This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to pick up food stamps

[TIDE-HSV]

I don't believe any of the states that she mentioned in the article have a weeks into term restriction for abortion. And I'm making an assumption, but given the fact that she writes for the Huffington Post she is pro choice. Therefore, the moral, emotional, and mental would all be net positives for her.

Lets fast forward a few years, say her immigrant house keeper or nanny (who is deeply and emphatically Christian) is in her same situation, Ms Cunha would have no problem recommending abortion as the solution. So if we are going to live in an America where abortion is safe and legal, then everyone should be putting their name in the lottery.

Now, that's what I call an elliptical path to abortion...

 

[crimsonaudio]

I don't believe any of the states that she mentioned in the article have a weeks into term restriction for abortion. And I'm making an assumption, but given the fact that she writes for the Huffington Post she is pro choice. Therefore, the moral, emotional, and mental would all be net positives for her.

Lets fast forward a few years, say her immigrant house keeper or nanny (who is deeply and emphatically Christian) is in her same situation, Ms Cunha would have no problem recommending abortion as the solution. So if we are going to live in an America where abortion is safe and legal, then everyone should be putting their name in the lottery.

Considering I have a conservative, Christian friend who writes for HuffPro, I'd suggest you're taking leaping to conclusions to Olympic levels here...

 

[jthomas666]

Now, that's what I call an elliptical path to abortion...

Straw men make good trail blazers.

 

[jthomas666]

It's illegal to fire someone because their spouse just happens to be having a baby? What if it's truly performance issues, or harassment? We don't know why he was fired.

Aledinho's inner straw man wondered why the author, clearly a pinko-commie-librul because HuffPo only employs pinko-commie-libruls, didn't just get an abortion when her husband lost her job two weeks before her twins were born. NT15 was pointing out an abortion that close to term is going to be illegal just about everywhere.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

Problem is too many folks judge others based on appearances or preconceived notions in general or both. Most people just make assumptions. Well, when we assume...They have plenty of advice until they find themselves in a similar situation and then find that they are the proverbial exception to the rule.

I've been there. Stood in the unemployment line, signed up for food stamps, picked up wic, took educational grants, helped my wife sign up for disability when she literally could barely get up out of bed (thank God, she is a fair amount better now), worked my backside off on 2-3 jobs while going to school full time and raising special needs children. Got my Master's that way. I think I'm a pretty humble guy and usually get embarrassed if someone brings attention to me for it, but you better believe I'm pretty darn proud of that one. Still hard to mentally and emotionally shake off the stigma at times, especially since when I'd see good steak on sale for the same price/lb as a roast or cheap steak I'd go for it. That's being smart with your resources, IMHO, but some would say I was a great example of waste in the system.

So, while I want to slap people when they say people on welfare are lazy, I also want to slap the people that make it too easy to think that. I also can't stand folks who want to have the government drug test recipients of welfare and then cry about their own civil liberties being infringed and government waste.

I personally detest welfare, but consider it a necessary evil that saved my butt and offered me and my family an opportunity to change our lives for the better. I don't begrudge anyone for using it when they need it so long as they, if able, are working to leave it one day. I do begrudge politicians and policies that make that journey more difficult.

NT15, I applaud you and everything you have fought through. Thanks for posting this. I wish more folks had your drive. I agree with you, for us to keep welfare, it's situations like you described. A temporary stop gap while you are working to get back on your feet and be "productive" if you will. Unfortunately, you're the exception not the norm. I wish you were the norm.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

Aledinho's inner straw man wondered why the author, clearly a pinko-commie-librul because HuffPo only employs pinko-commie-libruls, didn't just get an abortion when her husband lost her job two weeks before her twins were born. NT15 was pointing out an abortion that close to term is going to be illegal just about everywhere.

Yep, I went back and re-read it. I was focused on the bolded items which threw me. Thanks for correcting me.

 

[92tide]

I've been unemployed a couple of times as well. I quickly worked to find some sort of income whether it be Home Depot or Lowes in addition to umpiring to cover our basic needs while I searched for full-time employment in my field. I drew two unemployment checks while transitioning and that was it. Maybe it was a pride issue for me to do whatever it took instead of relying on someone else to provide for me.

if you were taking an unemployment check, that generally comes from unemployment insurance so its not really having someone else provide for you.

 

[seebell]

NT15, I applaud you and everything you have fought through. Thanks for posting this. I wish more folks had your drive. I agree with you, for us to keep welfare, it's situations like you described. A temporary stop gap while you are working to get back on your feet and be "productive" if you will. Unfortunately, you're the exception not the norm. I wish you were the norm.

He is the norm. Your stereotype of welfare recipients is incorrect. You're welcome.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

He is the norm. Your stereotype of welfare recipients is incorrect. You're welcome.

You meant to put that in blue, didn't you?

