That's it. NPR has declared Ohio a disaster area. Things are so bad. NPR gravely warns, that folks in the Buckeye state can't even afford to buy meat for their dinner tables anymore. It's the end of civilization as we know it. Doom and gloom. Oh the humanity. It's the end of the world as we know it... at least for one Ohio family that NPR found to act as stand in for the rest of the state. To NPR all of Ohio is the Nunez family. And what is NPR' solution? Government aid, of course.
In a segment of All Things Considered (well, all things but common sense, anyway), NPR gives us Gloria Nunez whose family, we are told, was "built on cars." NPR gives us all sorts of sobbing, rending of clothes, wearing of sackcloth and gnashing of teeth for the Nunez', of course. But even NPR can't hide some of the glaring problems that Gloria and her family have surely brought upon themselves.
In fact, her story sounds like the scene in the old Blues Brothers movie where John Belushi is on his knees pleading with Carrie Fischer to forgive him. There was a flood, he whined, locusts came, it was the end of the world, it REALLY wasn't his fault, he swore to God. Similarly we get the tale that Gloria Nunez' car broke down, she can't find a job, she had a car accident that left her "depressed and disabled, incapable of getting a job." She is now somehow forced to live on a "$637 Social Security check and $102 in food stamps." Naturally, none of it is her fault. All the seeds for the common welfare tale are there.
'I Just Can't Get A Job'
Nunez, 40, has never worked and has no high school degree. She says a car accident 17 years ago left her depressed and disabled, incapable of getting a job. Instead, she and her daughter, Angelica Hernandez, survive on a $637 Social Security check and $102 in food stamps.
Hernandez received her high school diploma and has had several jobs in recent years. But now, because fewer restaurants and stores are hiring, she says she finds it hard to find a job. Even if she could, she says it's particularly hard to imagine how she'll keep it. She says she needs someone to give her a lift just to get to an interview. And with gas prices so high, she's not sure she could afford to pay someone to drive her to work every day.
There are all sorts of extended family members mentioned in this little tale of woe. Greandmothers, sisters, daughters. But one glaring absence might dawn on the reader. No where in the story is a mention of a Mr. Nunez living with the family and trying to provide for them. No where do we see contemporaneously included in this tale a Father or husband.
There is one tiny little thing tucked into this story, though, that might escape notice. At least it is something that seems to have escaped the notice of too many Americans who sit about expecting some magical employment fairy to float down out of the sky and hand them a $50,000 dollar a year job and who, while they wait, sponge off the rest of us with state aid and Federal benefits.
The only employer within walking distance is a ThyssenKrupp factory that makes diesel engine parts. That facility, which employs 400 people, is shutting down and moving to Illinois next year.
The ThyssenKrupp factory is moving to greener pastures, to greater opportunity, to a better, more lucrative environment.
One must wonder why don't the Nunez.' In fact, why aren't a large number of Americans moving to where the jobs are?
There have been many, many periods in American history when large numbers of Americans have uprooted themselves and moved to where there was a better opportunity to make their mark in life. "Go west young man" was once a rallying cry for an American diaspora. The wagon trains rolled by the thousands at a time when such travel often resulted in death. The dust bowl years saw many of those living in the near west moving to California, the land of milk and honey. After the turn of the century, hundreds of thousands moved from the south to the north when work became plentiful there -- especially for America's southern black population. Even recently, the south began to fill back up as work became more plentiful there. And there were many more eras of internal shifts in population that I didn't mention here. They all moved when a certain section of the country became stagnant and another offered opportunity.
Today it is the west that once again needs great numbers of Americans to move there and fill jobs. Western states are finding themselves with jobs, but no one to fill them.
So, why aren't large numbers of Americans moving west? Because they've been conditioned to imagine that if they can't easily find a job where they are at, their government will hand them everything for "free." They've become used to imagining that the state should take care of them instead of imagining that they are responsible for themselves.
These kinds of reports without context or any greater exploration of the situation is the sort of "journalism" that helps drive down morale for America for little real gain. Of course, for NPR the main point is to help achieve bad times, not merely report on them. NPR would rather see Americans lounge about their homes feeling desperate and turning to government for succor. NPR wants to breed dependency, not self-reliance.
And dependency is what we see in Gloria Nunez. She is filled with all sorts of excuses of why her life is so darn hard. The world is out to get her, it appears. But there are jobs a plenty out there. Only, they take some effort on the part of the seeker. The magical employment fairy is going to float down and wave her magic jobs wand neither on Gloria Nunez nor anyone like her.
Americans have many times taken their own lives in their own hands and set out to find a better life. Now days, however, the Gloria Nunez' of the world seem to imagine that everyone else should come to their aid. America must become again that land of rugged individuals leaning forward into any ill wind that blows to forge ahead and succeed.
Government isn't the solution. Someone should tell that to Gloria Nunez and NPR.
(Photo credit: NPR.org)
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Looks like they can
July 19, 2008 - 03:15 ET by sarcasmoSure as hell afford a few sources of carbs, because if they're not eating meat those 2 are sure munching on plenty of something...
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
The picture
July 19, 2008 - 03:19 ET by Warner Todd HustonThe picture of the Nunez' really helps "illustrate" the story, eh?
The picture does...
July 19, 2008 - 10:28 ET by ontheright...enhance this truly "bloated" story...
Been eating
July 21, 2008 - 16:40 ET by NorthCoasterI hate to pick on appearances, but they aren't emaciated from missing too many meals.
Just an observation mind you.
WTH
July 19, 2008 - 04:33 ET by Tom BlumerYour post title vs. the pic is killin' me.
It must be pretty bad in OH if IL can steal our employers.
Tom
July 19, 2008 - 04:47 ET by Warner Todd HustonI know I should be spanked for that naughty title. But, I couldn't help myself. It's that darned old sarcastic streak a runnin' down my leg.
I'm sorry, when I look at
July 19, 2008 - 05:25 ET by RukusI'm sorry, when I look at that pic all I can hear is the scene from Austin Powers... " Get in my belly!" LOL!!!! Mini-Me would run screaming from those two!
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
Ewww...
July 19, 2008 - 10:29 ET by ontheright...there's a Mathew's visual none of needed this morning...tks.
Tom - Exactly! IL doesn't have that favorable of a business
July 19, 2008 - 10:41 ET by Dee BunkClimate.
That article that WTH linked to about the jobs out west and how McDonald's there are offering $10/hr and still can't get people happens even here in IL.
They don't offer $10/hr but they offer above min wage (and IL has a higher min than the feds) and they still can't get people. The Walmarts, Targets and other large discount stores also offer above min wage. Even teenagers are too good to work at these places around here. My nephew makes $10/hr. Many teens do. Every teen who I know that wants to work does.
The lady's been "depressed"
July 19, 2008 - 05:41 ET by motherbeltThe lady's been "depressed" for 17 years????
Give me a break!
I once saw a similar tale on TV (forget which network) of a similar situation. Mother, 17-year-old daughter and grandchild (no men in evidence) living together. The mother wanted the daughter to go take the little one and get her own apartment and sign up for welfare.
