Nearly 700,000 will lose food stamps

[Grim Reaper 6]

13 minutes ago, Skulduggery said:

She basically has no income and barely scrapes by. She’s in Florida and I’m in Indiana. I will have to do some research and find out what the reasons are.

I certainly would if that was my mother.

[Big Jim]

1 hour ago, Doug1029 said:

Big Jim:  Perhaps you could explain to me how it is that people who think Trump is the greatest thing since sliced bread, also think calling somebody a "Trump hater" is supposed to explain anything.  It is obviously meant as an insult, but what about it is supposed to be insulting?

I have been waiting for almost three years now for somebody to post an accomplishment of Trump's, but so far all I've seen is rehashes of existing agreements (NAFTA), examples of destruction (EPA and mineral leases in Yellowstone) and an extremely regressive change in income taxes.  What is there to like about Trump?  I'm serious.  What has Trump accomplished that you are proud of?

Doug

If I happen to run into anyone who thinks that I will try to remember to ask them for you.  I'm not sure how you got the impression that I am proud of Trump.  My initial observation was that you seemed obsessed with your dislike of Trump and were playing childish games with your spelling of his name.  My intent was to let you know how it appeared to me and by extension, possibly others.  At no time did I defend Trump or insult you for what you believed.  I made it explicit that this was a friendly observation and even encouraged you to carry on.  It's only incidental to me that your enmity is focused on Trump.  I would have seen it the same way if you were disparaging the local dog catcher.  When I disagree with someone I try to still respect them as a person.  When I see people throwing spitballs at people they disagree with it diminishes my interest in anything else they have to say.  Since you seem to have a great deal of specialized knowledge and are obviously an intelligent person the insults and name games seemed incongruous at best.  I'll leave it at that.

[+Desertrat56]

1 hour ago, Phaeton80 said:

Might want to read before jumping in and reacting defensively because youre drinking thesame water..

It has nothing to do with 'disagreeing', nothing wrong with that. Its about the unhinged reactions.. First someone claimed 'he checked my background, had some sort of big secret about my person, and warned the NWO was listening' like a fourteen year old.. after which your fellow drinkwater recipient interpreted a general statement about the number of people receiving foodstamps as an attack on Trump, immediately making it some sort of Obama Vs Trump thing spewing out a tiresome barrage of 'Obummer' and 'Holy Trump' rhetoric, which is completely besides the point I was trying to make.

 

Still, you don't need to put everyone in an area together.  It doesn't matter what RavenHawk said, it is the same he says in every thread so what did you mean by "over there", then?

[Phaeton80]

1 minute ago, Desertrat56 said:

Still, you don't need to put everyone in an area together.  It doesn't matter what RavenHawk said, it is the same he says in every thread so what did you mean by "over there", then?

 

Are you serious?  It was (obviously) a tongue in cheek remark after being completely gobsmacked by the sequential, machinegun delivery of utterly irrational content.. Get over it.

Damn.. something in the water over there? Oh wait..

[Doug1029]

3 hours ago, Big Jim said:

If I happen to run into anyone who thinks that I will try to remember to ask them for you.  I'm not sure how you got the impression that I am proud of Trump.  My initial observation was that you seemed obsessed with your dislike of Trump and were playing childish games with your spelling of his name.  My intent was to let you know how it appeared to me and by extension, possibly others.  At no time did I defend Trump or insult you for what you believed.  I made it explicit that this was a friendly observation and even encouraged you to carry on.  It's only incidental to me that your enmity is focused on Trump.  I would have seen it the same way if you were disparaging the local dog catcher.  When I disagree with someone I try to still respect them as a person.  When I see people throwing spitballs at people they disagree with it diminishes my interest in anything else they have to say.  Since you seem to have a great deal of specialized knowledge and are obviously an intelligent person the insults and name games seemed incongruous at best.  I'll leave it at that.

Thank you for your concern,  You have a point that I will seriously consider.

Doug

[Tatetopa]

3 hours ago, Phaeton80 said:

Damn.. something in the water over there? Oh wait..

Once I was on a train in the middle of the night in the middle of China.  I was the only Anglo and spent several hours  talking to 8-10 Chinese, only 1 of which spoke English.

An announcement came on the train loudspeaker.  Everybody stopped talking and looked at me.

I asked what was said.  "A Chinese Student in California was beaten near death and was in critical condition because a mob of striking autoworkers thought he was Japanese."