 

[crimsonaudio]

He is the norm. Your stereotype of welfare recipients is incorrect. You're welcome.

This is why I posted this in the first place - I met tons of families while we needed assistance and my experience of who they were is nothing like the rhetoric the far-right has been spewing for years now. Sure, there are those that abuse it, but a vast majority of those I've known just needed some help to get through a tough spot.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

Nearly half of welfare recipients are on the dole in excess of two years.

http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/

 

[crimsonaudio]

Nearly half of welfare recipients are on the dole in excess of two years.

During a recession? Unpossible!

 

[seebell]

Nearly half of welfare recipients are on the dole in excess of two years.

http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/

I assume you refer to AFDC in the chart. That program was replaced by TANF beginning in 1996. Federal time/benefit limit is 5 years but many states have a shorter time limit. This is what most commonly call welfare but it is only one of a host of programs

Please read the informative link. http://www.edi.cornell.edu/independence/reftanf.htm

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

I assume you refer to AFDC in the chart. That program was replaced by TANF beginning in 1996. Federal time/benefit limit is 5 years but many states have a shorter time limit. This is what most commonly call welfare but it is only one of a host of programs

Please read the informative link. http://www.edi.cornell.edu/independence/reftanf.htm

Isn't amazing that despite the 5 year maximum placed on assistance, multiple generations of families continue to game it?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I don't believe any of the states that she mentioned in the article have a weeks into term restriction for abortion. And I'm making an assumption, but given the fact that she writes for the Huffington Post she is pro choice. Therefore, the moral, emotional, and mental would all be net positives for her.

Lets fast forward a few years, say her immigrant house keeper or nanny (who is deeply and emphatically Christian) is in her same situation, Ms Cunha would have no problem recommending abortion as the solution. So if we are going to live in an America where abortion is safe and legal, then everyone should be putting their name in the lottery.

This is a good place to insert where I stand on government intervention in private lives, particularly bedrooms, marriage and women's bodies. You can call it socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Or you can call it libertarian. I don't care. I reject labels as a substitute for thinking, which is what goes on around here too often.

As people who know me well know, I'm a deeply religious person, sang two solos in church last Sunday. However, this "two cells uniting and then dividing" defines life is a neologism, strictly with no standing in science and in protestant religion only recently. (Under that definition, cancer is "new life.") I tend to go with the Old Testament Jewish definition - when the fetus can survive outside the body independently, then there's "life." All else is religion trying to reach into the bedroom and a person's private body. It has no roots other than (misguided, IMO) religion. Maybe most want that much intrusive government. I just happen to reject it. I don't think with labels and I don't let others think for me. So flame away. I won't be reading, anyway...

 

[Bodhisattva]

From the doctors and nurses I know who work in labor and delivery, as soon as a "service" patient (a.k.a. welfare sponge) delivers her tax payer-funded baby Mom and offspring are signed up for the whole spectrum of welfare benefits. In reality the government does not encourage people to be self reliant.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

From the doctors and nurses I know who work in labor and delivery, as soon as a "service" patient (a.k.a. welfare sponge) delivers her tax payer-funded baby Mom and offspring are signed up for the whole spectrum of welfare benefits. In reality the government does not encourage people to be self reliant.

What are you saying? Government wants you to be dependent on it? Say it ain't so!

 

[Bodhisattva]

This is a good place to insert where I stand on government intervention in private lives, particularly bedrooms, marriage and women's bodies. You can call it socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Or you can call it libertarian. I don't care. I reject labels as a substitute for thinking, which is what goes on around here too often.

As people who know me well know, I'm a deeply religious person, sang two solos in church last Sunday. However, this "two cells uniting and then dividing" defines life is a neologism, strictly with no standing in science and in protestant religion only recently. (Under that definition, cancer is "new life.") I tend to go with the Old Testament Jewish definition - when the fetus can survive outside the body independently, then there's "life." All else is religion trying to reach into the bedroom and a person's private body. It has no roots other than (misguided, IMO) religion. Maybe most want that much intrusive government. I just happen to reject it. I don't think with labels and I don't let others think for me. So flame away. I won't be reading, anyway...

That's pretty much in line with my thoughts. IIRC, the Hebrew word for "soul" translates to something like a "breathing being." Life at conception is not the original definition in Western religious tradition.

 

[TheAccountant]

What'd the boyfriend-husband do to provide support to his family during their rough patch? Did he find part-time job(s) to provide what he could or was he only looking for that full time job in his career? That was missing from the story.

 

[Displaced Bama Fan]

What'd the boyfriend-husband do to provide support to his family during their rough patch? Did he find part-time job(s) to provide what he could or was he only looking for that full time job in his career? That was missing from the story.

I thought I read where they went from $150K to $25K so I'm assuming there was some income, but not significant to bridge the gap.