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View Full Version : I Had a Middle Class Job and I Still Ended Up on Food Stamps at 60



Cigar
01-16-2014, 10:38 AM
http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/screen_shot_2014-01-15_at_1.24.36_pm.png

On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services to ask for help. It is something I never imagined I would do. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who thought it would always be someone else, someone worse off who just didn't or couldn't work hard enough, who would need that type of assistance. I was wrong, because I am the new working poor.

Both my parents were children of the Great Depression, both knew hunger -- the real, not-having-food-for-several-days kind of hunger. Both knew disappointment. My father had to turn down a scholarship to Notre Dame to work alongside his father, delivering coal to the wealthy. Neither of my parents ever caught a break. Every time an illness or disaster would set them back, they would work that much harder to make my life and those of my four siblings better. We didn't have much, hand-me-downs and second-hand everything. But unlike our parents, we never went hungry. After all, this is America, they would tell us, and your life is not dictated by the circumstances of your birth.

Like my father, I had to start working at the age of 16 to help the family pay medical bills. At 30, I was able to enroll in college classes through a tuition assistance program. Over the next few years circumstances changed, my marriage ended amicably, so I never attained a degree. Overall, I still did much better than my parents had. In my early thirties, I was able to buy a small home despite the fact that mortgage rates were above 16 percent. I worked steadily up through the ranks as a technician, engineer, and manager in small and mid-sized companies, and then I spent the nineties at a large corporation. I did well.

I had no trouble refinancing my home for a lower interest rate; I paid my bills and, unlike my parents, I was able to save money for the future. I could go out for dinner when I wished, and could indulge in my passion for the new home computers. I never went anywhere on vacation and I didn't buy expensive luxury goods but even so, I believed that I was safely ensconced in the middle class. I was wrong.

http://www.alternet.org/i-had-middle-class-job-and-i-still-ended-food-stamps-60




Yea ... some old sad story from one of those liberal ghetto moochers :angryfire:

texan
01-16-2014, 10:45 AM
I hope that everyone doesn't think that everyone is a ghetto moocher, I don't. I have great respect for the honest hard working folks of this country and want them as much help as possible. I just want us to clean up our house a bit so these people can get more assistance rather than sharing it with crooks, $200 a night hotel rooms in Vegas for conventions and overall bad management by people that don't respect the tax payers money.

Don't you think if we demanded responsibility our money would go further to help the real needy?

Cigar
01-16-2014, 11:00 AM
I hope that everyone doesn't think that everyone is a ghetto moocher, I don't. I have great respect for the honest hard working folks of this country and want them as much help as possible. I just want us to clean up our house a bit so these people can get more assistance rather than sharing it with crooks, $200 a night hotel rooms in Vegas for conventions and overall bad management by people that don't respect the tax payers money.

Don't you think if we demanded responsibility our money would go further to help the real needy?

Corruption is EVERYWHERE there's an opportunity for Corruption.

34 Trained Militarily Personal Lied on their Nuclear Certification.

No one suggestion to Cut ANY from the Militarily just because a group of people cheated. :wink:

zelmo1234
01-16-2014, 11:46 AM
It really is too bad that the Democrats could not find 6.4 billion in a 3 trillion dollar budget to extend help for those that need it.

It is even sadder that Obama has been cooking the books on unemployment or is would still be over 7.5% and the renewal would have been automatic!

Liberals will defiantly lie to make themselves and there agenda look good we don't need to go through the long list.

And If you read the entire story, while sad, this person did not do everything right, he is trying to save his business on emotion not financial facts. But it is still sad!

texan
01-16-2014, 11:50 AM
BTW I am not asking for a tax break or saying 2% more hurts me. I would pay a little more to make sure people got help but I am tired of the way we run things. We do government bids for example and it is typical for the agency to make sure they spend everything in their budget whether its needed or not. It is an absolute sham the way the monies are spent. We could cut 10% across the board and nothing would leave anyone's pocket if they managed it correctly. Example your cut is $5K per month and it has to come out of XYZ not the person receiving the benefit.

We don't demand accountability and they don't act responsibly.

