirement/pension/IRA/stocks/bonds, no health/life insurance, little or no family assistance...you get the picture. One has to be in the worst shape in order to qualify for these benefits. Your personal life and private business is subjected to the most minute scrutiny, essentially, you no longer have private or personal business.
3. After going through this humiliating process, one is then told to wait up to 30 days for a decision to be made concerning your eligibility. The employees who handle your case are not the kind of people you'd want to socialize with, or be associated with, in your previous life. But, you've got to deal with them and their condescending attitudes in order to get the help you need.
4. Local charities such as churches, Salvation Army, are overwhelmed by the demand for help in their communities; therefore, they are forced to limit the amount of assistance they will provide.

There are thousands, maybe millions, in the same boat as I am. We've worked all our lives, paid our own way, but a single catastrophe can wipe out everything you've built. When your savings run out, when you've sold your stocks, cashed in your CDs, made withdrawals on your IRAs (at severe penalty, I might add), when you've sold your home, your car, your personal belongings...where do you go?

Sure, there are people who abuse this particular system, just as there are people who abuse the government/corporate system. The only difference is the amount of money being scammed. Scamming for $150 in food stamps is peanuts in comparison to $64,000 for a hammer. Outrage should be equal opportunity.

BTW: I owned leather and furs, ate steak and lobster, had cable TV, European vacations, and all the other trappings of a successful corporate worker before my illness. I have to wear my leather coat and my nice clothes when I visit the welfare office because I don't have anything else to wear. I want to eat a steak once in a while because that's what I did before, so I'll treat myself to one and buy it with food stamps. So, next time yoou''re in the grocery store line and you see someone buying a cheap steak with food stamps, please restrain your outrage: it just might be someone in similar circumstances.

I am well aware that I don't fit the stereotype of the typical freeloading lazy welfare cheat, but think about it. The only jobs most of them are eligible for are minimum wage deadends that are not sufficient to afford housing, childcare, food, clothing. The working poor face the same obstacles. Faced with these odds (and some hungry children) maybe some of them are utilizing the programs to survive. Overall, as already pointed out, the Federal Government spends far more subsidizing people and corporations who definitely don't have a need for any assistance, but it seems that it's easier to target the poor, the ignorant, and the helpless because they are all too visible. The media has helped make them into scapegoats while diverting your attention away from the unrestrained looting of the government coffers by the wealthy undeserving.

The middle class gets screwed on both ends in this deal, but for some reason they only use the poor (and a few layabouts) as their whipping boys.

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it's gritty