How does that work? Can you make a landlord take an EBT card instead of cash? Or if you offer your landlord $100 worth of tomatoes or Corn Flakes in lieu of cash is he compelled to take it? I don’t get this. 
Retirement funds are not savings.
You don’t plan on taking your social security?
Another one wrong. I handle all of the bill paying except for that blue card, which is my husband’s. As for the job, people like you make our taxes so high that even if I could work, there would be no point.
It could be, tho it seems to me that there is quite a bit of difference between the negatives assumptions made about me, and my noticing that there is a lot of (claimed) poor people posting here.
I’m sorry you consider all of that doubtful, but it happens to be true, and most of those conclusions were not originally mine. Our city of 250,000 (that the census could find) is majorly recent immigrant Mexican and very poor for the most part. Our schools were already struggling before No Child Left Behind due to the fact so many of the students don’t understand English very well, if at all. Once we were required to try to keep these students at the same level as all the rest, standards dropped and our school district is in the bottom fifth or so (depending on what study you look at) among all California school districts. This has resulted in migration of all students whose parents could at all afford it to private schools, making the public schools even more overwhelmingly ESL children.
Now, there may be some misunderstanding because I use the term ESL - I don’t mean that there are necessarily actual ESL classes in our primary schools. I personally have no idea how it is that they go about teaching the kids English, I just read in the papers that this is what the school district is struggling with, children that don’t understand enough English that they can learn what is being taught.
Not me. I find the posts here amazing, sad, amusing, entertaining and at times pathetic, but they don’t make me angry. I have gotten so used to the liberal bleeding hearts here in Orange County that it’s appearance on this board is hardly new.
You don’t need to worry about me - honestly! It isn’t me here who is throwing about nastiness and assuming the worst about anyone who disagrees with me. This board is something I do when I’m bored, nothing else. It is also very difficult to get me angry so internet posts from strangers certainly isn’t going to do it.
If I can live comfortably on the money I have squirreled away? No, I’ll let that government money go to someone who wasn’t so fortunate.
Rubbing up against that 100% bracket are ya? :rolleyes:
CMC fnord!
Sweet holy fuck. This is straight-up evil. I mean-- I’m pro-choice and all, but what you seem to be suggesting here is pretty fucking sick.
Must… sell… belongings… for… gruel. Very thin, rancid, gruel. Invisible Hand commands thee.
*Pull self up by boot-straps; Death Panels; trickle-down; I got mine; Socialism; get a job; “get me a beer, bitch!”; “MegaDittoes! And Hannity sez…” etc., etc… * Shit.
It’s Taking Longer… So Much Longer Than We Could Have Ever Imagined.
And how many of these things were actually owned? One of the most booming businesses near any low to low middle class neighborhood is the rent-to-own business, where for easy weekly payments and little to no investigation of credit, anyone can have “nice” (if your tastes run to leather and overstuffed) furniture and a big screen TV and a washer and dryer and a computer and one day you’ll own them all – after paying rental payments that add up to, at a minimum, three to four times the retail price of said items if you bought them outright.
It’s a particularly pernicious scam. Most times people can never quite complete the “to own” part of the equation and have the items taken back by the company, then when times are better, turn around and rent again. One of the companies even has a guarantee that if you rent the same item (or the similar, upgraded model) within a certain period of time, your payments from before will apply toward your final “ownership” cost. If you have no credit and no expectation of ever earning enough to save up to buy a nice living room set or TV or washer and dryer or whatever, there’s no reason not to go through the rental thing. You’re ripped off, but the alternative is not having things or having usable/decent things at all.
Did you ever hear of job training? You get it even at Wal-Mart. You’re taught how to use the registers and inventory systems when you’re hired. Being trained in using the web, and the various and sundry methods different designers and site architects have of putting together forms (some far more skilled at doing so well than others) isn’t very common.
I just looked at WalMart’s online application. Before you even get to the form, you have to agree to certain disclaimers that are somewhat legalese in nature. Someone without a strong vocabulary could need help with those before ever getting to the application form. You’re then required to register with the site, providing all manner of personal details before you ever get to a job application. (That’s where I dumped out of the process, I’m not giving WalMart my info just to see how badly their webmonkeys may have screwed the pooch with their form design.)
And that’s just WalMart’s application process. Target’s is different. So is Best Buy’s. Every single one is different, requires different information, has different disclaimers written by different legal teams. Getting a bit confused by all the differing requirements of these companies isn’t that hard.
Are you sure about that? The program I’m in has been very positively received.
And how much a month do you think internet access actually costs?
Not at the same time, of course.
I work in construction and landscaping now - when I need to haul materials or tools such as a lawnmower, or debris such as trash or downed tree limbs, I take my pickup. This provides income I would not obtain if I did not have a vehicle capable of carrying such things. When I do not need to drive a truck I take my car, which is gets very high gas mileage and is thus much economical to run.
Other days I carpool, which saves even more money, but unfortunately I can’t rely on that method to get to work every day.
No shit. And why toilet paper and hand soap should be disallowed while junk food is condoned is beyond me. And don’t tell me it’s a food program … twinkies and coke?
Probably junk food lobbyists at work.
I’m always amazed at how people like Carol Stream and curlcoat absolutely refused to budge from their narrow point of view, despite being shown they are factually wrong on any number of points.
I see the same sort of behavior in some of my right wing friends as well.
Sometimes I think it’s just irrational anger over not having the right wing in power any more.