Captain Obvious
01-16-2014, 11:57 AM
Maybe this guy is just a dumbfuck who couldn't hold a job.

Everyone I know who is smart and productive... manages to hold a job.

Coincidence?

Cigar
01-16-2014, 11:59 AM
Maybe this guy is just a dumbfuck who couldn't hold a job.

Everyone I know who is smart and productive... manages to hold a job.

Coincidence?

Sounds like a really good GOP Campaign Slogan. :cheers:

I'd go for it for 2014 and 2016 :laugh:

Captain Obvious
01-16-2014, 12:01 PM
Sounds like a really good GOP Campaign Slogan. :cheers:

I'd go for it for 2014 and 2016 :laugh:

What? Vs. the Dems campaign slogan?

"Gives us your lazy, your unproductive, your deadbeats and gold-diggers. Register them to vote and we'll take care of the rest"

MrJimmyDale
01-16-2014, 12:02 PM
Help the fellow out......Now the question is "For how long?"

Cigar
01-16-2014, 12:03 PM
What? Vs. the Dems campaign slogan?

"Gives us your lazy, your unproductive, your deadbeats and gold-diggers. Register them to vote and we'll take care of the rest"

Well ... who Won and who Lost The Elections :grin:

jillian
01-16-2014, 12:04 PM
What? Vs. the Dems campaign slogan?

"Gives us your lazy, your unproductive, your deadbeats and gold-diggers. Register them to vote and we'll take care of the rest"

we can pretend that was the case. but it was probably a bit more accurate that the GOP's message was "go away if you're a woman, black, latino, middle class, working class, environmentalist, etc.).

you can't tell everyone to piss off and get support.

i also continue to believe that the greatness of a nation is measured by how it treats it's oldest, youngest, poorest and sickest...

and we're still the only westernized nation that doesn't provide for the health of its people.

so i guess you can do the paul ryan thing and call it makers versus takers but that would be false.

Captain Obvious
01-16-2014, 12:05 PM
we can pretend that was the case. but it was probably a bit more accurate that the GOP's message was "go away if you're a woman, black, latino, middle class, working class, environmentalist, etc.).

you can't tell everyone to piss off and get support.

And why I don't vote for either party.

Cigar
01-16-2014, 12:07 PM
we can pretend that was the case. but it was probably a bit more accurate that the GOP's message was "go away if you're a woman, black, latino, middle class, working class, environmentalist, etc.).

you can't tell everyone to piss off and get support.

i also continue to believe that the greatness of a nation is measured by how it treats it's oldest, youngest, poorest and sickest...

and we're still the only westernized nation that doesn't provide for the health of its people.

so i guess you can do the paul ryan thing and call it makers versus takers but that would be false.

It's such a Winning Strategy for The GOP ... why change :laugh:

Cigar
01-16-2014, 12:08 PM
And why I don't vote for either party.



... then you get what you get for the effort you gave. :laugh:

texan
01-16-2014, 12:13 PM
If I could put together a program that gave the needy more monetary help and saved you money would you be open to it?

MrJimmyDale
01-16-2014, 12:25 PM
If I could put together a program that gave the needy more monetary help and saved you money would you be open to it? Nope.......don't trust you....:)

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 12:30 PM
Wait a minute, I have to take a break here, I have run out of Kleenex

MrJimmyDale
01-16-2014, 12:31 PM
Wait a minute, I have to take a break here, I have run out of Kleenex Cocke county folk use their sleeve..........

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 12:32 PM
Cocke county folk use there sleeve..........

Hey, I am wearing my best overall's today. I don't want to mess that up.

jillian
01-16-2014, 12:34 PM
And why I don't vote for either party.

that's fine... but it doesn't get you someone representing your interests, or more likely get you someone closer to representing your interests. i tend to think we should probably be represented by many more political parties... but that isn't happening any time soon. and any shot of it happening was probably off'd by citizen's united.

texan
01-16-2014, 12:49 PM
I find it funny that 95% of the peoples interests are nothing they thought of themselves as much as what their indoctrination has been. Even worse they don't care what either party says they go along with the talking point not really understanding much about it, the perfect storm for puppeteers.