Says the grandmother ....she's 17. It's time she got a [welfare] check of her own. (emphasis mine).
Well, you can certainly understand why they don't want to move...they obviously have strong family ties (such as Angelica-different-last-name's father). where they are.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Multigenerational welfare
July 19, 2008 - 07:01 ET by WingletDriverWhen my mom worked at the phone company (there was only one in those days) she would have to deal with deadbeat customers whose phones were disconnected for not paying their bills. On many occasions their arguments would end up as "I'm on welfare, you can't do this" or, even more telling, "I'm third generation welfare, you can't do this."
Many folks look at welfare as a social charity, but there's just one problem: Government can't do charity. They take money from those who have "at the point of a gun" (as Walter Williams says) and give it to those who neither deserve nor appreciate it. There is no love and sacrifice in these transactions--just intimidation, laziness and greed. And it is self-perpetuating, breeding new generations of even lazier ingrates.
Not only
July 19, 2008 - 14:31 ET by motherbeltNot only multi-generational, but it seems to be the preferred method of subsistence in this family. The story says:
Nunez and most of her siblings and their spouses are unemployed and rely on government assistance and food stamps.
Jeez.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
You know, even with my own
July 19, 2008 - 05:57 ET by ScoopPC11You know, even with my own issues, I couldn't help but laugh at the picture that NPR decided to include with the story. I might have felt a LITTLE bit more sympathy if I hadn't seen the picture for myself. Wow.
You know, I got my own issues -- I was laid off from a job that I held for almost three years, was fired from another job after a month for not being suited to the position. I'm getting unemployment right now, but I know that won't last forever and am hoping that after I have my son within the next couple of months that I can find something because no one is going to hire me currently knowing that I'm going to have to leave soon. Moving is not an option at the moment because hubby plans on going back to school nearby, I'm going to grad school, and my hubby's kids live nearby so he doesn't want to move too far from them until both of them are out of high school in the next 8 years.
Except for the unemployment check (which isn't all that much and won't last forever), we get no government assistance at all. So I have a hard time understanding these people who feel the need to go on government assistance when there are so many other options out there.
Scoop
July 19, 2008 - 06:00 ET by Warner Todd HustonScoop, you sound like the exact sort of person these benefits were designed for. Someone who will use it temporarily while they ACTUALLY set up plans to provide for themselves.
NOT someone who will live for 17 years or more off them.
Scoop, you sound like the
July 19, 2008 - 06:53 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsScoop, you sound like the exact sort of person these benefits were designed for.
And Scoop sounds exactly like the sort of (responsible) person NPR will never do a story on.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
Like Rush says,
July 19, 2008 - 10:13 ET by pbanks7Millions of average people doing great things every day, or something to that effect. Dogs chase cats. Fire Hot. No shot, Surelick.
MSM - shaping all the perceptions you need to believe, then confirming it with a poll.
All I can say to that
July 19, 2008 - 06:01 ET by mostlymoderateAll I can say to that picture is... ... ... YIKES!
P.S. Maybe the government
July 19, 2008 - 06:05 ET by mostlymoderateP.S. Maybe the government *should* pay for birth-control for some people if they want it. Maybe we can make an exception for a few individuals that walk amongst us. :0)
Birth Control
July 19, 2008 - 07:49 ET by River CityAnyone can go to Planned Parenthood and get free birth control. We taxpayers subsidize this program. All you have to do is consent to an exam and sign something that states you can't pay. There is absolutely no excuse for this behavior. God gave us all a mind and the ability to exert self-control. I am not promoting PP but the point is that free birth control IS available.
"Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind." Ayn Rand
"P.S. Maybe the government
July 19, 2008 - 09:57 ET by ckc1227"P.S. Maybe the government *should* pay for birth-control for some
people if they want it. Maybe we can make an exception for a few
individuals that walk amongst us. :0)"
It should be mandatory for some people, whether they want it or not. If you're on the government dole, norplant for women, and men get whatever the treatment is for men. No exceptions! Then, once you stand on your own, the restrictions get removed.
I've never seen one, but...
July 19, 2008 - 06:10 ET by sarcasmoDoes anyone know if Japan has any female Sumo wrestlers? There may be career-hope after all!! ;)
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Or they might try
July 19, 2008 - 06:50 ET by motherbeltOr they might try this.
Edit: I should have used the <sarc>
That's a prediction; not a suggestion.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
American poverty.
July 19, 2008 - 06:16 ET by Red JeepBeing poor here sure is different than being poor in Africa. If the Nunez family were poor in Africa they at least wouldn’t have a weight problem and its associated illnesses.
Many businesses have
July 19, 2008 - 07:33 ET by MidAmericaMany businesses have one major problem. They can't get good qualified help. Many businesses fail because of this. There's plenty of people available but they don't have job skills. They don't know how to talk, dress or commit themselves to going to work everyday and on time. Giving these people welfare just perpetuates the problem and if you give extra for babies you create the next generation career welfare recipients.
In my work I interact with business owners and the 'poor unemployed'. If you have not been in the homes of some of these people you would not believe the absolute trash and filth these people are willing to live in. They have zero ambition and just want to live their lives with no schedules and no responsibilities.
Tyson
July 19, 2008 - 07:55 ET by River CityWorkers are imported to our area from the inner-city of Chicago to work at Tyson. The company pays for them to live in a hotel for a couple months and also provides them transportation to work and back for the duration of their employment. This has resulted in family members and friends relocating to our area and joining the welfare roles. We have also see an increase in the type of crime associated with the inner-city in our community of 25,000. Tyson apparently began this program to avoid illegal/undocumented workers.
"Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind." Ayn Rand
Even though there is no meat
July 19, 2008 - 07:52 ET by cocodrieEven though there is no meat being eaten, there must be an extremely large caloric intake going on. A long walk to work might be a good thing. It would exercise more than just their elbows.
You got that right! And
July 19, 2008 - 08:10 ET by RukusYou got that right! And this is really a bad thing to say, but, the one in the red shirt looks like she has four "puppies"! Sorry everyone, I couldn't help it! How long will my ban last? That was bad. But I will pay for the napkins to clean the coffee off any monitors.
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
poor CHOICES - paging Oprah
July 19, 2008 - 11:45 ET by mom_roxI can't speak to Ms. Nunez's depression (assuming clinical?) and disability, but she has certainly made other poor CHOICES. She chose to drop out of high school, and unless she were raped, she chose to risk being pregnant, knowing she was ill-equipped to provide for her child. (As others noted, there is no mention of the father.)
While she was 'forced' to give up ice cream, she and her daughter are choosing to eat potatoes and pasta instead of healthier choices. Heck, a side salad and a yogurt parfait (which contains fruits) are each $1 at McDonald's.
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1944
"STOP DIETING AND START LIVING"
July 19, 2008 - 08:06 ET by SquonkamaticYou seriously have to wonder what the hell the idiots working at NPR were thinking when they prepared this story for their website. On the radio with no visual aids is one thing (did the reporter work in that the two unfortunates in question both weight about 375lbs?) but as prepared on the website we have a number of very bizarre problems with the presentation here. Many are coincidences but still, SOMEONE on their staff should have preview-viewed the story at posting time and said "Uhhh, guys, is this a joke?"
