For anyone who still thinks that Hank Paulson was the only one gaming the system to the hilt, here’s a glimpse of the murky world of welfare assistance:
“A Seattle woman who is receiving welfare assistance from Washington state also happens to live in a waterfront house on Lake Washington worth more than a million dollars.
Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband’s name because they have not officially been charged with a crime.
However, federal documents obtained by KING 5 News show the couple currently receives more than $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, plus state and government disability checks and food stamps. They have been receiving the benefits since 2003.
The 2,500 square-foot home, which includes gardens and a boat dock, is valued at $1.2 million. And even though the couple has been receiving the benefits for nearly 10 years, records show that they accurately listed the address of their current home when applying for the state and federal benefits.
A federal official told KING 5 that the couple likely took advantage of a loophole, which allows low-income individuals to receive financial assistance to help them pay their rent and move away from housing projects. However, the law does not require officials to verify what type of home the benefits recipient is living in.
“As if the million dollar home weren’t enough, the supposedly low-income couple also gave money to various charities and traveled around the world to locales in Turkey, Tel Aviv and resort towns in Mexico, according to court records.”
Comment
D’ you think this sort of thing is unusual? I doubt it. And yet, people still go on with their mantras about government assistance going only to the needy, or to starving children.
Children do starve in America. I’ve taught a few who were malnourished, but the problem had nothing to do with money (except in rural areas).
It had to do with completely irresponsible families, violent neighborhoods, drugs, junk food, intrusive school psychologists who diagnose and treat boredom as a disease, and aggressive marketers who target low-income families.
The phenomena is not unknown this side of the pond either. And when the state is giving out free money, can anyone be surprised?
confessions from the welfare state. excellent first person narrative about the non –work ethic fostered by state handouts.
I provide EMS for a mid-west city on Lake Erie. We transport people all the time who have the newest iPhone, expensive cloths, admitt to smoking two packs a day, who have very nice cars, but for insurance have Medicaid.
Thing is they are making a very rational choice, for them. To avoid a thirteen dollar taxi ride to and back from a doctors appointment, they call 911 with “breathing problems”. We arrive and they are laying on the couch, smoking, and talking in full sentences. Suddenly their breathing is better, but they need to go to the hospital to be checked out. Once there they get a voucher for a taxi home, get looked over and released and then they go to their doc appointment at the hospital.
They get a “free” ride to and from the hospital, the tax payer gets a bill for the ambulance, emergency room visit, lad work, and the doc appointment. They only pay in time stuck in the ER. A rational choice for them to save some money or to not take the bus.
Yeah, the so called health care system is Rube Goldberg meets Mussolini.
Crisis caused by state intervention in a million ways will be “solved ” by more state intervention.
confessions from welfare state with correct url.
http://newcity.com/2010/05/18/Confessions-from-the-welfare-state-lessons-learned-and-offered-along-the-american-way , in case link doesn’t work.