All I see here are political wedge issues one after another and talking points with no core.

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 01:00 PM
Cocke county folk use their sleeve..........

Actually sleeves are for noses. I was going to wipe the tears out of my eyes. You Sevier County Bumpkins use corn husk for everything

nic34
01-16-2014, 01:02 PM
If I could put together a program that gave the needy more monetary help and saved you money would you be open to it?

Already covered it....

http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/21434-What-would-you-do-for-the-poor?p=491733&viewfull=1#post491733

Open to it?

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 01:08 PM
Already covered it....

http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/21434-What-would-you-do-for-the-poor?p=491733&viewfull=1#post491733

Open to it?


I have worked with Habitat for Humanity in both Jacksonville FL and here in East Tennessee. Its a good
program and one of the very few things Jimma Cawder was associated with that I agreed with. I believe you will find most people would be willing to help the truly needy and we are as a people the most charitable on the planet. We are always the first to step up and help in times of crisis. What we don't want is for the government to take our money and give without regard to the validity of the receiver.

monty1
01-16-2014, 01:34 PM
I have worked with Habitat for Humanity in both Jacksonville FL and here in East Tennessee. Its a good
program and one of the very few things Jimma Cawder was associated with that I agreed with. I believe you will find most people would be willing to help the truly needy and we are as a people the most charitable on the planet. We are always the first to step up and help in times of crisis. What we don't want is for the government to take our money and give without regard to the validity of the receiver.

I did too but I learned enough about it to see what it really was. It rapidly became a religious for-profit enterprise that far outweighed any good it was doing. The prices in the store rose quickly to be outrageously high for used goods and the houses that were built made a good profit for the church. It took advantage of volunteer labour and donated building supplies to build a house for practically nothing. Then it was sold to a poor family for market price and they only saved on the no-interest mortgage.

I now direct my efforts to other causes I consider more worthwhile.

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 01:38 PM
I did too but I learned enough about it to see what it really was. It rapidly became a religious for-profit enterprise that far outweighed any good it was doing. The prices in the store rose quickly to be outrageously high for used goods and the houses that were built made a good profit for the church. It took advantage of volunteer labour and donated building supplies to build a house for practically nothing. Then it was sold to a poor family for market price and they only saved on the no-interest mortgage.

I now direct my efforts to other causes I consider more worthwhile.


LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

What a goober

Just for our edification just what causes would you consider more worthwhile?

monty1
01-16-2014, 02:01 PM
United Way, even the Salvation Army because they don't redirect the charity into building bigger and better churches. Even though I don't like any Christian attachment to charity because it makes them suspect.

And another issue for me is, the Habitat thing takes a lot away from the Salvation Army. That's bad.

nic34
01-16-2014, 02:08 PM
I have worked with Habitat for Humanity in both Jacksonville FL and here in East Tennessee. Its a good
program and one of the very few things Jimma Cawder was associated with that I agreed with. I believe you will find most people would be willing to help the truly needy and we are as a people the most charitable on the planet. We are always the first to step up and help in times of crisis. What we don't want is for the government to take our money and give without regard to the validity of the receiver.

You still don't address the large numbers...

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 02:14 PM
You still don't address the large numbers...

10 million
20 zillion
4758 fabtikrillion

Are those numbers large enough?

monty1
01-16-2014, 02:15 PM
You still don't address the large numbers...

Charity is always the right's excuse to curtail government social programs. They think charity can carry the ball which it obviously can't. And then too, they are usually the ones who don't give a rat's ass about giving to charity anyway. Isn't it obvious that they hate the poor? They are telling you that here on this forum several times a day. Who would be so stupid to think they would give to poor people when they rage with their hate toward the poor? There's no way we should ever buy their dishonest deflection of the issue.

They don't just want government to stop all social programs that fight poverty, they want it all stopped regardless.

nathanbforrest45
01-16-2014, 02:16 PM
United Way, even the Salvation Army because they don't redirect the charity into building bigger and better churches. Even though I don't like any Christian attachment to charity because it makes them suspect.

And another issue for me is, the Habitat thing takes a lot away from the Salvation Army. That's bad.