First the visual evidence of the two laughably obese individuals who had to cut ice cream from their budget. They look like the kinds who don't just sit around the house, they sit around the house. Second, the picture is equipped with a click feature that says ENLARGE for a full sized view of their corpulence . Next, we have the banner ad next to the story that says STOP DIETING AND START LIVING, something these two wilderbeasts have apparently taken to heart. The text of the article goes to great pains to point out that the 40 year old woman in question has never worked a paying job for a day in her life, and is clearly welching off the feds by claiming to be disabled due to "depression". Finally we have the ridicule and disbelief that the entire world is now directing at not only NPR for thinking this would tug at our heartstrings, but the two fat ladies in question, who are now for all time to come documented as not just being absurdly fat, but lazy, ignorant, whiney slobs who have managed to mainatin their girth even on government handouts -- a feat that is hard to reckon in the mind's eye. How have they managed to remain so absurdly obese without a car? All sorts of questions are being raised while the supposed victimology on display is everyone's worst stereotype for the problems with the entitlement mindset. All we need to top it off is a description of the widescreen flat panel TV set that takes up most of their living room wall space.
Did NPR mean to make these two the laughing stock of the entire civilized world?? I doubt it, but that's what has happened, and I kind of feel sorry for the Nunez' but am having a really difficult time making myself stop laughing. It was funny yesterday afternoon, it's still funny this morning, and it will continue to be funny until NPR comes to their senses and deletes it from the internet. Which they won't do because they are liberals and these two big fat mooching welches are victims. Of just what I cannot fathom, though, because I am not a liberal.
Job(s)
July 19, 2008 - 08:02 ET by River CityWhy couldn't the daughter keep any of the several jobs she has possessed? My experience as an HR manager tells me she has found other things more important than work and ends up terminated because she didn't show up. Anyone who works on the people end of business deals with borderline people. I say borderline because they are on the border of employment and unemployment. Some folks work when it fits into their schedule and don't when it doesn't. Most HR people could write a book full of things people tell us about why they couldn't come to work.
"Money is the scourge of the men who attempt to reverse the law of causality--the men who seek to replace the mind by seizing the products of the mind." Ayn Rand
Things Are Tough All Over
July 19, 2008 - 08:07 ET by Gordon SchumwayScoop,
You're lucky to get unemployment compensation. I'm self-employed, so when I'm out of work I cannot get it... even with the few projects I worked where I was paid on a W2... I don't have enough eliglble quarters to be paid UC. I hustle to get the next work which always ends up being hundreds of miles from home. You do what must be done to earn income.
I've lived and worked in Ohio. Meat and ice cream ARE expensive.
Those two gals in the NPR story don't look as if they've missed a meal.
Gordo
Melmac
Right now, I'm lucky
July 19, 2008 - 21:02 ET by ScoopPC11I'm in a position that my former employer (the one that fired me) has put in an appeal on my claim, saying I was willfully trying to lose my job or doing it bad. Which I wasn't -- I was doing a bad job, but I chalked that up more to their training than anything else, so it wasn't on purpose. I just wasn't suited to it. But the claims representative told me that I had a good case because it didn't look like they followed their own procedures in firing me. I had to put in a call to the Appeals office this week to ask if a date had been set for the hearing, and to let them know that I'm getting closer to my due date.
Hubby and I talked about going on WIC and food stamps until I was able to get something for a job, but I think my hubby makes too much money right now for me to think about WIC, and I still have to get the paperwork gathered together for food stamps. Right now we aren't absolutely struggling, but it's getting rather tight. Thank god for baby showers and yard sales, or else we wouldn't have half the stuff we got for the baby.
You're welcome
July 19, 2008 - 21:21 ET by amberI think what you are doing is disrespectful. Unemployment and food stamps when your husband is earning a decent living. WIC has very high limits on income.
I am saying this as a former single mother, jobless, college student, who accepted WIC for a year, did not receive any assistance other than loans and grants and I even rejected the $2k reward for my irresponsible behavior the university was trying to force me to take. My child care was $700 a month and I did not get child support either.
Maybe I am wrong, I hope I am. I know everyone needs a helping hand at one time or another.
If I do not respond tonight, I will tomorrow.
"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else." --despair.com
Again, any assistance we
July 20, 2008 - 06:42 ET by ScoopPC11Again, any assistance we would take would not be forever, which is the point of assistance -- it shouldn't be forever. My plan is to get another job after the baby is born, and I'm also taking a temporary hiatus from school until March.
Although hubby has a job, it's still not enough to be able to afford the house we just bought in September on just his salary. If it was, I would just be a stay at home mom after the baby is born who goes to grad school at night and not worry about getting another job until after grad school is done. We had thought that I would at least be staying at my job until I got out of school when we bought the place, but it didn't happen that way. (Believe me, we made many budgets to make sure we could afford to do this before we did it) And we did need a bigger place -- his two kids are with us on the weekends, and having them in one bedroom was no longer an option since they are now 14 and 10 (boy and girl -- NH laws state that siblings of a different sex have to have their own rooms by a certain age).
And like I said before in a previous post, moving out of state to find a job is not an option at the moment because of his two kids.
For the time being, I got my most recent refund from school, which should help us out for extra money for awhile. But I won't be getting refunds again until March when I go back to school, so we have to pull the purse strings tighter, which I know is going to be hard with a new baby on the way.
Wow!
July 20, 2008 - 07:21 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsNH laws state that siblings of a different sex have to have their own rooms by a certain age
Wow, I am stunned by that fact but I guess I shouldn't be. Talk about taking away ones rights! That is a real 'nanny-state' law if ever I saw one. The left just can't allow people to rely on common sense.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
A 10 and 14 yo of different
July 20, 2008 - 07:49 ET by amberA 10 and 14 yo of different sexes should not share the same room anyways. If there are only 2 bedrooms, put up a wall, sleep in the LR with your spouse, sleep in the dining room, whatever. Apparently the only option was to buy a home they can not afford....oh and by the way, they are both going back to college (it appears they are even going back at the same time!), that will help them pay the bills they can't pay now and live in a new house! Don't say they can pay their bills because they have to be on unemployment and food stamps.
