# The Welfare Queen, Redux **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796 "2017-03-22T23:10:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OsageOrange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6a8cbe/32.png) [@OsageOrange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OsageOrange)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/1 "2017-03-22T23:10:45Z")
I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m getting sick and tired of all poor people getting treated like shit just _because_ they’re poor. Back in the eighties, the myth of the “Welfare Queen” made people start thinking that all poor people on welfare or food stamps or both must be lazy bums who don’t want to work and who have kids by the dozen so they can get more out of the government; this was revived in the nineties by Newt Gingrich and his meaner, rougher GOP, and voila, here it is again! We are NOT lazy, we WOULD rather have health care than iPhones, and for the love of God, we DO want to work!!! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/2 "2017-03-22T23:36:23Z")
\*Yes, but as a welfare recipient you shouldn’t have the ability to post on the Internet, you should be living on a subsidence diet and government cheese and shopping only at good will type stores. If you need to make a phone call it should be at one of the many pay phones and as for entertainment, well maybe stick ball or singing harmony on the corner? \* This is what many seem to think, and yes they are real, I’ve talked to them. I never enjoy the conversations but I’ve heard them, you see as a middle class white guy I am in their mines obviously on their “team”. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/3 "2017-03-22T23:48:40Z")
But [y’all have fridges](https://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiE94XipevSAhXnAcAKHRPRCmEQyCkIHjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAl5E3KbIfeo&usg=AFQjCNH2vRYwHZgWfvlDB7i2QJWEmBvPMw&sig2=aaLPNjOvWZRpHpYnZQ-Rjg), conditioned air, microwaves, sometimes even computers and the 'ternet ! How can you call yourselves poor ?! If you’re not subsisting on a diet of stale bread while living out of a rainwater ditch, y’alls are just freeloaders, plain and simple. Just a fact\*. \*this is not intended as a factual statement ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/4 "2017-03-23T00:52:54Z")
How much do those idiots at Fox think a microwave costs? You can buy a used microwave for ten bucks. It’s not a sign of wealth. Between this and Kellyanne Conway I’m wondering if the right wing is having a contest to see who can make the dumbest remark containing the word “microwave”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/5 "2017-03-23T01:07:51Z")
[Well, they’ve got to make a choice. And so, maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love, maybe they should invest it in their own health care.](http://www.spin.com/2017/03/jason-chaffetz-iphone-healthcare/) ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/6 "2017-03-23T01:14:32Z")
Yeah, these people could just give up the next 100 iPhones they were going to buy and pony up for that 2 day hospital stay themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/7 "2017-03-23T01:16:20Z")
I realize there’s this quasi-religious mindset in America where punishment is more important than assistance, but if it costs $100 to subsidize a poor person and $200 to jail them, that doesn’t strike me as a “left” vs “right” conflict, just a “good economic sense” vs “bad economic sense” one. Basically, fuck all that “moral hazard” bullshit, what is _cheaper_ in the long run? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/8 "2017-03-23T01:33:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [Well, they’ve got to make a choice. And so, maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love, maybe they should invest it in their own health care.](http://www.spin.com/2017/03/jason-chaffetz-iphone-healthcare/) Wow, I saw someone claiming that Obama said this. Maybe they were being sarcastic in reply to someone else. But, if not, that’s really bad if words by a conservative get put in a liberal’s mouth by conservatives. Anyways, in response to the OP, there are many, many ways that even the poorest people can have access to the Internet. For one thing, there are subsidies if you are poor and have school-aged children. Around here, you could get a fairly lowspeed broadband for $5 a month. And then there are tons of places with free Wi-fi. And free computer access for people who don’t even have computers. And free donated old computers that people can get. And this is in my podunk town. So, yeah, the Internet is the absolute dumbest thing they could attack poor people over. * * * Unless, of course, you’re trolling. Then I should pretend to be upset, so you’ll keep on posting these things. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a proper liber-troll that wasn’t some strawman. If you’re actually poor, then welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/9 "2017-03-23T01:38:39Z")
Give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day. Teach a man a fish and you can feed him for a life time. Tell a man to go fish while you slam to door in his face and you can feel superior to him until he dies. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/10 "2017-03-23T01:43:09Z")