I wouldn't give a penny to United Way. I give quite a bit to the Salvation Army for personal reasons.

Yeah, got to watch out for those Christian Churches. They take your money and buy condos in Vegas with it.

sotmfs
01-16-2014, 07:05 PM
I wouldn't give a penny to United Way. I give quite a bit to the Salvation Army for personal reasons.

Yeah, got to watch out for those Christian Churches. They take your money and buy condos in Vegas with it.

I agree with you about united way.I like the Salvation Army.

zelmo1234
01-16-2014, 08:31 PM
United Way, even the Salvation Army because they don't redirect the charity into building bigger and better churches. Even though I don't like any Christian attachment to charity because it makes them suspect.

And another issue for me is, the Habitat thing takes a lot away from the Salvation Army. That's bad.

You do realize that the salvation army is a Christian organization right?

zelmo1234
01-16-2014, 08:37 PM
Charity is always the right's excuse to curtail government social programs. They think charity can carry the ball which it obviously can't. And then too, they are usually the ones who don't give a rat's ass about giving to charity anyway. Isn't it obvious that they hate the poor? They are telling you that here on this forum several times a day. Who would be so stupid to think they would give to poor people when they rage with their hate toward the poor? There's no way we should ever buy their dishonest deflection of the issue.

They don't just want government to stop all social programs that fight poverty, they want it all stopped regardless.

Maybe you can point out a thread or two that shows the hate of the poor?

You see it is the Democrats in this country that don't want the poor to have opportunity, because they need the dependent for a voting base.

Harper took traditional conservative values and turned the Canadian Economy around, yet you propose the policies that the Obama administrations is using, and are failing in this country.

What poor people need is quality education systems, which the left refuse to give them, especially in inners cities where they refuse to let parents have the choice of where their children are educated. Then after the force them to graduate from these substandard institutions, they have taxes, regulations, and red take that prevents companies from manufacturing goods in the USA and still being competitive?

And worse yet all the time they are telling the poor how compassionate that they are, they are forcing them to live on handouts that doom them to dire poverty, when what they need is a job and opportunity!

roadmaster
01-16-2014, 08:50 PM
On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services to ask for help. It is something I never imagined I would do. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who thought it would always be someone else, someone worse off who just didn't or couldn't work hard enough, who would need that type of assistance. I was wrong, because I am the new working poor.
I have read many stories and knew people trying. America is doing this to itself because we are in a depression and can't afford not to control the borders.

Professor Peabody
01-16-2014, 10:04 PM
On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services to ask for help. It is something I never imagined I would do. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who thought it would always be someone else, someone worse off who just didn't or couldn't work hard enough, who would need that type of assistance. I was wrong, because I am the new working poor.

Both my parents were children of the Great Depression, both knew hunger -- the real, not-having-food-for-several-days kind of hunger. Both knew disappointment. My father had to turn down a scholarship to Notre Dame to work alongside his father, delivering coal to the wealthy. Neither of my parents ever caught a break. Every time an illness or disaster would set them back, they would work that much harder to make my life and those of my four siblings better. We didn't have much, hand-me-downs and second-hand everything. But unlike our parents, we never went hungry. After all, this is America, they would tell us, and your life is not dictated by the circumstances of your birth.

Like my father, I had to start working at the age of 16 to help the family pay medical bills. At 30, I was able to enroll in college classes through a tuition assistance program. Over the next few years circumstances changed, my marriage ended amicably, so I never attained a degree. Overall, I still did much better than my parents had. In my early thirties, I was able to buy a small home despite the fact that mortgage rates were above 16 percent. I worked steadily up through the ranks as a technician, engineer, and manager in small and mid-sized companies, and then I spent the nineties at a large corporation. I did well.

I had no trouble refinancing my home for a lower interest rate; I paid my bills and, unlike my parents, I was able to save money for the future. I could go out for dinner when I wished, and could indulge in my passion for the new home computers. I never went anywhere on vacation and I didn't buy expensive luxury goods but even so, I believed that I was safely ensconced in the middle class. I was wrong.

http://www.alternet.org/i-had-middle-class-job-and-i-still-ended-food-stamps-60




Yea ... some old sad story from one of those liberal ghetto moochers :angryfire:

Loser!

jillian
01-16-2014, 10:08 PM
Loser!

riiiiiiiiiight….

