I just got back from the wellfare department to apply for food stamps and financial assistance ... what a nightmare. I was surrounded by people who looked like crack addicts, psychos and criminals ... and those were the employees. ARGH! Nice to know because I'm not a baby machine I don't qualify for any financial assistance. And to get my $160 a month in food stamps I have to work at their office 20 hrs a week for free or loose my benefits ... it's called the FairWork program.  Hmmm let's see 160 divided by 4 is 40 divided by 20 is 2 ... WOW, I get paid a whole $2 dollars an hour to qualify for my food stamp benefits. That's really fair!!!

WHAT THE HE(( DO I PAY TAXES FOR???

Case worker: "Mr D, please step over here. The vaseline is on the counter ... this will only hurt a little bit. Now bend over!"

yeah but my sister and her husband and 2 kids get $300 a month and neither work anywhere.........and could work.......but why....laying around on xanex (sp?) all day is much more rewarding! 

I don't know what to tell you.  You need to eat and they know it!

Don't you love this country.......

You pay taxes to support a welfare system that supports those quite capable to get a job while those that really need it get nada.....

Those already on welfare, "earn" more than getting a minimum wage job, they have no incentives to get off the system. 

Have you applied for disability, are you a veteran? Check local charities, see if they can't help you out.

Not much else that you can do....unless you spit out a kid........

Ya, isn't it funny ... because I was born in this country, because I'm male, and because I know how to use a condom, I don't matter ... Something that really struck me as funny at the Welfare office was the form to list family members and dependents. It has spaces for 30 names! 30! That totally blew my mind! And then, the person who interviews me can't even speak English properly. I almost had to ask for an interpreter to understand HER! ?!?!?

Fortunately I'm not disabled and since I can work, and want to work, I find it totally distasteful to try and get some doctor to sign me up for SSI under false pretenses. Anyone who can work should work. If you can use a computer to type e-mails and can learn how to use programs on the computer ... you are able bodied enough to find a job. If I had no legs and rolled around in a wheelchair, I would still prefer to work full time over glomming off the government. Going to the welfare department was a last resort for me and it still leaves a dirty taste in my mouth. Of course that could be the chilli I bought at Big Lots. LOL

Quote: "And to get my $160 a month in food stamps I have to work at their office 20 hrs a week for free or loose my benefits ... it's called the FairWork program.  Hmmm let's see 160 divided by 4 is 40 divided by 20 is 2 ... WOW, I get paid a whole $2 dollars an hour to qualify for my food stamp benefits. That's really fair!!!"

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Actually, food stamps and financial aid were not invented to totally support anyone..it is a temporary service, created to help those who are looking for work to not starve while they look.

You pay taxes so you can have the privilege to recieve this welfare when you run aground from time to time. 

Yep, lots of people don't deserve them that get them..the government gives it out anyway...I have thought that way a time or 2 myself when I needed help...but then I thanked my lucky stars I was in a place where I could get some help to begin with. 

Well, you're not a failure because you haven't landed a job yet, so dont think that way. Jobs are scarce all over..and I have been passed over on jobs that I knew I could do, in favor of someone else that got there first, or just flat out appealed to the company more.

If you are over 45 however, and you feel you are being discriminated against because of age, you can go to the labor board and report it.

Ya know, there are ways of finding out..maybe find a friend who is a bit younger, who has the same qualifications as you, fill out an app for a company on the same day or something...see if he gets hired..if he does and they turned you down, thats a sure indication of age discrimination and you can sue the company for whatever they are worth

Regardless, don't give up..it'll happen :)

I'm going to say this as tactfully as I can since I just had a death in the family yesterday and am FUMING over your comments regarding people on Disability who should be working.

If you as a healthy white male can not find a job at your age. Just how do you expect someone in my position with HIV, Diabetes and medical bills through the roof, to get a  job? I know of many people in my position who can do computer stuff who would LOVE to get a job, myself included. It would have to be a job that #1 wouldn't bury me in my own debt in 30 days because of lousy health coverage and #2 would even accept someone at my age with my medical conditions.

I know you're angry at your situation. I understand that. Just try not letting it hit others who really can't help you and don't deserve to be the butt of your anger. 

That's why I posted it as tactfully as I could. You may not have meant me, I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment and it struck a nerve the way you phrased it.

In reply to:

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Anyone who can work should work. If you can use a computer to type e-mails and can learn how to use programs on the computer ... you are able bodied enough to find a job.

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I can do the above, but I can't find a job I could live on. 

