yahoo.com: $2 million Michigan lottery winner defends his continued use of food stamps

[Homercles82]

with many also losing their relationships with family and friends in the process.

Well, if I won the lottery I am certain I would lose some relationships also. I would get tired of people wanting money from me.

[SnyderShrugged]

If I ever win the lottery, I will do my best to do so autonomously (some states dont allow that though, gotta get the photo ops ya know). I'm not even sure my wife and kids would know, at least until I had it all invested and locked down.

Then I would spend the rest of my life enjoying the fun of starting a pay it forward program and giving anonymous donations to charities and people whom I personally deem deserving of getting it.

[twa]

All fair points - but I'm actually not that sad about that.

60 year old women who is sitting on a valuable house shouldn't collect food stamps. Reverse mortgage.

Farmer -yes -Sell some land, take out a loan.I support food stamps as a LAST resort. Not as easiest resort.

I agree...of course I like Zoony's suggestions as well

[Dan T.]

Then I would spend the rest of my life enjoying the fun of starting a pay it forward program and giving anonymous donations to charities and people whom I personally deem deserving of getting it.

You would start that right after your months-long binge of hookers and coke.

[mcsluggo]

the problem is that "welfare" is many things, as are welfare recipients. But in our heads we blend them all together into one mashed up soup...

there is what can be best viewed as a "bridge loan" for a productive person that is temporarily knocked down (mostly unemloyment insurance). YOu don't want people to have to mortgage their future to survive a temporary bump in the road. THese programs should have time limits... but should be less concerned with "are you really poor enough to need this...?" ... its insurance, not welfare.

Food stamps fall partly into the TOTAL welfare (assistance aimed at people that really have a long term self-sustainability problem ... say a mother of 4 whose husband ran off with a stripper?) but also sometimes bleeds into the short term assistance for people who have hit a temporary rough patch, but we fully expect to recover and "graduate" from food stamps soon. In general, i have no problem giving food stamps to people for a short time to help bridge a rough time WITHOUT them having to sell all their assets...

but then there are lottery winning sponges. this is obviously a pretty specific case... but in general there ARE going to be useless mooches that COULD get jobs but are content to just be slacker losers.

THe fact of the matter is there WILL be some of these sponges, you have to build programs to try to minimize this as much as possible, but also to realize that you probably can't completely eliminate it. BUT .... when looking at the program over all, what percentage of "loser mooch" is acceptable? is a program ok if 50% of recipients are long term disadvantaged (in some way that people in this thread would deem "acceptable" to recieve help) and 35% are short term recipients that will graduate soon, but this help really protects them well from a short-term horror, and finally 15% are useless sponges that make you want to kick in the nuts and yell "Get a job, LOSER"

what percentage of "welfare sponge" is acceptable? I get the feeling that for SOME here, the only objective is to completely eliminate sponging, even if you have to eliminate all "legitimate help".

[zoony]

I was told recently that a family with two children's food stamp payout is $800/month.

1- Is that true? Anyone know?

2- Gee, that seems like a lot of money. We don't even spend that I don't think.

[MattFancy]

I was told recently that a family with two children's food stamp payout is $800/month.

1- Is that true? Anyone know?

2- Gee, that seems like a lot of money. We don't even spend that I don't think.

$200/week on food? I guess its possible, but I agree that does seem like alot.

[capcrunch98]

I was in line at Safeway a few weeks ago, and a couple with their toddler son were in front of me paying with food stamps. The kid was wearing Ecko jeans and baby Air Jordan shoes (which he will probably grow out of in 3 months) and a nice shirt. When I got outside, the family was just getting into their car - a Chrysler 300, which couldn't have been more than a couple years old.

Obviously I'm working with very limited information here, but something just seemed a little off about the whole thing.

[pjfootballer]

I used to be a state worker in FL for food stamps and medicaid, and I know some states have a "lump sum" clause that would make you ineligible. I guess Michigan doesn't have that.