Dr. Who
01-16-2014, 11:19 PM
How many people over 45 or 50 lost their employment to outsourcing or business moving overseas and are no longer in demand because of their age? Whether we like to admit it or not, people who are older do face age discrimination, if for no other reason than the fact that they might use employer provided insurance benefits more than someone who is younger.

Max Rockatansky
01-17-2014, 12:31 AM
Corruption is EVERYWHERE there's an opportunity for Corruption.

34 Trained Militarily Personal Lied on their Nuclear Certification.

No one suggestion to Cut ANY from the Militarily just because a group of people cheated. :wink:
Just wait, the Liberals will do that anytime now. They always have before! Never failed me once in 20 years as a military dependent and 21 years of military service myself. Didn't you see the COLA cuts they wanted? ;)

nathanbforrest45
01-17-2014, 08:54 AM
Charity is always the right's excuse to curtail government social programs. They think charity can carry the ball which it obviously can't. And then too, they are usually the ones who don't give a rat's ass about giving to charity anyway. Isn't it obvious that they hate the poor? They are telling you that here on this forum several times a day. Who would be so stupid to think they would give to poor people when they rage with their hate toward the poor? There's no way we should ever buy their dishonest deflection of the issue.

They don't just want government to stop all social programs that fight poverty, they want it all stopped regardless.


So, your answer to "helping the poor" is to create programs that stifle opportunities for the poor to rise out of their poverty. Furthermore, your answer is to steal from the producers in order to give to the takers completely overlooking the actual poor.

Gotcha.

jillian
01-17-2014, 08:57 AM
How many people over 45 or 50 lost their employment to outsourcing or business moving overseas and are no longer in demand because of their age? Whether we like to admit it or not, people who are older do face age discrimination, if for no other reason than the fact that they might use employer provided insurance benefits more than someone who is younger.

it also costs a lot of money for a business to take on and train a new employee. turnover is costly. and when you spend your resources training an older worker, they simply don't have that many work years left in them... or at least that's the thought process.

the contempt for people who got hurt by the crash and corporate outsourcing by the right is offensive at best.

and then they think they lose national elections because of "free stuff" when it's really a lack of basic compassion, empathy, fairness and respect.

when it comes from people who are on the wrong side of the economic divide, it's simply sad.

Max Rockatansky
01-17-2014, 09:04 AM
Charity is nice, but it doesn't get the job done. If it had, there'd be no need for additional assistance. Our government does spend too much money coddling rather than assisting. Extending unemployment being a good example.

Unemployment is a good program to assist those who suddenly found themselves unemployed and give them a bit of time to find a new job or retrain themselves for a new job. Two years is more than enough time. Six is just coddling them. The problem is that those benefits do not encourage people to find a job when the "assistance" pays more than many of the jobs available. Unemployment should taper off to nothing thereby encouraging people to find a job.

Mainecoons
01-17-2014, 09:16 AM
it also costs a lot of money for a business to take on and train a new employee. turnover is costly. and when you spend your resources training an older worker, they simply don't have that many work years left in them... or at least that's the thought process.

the contempt for people who got hurt by the crash and corporate outsourcing by the right is offensive at best.

and then they think they lose national elections because of "free stuff" when it's really a lack of basic compassion, empathy, fairness and respect.

when it comes from people who are on the wrong side of the economic divide, it's simply sad.

That may have been true when people tended to go to work for one employer and stay there. That is no longer the case. Actually, and the data have been posted here before and ignored by you, the older workers are the ones having the most success finding work.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Yd_okitkDc/UOcM4BsuT-I/AAAAAAAAT1c/2i3Yk45Hbjw/s400/Employment%2BDemographics%2Bby%2BAge%2BGroup%2B201 2-12.png

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.mx/2013/01/startling-look-at-employment.html

jillian
01-17-2014, 09:16 AM
Charity is nice, but it doesn't get the job done. If it had, there'd be no need for additional assistance. Our government does spend too much money coddling rather than assisting. Extending unemployment being a good example.

