Smuggar Tweets the State of the Union

[JesusFightClub]

They mostly believe in private and home school, some believe that public schools are okay if they are locally controlled and funded.

They are all for government funded fire and police services, no surprise. They are generally FOR any benefits that actually benefit them. They just don't want to pay anything for any other person.

In the US, if someone gets sick and cannot afford treatment, they go to a hospital. Hospitals are federally required to stabilize them and treat them at least minimally without any payment. But of course the hospital then must charge more to paying patients and insurance companies. I think TPers would like to see those people just die because it is cheaper.

JFC, most Americans will never be on cash payment-style welfare. I've never been! It's not enough to live on and you can make a lot more doing just about anything. It would not even cover my rent, and I would have to quit school because they really watch people getting cash aid.

I am fascinated by the difference between the US and UK systems! Emmiedahl, how does cash payment work with you?

I wasn't generally on the giro (it is a dole cheque which you take to a post office and they cash it for you). I haz a bank account, so I normally, like most claimants, got it paid in there.

However, when I got the giro (a handful of times) it was either when a mistake had been made or DWP staff, (benefits officers), had been out on strike and the payments got all mixed up. You are escorted by security staff (who sit at either door) and the official who gives out the cheque sits behind a glass screen with a panic button. You wait til you are called and they are not subtle about your details.

You are not alone, so you are best, when the security guard on the other door lets you out, to vacate the area quickly. And do not proceed directly to the nearest place to cash the cheque.

That's living money (when I was signing you got £57 per week and you got two weeks' money at one time) but my rent and council tax were paid by a different body, and the rent automatically went to my landlord so I wasn't worried about cash payment there. Once or twice when I was in precarious employment or waiting for my benefits payment I was in real trouble with my landlord. I did have one lady kick me out for "being DSS", which is an old way of saying "being on welfare". She was very polite about it, but made two arguments, which were that welfare receipients lowered the tone and that payments were not consistent. This was just after my entire section at work were made redundant, so when I signed on with her I was employed.

I am curious to know what the US story is like and is it similar?

[freejoytoo]

Have they not heard the phrase that if you don't study history you are bound to repeat it? People brought in the Poor Law for a REASON. It seems to me they have been reading too many regency novels and taking it for fact. You only lived that well if you were born into the right class. If not, you were likely to be working as a prostitute and they only had dozens of children because the infant mortality rate was so high!They also seem to have been reading a lot of glorified novels about the new American nation where no one ever suffered or something.

It kills me that they claim they're not classist. If you're not educated, healthy and have money you're screwed under their system. America seems very classist to me, even though everyone denies it.

[demgirl]

I am fascinated by the difference between the US and UK systems! Emmiedahl, how does cash payment work with you?

I wasn't generally on the giro (it is a dole cheque which you take to a post office and they cash it for you). I haz a bank account, so I normally, like most claimants, got it paid in there.

However, when I got the giro (a handful of times) it was either when a mistake had been made or DWP staff, (benefits officers), had been out on strike and the payments got all mixed up. You are escorted by security staff (who sit at either door) and the official who gives out the cheque sits behind a glass screen with a panic button. You wait til you are called and they are not subtle about your details.

You are not alone, so you are best, when the security guard on the other door lets you out, to vacate the area quickly. And do not proceed directly to the nearest place to cash the cheque.

That's living money (when I was signing you got £57 per week and you got two weeks' money at one time) but my rent and council tax were paid by a different body, and the rent automatically went to my landlord so I wasn't worried about cash payment there. Once or twice when I was in precarious employment or waiting for my benefits payment I was in real trouble with my landlord. I did have one lady kick me out for "being DSS", which is an old way of saying "being on welfare". She was very polite about it, but made two arguments, which were that welfare receipients lowered the tone and that payments were not consistent. This was just after my entire section at work were made redundant, so when I signed on with her I was employed.

I am curious to know what the US story is like and is it similar?

What makes it difficult to explain our welfare system is that it's very state-specific. All 50 states do it differently, even if it's small differences. From working with people living below the poverty level, I've found that it my state it is POSSIBLE, if you receive every benefit available, to live on welfare -- but as much as the Republican party likes to throw around "Welfare Queens" and "living high on the hog", it's simply not reality. I think the best I've ever seen a family do on welfare was about 300$ per month in cash aid, 500$ in food stamps, medicaid health coverage, free housing with free electric and gas utilities -- and that was for 4 kids and one mom. But to get that level of aid -- someone was helping her figure out the system. It's much more common to see 100$ in aid, low cost housing (sometimes free) and three to four hundred dollars in food stamps. No one in America is getting rich on welfare.

As for the dispersement, we have low cost housing, which is usually run by state agencies or paid directly to a landlord. Some states have direct deposit, some still send out checks. Food stamps in our state come in the form of credits on a card that is similar to a debit card.