[terpskins10]

$200/week on food? I guess its possible, but I agree that does seem like alot.

Seven dollars per person a day is a lot? I guess it depends on groceries and such but I don't think it's THAT outlandish.

[styx491]

I was told recently that a family with two children's food stamp payout is $800/month.

1- Is that true? Anyone know?

2- Gee, that seems like a lot of money. We don't even spend that I don't think.

I worked with refugees for a year and yes you are correct. They got "debit cards" that were used for specific stores and had guidelines for what items they could buy (for example, they couldn't buy premade food items, only raw food items, so things like cooked rotisserie chicken from a grocery store or Chinese takeout were not allowed)

And yes, a bag of rice can last a month, and you can buy it for 15 dollars. Beans and raw veggies and pasta last a long time and are cheap as well. They had a LOT of fruit and uncooked items they were buying.

Also, the consumption of three small kids is way different than consumption of 2 adults. This family was a family of 5, but their cap was $800. They were going to be fine for a couple of months while they got adjusted to American life and ultimately the dad got a job to support the family. We also provided them with Medicaid (which lasted a couple of months to a year). The food stamps and SSI only lasted for around 3 months on average. The SSI was more for bills since they were brand new to the country and had no base income.

Some people got WAY too dependent on the welfare though and ended up as the stereotypical low SES dirty people with some sort of a criminal background. It was sad to see, but it was their own life choices. We just gave them the tools to succeed.

[grhqofb5]

All of you liberals should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed.....

[Predicto]

Seems like its the opposite to me; there are alot of assets that are much easier to audit then income. Things that have to go on title like homes, cars, boats, etc. as well as bank accounts that have to be tied to an individual (at least eventually, obviously there are business/organization accounts but the business/org has to have).

Since people can be paid in cash/other goods, it seems like its much easier to hide income. In addition, I've seen alot of small business owners write off expenses that are supposed to be for their business but are really for personal use, and theres really no audit trail.

Nope, because we don't rely on audits. We rely on reporting. People who pay you income report it to the IRS, so you have to pay taxes on it. It works because in the overwhelming majority of situations, employers don't have an incentive to hide income to you so that YOU can save money by not paying taxes. It isn't worth it to them. And it is very easy for the IRS to just tally it up.

With assets, there is every incentive to hide them and no incentive for anyone to report them, and a million ways to hide them, and it would take an enormous bureaucracy to run around trying to audit everything everyone owned.

[IONTOP]

Wait, so nobody has realized that he actually already PAID for his food stamps?

He probably had a big chunk of cash taken out for taxes on his $2 million, I'm pretty sure there's one or two of us that could justify "I already paid way more than they're giving me"

[Tweedr01]

I worked with refugees for a year and yes you are correct. They got "debit cards" that were used for specific stores and had guidelines for what items they could buy (for example, they couldn't buy premade food items, only raw food items, so things like cooked rotisserie chicken from a grocery store or Chinese takeout were not allowed)

And yes, a bag of rice can last a month, and you can buy it for 15 dollars. Beans and raw veggies and pasta last a long time and are cheap as well. They had a LOT of fruit and uncooked items they were buying.

Also, the consumption of three small kids is way different than consumption of 2 adults. This family was a family of 5, but their cap was $800. They were going to be fine for a couple of months while they got adjusted to American life and ultimately the dad got a job to support the family. We also provided them with Medicaid (which lasted a couple of months to a year). The food stamps and SSI only lasted for around 3 months on average. The SSI was more for bills since they were brand new to the country and had no base income.

Some people got WAY too dependent on the welfare though and ended up as the stereotypical low SES dirty people with some sort of a criminal background. It was sad to see, but it was their own life choices. We just gave them the tools to succeed.

yep, i currently do work with refugee processing, they come here with literally NOTHING.

it does make it easier though that the majority of refugees will shop at markets that are owned by people just like them, like halal markets, and those are VERY cheap to shop at!