Broomstick, I’m not sure if I’m in awe of your tenacity or worried about your stability in that you continue to engage with that woman. Surely after what, a half dozen threads, you must realize that you are talking to the human equivalent of a concrete block. Cut your losses.
Oh, I realize she’s too stubborn/stupid to ever budge, but it’s like having a sparring partner that never tires. I get to think up new counterarguments that might work on someone less obtuse.
Broomstick, I’m really happy to be learning that your financial situation is less dire than it was last year. Still, I get a little uncomfortable with you sharing such details in this thread, particularly. It feels to me like you are trying to justify yourself to the likes of these . . . specimens. JFTR, you don’t need to.
Oh well, if it’s working for you, I’ll not discourage you in posting whatever you feel comfortable with. Keep on keepin’ on. 
I’m not really posting to change curlcoat’s mind - nothing will, of course. However, it is not good for other people in poverty to see such venom spewed without counter. Also, if a strategy that worked for me could work for someone else then it’s all good. It’s important for someone new to dealing with poverty (and there are far too many of those out there these days) to know that there are evil people who seek to punish others for there misfortune, and also to know they aren’t alone in dealing with such monsters.
Okay I’ve been trying to get in touch with my nice side, but your post is beyond the pale.
Listen you miserable selfish old hag. Just because the venom your heart pumps in lieu of human blood has shriveled itt to a mere throbbing raisin is no fucking reason to go all aggro on Broomstick.
You need fucking internet access to find a fucking job these days. Mejier’s, Wal-Mart, Mcdonald’s, Best Buy, HomeDepot, all require internet. It’s common practice to email a digital copy of your resume for most jobs. Monster, Indeed, MichiganWorks (which IIRC she lives close enough to the border to maybe use), and many more are all job location services on the net. In addition many many many many papers put their classifieds on the web.
Finally you selfish bitch who draws off the public dole, while hypocritically chastising others, have you ever paid tax in Indiana? I’ve at least payed sales tax there. I don’t fucking care what Indiana uses it for. I’m glad it’s doing some good. Where as you wag your shriveled gnarled finger from across the country.
Well,** CurlCoat**, here’s nsfw link for you.
It’s always amusing to see the way you all twist what has been said, into what you choose to believe.
Very little effort (which is actually debatable) now. I am now living off of what I worked for and earned all those years.
You might have a point if what you say was at all true. :rolleyes:
And, once again we find ourselves in the kingdom of - cite? (I won’t hold my breath).
In what way is any of what Harborwolf said even remotely untrue or exaggerated?
No you’re not. How many times to you have to be told? You are living off the taxes the rest of us are paying. The money you paid in was immediately paid out to people who were in the system at that time.
I fail to see why it is necessary for me to know exactly where all of my tax money goes. I do know about the property tax, because the semi-annual statement tells us where that goes. As for me “demonstrating” that our school funds are being used to teach immigrant children to speak English - not my responsibility. It is a fact of life for southern California, which you would be able to see if you just bothered to do a little Googling.
Or maybe you should, eh? And perhaps something a bit more to the point than Rolling Stone. It isn’t about repealing anything, it’s about interpreting whether it applies to people who have a baby here for the express purpose of gaining citizenship and bypassing immigration. It has been a serious financial hardship on border states for a long time.
When did I ever say anything that would lead you to that conclusion?
Actually, you are because I am not the one doing any broadbrushing here. Go back and read the examples I gave and quit trying to pretend that I am saying what I am not.
I cannot be held responsible for you not being able to keep up. The property tax was in regards to the total amount of tax we have to pay and why we are not interested in having it added to by having a UHC.
Really? I can quit paying property tax, sales tax, the taxes on our utilities, income tax, etc etc?
It means they won’t have to spend money on insurance/healthcare. It means that those of us who have been earning our way, and went without insurance/healthcare when we were young will now be forced to pay for these people who would rather have things other than insurance/healthcare. Under one plan, it essentially means that they will be adding hundreds of thousands of people to the Medicaid program, which is already a poorly run extreme waste of tax money. Really, no matter how you look at it or what plan they finally pass, it boils down to expecting those who have money to hand it to those who don’t.
We already have that. There are very few people out there who fall thru the cracks of not being eligible for Medicaid yet cannot afford or get private coverage.
Why don’t you wish for flying ponies while you are at it? We have better healthcare here because money is spent to make it that way. Cheaper healthcare means clinics without on site labs, no MRI/EEGS/EKGs and only subsidized drugs. It means research into finding cures for the various cancers stops. Is that what you really want?
The thing you all aren’t getting? I’m not “fortunate” - I worked extremely hard and put off quite a bit to get where I am now. Then you all come along and demand that I pay even more taxes to support people who didn’t put off doing whatever they wanted to do and so now “cannot afford” insurance. What was the point of doing without and saving if you all now think it is my responsibility to give up even more of what we have earned?
No matter what you do, people are going to suffer and die, and sometimes it will be needlessly. Simply because the government is providing their healthcare does not in any way guarantee that everyone will have access to all the treatment/drugs they need. There is simply no way that the taxpayers can afford that.
There isn’t any utopia, but every year we have more poor people living off of the government. For far too many of them, there is no incentive to better themselves, to get an education, get a good job, to even get out of bed before noon. The more you hand people, the more dependent they become.
Since I lived decades as a poor person (sometimes a very poor person), I’d say that my experience were extremely real and far more pertinent.