"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else." --despair.com
Leach
July 20, 2008 - 07:44 ET by amberI am still not buying. I think you are a leach, I could be wrong. First you say you were bad at your job, blame it on someone else, and still want to force the people to keep you on. They should have let you go, you can't cut it, find something you can do, do not take a business or a department down because you do not know what you are doing. Second, so, because you were irresponsible in your purchase of a home, I should pay for your family to eat? I have a 100 year old house with a rotten sill plate, 3 bedrooms (5 people) and one falling apart bathroom, there was a colony of bats living in the attic and now their compost is fermenting up there, I have severe lung problems and my furnace blows soot, I stay home and take care of the kids and teach them. We do not have the money to fix our home to a healthy level. Maybe I should get a crap job, get fired and start drawing unemployment and then I can get food stamps. Meanwhile, there are people who have a much greater need, but screw them, I don't want to give up my lifestyle. Sorry, I know people like you, some are family. They can't make their house payment and run around begging for money because it is for the kids while the kids go to band camp 800 miles away, Christmas comes around and the gifts are not lacking. Give me a break. I was skeptical of you from your first post. You were layed off and then fired because you could not do the job. Again, it disgusts me you are trying to force an employer to pay for rightfully fireing you and in the same breath you say your husband makes too much to qualify for WIC so you are going on food stamps and you and your husband are both going back to college? You just gave me and my family a big FU. Leach. I take it very personally when people reach into my pocket and take money from my children that my husband risked his life to earn. You certainly are not a conservative.
"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else." --despair.com
I'm answering both responses, so this will be long.
July 20, 2008 - 09:13 ET by ScoopPC11A 10 and 14 yo of
different sexes should not share the same room anyways. If there are only
2 bedrooms, put up a wall, sleep in the LR with your spouse, sleep in the
dining room, whatever. Apparently the only option was to buy a home they
can not afford.
At the time we bought the house, we COULD afford it. Like I
said, we budgeted beforehand to make sure we could when I was working. It was
just circumstances beyond our control that are forcing us into the crunch we
are in now.
And dividing the bedroom was not an option. They were
already sleeping in bunk beds that were taking up the whole room. We weren’t
going to start giving them our bedroom for us to sleep in the living room or
dining room when they are only here on weekends. Our other option was to add
another bedroom on to the mobile home if the park would let us and give his son
or daughter the master bedroom.
...oh and by the way,
they are both going back to college (it appears they are even going back at the
same time!), that will help them pay the bills they can't pay now and live in a
new house! Don't say they can pay their bills because they have to be on unemployment
and food stamps.
We are not going back at the “same time.” Why are you criticizing us for choices that we
are making in order to IMPROVE our situation???
God, you assume SO much about us. I started first when I had my job, and
hubby is going back as soon as he gets some major projects that need to get
done around the house. I’m also looking for scholarships so we don’t have to
pay as much back, also. So by the time
he goes back I will most likely be further along and getting ready to graduate.
I’m taking time off from school for the baby.
I am still not
buying. I think you are a leach, I could be wrong.
And you are, because you are making a hell of a lot of assumptions about me and my husband.
First you say you were
bad at your job, blame it on someone else, and still want to force the people
to keep you on. They should have let you go, you can't cut it, find
something you can do, do not take a business or a department down because you
do not know what you are doing.
The first job I was very good at, but right now if you work
in the newspaper business, your job isn’t safe. This second job I thought I could do, and it
turned out that they wanted more from me that they were willing to train me
with. When an employer threatens to fire
you while you are STILL IN TRAINING for minor mistakes and making you extremely
nervous, it takes you off your game a little bit. I’ve only been fired from
three jobs in my life, twice for not being suited for the position, once
because I was 16 and stupid. Before they fired me, I was in the process of
looking for another job. My MO is not to get fired from a job and immediately
go on government assistance – I prefer to find another job before leaving the
first one because I don't want to be relying on the government. The only reason I’m not seriously looking for another job right now
is because it’s very, very obvious that I’m not going to be around for too much
longer because the baby is going to be coming soon, and I don’t want to screw
any future employers over if they know that I’m only going to be around for a
month or so.
Second, so, because
you were irresponsible in your purchase of a home, I should pay for your family
to eat…Maybe I should get a crap job, get fired and start drawing unemployment
and then I can get food stamps. Meanwhile, there are people who have a
much greater need, but screw them, I don't want to give up my lifestyle.
We were not irresponsible in the purchase of our house – we bought
a foreclosed house at a really good price with money that was left to us by my
father after he died. Our mortgage payment is not terribly high because of
that, but it’s high enough that we have to think of ways to save money and
still be able to eat, especially with the fact that I have gestational diabetes
and have to make sure there is some protein in my diet or else my blood sugar
goes all over the place. I didn’t plan
on getting laid off, and I didn’t plan on getting fired. My intention was to
stay at the job until I found another one, regardless of how crappily they
treated me, because I’m not the type of person to try to get fired.
Food stamps are an option, and you seem to be forgetting the
part where I said they would be “temporary” if I took that route. They are not
a definite at this point. Unemployment only pays me $207 a week, that’s it,
regardless of how many kids I have. And it only lasts 27 weeks. And I have to be actively looking for a job
in the meantime while I am on unemployment (although in my claim I wrote that I was willing and able to work, but realized that I wouldn't find a job in the next few months because it was getting painfully obvious that I'm pregnant). I’m not on welfare, where people
can live off the teat of the government forever. It truly is temporary.
Sorry, I know people
like you...
No, you don't. Because you don't know me.
...some are family. They can't make their house payment and run
around begging for money because it is for the kids while the kids go to band
camp 800 miles away, Christmas comes around and the gifts are not
lacking. Give me a break.
You don’t know me at all. We pay for any incidentals that we
have for the kids. They just don’t get as much as some kids because of lack of
money. When we do go on big trips, it’s usually with my mother-in-law, who will
pay for the hotel/entrance fee. We don’t ask her to do this, she just does it
and makes it a regular thing to take us on a big trip with her every summer (we
opted not to do that this year just because of the baby coming). And we’ve
never asked anyone for money to help us out.
We try to make do with what we have. My mother has helped out with
buying some baby stuff, but that’s more because it’s her grandchild, not because
we’ve asked her to do so. She does the same thing for my brother and
sister-in-law.
I was skeptical of you
from your first post. You were layed off and then fired because you could
not do the job. Again, it disgusts me you are trying to force an employer
to pay for rightfully fireing you and in the same breath you say your husband
makes too much to qualify for WIC so you are going on food stamps and you and
your husband are both going back to college? You just gave me and my
family a big FU. Leach.
No, I believe I said I was going to look further into food stamps
and see if we qualified. I am usually too prideful to ask for handouts willy
nilly (get that from my father), but at this point we are looking into the
options that we have. I pay my taxes, too, and I don't like it when people go on welfare just because they don't want to work.
My former employers might have “rightfully fired me,” but
when I filed my paperwork I said I was fired because I wasn’t suited to the job,
which was the absolute truth. They said the same thing, that I was not suited
to the position. It’s only AFTER unemployment approved the claim that they
started to challenge it and started saying I was “willful” in my behavior, and
so I am challenging them because it could ruin my own personal reputation with
a future employer. Not everyone is
suited to every job, and like I said I was at my job before that for almost
three years before I was laid off.
As it is, I’ll most likely be looking for a job that isn’t
in the newspaper business because, quite frankly, it’s dying. If I can find
another job in writing, I’ll be more than happy to take it. But I also know
that where I am, it’s not the easiest thing to do. So I will be looking into
retail jobs after my son is born. Retail jobs are still jobs, and it will still
bring some money in.
After this comment you can
July 20, 2008 - 09:28 ET by amberAfter this comment you can have the last one.