Unemployment is a good program to assist those who suddenly found themselves unemployed and give them a bit of time to find a new job or retrain themselves for a new job. Two years is more than enough time. Six is just coddling them. The problem is that those benefits do not encourage people to find a job when the "assistance" pays more than many of the jobs available. Unemployment should taper off to nothing thereby encouraging people to find a job.

you can call it "coddling" but the median time to get a job now is more than 30 weeks for someone unemployed.

and then there are things like corporations who refuse to hire someone who is out of work.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/disturbing-job-ads-the-un_n_600665.html

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2073520,00.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/unemployed-5-reasons-companies-wont-hire-you/

now, granted, those are from 2011. but is suspect after those articles came out, companies just stopped being open about it.

and i know at least in NY there were efforts to make that illegal. (i don't recall what happened with those efforts).

and if the above doesn't get you, corporations running credit checks before they hire you will...

so if you're screwed financially, you're screwed employment-wise.

and that's before you even get to the age issue.

Max Rockatansky
01-17-2014, 09:27 AM
you can call it "coddling" but the median time to get a job now is more than 30 weeks for someone unemployed.

30 weeks to get a job comparable to one they lost or 30 weeks to get a job flipping burgers?

6 years is 312 weeks. Ten times the norm is a bit excessive, isn't it? Something seems wrong there.

Sorry, but I don't see the benefit of simply handing out cash without strings attached. I don't like it here and I didn't like it when we bailed out the banks and the airlines without fixing the problems that got them there in the first place. It's wrong no matter who does it and for whom it's done.

Mainecoons
01-17-2014, 10:07 AM
and that's before you even get to the age issue.

Which I showed immediately above your post is no issue at all unless you correctly understand that the young are having the most problem finding work, let alone full time jobs.

Jillian, do you understand how silly you look when caught in false statements which you then immediately reiterate after being caught?

Probably not. Clearly there's some sort of mental issue which makes it impossible for you to admit when proven wrong and correct your thinking and writing. It is the only explanation I can come up with after proving your statements incorrect time and time again and having you immediately repeat the same incorrect statements time and time again.

jillian
01-17-2014, 01:17 PM
30 weeks to get a job comparable to one they lost or 30 weeks to get a job flipping burgers?

6 years is 312 weeks. Ten times the norm is a bit excessive, isn't it? Something seems wrong there.

Sorry, but I don't see the benefit of simply handing out cash without strings attached. I don't like it here and I didn't like it when we bailed out the banks and the airlines without fixing the problems that got them there in the first place. It's wrong no matter who does it and for whom it's done.

a 60 year old man who made, say $100,000 a year should take a job flipping burgers?

and you may not have liked it, but we DID bail out the banks (which are still too big to fail)... and we did bail out the car companies (though we've at least gotten that money back).

sometimes our national interest and our economy require an investment.

and i might be more sympathetic to your idea if the right wasn't intentionally sabotaging the economy b/c heaven forbid the president should look good.

or... they could actually pass a jobs bill and create work and build the economy.

Max Rockatansky
01-17-2014, 01:54 PM
a 60 year old man who made, say $100,000 a year should take a job flipping burgers? He should continue to play with his pansies while collecting unemployment? How likely is he to get a job after sitting on his ass for six years collecting unemployment?

It's a bad situation, but giving people handouts isn't fixing the problem. Feeding a man a fish isn't the same as teaching a man to fish. I'd rather have required classes tied to unemployment and then taper off the money rather than just keep paying this man unemployment until he finds another $100K job. He won't and the country is paying for it.


and you may not have liked it, but we DID bail out the banks (which are still too big to fail)... and we did bail out the car companies (though we've at least gotten that money back).

sometimes our national interest and our economy require an investment.I have no problem with investment and doing what is necessary to protect our economy. What I'm saying is that by bailing out the banks, car companies, airlines, etc without fixing the problem that caused their failure in the first place is stupid and irresponsible.

No business should be allowed to be "too big to fail". It's a national security issue. Fix it.