Teach enough of them to fish and they will starve when the fish are all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/11 "2017-03-23T01:43:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Wow, I saw someone claiming that Obama said this. Maybe they were being sarcastic in reply to someone else. But, if not, that’s really bad if words by a conservative get put in a liberal’s mouth by conservatives. Well, from that link: > [@](#): > > It’s true that Obama once made a similarly tone-deaf remark about cell phones and insurance. “If you looked at their cable bill, their telephone, their cell phone bill, it may turn out that it’s just they haven’t prioritized health care,” he said to a constituent about health care costs in 2014. But ultimately, the president was arguing for the expansion of care, not rolling it back. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/12 "2017-03-23T01:54:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > _you should be living on a subsidence diet and government cheese_ _ **Government cheese?!?** _ I’m pretty sure the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/13 "2017-03-23T02:57:46Z")
What’s all this about fish? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/14 "2017-03-23T03:37:20Z")
> [@OsageOrange](#): > > I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m getting sick and tired of all poor people getting treated like shit just _because_ they’re poor… 😕 > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I realize there’s this quasi-religious mindset in America where punishment is more important than assistance, but if it costs $100 to subsidize a poor person and $200 to jail them, that doesn’t strike me as a “left” vs “right” conflict, just a “good economic sense” vs “bad economic sense” one. 😕 Neither persecuting the underclass, nor saving government funds has anything whatsoever to do with the right-wing anti-welfare agenda. The sole purpose of all this blather is to give rednecks a sense of superiority so they will vote for the GOP and thus help facilitate the on-going transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very rich. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/15 "2017-03-23T04:56:16Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > _ **Government cheese?!?** _ I’m pretty sure the Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment. Hey, government cheese isn’t really all that bad. When I used to get it 30 years ago it was just a 5 pound block of American cheese, and it really helped stretch the food stamps. It was one of the brighter spots in my life at that point. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/16 "2017-03-23T05:37:07Z")
Was Wisconsin your government, by any chance? I bet they had the government cheese that would make being on welfare worth it! ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/17 "2017-03-23T05:45:11Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I realize there’s this quasi-religious mindset in America where punishment is more important than assistance, but if it costs $100 to subsidize a poor person and $200 to jail them, that doesn’t strike me as a “left” vs “right” conflict, just a “good economic sense” vs “bad economic sense” one. > > Basically, fuck all that “moral hazard” bullshit, what is _cheaper_ in the long run? Focusing on the problem instead of the symptoms. But then you all wouldn’t have the opportunity to feel good about yourselves while throwing away other people’s money. And no, I am not going to reply to the smokescreen that is SSDI is the same thing as welfare. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/18 "2017-03-23T06:03:55Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Focusing on the problem instead of the symptoms. But then you all wouldn’t have the opportunity to feel good about yourselves while throwing away other people’s money. > > And no, I am not going to reply to the smokescreen that is SSDI is the same thing as welfare. Better be careful. A lot of people who think like you but don’t have a disability (other than mental) disagree. [Disability is the New Welfare](https://www.cagw.org/media/wastewatcher/disability-new-welfare) > [@](#): > > The $260 billion that the federal government spends annually on disability programs and health care for disabled workers is greater than the cost of food stamps and welfare combined. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/19 "2017-03-23T06:09:02Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Focusing on the problem instead of the symptoms. But then you all wouldn’t have the opportunity to feel good about yourselves while throwing away other people’s money. What is the problem? And isn’t it worth addressing the symptoms if the symptoms are things like homelessness and malnutrition, particularly for children? ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796/20 "2017-03-23T06:28:55Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Better be careful. A lot of people who think like you but don’t have a disability (other than mental) disagree. > > [Disability is the New Welfare](https://www.cagw.org/media/wastewatcher/disability-new-welfare) None of that has anything to do with me. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > What is the problem? And isn’t it worth addressing the symptoms if the symptoms are things like homelessness and malnutrition, particularly for children? Have you ever been poor? The problem is people who not only don’t do anything to get themselves out of poverty, they make choices that pretty much guarantee they stay there. The problem is that all that is done is to hand them things without even trying to teach them to take care of themselves. Ah, yes, the children. Must throw money at them but approve that they were created into such a life, and do nothing else to get them out of their situation. Other than limit the benefits a non-parent can get. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-welfare-queen-redux/782796.md?page=2)