Anyone who goes on government assistance better be doing everything they can to stay off it out of respect for those people who are supporting you. I could care less if you both go to college at the same time if you are NOT taking a hand out, but you are, so none of you should be going. You are also still trying to get back at your former employer when you admit you could not do the job. Another thing very suspect to me, you were fired 3 times! 3 times!!! I have never been fired, neither has my husband. See, I understand the primary rule of employment, your only job is to make your boss look good, that is it, do your job, do it right and if you can not do it, then find another, do not make your boss suffer for your lack in that area. But no, you are suing. I am glad I do not know you even though you seem very comfortable to take money from me and everyone here. See, I am not supposed to have sympathy for the two women from this article, but I am for you? Nope, sorry. You can not convince me otherwise. I think you are a prime example of someone who needs to buck up and not take the money from hard working, many struggling, Americans. Apparently you think you are more deserving of my money than I am.
I am not against welfare and government assistance, but it must be the last option. I enjoy helping people out who need it and I do it often, but I do not enjoy people picking my pocket.
I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.
Anyone who goes on
July 20, 2008 - 10:16 ET by ScoopPC11Anyone who goes on government assistance better be doing everything
they can to stay off it out of respect for those people who are
supporting you. I could care less if you both go to college at the
same time if you are NOT taking a hand out, but you are, so none of you should be going.
Then we end up in this vicious cycle. If I don't go back to school, then I can't get a decent job. And I can't get a decent job unless I go back to school. See how it works?
Try living in New Hampshire as a "youngish" person in a state where the average age of the citizens is rising because more retiress are moving here. Then tell me that not going back to college for a higher degree is an option. The only "assistance" we are taking is unemployment, and that doesn't last all that long. We have to explore all of our options. And everyone commenting keeps forgetting that I keep saying it would be TEMPORARY. Like a few months at the most.
The one thing I haven't mentioned, which I feel the need to mention now since people are assuming SO much about us, is that my mother-in-law offered to help my husband out with school. She offered, he didn't ask her to. So he's taking advantage of the offer. His degree is going to take longer than mine since he'll be going for his Bachelors.
Another thing very suspect to me, you were fired 3 times! 3 times!!!
I have never been fired, neither has my husband. See, I understand the
primary rule of employment, your only job is to make your boss look
good, that is it, do your job, do it right and if you can not do it,
then find another, do not make your boss suffer for your lack in that
area. But no, you are suing.
I'm not suing anyone, and I don't know where you got the impression that I was. Part of how the unemployment system works is that if I had an issue with getting my claim denied, I can appeal the decision of the board. If my former employer has an issue with the idea of me getting my claim approved, they can appeal the decision. As far as I know, unless they bring in their lawyers, none are involved.
And this is three times over a period of, what, 18 years? Like I said, the first time I was 16 and stupid. Then I didn't get fired again until I took a job that was way over my head, and despite me doing the best job possible I was fired. Same situation with this job. People just aren't suited to certain jobs. I've managed to keep most of the jobs that I've had because I am the type of employee that anyone would kill for -- I arrive on time (mostly earlier), I am a very hard worker, and only left to go to greener pastures (with the exception of the newspaper job that I was laid off from).
My issue with my former employer has nothing to do with my suitability for the job. I already know that I'm not suitable, and I don't want that job back. It's more a procedural thing in regards to what they are claiming happened as to what actually happened. Sometimes, employers don't follow their own procedures and don't give proper training to new people. I was thrown into a situation within the first week that I wasn't properly ready for, and despite attempts to try to make the most of it and remember all the little things about the job (even writing notes to myself to remember to do certain things), I had supervisors getting on my case for every little mistake and making me more nervous in doing the job because I was so afraid to make any mistake, even though I was still very much in the training stage. When they told me that if I made another big mistake that I would be fired that I started looking for another job because I knew at that point that I wasn't suited for it. They fired me before I could find anything else.
I am glad I do not know you even though you seem very comfortable to take money from me and everyone here.
I am not happy about it, and I don't know why you would think that I would be. I would rather have a job and earn my own money. This is the one and only time I've ever been on unemployment benefits. But the reality is, would you hire a woman who looks like she's about ready to have something burst out of her belly within the next month or so? I am signed up with a temporary agency, but they haven't found anything for me yet. I'm hoping they do. I'll be more active in looking for something permanent after the baby gets here.
And before you get on my case about getting pregnant -- shut up. Hubby and I tried for a year and a half for this one. I didn't want to wait too long because I knew that it would be harder to conceive if I waited any longer (I'm 34 now), and I had a job when we finally conceived my son after a year and a half of trying. We budgeted him in there, also, before we moved.
hey scoop
July 20, 2008 - 11:36 ET by candanceI can understand where Amber is coming from because there are so many people who take advantage of it. My parents raised me on welfare for 15 years because my dad was too lazy to work and thought the government owed it to him. I grew up hearing Reagan is a jerk, Republicans are evil, rich tycoons control everything in America.
Ever since I've been converted to the right I have a strong disdain for government assistance. My husband and I lived in a ratty motel eating hamburger helper so he could finish college. Going out to dinner on a Friday night was McDonald's. I'm not tell you this to brag or boast - it's just my story.
But I also understand that situations can be complicated so I'll try not to judge you. I don't expect everyone to do what I did, especially with kids around. As long as you have plans to move beyond that and are acting in good faith, I don't begrudge helping you for a while.
That's the plan. :) It
July 20, 2008 - 12:49 ET by ScoopPC11That's the plan. :) It isn't meant to be forever, and I don't plan for it to be forever. The whole reason I went back to college was because I wanted to make more money than I was making at the time -- I'm studying to be an English teacher, which, if you knew how much I got paid as a reporter, was pennies compared to what teaching paid.
My dad was too proud to even think about government assistance. He was a huge fan of Reagan. We jokingly called him "Pepre Reagan" around the house growing up.
Once I have the baby, I'm not going to be above taking some sort of retail job if I have to, especially if they are looking for qualified people to do the job. But if I knew then what I know now, my husband and I would have used the money from my dad's life insurance to put an addition onto our mobile home and stayed there awhile longer, or gone to another park that offered three bedroom mobile homes.
I still disagree with you,
July 20, 2008 - 18:44 ET by amberI still disagree with you, I still think it is wrong and I would never criticize you for being pregnant, children are a gift whether planned or unplanned. People do not have to wait until they make 6 figures and have a nice house to have kids.
I will ulimately forget this thread, though. I am not going to follow you around and be mean to you, so don't worry. We both disagree and my mind is not going to be changed on this one. Please do not feel pain by what I said. You know how I feel, I know how you feel. We just disagree.
I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they’d never expect it.
Yeah, but you know where
July 20, 2008 - 20:25 ET by ScoopPC11Yeah, but you know where the whole pregnancy thing usually leads -- "If you couldn't afford it, why have the kid?" "Why didn't you get an abortion?" That kind of thing. I was covering all my bases.