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Albert Einstein

hey dadchamp. its a real bum deal when you have to get social welfare, but at least you can, whether its fair or not, the hoops they make you jump through. someone who has led a privaleged life, and has never ben unemployed with no family to help them out, wont understand how crap it is. on the up-side, you wont totally starve, like what happens in quite a few countries. but then you wont have anything like quality of life you were used to.

but hey, what do you pay taxes for? .....well, in comparison to a lot of countries, you pay very very little taxes. so its right to expect crapy public health and social welfare. we pay a lot more tax here in ireland, but we get a lot more out of it. my GF could go on at length about it. she studies social science. according to her, sweden, denmark etc. are the models of a working social system, and america is the model of one that doesn't work. between the adversarial democracy model that america calls democracy, and the worship of capitalism as if it were a rightious cause rather than a business model, and the shunning of socialistic ideas as if they were a moral blight, its my view (mine as opposed to any view i would claim as a true view of things. i am looking at things very much from the outside) its a case of, on a national scale, "reap what you sew".

not much help to the man on the ground, having to jump through hoops and be made feel like a second class citizen, i know. my feeble advice would be, expand the dyversity of work you are looking for, and even consider relocation to somewhere with a stronger economy. also, get in touch with various organisations that can tell you how to get the most from what you are entitled to. also, become politically active. talk to your local political representatives. if something is wrong with the way the system works, change the system. after all, it is your system. 

if this sounds like another "america sucks" rant, it isn't. so those ho may fel a little offended by my views, just accept they are the view of a rambling mad man and leave it at that. being relagated to the bottom rungs of society, either by disability, or just bad luck, is not nice at all. (my mom has M.S. and i have been on social welfare plenty enough to know what its like) sometimes the hardest thing to do, is to dig your way out of the hole of poverty. the slopes are quite slippery.

for me, it puts things in perspective a bit. when i start working now this summer (i am a student, living off of my grant) i will be paying between 20 and 40 percent of my income to various taxes. thats pretty high. but i at least know where some of it is going. and can feel a little better about it.

The final resolution to whether I can or can't get any aid is that I can't. Not even the food stamps. To qualify for them I have to get a written statement from my landlaord stating my rental agreement with him ... he won't give it and I fully understand why. Let's just say my living situation isn't 'exactly' legal.  

So I'd rather have a roof over my head and keep struggling with the pitence of money I can scrounge from odd jobs than threaten my living situation anymore than it already is. But, hey, I got a job interview hopefully tomorrow (waiting to hear back from them) so maybe my luck is about to change.

Getting anything changed for the better in the USA is impossible! 

Don't get me started on SS reform!  hell, even Cuba's health care system is better than ours. 

panthia; this is a very sad and bleak statement. i am sorry you feel that way. and i am even more sorry if it is true. i do hope things change for america as a nation. especially they way the disadvantaged, dissabled and the marginalised are treated.

i do not know how local politics works in america. here, that is where you go to get your voice heard. here, if something needs to be dealt with on a political level, you go to your local county councelor. if they do nothing, you ring up Joe Duffy (an irish radio presenter) and usually you can get it discussed over the radio. that will at least shame the councelor into doing what he can.

but that is here, with a national population you could lose in the city of london. i think scale has a lot to do with things. the larger the country, the smaller the individual?

i mean, if you cant get things dealt with in a peaceful, fair, and law abiding  way, the only other option is,.... well, the opposite really. that is not really a plesent option when you look at the scale of america.

my question is; why not leave? its tough for americans abroad, with international public oppinion being what it is, but is it really any worse than it is inside america?

The unfortunate truth is that if our government doesn't take notice soon, this country is headed for another bloody revelution. There are private militia groups all over the place. If they ever get organized Washington DC may wake up with an army of very unhappy people camped on the White House lawn one day. It'll be like Metropolis when the workers quarters are flooded and they charge the upper levels but I'm afraid there won't be a Maria (robotrix or other wise) to stop the flood. I am seriously hoping for Democratic control to return this election. Historically people like me have always had a better life when the Democrats are in the White House. And my finger is pointing at Hillary with a thumbs up. And she can f^#k whoever she wants while she's in office as long as it isn't me. :-)

Well........my husband is applying with various composite companies in Canada.....Anyone out there know of any hiring?  I wanna live in Germany.....Netherlands would be nice.....Canada's too cold for me......we would just honestly be happy to get one county over to where the school district actually cares.......our youngest son has a slight speech issue our school system doesn't support his issues because they're not bad enough.  We pay $100 a week for help.

Not sure we need this political discussing here because my temper will flair.....and I'm mostly mild mannered.  But Fred Thompson has my vote.  We need a pres who will fix SS and get rid of all these damn aliens whether legal or not.  No clinton will do either....Hilary voted against Bush's SS reform because it would take money from grants so that we can have a Cowgirl Hall of Fame......Heaven forbid that I should dare be allowed to say ya know what.....I want my money invested for me....not so the government can dip in and take loans out against my money to fund crap stuff like museums.....And she's depending too much on the minority mexican vote to get rid of the mexican's here......IF and thats a major IF I were to ever vote Dem it would have to be for Obama because of the fact that he has not spent his life as a politician. 