Very uncomfortable situation.

Finally a man shrugged, and said something.  Then everybody started talking again.

I asked what was said  "Same bowl of rice feeds a hundred men."

What does that mean?  "It means that you are not the same as those men even if you are American."

[+DieChecker]

On 12/8/2019 at 8:30 AM, Big Jim said:

I don't know where it's a one page form.  When I applied it was a several page form with essay questions.  I don't recall exactly but I think they wanted job and medical history and detailed descriptions of difficulties you encountered with employment.  After the initial denial they essentially wanted the same thing all over again a year later.

I was exaggerating.... I was referring to Farmer saying that it required a lawyer. I can agree that needing a lawyer sounds pretty crazy, if you're actually disabled, but I'd not think getting approved to be easy, since it is for the rest of your life.

It does sound like this system could use some reform.

[Big Jim]

2 hours ago, DieChecker said:

I was exaggerating.... I was referring to Farmer saying that it required a lawyer. I can agree that needing a lawyer sounds pretty crazy, if you're actually disabled, but I'd not think getting approved to be easy, since it is for the rest of your life.

It does sound like this system could use some reform.

It actually does require a lawyer, as much as any other court proceeding.  It's not like they can take one look at you and see if you're disabled or not.  There are nuances to consider.  A special language is spoken, and formal procedures have to be followed.  Going in without a lawyer would be like representing yourself in a criminal trial.  My lawyer was invaluable, just for the paperwork alone.  He dug up things from my medical history that I would have never thought to mention, but apparently they were pertinent to the matter at hand.  As in any other court room setting, I suppose you're entitled to represent yourself but don't expect any help from the judge or other principals.  The court has an interest in preventing fraud or even being too lenient, so they have a lawyer to represent them.  For the applicant the outcome could be the difference between life and death, so it would be a shame to fail due to simple clerical or procedural errors.  

To look at me you might not determine that I'm disabled, but I would have probably died homeless by now if I had to rely on my ability to produce a steady income I could live on.  

[Gwynbleidd]

I'm not sure how it is in the USA but do you ever see some of the people on food stamps also smoke and drink alcohol too?  It happens quite often here and they get social security payments fortnightly.    

[+Desertrat56]

14 hours ago, DieChecker said:

I was exaggerating.... I was referring to Farmer saying that it required a lawyer. I can agree that needing a lawyer sounds pretty crazy, if you're actually disabled, but I'd not think getting approved to be easy, since it is for the rest of your life.

It does sound like this system could use some reform.

It isn't for the rest of your life, if something changes and you are able to hold a job you are limited to how much you can earn and if you go one dollar over that you loose it all.  Sometimes, like in my foster brother's case, he can't work because of a very dire heart condition, but his disability does not give him enough to pay rent and buy food in the same month so a friend hired him to help with a janitorial service he owns, and neither of them realized that even though he can't really much, helping him out by paying a salary lost him his disability.  It was a nice thing that someone did for him but it caused more problems. 

The same is true for Social Security retirement benefits.  If you earn over a certain amount after you retire they will take your social security away.  Social Security that you paid in to your whole working life.

[Big Jim]

27 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

It isn't for the rest of your life, if something changes and you are able to hold a job you are limited to how much you can earn and if you go one dollar over that you loose it all.  Sometimes, like in my foster brother's case, he can't work because of a very dire heart condition, but his disability does not give him enough to pay rent and buy food in the same month so a friend hired him to help with a janitorial service he owns, and neither of them realized that even though he can't really much, helping him out by paying a salary lost him his disability.  It was a nice thing that someone did for him but it caused more problems. 

The same is true for Social Security retirement benefits.  If you earn over a certain amount after you retire they will take your social security away.  Social Security that you paid in to your whole working life.

I looked into the possibility of working to supplement my disability payments.  As I understood it, it requires a gamble.  Keep in mind I was reading this by myself, with no lawyer to interpret, so I could be wrong.  But it said that if you decide to work they will suspend your benefits for 3 months.  If you find that you are unable to support yourself then you can reapply.  So it's all or nothing, with no allowance to do whatever is within your ability.  Kind of like walking a tightrope.  If you make it, that's great, but there's no room for error.

[Big Jim]

12 hours ago, Gwynbleidd said:

I'm not sure how it is in the USA but do you ever see some of the people on food stamps also smoke and drink alcohol too?  It happens quite often here and they get social security payments fortnightly.    