I'm not the type to take things personally. But it was just starting to get frustrating that someone who doesn't know me or my situation would assume that I wanted to get handouts from the government. And really, in the case of unemployment, it's not a handout from the government -- it's what I've already paid into the system through my payroll taxes as insurance, and there are conditions put on it in order for me to receive it. So in a sense I'm getting my own money paid back to me, and I have to earn it.
Like I kept reiterating, if we did take food stamps (it's an option I'm looking into, not saying that it's going to happen), it would only be temporary, and it was just something that my husband and I discussed at one point. I would be using the system for it's intended use -- to help us out until I had a job again. I've never gone on assistance in the past, and never wanted it to reach that point. I've been around enough welfare cases in my own day to know that it's not the type of person I want to become.
The problem with welfare is that with the way it's set up they encourage you to stay on welfare. If you get a job, you lose it, so why bother? With unemployment, they encourage you to get a full time permanent job. It doesn't reward you on how many kids you have -- it goes by your last salary. And there are several conditions put on receiving it -- you can get waivers in regards to school or temporary disability, but other than that you have to be looking for a full-time job. If you find a part-time job, you can still get paid unemployment, but it just won't be as much because it will be based on what you made that week.
Unemployment benefits are set up so you don't want to be on it for too long. Welfare is set up so that you don't want to get off of it. It's that simple.
Last I knew the employer
July 20, 2008 - 20:42 ET by bigtimerLast I knew the employer pays at least half the unemployment checks you receive too...if not more.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
You're probably right. Like
July 21, 2008 - 04:05 ET by ScoopPC11You're probably right. Like I said, this is the first time that I've been on unemployment, so I'm still learning all the little nuances of how it works.
While I faithfully read
July 19, 2008 - 08:13 ET by bamananaWhile I faithfully read Newsbusters several time daily, I rarely post, so I mean no disrespect to anyone. I just felt the need to say something about depression, a condition I know more about than I ever wanted to.
In Dec. 2000, my son, and only child, was murdered by his wife and her boyfriend, who beat him to death with a baseball bat and a heavy duty flashlight leaving my grandson, who was 2yo at the time a virtual orphan. This preceded a long court battle for custody of my grandson. Five days after his 3rd birthday, we brought home a little boy who wanted nothing to do with me. This continued for what seemed forever at the time. In August 2001, my mother died unexpectedly. She was always my biggest cheerleader, and my safe place to go. For the next 2 1/2 years we were in and out of court and dealing with a toddler who had gone from rejecting me to being afraid to leave our sides. After all, his mom and dad just never came home. Who's to say Nana and Papaw wouldn't do the same. I went through all this while trying to work. I made it 1 1/2 years, at which time I had a complete break down. Since that time I have been on disability for depression and PTSD. You should also know I've been in counseling since Jan. 2001 trying to learn how to get to the point when my depression doesn't run my life, but I do. I don't ordinarily tell people all this, but without knowing the backgroundI don't think I can make my point.
While the amount of SS this woman receives sounds more in line with the survivor's benefit my grandson receives, I can tell you if she is on her own disability benefit, it is neither easy to get, nor continue to receive, benefits. Periodically I have to see a SS appointed psychiatrist for him to see if I still qualify for benefits. The last time was Dec 2007.
Please understand, I am in no way defending this woman. While I will agree 17 years does seem excessive, I never expected mine to last as long as it has. For one to be "suffering" from depression, one doesn't have to be depressed all the time. That doesn't mean depression won't have any impact on your ability to work. I have been fine for weeks at a time. Then, for whatever reason, it strikes and I will go weeks without leaving my home. I would like nothing better than to get back to being a productive member of society rather than feel the way I do a lot of the time.
I apologize for the length of this post. One of the reasons I like this site is the intelligence of the disagreements from both sides of the aisle so I would rather read and learn. However, this is a subject of which I am way too familiar.
Bamanana
July 19, 2008 - 08:50 ET by misterbillNana--
You have seen death, sadness and strife, yet you moved forward to protect and nurture your blood, your family. Most people will not go through what you have. I can understand the bouts of depression and their impact on you. Your grandson would be 9 or 10 years old now. It sounds as though he has found a comfort level in a home that has love for him. Please accept my compliments on what you have done.
Hold your head high, God will look you in the eye and carry you forward. I pray you have seen the worst and that each day brings a new ray of love and hope to you. You are one of the folks that the SS program was created for. The money you collect for your grandson is certainly not begrudged by me or, I am sure, most folks. That is why the program is there.
You should not be depressed, you should be proud!
Misterbill--- a man called Pa!
Bamanana...
July 19, 2008 - 10:55 ET by rsb1It is true that disability benefits are hard to get or keep under certain circumstances - especially if you are educated and have worked before. And SS is not really sure that PTSD is "serious" or "long-lasting", so they tend to check more. (I have personal experience there, too. Hang in there, you are not alone. Treasure the good days, and they will grow. And your grandson needs you more than an employer does, and he needs you now. Employers can wait.)
But part of the determination that SS makes for Supplemental Security Income for Disability, which is what the story seems to be describing, includes whether the person is "employable". In other words, part of the mother's determination of eligibility for SSID probably includes the report that she never had a degree and has not worked in 17 years. That by itself is a major factor in determining whether her "disability" - and benefits - remains. So it becomes reinforcing - she is now "disabled" because she has not worked and has no training - and the original car accident may or may not actually be a significant factor now.
Bamanana, the fact that you want to do something makes you entirely different from the woman in the story. You will go forward when you are able - and when your grandson can manage better. This story is about someone who assumes she will never be able, nor will her daughter, and that the "government" owes them more.
Put it this way - when your grandson is 19, do you think you will be making excuses for him? Or watching him fly?
Seriously, is this story a
July 19, 2008 - 08:22 ET by gopsteveSeriously, is this story a joke, not only does the picture make it seem so, but the facts (no job, no ambition for education, welfare) do not make one feel bad, and I am sure that NPR wants you to feel bad.
It has to be a joke.
bama, I think the point to
July 19, 2008 - 08:25 ET by gopstevebama, I think the point to be made here is that you kept going and did what you had to do, despite the obstacles. This woman seems to have just given up for a situation far, far less dire than yours.
Keep on going!
Welfare Swim Club
July 19, 2008 - 08:34 ET by Copperhead RidgeBarry Hussein always sermonizes about the "divide" in America and lays the problem at the feet of conservatives. Welfare is the great divider and breeds more resentment in this nation than any other thing in this nation. It's not race. It's not language. It's not socio-economic status. It's welfare.
People who work and pay taxes see where their money goes, and it angers them. It doesn't matter what percentage of a state or federal budget goes to welfare programs because what working folks see is a class of Americans who walk around with their hands out. I know it makes me mad.
I know a local couple who are completely welfare dependent. They've not taken any steps to stop having children and neither have the ambition to hold a steady job. One of the pair has a college degree. My wife and I used to help them out of our own pockets because we believe in helping people we just don't believe it should be done through the force of government.
Like I stated. We used to help them. When they started receiving a certain type of disability check for one of their children, the wife quit her job. A few days later they were wanting us to put gas in their car. Then, she comes to us bragging about getting a new tattoo.
