Do you think this is right?

[hey_moe]

I watched this on the News today and it kinda pushed my button the wrong way. Their our some of our members in here who have lost their homes,cars ..ect..ect. Also we have some of our members who have lost their jobs and are under huge money problems....read this and tell me if you think it is ok to do this >>> http://www.theblaze.com/stories/hidden-cameras-show-mich-million-dollar-lottery-winner-still-using-food-stamps/ and get this..it is legal

[johnh_049]

While it is not morally right, under the current laws it's legal.
Hopefully all the states will change their laws.

[Wittpilot]

Moe,

I find that when something like this comes up, which in my town, situations similar to this are a regular occurance, I find it helps to just convine myself that they will get theirs eventually... I consider myself Christian in my beliefs, but I do like to think that Karma has a way of catching up to people....

I just have this vision of Homer Simpson shaking his fist and shouting "You'll get your come-upins, come-upins I say!!!"



-witt

[Navy Chief]

Yep, we are headed for an "entitlement" society....for certain.

Not good.

NC

[rayrey10]

While that just chaps my butt, I have to agree with johnh_049. States need to close all of these loopholes that allow people to get away with stuff.

And yes, you reap what you sow!

[norab]

unbeliveble, but from what I have seen among the friends my daughter has, it probably seems alright to them. They seem to have no sense of honor and no concerns about personal character, as long as they get what they want and get it right away. It's a shame.

[wombat666]

A] One can't legislate against stupidity.
B] What happened to the $500,000.00 she surrendered for a lump sum payout?
C] Any non-Republicans post in the reply column??

Bloody Muppets.
:173go1:

[stansdds]

Large jackpots such as this one are based on an annual payouts, usually 20 to 30 years, with the state earning interest on the unpaid principal. If you take a lump sum payout, you get whatever amount is currently held in the jackpot, typically it's only 50 to 70 percent of the advertised jackpot. You do have to pay taxes on whatever amount you receive. That being said, she is a few hundred thousand dollars richer now, but because of her state's laws she can still live on the government dole.

[AndyG43]

Couple of thoughts; the problem with reading any article like that is you don't know if you are getting the whole story.

Over this side of the Pond we have a newspaper caled the Daily Mail (aka the Fail, aka the Daily Hate, aka that b****y rag) which specialises in those sort of "benefit scroungers fraudulently living in luxury" stories; our current Government are putting through massive reforms of the benefit systems, and the Fail has been running these sorts of stories for about 2 years now - many of the "facts & figures" they quoted have now been proved to be .... well, I'll call them slightly erroneous (although I really want to say outright lies), but the problem is people have now accepted them at face value, "It was in the papers, it must be true". The result is that disabled people are being abused in the street, spat at, attacked & tipped out of wheelchairs because some morons think they are all faking.

You say this is, apparently, legal but feel morally she should have stopped? With you on that one; our own dear Prime Minister has a personal net worth of about £30m and his wife is worth in excess of that. Tragically they had a son who was disabled (who has, sadly, since passed on) and as a result they were legally entitled to claim a benefit known as disability living allowance on his behalf, which they did; now, it could be argued that with the amount of money they had they shouldn't have claimed it, but it was their entitlement. OK, fair enough; now guess which benefit his Government has scrapped (with the help of the newspaper articles mentioned above) removing a vital safety net for many families?

My second thought. The Mail recently ran a story about a middle aged couple here who had won on our National Lottery, can't remember the figure, it was certainly higher than this young woman won. They've bought themselves a very large house, usual stuff; but the Mail 'outed' them as benefit fraudsters, because the husband is disabled and was still continuing to claim his disability allowances - usual front page sensationalist headlines, really, really pillorying this couple. OK, taken at face value maybe they were right to do so (although not with such venomous glee); problem is, they hadn't researched properly & only had half the story. As I said, the husband is disabled, his mobility is limited, when they drive into town (for example, to do their shopping) they need to park in the allocated disabled bays; you can only park in those bays if you have an officially allocated "Blue Badge" and, guess what, you can only get one of those badges if you are claiming the relevant benefit. So while this couple are quite openly admitting they don't need this money they do need some of the other things that come with it. Oh, btw, that particular paper doesn't like it if you mention the fact that the PM claimed DLA. :icon_lol:

Sorry mods, I realise this post may have veered over the line a little into politics. But it is something I feel strongly about; there may be more to stories than you realise, and by accepting these kinds of stories at face value we may be doing real harm to the more vunerable groups in society.

[norab]

A]

C] Any non-Republicans post in the reply column??




sorry to disappoint you but I'm a Democrat. This is a morality issue not a political one

[hey_moe]

Let's not go political here. This was on our local news station. I went ahead and did a search on the internet for the rest of the info. To me this is nothing but pure greed. Also what can I do to screw the system. I have been into homes that the customer is so broke they can't hardly afford to pay me to fix their heating system.They can't get food stamps or welfare because they make a tad bit to much money. Here is someone who owns two houses now and a new car and still is trying to get what ever she can get. We will cut off any help to someone because they don't qualify for help. But here is another person that hit the jack pot and they do qualify for help. What really gets me to is if she was so broke why was she still buying lottery tickets with taxpayer money. It doesn't matter which side of the pond you live on. Welfare paid for those tickets.