[Koolblue13]

I don't really see a difference between his attitude and the attitude of a lot of people I have known, who go on unemployment and take their sweet ass time finding a job, because "they paid into it and might as well enjoy it for a while".

[grhqofb5]

I don't really see a difference between his attitude and the attitude of a lot of people I have known, who go on unemployment and take their sweet ass time finding a job, because "they paid into it and might as well enjoy it for a while".

I've actually never known a person on welfare or unemployment. Do the people you've known generally just have very little to begin with, i.e. living paycheck to paycheck?

[Koolblue13]

I've actually never known a person on welfare or unemployment. Do the people you've known generally just have very little to begin with, i.e. living paycheck to paycheck?

Nope. Most of the people I know had plenty. Usually more than I do. Coming from well payed corporate jobs, getting laid off and then milking it at the bar and day drinking.

[grhqofb5]

Nope. Most of the people I know had plenty. Usually more than I do. Coming from well payed corporate jobs, getting laid off and then milking it at the bar and day drinking.

You would think that they'd be worried about their mortgage payment, car payments, lifestyle expenses. Seems like a risky strategy.

[Koolblue13]

You would think that they'd be worried about their mortgage payment, car payments, lifestyle expenses. Seems like a risky strategy.

J&J and Bristol Myeres are really big around here, plus some other large corporations, so jobs come around pretty easy. If you get laid off, it's a free ride for 6 months to do as you please.

[stevenaa]

I was told recently that a family with two children's food stamp payout is $800/month.

1- Is that true? Anyone know?

2- Gee, that seems like a lot of money. We don't even spend that I don't think.

That is crazy. We're a family of 5. Big eaters. Don't spend near 800/ mnth. Good grief.

I'm am fully convinced that more than half of our wefare dollars are wasted on abuse.

Doing a quick tabulation in my head, I'd say our house hold expense for food,cleaning supplies, paper products, toiletries, pet supplies and an other consumables comes in at roughly 600/mnth.

[Predicto]

Where did this 200 a week figure come from? I jsut read this article that said that the maximum amount for a family of 5 was $129.50 a month only a couple of years ago.

http://www.kansascity.com/2008/03/26/547630/one-week-four-people-and-a-tight.html

A refrigerator cook most nights of the week, I tend to open the door, look inside and begin to put together a meal from what we have on hand. But with a budget of $129.50 per week -- the maximum amount a family of four can receive on food stamps -- I knew I would need to sit down and carefully plan out every meal.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2008/03/26/547630/one-week-four-people-and-a-tight.html#ixzz1MvOP9ZcM

[IONTOP]

Where did this 200 a week figure come from? I jsut read this article that said that the maximum amount for a family of 5 was $129.50 a month only a couple of years ago.

http://www.kansascity.com/2008/03/26/547630/one-week-four-people-and-a-tight.html

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2008/03/26/547630/one-week-four-people-and-a-tight.html#ixzz1MvOP9ZcM

That's per week...

[styx491]

From what I've seen, living cheap (but not poor, there is a difference) you can make a meal for 4 people for around 10 dollars a day. That's around 300-350 dollars a month for a family of four if you are being really frugal imo. Sure you'd be eating a little less healthier, and you'd be eating some of the same stuff over and over again, but it is very possible.

[Koolblue13]

From what I've seen, living cheap (but not poor, there is a difference) you can make a meal for 4 people for around 10 dollars a day. That's around 300-350 dollars a month for a family of four if you are being really frugal imo. Sure you'd be eating a little less healthier, and you'd be eating some of the same stuff over and over again, but it is very possible.

I just made some rice, smashed up some chic peas and added red curry, italian dressing, some green hot sauce and salt and stuff.

Might have cost me 35 cents and is enough for 3 or 4 people. When my veggies are grown, it'll be even better. Eating healthy being expensive is a myth.