further, mandatory drug testing should be used. -- j

I know, but calling them Nazi sadists is so much more satisfying xD

That's also called socialists.

Because they are Nazi sadists who think that the only freedom lies in control. They wish to control our thoughts and our lifestyles, and create a society totally dependent upon the government.

Why do you think the socialists are on such a war path to disarm the sheeple?

Virginia is more expensive than Utah, true. But one of the reasons for the high rents in low income housings is because the government is paying the rent. And because the apartments are severely abused, often destroyed because, again, the government is paying the rent. So, they may live in crap houses, but the cost for that crap is as much or more as for a good house. And, yes, cable tv is essential (to be fair basic channels only; they pay for the upgrade. And they do upgrade! All the way up!). So is the phone AND a cell phone.

Personally, I don't have a problem with drawing unemployment insurance when needed because you've paid for it, but even here it was designed for 6 months, but often extended to almost two years. This country is on a completely unsupportable path; it will collapse just like the Soviet Union did - under its own weight. I am just amazed how law abiding and docile the American sheeple have become - Thomas Jefferson would have been heading a revolution by now.

The Propaganda Machine is working very well in America. Under the never ending cries of eliminating hunger, saving starving children, etc., etc., I have been asking the "do-gooders" for 20 years to show me one starving child - the response has always been the same, from the same talking points - "I know some one who knows someone." Meanwhile, walk into a food bank - the one in a small town in VA is almost the size of Costco. If you are affiliated with any of a number of "agencies," - legal thieves - you can take a heavy duty cart and load it with anything from toothpaste to sirloin steaks, soda and cakes. Then they make a pretense of charging for it - the cart is weighted! and you take that to the "starving" recipients (and yourself). That is on top of the food stamps (EBT now), WIC, free diners (food kitchen) and parties (yes, parties, for the morale!). The refrigerator there is larger than my house and same goes for a freezer nearby. I did not see any starving children there.
The worst thing, in my opinion, that anyone can do (in this respect) is to fall for this "donation" spiel and feed multiple levels of parasites.

Good hell.

Now it may just be that things are cheaper in UT than VA but you can get a very nice place for 1200. I mean that would rent out my rental house and still leave 200 left over. Its 1800 square feet, or about double the size of the average apartment in Germany.

I do not pay 400 for my utilities on my 4600 square foot home.

I am looking at these amounts and even if I was ok with welfare, which I am not, they are excessive.

Cable, Really? I mean TV is such a need. /dripping with sarcasm

$500 a month per child, man that is a kings ransom.

I have a family me, my wife and 4 kids. I was jobless for a bit and lived off savings, picking cherries and a few other seasonal jobs that did not interfere with my ability to take a good job once I found one. We lived on the equivalent of about 20k a year during that time.

The feds pay way to much. I never checked into it. I had a first thought about taking unemployment cause I paid into it, but never intended to use it. Even with that, I could do it without taking it so why should I do it? I do not have the mind that can understand the people who do so.

The real sad fact is if the leeches don't get it there they move to another state that will give it to them.

Good grief. That's nearly $5K/month!

And people wonder why we have a stagnant economy and government keeps wanting to raise the tax rates!

These are $ per month. Some, like med care, is not cash, but would have cost that much to you and I. Some areas/states are give considerably less, some (like NJ), much more. The numbers below are for VA. Add to that the money spent on the welfare machine itself, which is at least 25% of what they disburse. Enjoy!

Apartment 1200 - 1500
Utilities 400
Food 400
WIC 100
Med 500
Cable 30
Cell phone 30
Home phone 25
Car repair 50
Entertain 75
Clothes 100
Child care 1500
Additional $ for children 500

I agree and support your desire to be a human being, but the parasites multiply at a much faster rate than humans, and they vote!

...or we could become pirates like Ragnar! Steal money from the government and give it back to those they stole it from. I like that idea, I wanna be a pirate now! Arrrrg!