I just want to know that at the end of the day my kids have teachers who are qualified and want to teach regardless of race.  Right now there are too many teachers in the school system that just want a pay check!  Tennessee is looking at lower testing again because of how horrible our students test.  This doesn't solve the problem it makes it worse.  That and for someone to take out most of Hollywood.....sorry.....I'm so tired of hearing the crap about all these celebs.....put more UFC on tv! 

LOL, I really helped us get waaayyyyy off subject.

LMAO. yea, politics can get a bit heated alright, but hey!! its the shoot the breeze section. a dirty political flame-war is just fine here.

personally, from the international viewpoint, i hope whatever happens in the elections helps back america off from what seems like an attempt at an americal empirial expansion. even the average joe on the street in a country such as ireland, a country known for its friendlyness with america, is really not happy with the way things look. my mates wife is an american, and she just cant get any job anywhere. employers will just not hire americans here it seems.

things are getting pretty flaky in international politics. you have china, probably up to no good. russia definately up to no good, the middle-east...same as ever, europe...playing empire, but too busy with the old rivelries. france vs. germany. spain vs. portugal. england vs. everyone. lol. its kinda like a really bad sit-com, but with countries instead of people. 

as re; the whole democrat/republican thing... whats with that? where is option C? where are the independants? i dunno. i always found that the american election system a bit convoluted. i prefer the way that anyone with a few hundred quid can run for government in ireland. [censored], our local butcher did. did pretty well out of it. although i think he is a bit bowled over by the amount of work it takes.

the idea of a civil war in america is one i dont think will happen to easy. i think people are just to.... lazy i think, these days. everyone hates the way things are. but no one wants to be the one to force change. thats what i think anyway. 

"But Fred Thompson has my vote."

Mine too. {and thats as far as I'm going with that LOL!}

Oh, and I homeschool my kids..ever since they tried to fail my second grader for not being able to read...twice...I did a pop spelling quiz on her, and she couldn't spell..got really upset when I decided we needed to correct her spelling mistakes..said her teacher didn't make her correct anything, ever, because she knew what the words were supposed to be.....What tha..?! No wonder she couldn't read.

1 month after being homeschooled, my {then} second grader was reading on an 6th grade reading level ;) 

 She's 14 now, and on a college level ;)

Oh, don't even get me started on 'PUBLIC SCHOOL',  My kids were home schooled, and both are college grads... By son has a master degree.  I'm 52 years old now, and I had only 3 years of productive schooling in 5th, 6th and 7th grade when I went to a small private school.... but in my 8th grade year, my Father was sent to Vietnam (he was a helicopter pilot).

My way of rebelling was to study to get D's on a constant level... I was REALLY bored!

As far as the US is concerned! I'm all for the USA (I'm a Female United States Air Force Veteran) But, it's written in our Constitution to stop things when they are getting to carried away.......

No more said.

 DraagonStorm

Hey, had a thought....what about going back to school?

Pick a course of study that will add to your professional skill base, go part time and apply for every grant possible. Sometimes it's easier to get education grants than it is to get food money. Then you'll be getting income, broadening your skill base and still leaving time to continue your work search, good luck with that BTW.

Or you could become an illegal alien gender confused minority with a disability and 10 kids to get some help.

"Disclaimer: The preceding statement was NOT directed at any particular person or group other than the governing body that denies aide to anyone that is truly in need."

The system is badly broken and the school route may be a good option to help you get back on your feet.

Ummm......I don't think I could home school my kids without hurting them.......

One county over from us you have the smallest county in TN with the Jack Daniel's Distillery in them there hills......They have a top notch public school system.  Jack Daniel's will fund anything educational wise as long as its helpful to the students.  They pay for any special resource teachers that may be needed.  Like the speech teacher for my youngest that I pay out of pocket for. 

Now my county.....we have an Air Force Base, Nissan, and a whole host of Nissan parts makers.  We pump in twice the money as Lynchburg to the school system, pay higher taxes all across the board......our education system sucks.  Oh had to have the biggest high school in the state.....built it only for half way thru they finished a bigger one elsewhere.  They paid lowest bidder, getting lowest quality work (4 years later, things already having to be redone), our state test scores dropped...We have 14 football coaches for a team that lost all but 4 games last year.  Our director of schools has created more bull positions for wifes of friends than any one around us.  Now they want to raise county taxes and pass a wheel tax for more money for schools.  But they don't fix issues that are important like the kids and learning.  They've mishandled the last $14 million we gave em....The state of TN ranks in the lowest for education.  But I will have to say this.  The middle school that my oldest is in has a really good group of teachers.  They come in before time and stay late to tutor anyone who needs help.  I get a daily email from the office with any updates.  And for the most part they have more of a fun attitude that keeps the kids interested and challenged.  And it is the middle school that the other one thinks is trash.  We have 2 middle schools, one rich folks end of the county, then our end where 80% of the families are on reduced lunches due to low income.  Yet we have the highest testing scores and the best sports teams.  We just don't have as nice of clothing....My oldest son likes going to school....

Dadchamp.....it sucks ass how one thing can screw it all up.  I just don't know what to tell you!