It's common knowledge that people often sell their food stamps to buy the cigarettes and alcohol.  Every so often a store will get busted for running such a scam, but that's just one among many.  There's a whole underground economy based on food stamps.  I'm on a tight budget, without food stamps.  I buy my groceries with coupons and I live on things that are marked down for being near the expiration date. What burns me is to see someone with a cart full of steaks and junk food and various luxuries that I can't afford and then pay with food stamps.  When the government is buying there is no motivation to be frugal.  If their benefits were cut they'd cry starvation, but the truth is it would just bring them down to the reality the rest of us have to deal with.

[spartan max2]

12 hours ago, Gwynbleidd said:

I'm not sure how it is in the USA but do you ever see some of the people on food stamps also smoke and drink alcohol too?  It happens quite often here and they get social security payments fortnightly.    

Yes and don't forget drugs lol.

I work with people on  both Medicare and Medicaid. I see it often, but also not with everyone. I would give it about 60 percent. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by spartan max2

[+Desertrat56]

6 minutes ago, Big Jim said:

It's common knowledge that people often sell their food stamps to buy the cigarettes and alcohol.  Every so often a store will get busted for running such a scam, but that's just one among many.  There's a whole underground economy based on food stamps.  I'm on a tight budget, without food stamps.  I buy my groceries with coupons and I live on things that are marked down for being near the expiration date. What burns me is to see someone with a cart full of steaks and junk food and various luxuries that I can't afford and then pay with food stamps.  When the government is buying there is no motivation to be frugal.  If their benefits were cut they'd cry starvation, but the truth is it would just bring them down to the reality the rest of us have to deal with.

My grandson's friend lived with his mother and for a while she was on foodstamps.  She worked but could never get a job that paid more than minimum wage.  Since she had a teenage son it was hard to make ends meet even with food stamps.  The boy would go to my daughters near the end of the month hungry because the food stamps did not buy enough food to last the two of them a month, and she did not use it to buy steak and junk food.  The benefits you get from food stamps are dependent on which state you live in.  In New Mexico they are unreasonably stingy with them, but any one who does not have insurance can get medicaid.  Every state is different.

(footnote:  the mother now works driving for Uber and Lyft and makes decent money finally)

Edited December 11, 2019 by Desertrat56

[spartan max2]

3 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

My grandson's friend lived with his mother and for a while she was on foodstamps.  She worked but could never get a job that paid more than minimum wage.  Since she had a teenage son it was hard to make ends meet even with food stamps.  The boy would go to my daughters near the end of the month hungry because the food stamps did not buy enough food to last the two of them a month, and she did not use it to buy steak and junk food.  The benefits you get from food stamps are dependent on which state you live in.  In New Mexico they are unreasonably stingy with them, but any one who does not have insurance can get medicaid.  Every state is different.

(footnote:  the mother now works driving for Uber and Lyft and makes decent money finally)

And depending on where you are there is a range of how much you get when "on food stamps".

Like in Ohio its like with tax rates, it changes based on income.

I have some clients who are "on food stamps" who get as low as $18 a month worth of it.

Edited December 11, 2019 by spartan max2

[Big Jim]

Just now, spartan max2 said:

And depending on where you are there is a range of how much you get when "on food stamps".

Like in Ohio its like with tax rates, it changes based on income.

I have some clients who are "on food stamps" who get as low as $18 a month. 

When I was new to being poor I applied for food stamps and got $15 per month for a while.  What I would do was let them accumulate, because on average every third month has 5 weeks between SS checks, not 4.  Then that $45 would help me get through that extra week.  I eventually dropped out of the program voluntarily because I knew I could make it without the help.

[+Desertrat56]

6 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

And depending on where you are there is a range of how much you get when "on food stamps".

Like in Ohio its like with tax rates, it changes based on income.

I have some clients who are "on food stamps" who get as low as $18 a month worth of it.

Yes, that is the way it is in New Mexico.  My aunt was getting 75.00 a month (she lives solely on her ssa of 11,00 a month minus 135.00 for medicare (really!!! she paid in to that but has to pay more now), and a house payment of 860.00 a month.  They reduced her food stamps to 25.00 a month last month.  Not sure why as nothing in her life has changed.  He daughter has been buying her groceries for years.

[Phaeton80]

Everybody is up in arms when it comes to welfare, but when it comes to warfare..
 

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Phaeton80