The gravy train running from our door ended. I don't subsidize tattoos. They had some other financial problems -- general bad luck things that all of us deal with from time-to-time. In the middle of that we discovered that they bought a membership to a swim club.
When I explained to the young man that they would get nothing from us in the future he had the nerve to say that I was "greedy."
Welfare has such a numbing effect on its recipients. It subsidizes the drug culture and subsidizes abject ignorance, not to mention complete dependence upon the government. If ignorance and dependence are the aims of this nation's welfare system, then it has been a smashing success. I think they could hang a big "Mission Accomplished" banner on Health and Human Services building in Washington.
I could go on and on about this issue. I spent several years working in some of the most impoverished parts of one of the poorest states in this nation. It steeled my conservatism. It's all too much to explain in a post in this forum, but I saw -- first hand -- the carnage of the Great Society.
Copperhead, while there are
July 19, 2008 - 08:40 ET by gopsteveCopperhead, while there are the truly needy, it does gall me to hear stories like this. When I think of my hard earned money going to people like that, it's truly annoying.
So, why aren't large
July 19, 2008 - 09:02 ET by motherbeltSo, why aren't large numbers of Americans moving west? Because they've
been conditioned to imagine that if they can't easily find a job where
they are at, their government will hand them everything for "free."
This is the most infuriating part.
We moved for 20 years while my husband was in the AF, and then moved two more times after that for my husband to take better positions.
I want a job, I want a good job, and I want it here!!
Sheesh!
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Warner--
July 19, 2008 - 09:15 ET by misterbillI don't know if you agree, but, if the government is going to supply anything to these people, how about a move ticket to a place where there is employment? The $739 in aid she receives is an amount she could earn in about two weeks if she moved down to work in the Crider plant or to Pottsville.
I may be wrong, but welfare money to move people to jobs to get off welfare seems well spent to me. (Esp. if there is a payback program.)
PS Montana has a 2% unemployment rate---
sounds good
July 19, 2008 - 09:21 ET by Warner Todd HustonSounds good to me! If we have to give them anything, why NOT a ticket to where the jobs are?
Absolutely right...
July 19, 2008 - 10:59 ET by ontheright...teach them to fish, don't just give the fish.
They don't want to
July 19, 2008 - 13:53 ET by MidAmericaThey don't want to fish. They will live on whatever meager means they can as long as they don't have to fish.
This is not an education problem. It's an attitude problem. They will sleep in the streets and eat out of dumpsters rather than live like you and me.
If you refuse to take care of yourself the government will provide basic shelter, food and medical. For these people if getting more means a job and hygiene then they don't want more.
Of course it's an attitude
July 19, 2008 - 14:34 ET by motherbeltOf course it's an attitude problem
The money quote in the story about the Nunez group is this:
Nunez and most of her siblings and their spouses are unemployed and rely on government assistance and food stamps. (emphasis added)
That doesn't happen by accident.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Of course it's an attitude
July 19, 2008 - 14:35 ET by motherbeltOf course it's an attitude problem
The money quote in the story is this:
Nunez and most of her siblings and their spouses are unemployed and rely on government assistance and food stamps. (emphasis added)
That doesn't happen by accident.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Would not hire them as is
July 19, 2008 - 11:10 ET by amberIf I were hiring, I would not hire them as is. I would want active go getters, excited about their job and high energy, at least to start and they do not look healthy to me. They would move slow and probably be home sick a lot. If they are getting government aid there should be requirments
1. you need to work for it, I don't care if it is picking up trash on the highway 8 hours a day or cleaning restrooms at way side rests
2. you need to get healthy, they are probably receiving free medical, so they should get the lap band, and go to a counselor to help them work through their anti work issues and their depression and have a set scheduled work out that is directly tied to funding along with a nutritionist who will teach them how to cook and eat
3. they shoud be attending mandatory classes on how to be a good employee and how to interview
In 6 months, they should be 120 lbs lighter and on their way to a healthier life, they could get a new outfit for interviews and off they go. It may be expensive at first, but it is a lot cheaper than 17 years plus of welfare and food stamps.
"Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else." --despair.com
exactly Amber
July 19, 2008 - 11:34 ET by candanceWhere I work now you see this played out on a daily basis. People come in to apply for work because they're required to make a show of looking for a job - but you can tell they're only doing it for show.
They walk up to me, lean on the counter, ask for an application without even smiling. When they talk to a manager they act quite difficult - only want certain hours, can't promise to show up dependably, expect a job as a dishwasher to pay 8 bucks an hour, etc. You can tell they're basically sabeutaging the interview.
When you have qualified, experienced, polite folks applying at the same time, you'd be stupid to take a chance on someone who can't even promise to show up.
this is how evil republicans keep the poor down
July 19, 2008 - 09:27 ET by lunaticcringeradioit's all republicans fault, she had a republican school teacher(yeah right) that didn't teach her anything, it was probably a republican who hit her 17 years ago, it was probably a republican doctor who didn't treat her right, it's probably a republican friend who refuses to drive her to a job interview where the manager is probably a republican. oh it's all republicans fault for keeping this woman poor. it's all a vast right wing conspiracy.
the government needs to come help subsidize the lifestyle i've been accustomed to, the lazy lifestyle, and 500 chicken wings a day, a gallon of ranch dressing, a gallon of cheddar cheese, and a half gallon of blue cheese, and don't bother with the veggie sticks they'll just get in the way. now gets otta da way of da tv, da view is on.
lunaticcringeradio
As a side note, will Ohio
July 19, 2008 - 10:07 ET by ckc1227As a side note, will Ohio ever figure out why jobs keep leaving that state?
"The ThyssenKrupp factory is moving to greener pastures, to greater opportunity, to a better, more lucrative environment.
One must wonder why don't the Nunez.' In fact, why aren't a large number of Americans moving to where the jobs are?"
Why would they? The one woman has never worked in her entire life, so clearly it's not something she's interested in. An abundance of jobs won't change that. And since the other woman can't keep a job, I'm guessing it's because she isn't too interested in working either. Most likely she learned that from her mom.
No, lack of jobs isn't the issue here. Cut off that free $800 a month, and I bet they would both have jobs in less than a month.
A small detail...
July 19, 2008 - 10:16 ET by rsb1There is another detail implied in the story that doesn't seem to have gotten much attention: $637.00 per month is the Supplemental Security Income for Disability - for ONE person. In my state, the maximum food stamp allotment for ONE person on SSID, provided there are sufficient housing expenses to use up most of the money, is $162.00 for ONE person (so I assume that her reported expenses aren't enough to get the full food stamp allotment and she is expected to use some of the cash for food).
But why are TWO people living on ONE person's allotment for disability?
I look at these folks and
July 19, 2008 - 10:16 ET by marvlI look at these folks and think about the energy crisis and its impact on food supplies and food prices. And I think, hmmmm... Soylent Green. They could sell those carcasses for a small fortune, then roll and bounce on over to the processing plant.