[ElijahsMama807]

The idiotic tweets are coming fast and furious, aren't they? But just check out the tweets to Smuggar. The "shut up, asshole" tweets are outnumbering the supportive ones by about 10-1.

Keep tweeting, Joshie! Show the world what an ignorant, racist, douchebag you really are!

Next thing we all know, Joshie-boy and the rest of the Duggars will be standing side-by-side with the Westboro Baptist Cult picketing funerals, with TLC filming it for a VSE of "19 (or whatever number they decide to go with) Kids and Counting". I wouldn't put it past them..after all, they're following Santorum around at the moment, so give them some time and they'll start following the WBC too, if they aren't already.

I didn't know until reading on FJ recently that Josh even had a Twitter, but with the "shut up, asshole" tweets he's getting, he strikes me as the type to do an epic flounce and delete his account when he digs himself even further into that hole he made for himself. Can't help it..I want to see what Josh can come up with for a flounce, so I can snark on it :lol:

Edit: riffle

[Witsec7]

...

Experiencedd, that's "Trotskyist" to you ;) Just kidding, I know this is a cultural difference, but I spent my day arguing with Stalinists and preparing to argue with Stalinists so I feel all ouchy ;)

I usually have a couple of espressos in me before I begin to post. As long as we're on the same side of the barricades, the spelling doesn't count for much. :D

As to the Stalinists, hell the only one's I ever knew are long dead.

[dawn9476]

:roll: at Josh having a hard time with the President saying states should require that kids should stay in school till they graudate or turn 18 but has no problem with Rick going around saying that kids should get married as soon as they graduate to avoid poverty.

[Buzzard]

I tried to read about what "Fair Tax" people believe at one point, and I kind of gave up. What it looked like to me was just a private pay-as-you-go system. You basically just pay for the things that you use, and there were no real incentives to get anyone to pay if they didn't want to. It's the kind of system that's existed throughout western culture for centuries, and eventually the people living through that decided that it was unacceptable. When people can't pay for the medical care that they need, disease spreads into massive epidemics. When people are born into poverty with no way of getting food, education or a living wage, it encourages criminal behavior. You pay into the system so that it can benefit society as a whole, and they would like to give that up in order to go back to an even more unbalanced system of haves and have-nots than what already exists. Of course, they never consider what would happen when they're part of the have-nots.

I'M a fair tax libertarian. The basic idea is that the more money you have, the more you spend. If you have a consumption tax you cant cheat they system (as easily) because whats the fun of having money if you cant spend it? So someone who buy a 250k Bentley will most certainly pay more than a 4k used whatever. It also taxes those who currently arent taxed at all (illegals). Lower income essentials can be exempted to ensure that it isnt burdensome on those who need it most. Its never going to happen, though. The states that presently have no income tax are never going to play along. But this is for another thread...

Smugs still hasnt corrected the spelling of Obama's name. Douche.

[PokaDot]

I'M a fair tax libertarian. The basic idea is that the more money you have, the more you spend. If you have a consumption tax you cant cheat they system (as easily) because whats the fun of having money if you cant spend it? So someone who buy a 250k Bentley will most certainly pay more than a 4k used whatever. It also taxes those who currently arent taxed at all (illegals). Lower income essentials can be exempted to ensure that it isnt burdensome on those who need it most. Its never going to happen, though. The states that presently have no income tax are never going to play along. But this is for another thread...

Smugs still hasnt corrected the spelling of Obama's name. Douche.

I don't think a consumption tax would work. Mostly because this is what I would do if it passed: I'd move as close as I could to the Canadian border, and buy all my crap there.

A consumption tax hurts people with less money more. If you think of it this way: I make 10,000 in a month, you make 100 in a month. We both spend $50 on groceries. Tax is 10%. Therefore groceries now cost $55. So I pay $5 tax on $10,000 or 0.05%, you pay the same $5 but it is 5% of your monthly income.

Then I'd take that 4.5% difference ($45) and put it in a nice stock, and make the $5 back in a day or so.

Besides most states already have a "consumption tax". I believe my sales tax around 8.5% and it fucking sucks. Two counties over it's 6%. If I fly to see my mom and drive a state over it's 0%. Take a guess at where I buy "big ticket" items?

Anyways........I was thinking about giving Duggar (specifically Turdie) a definition, and the best I could come up with was: The spot on the ground one takes a dump on when there are no bathrooms nearby.

Whatcha think? Too mean? Or am I too new to suggest such a thing (I've been lurking for years. I was reading over on the old board for Emily and Dna!).

[graciebeth]

I honestly dont give a flying fuck what Boob Jr. had to say about the SOTU address. The only highlight for me was seeing the incredibly courageous Gabby Giffords in attendance. I may be a Texan and a card-carrying Republican, but i will always be Team Gabby. Her strength and perseverance have and continue to inspire.