I did not think it anywhere near 70k. If it is then a person on welfare makes about 24k more than the average household income in the US today (down from 56k in 2006 to 46k in 2013). We are in more trouble than I think we are if you can really get 70k a year out of not working. Well over half the country would be better off becoming a parasite and doing something constructive with their time to develop useful skills after a financial collapse and a civil war.

Even if that number is accurate, I can't do it. One becomes a thief or lives on less than those that are legal thieves. I still choose to be honest and so do a very large number of Americans. What a shame to put people in such a position to have to choose between honest work and a better life by theft.

That's the thing the don't care about a perspective employer looking at their job experience, because they have no plans to be employed. Why would they be when the government will give them money and they don't have to do a thing!

Yes. There is a very real phenomenon called the "welfare trap" and it happens right around $30K - $35K income wise. It's a dead spot in the wage scale that requires a huge jump up to about $42K - $44K to compensate for the loss of government benefits and offsets due to higher tax brackets.

The difference in our views comes as a result of a) your optimism and, b) my total lack of it. I do not believe that the welfare parasites can be couched into human beings. They have been parasites for several generations and, looking at their offspring, I think that one can reasonably conclude that being a parasite has become part of their DNA. Can they change? By themselves - NO. Can they be made to change - yes, but that would require a radical change of the system, e.g., a civil war, and I believe a bloody one. As it stands, for the parasites to actually work and earn something would count against their welfare "entitlement," so it would be counter-productive. As to community service, keep in mind that the socialists believe that laboring for the benefit of the society is a good idea for others, but rarely for themselves. I would bet that the ones that supposedly declined the work and the payments simply moved on to other programs that did not impose those inhumane requirements. It would be a rare reporter that would actually investigate a story completely. BTW, the video in the story, featuring a radio caller, is probably a fake. The information is correct, but the person in pretending, judging by the voice, accent and the delivery. Nevertheless, I have earlier added up all the "benefits" that a parasite with three offspring receives from the tax payers - about $70K per year, tax free. And someone here even contemplates that they would give that up for the benefit of not being a parasite?

Taking this outrage just a step further - has anyone here heard about a nifty little benefit called EBTCash? I accidentally pushed that button when checking out at the grocery store (meant to hit Debit) and while correcting my mistake asked the cashier, "What is EBTCash?" She told me it was a way for those with EBT cards to get cash back when they use their card. They can purchase a loaf of bread, then get $50.00 cash to go out and buy whatever they want; drugs, beer, hair color, fake nails, whatever. I was shocked!

If those on that dole were smart, they'd see that community-service gig as opportunity, not drudgery. It would give them that which would make them more attractive to a prospective employer: experience.

I have a cousin in the Canadian province of Ontario. She was out of work for 3-4 months last year, and said that in order to collect EI (employment insurance), you had to prove that you were actively searching for work and/or doing volunteer work.
She was shocked when I told her how it works here in the US.

i think that if you get people out doing something, anything most people will develop a desire to do more. I have seen it first hand.

I was the time of the post thinking it was 24 hours per week, not per month. Which is to little to create the upward spin of self confidence that would come for a person doing nothing to start doing something, and develop a desire to do more for themselves.

I do not understand your comment however. I agree no one would work for a negative return. These people are being required to do community service for a return. How is that a negative return?

Its a good move towards (although way to weak) getting people to develop a desire to be something and not sit around doing nothing. The fact that nearly 80% dropped off when the simplest step to keep the income was 24 hours a month of community service shows that they did not want what they had if they had to "Work" for it. Perhaps proving my rather optimistic view of how people would react wrong. Only 20% will grow and become better from this, the others are likely to turn to a more direct form of thievery for the work they are now required to perform.

True dat.

A phrase from "Men in Black" comes to mind: "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."

Of course, the alien's rejoinder doesn't exactly bring me confidence... "Your proposal ... is ... acceptable."

I think Lot had better results in having his audience turn around than you'll have with welfare parasites.

Sadly all to true

That's why they are doing all they can to take that shotgun away from you.