Sorry for the extreme sarcasm, but I sure am tired of "news" stories with violin music in the background. We should be hearing about positive stories of success. It would give the downtrodden losers like the Nunez family a good example to follow.
Incredible, I thought I had
July 19, 2008 - 10:26 ET by SnappyIncredible, I thought I had found a lost chapter from "Atlas Shrugged" while reading this article.
LOL
July 19, 2008 - 10:37 ET by Warner Todd HustonJust call me John Galt!
this is how evil republicans keep the poor down
July 19, 2008 - 10:29 ET by lunaticcringeradioit's all republicans fault, she had a republican school teacher(yeah right) that didn't teach her anything, it was probably a republican who hit her 17 years ago, it was probably a republican doctor who didn't treat her right, it's probably a republican friend who refuses to drive her to a job interview where the manager is probably a republican. oh it's all republicans fault for keeping this woman poor. it's all a vast right wing conspiracy.
the government needs to come help subsidize the lifestyle i've been accustomed to, the lazy lifestyle, and 500 chicken wings a day, a gallon of ranch dressing, a gallon of cheddar cheese, and a half gallon of blue cheese, and don't bother with the veggie sticks they'll just get in the way. now gets otta da way of da tv, da view is on.
lunaticcringeradio
Gives new meaning
July 19, 2008 - 10:39 ET by BlondeTo "living large".
Sheesh...who cares about these two lazy lard queens?
Our tax dollars at work, yeah, that's the ticket, let's elect Obama and these two will ride to their wonderful new $50 grand a year gig on a unicorn, surrounded by rainbows.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
And...
July 19, 2008 - 11:04 ET by ontheright...monkeys might fly out of my butt too...
To mention the obvious....
July 19, 2008 - 11:00 ET by GrannyGrump421. The accident that left Nunez too "depressed" and "disabled" to work was 17 years ago. She's 40 now. Which would have made her 23 when she had her accident. Since she dropped out of school, we can figure that she was available for employment since the age of 16. That gave her seven years between freeing up her time by leaving school and the dreadful accident to have found a job. Why the heck didn't she?
2. Neither of those women exactly looks as if she's starving to death.
happens all the time
July 19, 2008 - 11:19 ET by candanceI've personally known many people who were on government assistance who absolutely did not want to better themselves for fear of losing the money.
Polar Bears are an
July 19, 2008 - 11:36 ET by NL207Polar Bears are an endangered species, according to the government. Polar bears prefer food that is 70% fat. These two seem to qualify. So the liberals have an instant government solution to this problem that only costs the taxpayers two one-way tickets to the north pole.... but like most government solutions, this one has unintended harmful consequences ... it might harm the Polar Bears.
I Want to Know...
July 19, 2008 - 13:21 ET by GothampcDid these women get paid to be a part of this article?
Are their Social Security and food stamps reduced by the amount they made from being part of this story?
I don't understand why
July 19, 2008 - 14:07 ET by UphillI don't understand why there are no men mention. Those two pictured seem to have a whole lotta love to give.
Instead of giving them their full government check, wouldn't it be cheaper to hire someone to slap the food from their hands?
com'on now
July 19, 2008 - 23:51 ET by jaywlHey Uphill, I was sitting here eating my ice cream and strawberries when I came to your punch line. Came REAL close to spraying 'em all over my screen. You're right!
It appears the garment industry is
July 19, 2008 - 14:13 ET by JTPgoing like gangbusters.
"We're gonna need more fabric"!
The 2ND Amendment exists to secure the rest
OMG...talk about a nation
July 19, 2008 - 15:38 ET by bigtimerOMG...talk about a nation of snibbling whiners....
Give me a break...
I'm not even wasting time posting the obvious in all of this poor poor pitiful me lazy sob story..keep feeding you guts at the expense of us taxpayers out here...and continue to cry me a river.
those two fat slobs should go without food for at least three days, shrink their stomachs and go an a cabbage stew diet.
this is pathetically disgusting...we have a POS down the road the whines and moans constantly...he is as fat and lazy as these people..blames everyone else but his own pathetic self...complains to the local paper too...he has never held one single job or tried to get one in the 16 or more years that I have lived here...
People around these parts are sick of him, but feel sorry for his wife..her brains are fried from too many drugs when she lived in SF during the 60's/70's...
I am sick and tired of some people, people like thse examples have no pride anymore.
They don't even know how to spell the word.
It is embarrassing...
Dems/leftists have their dreams full-filled.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
The article concluded with the following...
July 19, 2008 - 17:29 ET by JacksonTyler"The rising cost of food means their money gets them about a third fewer bags of groceries — $100 used to buy about 12 bags of groceries, but now it's more like seven or eight. So they cut back on expensive items like meat, and they don't buy extras like ice cream anymore. Instead, they eat a lot of starches like potatoes and noodles."
That nearly made me fall from my chair :)
So, the "new" American nanny-state is to be filled with...
July 20, 2008 - 09:33 ET by R D Helm...fat-asses who couldn't (or didn't) graduate from high school.
I'm glad I am 44 years old. Hopefully, I will not live to see this country arrive at the place I believe it is heading:
Hell in a hand basket.
The truth is insensitive. - Neal Boortz
Cows of Bashaan
July 20, 2008 - 12:40 ET by selahgreeneThese two represent the ultimate result of extreme PC. And NPR has taken PC to the most bizarre extremes possible.
Gluttony and sloth used to be called just that - gluttony and sloth. But our society has removed God and His standards, and sin has become syndrome, pathetic selfishness is now something to pity.
PC is not 'political correctness'; it is Pathological Cowardice. It is the lack of spine (or heart) that is required to tell your children "no". It is the gutlessness that accepts a Texas county commissioner's declaration that the term "black hole" is racist. It is the mindless pack mentality that causes Americans to follow whatever trend the MSM have declared noble; and it is the spiritual rot that elevates victimhood to sainthood.
The "Cows of Bashaan" were the spoiled women of ancient Israel whose meek husbands fetched them whatever rich foods & drink Their Fatnesses demanded. In America, the dwindling class of actual workers & taxpayers has become the meek husbands, since our enlightened state of liberation has determined that marriage is not necessary.
We are so spoiled and fed by leisure pursuits, that we are ruled by the images in our media; and the weak, the cowardly, the sensualists have taken over that media. Whatever NPR, MSNBC, the NY Times, Homer Simpson, Britny Spears, Rosie O'Donnell, and the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton declare as "Good", we worship. America should replace the stars on her flag with the image of these two bloated parasites.
Living Large
July 30, 2008 - 11:11 ET by alicelouise58I have a question. Does NPR, "All Things Considered", have a Conservative mole on staff?
In this type of story they would have had a poster child of virtue. It would be a double amputee with multiple medical conditions(through NO fault of their own), using a manual wheelchair, 20 miles through the snow and other inclement weather everyday, to get to the minimum wage job on time. Our poor subject would have have been recently fired by a Republican boss for being 30 seconds late. You get the picture.
The reason I ask is that there have been some Liberals who thought this article was a hoax by an Onion type publication.