[Terry]

Reminds me of the woman thats been in the news who went to congress to get her birth control on the taxpayers back.

[wombat666]

sorry to disappoint you but I'm a Democrat. This is a morality issue not a political one
Sorry norab but I was refering to the comments following the 'story' on the linked site, not much morality but plenty of politics there.
:kilroy:

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Is it any less or more moral than collecting social security you don't need? Know anybody doing that?

-Ed-

[Lateral-G]

While it is not morally right, under the current laws it's legal.
Hopefully all the states will change their laws.

Michigan has (or is in the process of changing the law)


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/08/michigan-woman-who-won-1m-lottery-but-kept-using-food-stamps-loses-benefits-141935620/#ixzz1oW1eiqjJ?test=latestnews


But the Michigan Department of Human (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/08/michigan-woman-who-won-1m-lottery-but-kept-using-food-stamps-loses-benefits-141935620/#) Services (DHS) said Wednesday that the woman was no longer receiving benefits and warned that people who continued to receive handouts in such circumstances may face criminal investigation and be required to pay back those benefits.
"Under DHS policy, a recipient of food assistance benefits must notify the state within 10 days of any asset or income change. DHS relies on clients being forthcoming about their actual financial status," DHS director Maura Corrigan said.

[av8erjm]

just more of the entitlement society we have become, "the govt' owes me" and to my way of thinking your outlook on this is are you recieveing or paying. The recievers don't see a damn thing wrong and the payers are getting tired of supporting the system

[wbuchart]

She is no longer getting the benefits...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/us/michigan-lottery-winner/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

[glh]

She is no longer getting the benefits...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/us/michigan-lottery-winner/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

==================================================

Extracted from your CNN.com article:

...." According to Michigan law, welfare recipients must report any changes in assets or income to the agency within 10 days.


The department "relies on clients being forthcoming about their actual financial status. If they are not, and continue to accept benefits, they may face criminal investigation and be required to pay back those benefits," Director Maura Corrigan said in a statement. "....
************************************************** ****

Good. Now, State of Michigan, go after her and make an example to get the message out. The state owes it to the rest of their citizens to stop this garbage.

[hey_moe]

I really like her last statement she made >>> "It's hard. I am struggling." give me a freaking break. The taxpayers brought her the winning ticket and she is SILL BITCHING about being broke and struggling. A half of million dollars ...how manyy of you guys would still be broke.
She is no longer getting the benefits...

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/us/michigan-lottery-winner/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

[andersel]

I believe that the large sum lottery win should make this individual ineligeble to receive further benefits, and that he/she should, in good conscience refuse them.

At the same time it should be noted that those with an actual need should not ever be subject to punative and excessive regulatory scrutiny.

If you need help you should get. If you don't need help you should not take it.

LA

[wombat666]

A half of million dollars ...how manyy of you guys would still be broke.
Well Mike just a couple of calculations and we have $500K = 12 months 'Good Living', or perhaps enough for a new Lexus GT V10 or maybe a new Porsche GT3 and some petrol money.
:kilroy:

[Gdavis101]

It doesn't say much for her integrity, but on the other hand that is what is wrong with this country.. A lot of people think they have some sort of entitlement to Welfare and it ruins it for the people that really need it. Just makes a mockery out of the Welfare system and bankrupts the government and affects other programs like medicare and social security and people like her do not care.

[stansdds]

It doesn't say much for her integrity, but on the other hand that is what is wrong with this country.. A lot of people think they have some sort of entitlement to Welfare and it ruins it for the people that really need it. Just makes a mockery out of the Welfare system and bankrupts the government and affects other programs like medicare and social security and people like her do not care.

Well said.

[norab]

Well Mike just a couple of calculations and we have $500K = 12 months 'Good Living', or perhaps enough for a new Lexus GT V10 or maybe a new Porsche GT3 and some petrol money.
:kilroy:


for me, the 500K would pay off my mortage, put college money away for my two daughters, and still leave me with about 350K still in the bank, so I'd call myself well off, alternately my wife and I could take 9 years off from work without breaking a sweat, so I would call it living "good", so I guess it's your personal viewpoint

[OBIO]

GIve me 500 grand and ask me if I'm struggling. I would answer...Not any more. I'd put that half million in a secure savings account or a lock box or some such...and "pay" myself $20 thousand a year for the next 25 years. At that time, I'd be 68 years old and ready for the nursing home.

OBIO

[wombat666]

for me, the 500K would pay off my mortage, put college money away for my two daughters, and still leave me with about 350K still in the bank, so I'd call myself well off, alternately my wife and I could take 9 years off from work without breaking a sweat, so I would call it living "good", so I guess it's your personal viewpoint

Not only personal viewpoint but also personal circumstances, we have no kids, owe no money and work our own hours .......and my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek.
:kilroy: