New Feature: Pissed Off Saturdays

<< start rant >>

You know.. I watch a lot of news and read a lot of newspapers. There’s really little else to do when your standing around the deli all day waiting for customers.. there’s ONLY so much DoodleJump, Solitaire and Brain Challenge you can play on the iPhone!!

Two things caught my attention these last few days and I had that ARE THEY FUCKING KIDDING reaction so I figured I’d share!

LOL!

I apologize in advance if I give you the same reaction!! ;)

VENICE BEACH, CA

So here’s the deal. Apparently, “homeless” people living in RVs have decided to take up residence in Venice Beach, California. Parking on streets.. leaving trash around.. using resident’s front lawns as bathrooms.. there’s even been mention of drug dealing and prostitution but to be fair, I don’t know if there is.

I DO know that the people of Venice Beach are fed up with this and want it to stop.

Seems fair, right? I mean you pay a mortgage and property taxes and have to follow laws and regulations and stuff and all of a sudden all these RVs start parking in your neighborhood causing a problem. You’d be pissed too. I know I was…

I was ESPECIALLY pissed when I heard one of these RV people saying that HE had every RIGHT to shit on someone’s lawn and that THEY should provide a Porta-Potty for them to use.

Are you FUCKING kidding me?

I’m sorry but I don’t consider living in an RV as being “homeless”.. and I know there are RVs that have bathrooms. Not all, I grant that.. but why are the rights of people who don’t pay taxes surpass the rights of the people that do?

Why is it that people breaking the law :: and I’m sorry, if you’re parking where you shouldn’t park and shitting on someones front lawn then you’re breaking the law :: are being allowed to bring down the quality of life of people who work for a better life?

Okay.. so insert the violin playing here ______________

Some are going to say that I’m being too bullheaded because people are down on their luck and what are they suppose to do…

Look.. I’m sorry if people are down on their luck or if circumstances found them where they’re at .. but if the city is TRYING to make concessions for you… trying to make both sides happy.. then WHO THE HELL GIVES YOU THE RIGHT to thumb your nose at it and say Oh? That parking lot 10 miles away? The one where we are ALLOWED to park and won’t have to be harassed by the people that live here? Yea.. the one that would have bathroom and shower facilities?? Um.. yea… nooooo. Not going to go there because it would just be too damn far from the beach.

Come on people!

Believe me, I am no fan of California in general :: sorry Cali, I’m an East Coast girl through and through :: but this has GOT to stop!

You  need to get tough on these people because it isn’t fair and it seems to me that the RV-ers are using their numbers as leverage.

So.. how would YOU feel if this was happening in your neighborhood? Am I being unfair?

THE DUGGARS

You know these people, right? They’re the ones with 19 kids.. who just had their 20th that was born really premature and both mother and baby had serious health problems to contend with because of it?

Come on.. you know the ones! They have a TLC show and all their kids names start with a J?

Ok.. well.. they’ve been coming under fire for years :: I think after their 12th or 13th kid :: about their lifestyle and the fact that they have so many kids.

All these bleeding hearts are blasting them saying that they’re being irresponsible.. that they are overpopulating the earth.. that they are robbing their kids of a normal childhood… that having the older kids help taking care of the younger kids is just like having kids work in coal mines.

So what’s the problem? Why is it anybody’s business what they do?

They don’t live off the state.. NOBODY other then themselves are providing for their family.. Their kids appear to be educated.. well mannered.. and happy. Do they have responsibilities and chores and have to make sacrifices? Sure.. but you know what? They are also learning about team work.. about not being selfish.. about putting other people first instead of yourself.. learning a work ethic and being responsible.

I think there are TOO many kids today NOT being raised that way.. and I’ll be the first to hand over my three step sons as evidence to that.

But really? I think the main reason why people are objecting so much is because they’re Christians and for some reason, it’s okay to bash Christians ( maybe because we can take it? ) .. I don’t hear anyone publicly blasting the 35 year old in Florida who has 16 kids with as many different fathers and has been living off welfare and never once held a job or paid her own rent.

So what’s the difference?

If you’re going to put one on notice, why aren’t you putting them ALL on notice?

Until someone’s lifestyle directly impacts your own, shut the hell up about it..

<< end rant >>

Now it’s time for a Hershey Bar!!!

So Tom Corbett.. THIS Is Living The Dream?

Tom Corbett: Bozo or John Wayne Gacy? You decide..

To borrow a phrase from my girl DatGirl.. this FREAKIN’ BOBBLE HEAD Tom Corbett, a republican politician from Pennsylvania went on record and said that :: I’ll paraphrase here :: that the unemployed people in Pennsylvania are lazy and don’t want to work.. we’re just sitting on our asses waiting until unemployment runs out before we go looking for a job.

Yea.. you read that right.

Actually, I’m going to rethink this. He’s NOT a Bobble Head.. he’s a fucking douche bag!

I am one of those Pennsylvania’s that are out of a job.. and believe me.. I am NOT sitting on my ass waiting for unemployment benefits to run out.. I, like many other people I know, are trying to find a job that isn’t going to leave me and my family living in a box in the park.

So here’s a snap shot into my life:

Because my salary was what it was in with “working world”, my unemployment rate was at the max rate. Which, if you do the math, is less then half of what I was making monthly.

Ok. Fine.

So I did what every financially responsible person does in these situations and scaled back on everything that wasn’t a necessity. Got rid of all the extra stuff on cable.. did away with the home phone.. lowered all the perks on the cell phone.. dropped the insurance on the broken down van that we don’t drive.. and we don’t drive the other car as much if we don’t absolutely need to. Basically, I made it work.

Barely.

We’re even busting our asses trying to find another house to rent because this one is sapping way more then half my monthly income. But the problem is, because I’m on unemployment and the store hasn’t been open long enough to trend it’s profits.. no one is willing to take a risk and rent to us. Understandable. I don’t hold it against potential landlords.. they have to look out and provide for theirs too.. it’s just the way it is.

I’ve been combing the paper and the internet.. sending out my resumes.. joining the likes of Monster.Com .. the same thing that everybody else is doing and either I don’t get a call back.. or I’m “over qualified” :: read that as them not wanting to pay me what I’m worth :: .. or I just simply silence.

My own mother.. God Bless her simple ass soul .. has been needling me about this since I got laid off. She doesn’t think you “work” unless you “work” for someone else.. she doesn’t consider my store a “job” .. it doesn’t matter to her that I would have to PAY someone to do what I do daily if I wasn’t there to do it daily .. her thinking capacity only goes so far.

So the other day when she called me to tell me that her cousin works in a kid’s clothing store and would GLADLY hire me, I asked her what the salary was.

Her response? “.. what does it matter. It’s a job.”

I calmly .. yes, calmly .. explained to her that while I could make up a few hundred dollars a month from the store, I can’t cut my nose off to spite my face, yknow? I mean.. a 7.00 an hour job just isn’t going to cut it financially.

And she WENT OFF.. omg.. did she GO OFF..

And yknow.. like.. there are certain ways that I don’t talk to my mom. Even when she’s being a complete fool, I show her a respect that mother’s deserve.. but she crossed the line and I had to set her straight..

I’M 45 YEARS OLD.. DON’T LIVE UNDER YOUR ROOF.. AND DON’T HIT YOU UP FOR MONEY SO IT’S REALLY NONE OF YOUR SIMPLE ASS BUSINESS WHAT I DO OR DON’T DO.

I wasn’t proud of myself but you know what? I’m just sick of hearing it and sick of her comparing me to my IRS big-wig brother that lives in a half million dollar house and is married to a research physician who travels the globe routinely testing new drugs that the FDA won’t allow here.

Sorry.. a little off topic but it just gets under my skin because Mr.  Corbett here.. why, he never had to go through what I and millions of other people around the country are going through.

There ARE jobs, Bozo? Then were are they? Ohhhh… you’re talking about UNION jobs!! You’re talking about the jobs created by the stimulus that went to replace perfectly good corners already wheel chair friendly with NEW corners that have a rubber mat insert that cost 10g’s a pop.

You read that right… my county is destroying perfectly good pavement corners with NEW pavement corners that is costing TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS a corner.. that’s 40 GRAND an intersection. Considering all the intersections in my little borough alone, that’s a whole shit load of money that COULD have been used to .. oh.. I don’t know.. promote small businesses? Provide start up money for someone who wants to start a small business?? Cause, OMG!!, that would provide that dirty word called JOBS.

But they wouldn’t be UNION jobs so .. you know.. never mind that..

Sorry.. off topic again!!

What I wanted to say in this post is that last Wednesday when I should have received my second unemployment check of the month.. guess what?

Didn’t get it.

Didn’t get it the next day either..

And this is like stressing me out because my landlord had the other half of the rent that he was going to deposit on Wednesday :: his office manager was fucking horrible when I had to tell her not to deposit :: .. I already had a cut off notice from the water department scheduled for the day after I was suppose to get my check .. the cable bill was due.. my cell phone was about to be cut off and we won’t even talk about the electric / gas company.

So I’m in such a fucking panic that I was literally throwing up my belly button..

I call the unemployment office and talk to Mike.

Mike explains to me that the reason why they didn’t release my benefits is because it was a way to get me to call them to tell me that I didn’t qualify for another claim.

Cause you couldn’t send me a letter after my last check, RIGHT MIKE?

So I tell him that I’ve been working for 30 some odd years and NEVER had to deal with unemployment before and so I didn’t know WHAT THE HELL HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.

He tells me that because I didn’t work and therefore didn’t earn 6Xs what my unemployment benefits are, I was entitled to open a new claim.

ME: So.. basically what you’re saying is I’m screwed??
MIKE: No.. no.. no.. you can’t open a new claim but you qualify for emergency benefits.
ME: So, I’m getting a check?
MIKE: Well, yea. I’m going to release it now since we talked.

And I was so relieved to hear it that Ms. BadAss me started to get all weepy and teary.

Poor Mike kept apologizing all over himself and I was like, Dude.. it isn’t your fault and I went on to explain to him how I was being responsible in every way but it’s illegal to duct tape kids to trees and leave them in the park these days and if I were allowed to do that, then I wouldn’t have their burden of food and cloths, yknow?

And then I got really, really pissed off and told him that why is it that people who have worked all their fucking lives are finding themselves in this position yet able bodies people who have been collecting welfare for GENERATIONS never miss a check?

Why is THAT, Mike??

WHY IS THAT, TOM CORBETT?

So before you open your well fed.. bills paid.. grossly over paid mouth, why don’t you try living in our shoes for a while?

<< end of rant >>

Harsh Reality

Ok.. so before I get into this post, let me bring y’all up to speed by saying that I no longer have health insurance because I was laid off in July. Even if I would consider it, I am NOT eligible for state aid because I receive unemployment. I AM eligibile for a private HMO but have to wait through a 7 month “grace” period.

So with that said …

This past Wednesday, The Good Doctor’s husband came into the shop for turkey. Chief explains that he doesn’t have the turkey that The Good Doctor’s husband likes because I’ve been sick as a dog and without me in the shop or doing the running around, everything is on a skeleton.

The Good Doctor’s husband asks what’s wrong.. Chief goes into my litany of symptoms… and the Good Doctor’s husband tells Chief to have me call ASAP and they’ll fit me in.

So Chief calls me and I am SO NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. I don’t like going to doctors. He knows this but OBVIOUSLY is more concerned about my well being then I am. But now I’m in a bind because it’s The Good Doctor. Who is not only a super sweet person but a really good customer and since Chief had to open his big fat mouth and they’ll willing to fit me in.. I have to call.

Fuck.

It was around lunch time so I figured I’d wait an hour before I call. I tell him this.. he seems satisfied and I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Until my cell phone rang.

Until my cell phone rand that The Good Doctor’s name came up on the caller id.

Fuck! He gave them my freakin’ number.

He knows me SO well!

Wind up is is that I couldn’t be seen until Thursday at 11:15am.

I immediately call Chief and chastised him on giving out my cell phone number. But he knew the deal and was just glad that I made the appointment.

He wanted to come with me but since my appointment was at the start of his lunch rush, I told him I could go at it alone. I figured I’d be feeling better by the next day anyway and also, I didn’t want him there when they weighed me.

Trivial girly stuff.. but it is what it is so what can I tell you.

I actually am NOT feeling any better at the time of my appointment. And as I’m sitting in The Good Doctor’s waiting room I am suddenly overcome by the feeling of passing out. I only ALMOST passed out once and it wasn’t a nice feeling. It was so bad that I couldn’t even hold the pen to fill out the paperwork.

So I get all girly and sniffly and call Chief and tell him that I need him. The shop is only a few blocks away and he was there in an instant. And of course, as soon as he got there I started to feel better and told him he could leave. Of course, he looked at me like I was insane but I knew his mind was on the store and missing the lunch rush money and I started to feel guilty that I had even called him in the first place. But he felt that his place was with me so he stayed.

When we finally got called into the exam room and The Good Doctor started to exam me, and based on what I was telling her she says that there is a very real possibility that I contracted the Pig Virus :: H1N1 to all you non-rednecks :: and that if I had come in sooner she could have given me something that would have made me better faster.

Wonderful. What the hell can I tell you.

She then asked if I smoked. If Chief wasn’t there I would have lied and said that I was able to quit xx months ago or get all giddy and excited by telling her I HAVE XX DAYS CLEAN! but I couldn’t because he was there and so when I told her that I did, OMG.. her reaction was SO FREAKIN’ OVER THE TOP.

I mean.. ok. I know smoking is bad for you. Worse then bad. I get it. I really, really do. I know I’m setting myself up for all kinds of horrible things. And I’m NOT justifying it. I swear, I’m not. But she laid into me SO hard and SO fierce that I really just wanted say LOOK BITCH, CAN WE FOCUS ON THE PIG VIRUS HERE?

Seriously.. I felt like I was in one of the Scared Straight movies that they show teenagers about prison life.

She pulls out this paper with information on the patch and the gum and the things you suck on that will help you quit smoking and wouldn’t get off the subject until I agreed to use one of the above to stop. I played along and went with the things you suck on because they had a coffee flavored one.

The worse part of it all… is that when she gave me the inhaler medicine and the nasal spray.. she proceeded to tell me how much they would cost if I had to go to a pharmacy and get them and that it’s just a waste to give them to me if I’m not going to stop smoking. Then she proceeds to tell me that:

• I shouldn’t even be seeing you because you don’t have insurance and it’s a big liability
• If the president’s healthcare goes through, you wouldn’t even get treatment if you had cancer because you smoke.

Now.. ok.. so since when is getting paid in cash for an office visit more of a liability then being paid for an office visit by an insurance company?

I’ve worked both sides of health care for the past 23 years :: until I got laid off :: so I know how everything works .. and trust me, it’s not the way it’s being presented to the masses.

But I’m not getting into that.. I’m too exhausted and spent to go into all that now. Maybe later.

Anyway.. so she gives me the 200.00 a month inhaler and the 150.00 nasal spray :: but come one, they were samples and didn’t cost her anything :: and then writes me a script for 7 antibiotic pills that cost me 108.00.

I know she didn’t mean to make me feel like I was a dredge of society. But she did.. she made me feel like a failure because I didn’t have health insurance. She made me feel like I was just someone who was coping free medicine. She made me feel like I wasn’t up to her standard and the only reason why she lowered herself to treat me is because her husband loves Chief’s turkey.

She literally had me in tears and I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.

On the way home, I told Chief that I absolutely hated him for making me go through with appointment and it was the kind of hate that would never be forgiven.

He said that was fine, as long as I was around long enough to hate him he didn’t care.

Now here’s the thing.. if you want to discuss it or debate it or whatever you can go right ahead but I’m not going to partake. I’ll just leave my 2 cents here for y’all to mull over:

If healthcare is going to be re-vamped, then it needs to be REVAMPED. You can’t half step this one. It’s so bad.. and so corrupt that it literally has to be restructured as a whole.. not bits and pieces of it.

Health Insurance should only be for long term treatments, surgeries, pregnancies and stuff like that. Everything else should be fee for service. You go to the doctors, you pay the doctor visit. If one doctor charges 50.00 a visit, then go to the one that charges 35. The fact that doctor’s do NOT see uninsured people only puts more strain on emergency rooms. We, as a country, are used to having things FAST. And I think because of that, we’ve forgotten when we really need to see a doctor. I can’t tell you how many people sat in the ER complaining of a sore throat.. or an earache.. or something really, really minor. All that did was tie up the ER and waste resources.

If the government is going to model health care on a foreign country, then they should model Italy’s. And I’m not just saying that because I’m Italian.. I’m saying that because I have relatives in Italy and we’ve had this discussion. No system is perfect. Not everybody’s “needs” will be met but we need to move away from what we think we are entitled to and get back to the way things were before we were indoctrinated with insurance is king.

Kids have all inclusive coverage from birth to age 16 .. the elderly are covered from 67 (I believe) on up.. again .. all inclusive. Or 70. I forget.

But doesn’t that make sense?

And how about this? If the government is SO amped on getting involved in this and instead of baiting and switching or money this or money that.. just open freakin’ clinics so that people who can’t afford private health care and who aren’t eligible for medicaid have a place to go to get care if they need it.

Oh.. and welfare? Yea.. make people work for it. Clean the streets.. scrub graffeti .. do what people who get community service have to do.. board up old houses for Christ sake.. something. Anything.

Benjamin Franklin said it best:

I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

Okay.. I think the meds are kicking in and I’m getting all scattered over here. My apologies.. I’ll end my rant now!

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

… so there’s been a pretty heated conversation going on between Jen512 and my buddy The Goober about healthcare. If you’re up for it, you can read it HERE.

I was going to post my episode recaps for Project Runway and Top Chef but I think this topic is a little more important.

NOTE: Just let me set the records straight before I go on my tirade. I am not a liberal.. conservative.. Democrat.. Republican.. a sheep.. or a lion. I am just someone who tries to live right.. tries to provide for my family and loves my country. I don’t trust politicians OR the judicial system for that matter so please don’t think that I have a hidden agenda or am just spewing what I hear from someone else. I keep an open mind about everything and am the first one to google something I don’t understand before I form an opinion about it.

With that said…

Before I met Chief, I had very little :: okay, NONE :: experience with my state’s welfare system. I grew up in I guess you could say a lower-middle class :: or high lower class :: neighborhood where no one really knew they didn’t have anything because we had what we needed :: food on the table, roof over our heads, etc. :: and everyone was basically in the same position that my family was.

We went to Catholic school, went to college and then went to work. We got married.. bought cars and houses and didn’t have any of the drama that you routinely hear about on the news on in the paper.

When I met Chief, he was a working as a chef for a ridiculously high end caterer :: they wouldn’t do a wedding unless the price tag was a minimum of 50 grand :: but was making half of what I was making an hour. In fact, he was making less then an entry level position for the company that I worked for.  He was trying to raise 3 kids without any type of child support because all the judges he and the crack whore went before fell for her sob stories.

According to assistance limits, he was making too much money to get on any type of program that would help with electricity bills or heating bills but was able to get about 180.00 a month in food stamps.

That’s basically 6 bucks a day.

Which the state immediately cut off when he went on unemployment.

NOTE: There is a “down” time in catering and generally you work 8 months and then are laid off for 4 months. Carpenters go through the same thing.

If you think it was hard financially when he was working, imagine how hard it was when he was on unemployment. It was that reason why he decided to open up the store. The way we figured it on paper, my paycheck would be able to handle all the household stuff while his unemployment would go towards opening the store.. and then the store would be able to pay for itself.

He was smart.. and it worked. It was hard.. it was :: and still is :: 20 hour days and a lot of  sacrificing and a lot of worry and a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

I’m not complaining. It’s just how it is. We chose to open a store.. we knew it was going to take a lot of inner strength.. outer elbow grease.. and a lot of praying.

To say we work hard is an understatement. You can ask any one of customers and they will tell you that we do the very best that we can to give our customers things that they want that they can afford.

But what torques the hell out of my Chinese food suffering bowels is that while we are constantly pushing.. constantly striving.. constantly trying to make sure all our bases are covered, there are people that I wait on everyday who are just skating through life.. and think they are ENTITLED TO SKATE THROUGH LIFE.

The Crack Whore can run an air conditioner in every damn window of her apartment 24/7 and doesn’t have to care about what her electric bill is because she doesn’t HAVE TO PAY her electric bill.

She’s on welfare… the state pays it.

And guess what? On Tuesday, MY electricity was turned off because I owed a 28.00 back balance.

You read that right…

FOR 28.00 FUCKING DOLLARS, THEY CUT MY ELECTRICITY OFF.

Or how about this one:

One of my regular customers came in on Monday asking if she could get a few things to hold her family over until her husband got paid on Wednesday. Knowing that she has kids to feed, I said “sure”. So she got something like 25.00 worth of stuff.

As I was slicing her lunch meat, she tells me that she will be having Gastric Bypass surgery in October.

Now, there’s no denying that she’s over-weight. But Gastric Bypass? There’s no way that I would have thought that she’d be a candidate for it. I know people personally that have had the surgery and they were OBESE. Like, can’t fit through the front door obese. This woman is no where near that size.

But guess what? She’s on welfare.. so guess who’s paying for the surgery?

At any rate.. it wasn’t even that pissed me off so much.. on Wednesday, she came in to pay her bill with her mother. While she was waiting for me to finish up with a few people in front of her, she started checking our our shelves saying that she had her first nutrition meeting and was looking for things that she would be able to eat after her surgery.

She then tells me that what she is going to do is join Nutri-Systems after her surgery so she doesn’t have to worry about counting calories or proteins or whatever the hell she has to check.

You know what the going rate is for a monthly subscription to Nutri-System?

299.95 A MONTH!

You can’t make your fucking money stretch so you have to ask for credit from me to feed your kids but you’re going to spend three hundred dollars a month for Nutri-Systems???

WHAT THE FUCK!

So.. as delicately as I can be.. I asked her how she was going to be able to swing it and you know what her answer was?

“… oh, the state is paying for it because I have to have the surgery for medical reasons”

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??

I had to swallow my tongue because you see.. years ago.. I was 12 sizes bigger then I am now. I’m not that big anymore because I just started to eat right and I exercised. A lot. And eventually, I got down to a size 12.

No surgery .. no state paid food delivery service.. nothing but determination and commitment.

Then there was the whole glasses fiasco.

I needed new glasses and Chief needed glasses period. My insurance basically covered the exam.. the frames.. and the lenses but not anything extra like transitions :: where the lens get dark automatically in sunlight :: or UV protection or that kind of stuff. Chief needed a bifocal so because that was out of pocket also, I had to give up the transitions so that he could have the bifocals.

Okay.. whatever.. his was more important then mine and we could have only afforded one so the bifocals it was.

Two weeks ago, Weed came into the store and I forget how the subject even came up but he pulled out his little welfare medical card and said, “… I LOVE this thing. Do you know that I got two pairs of glasses that turn into sunglasses.. and I didn’t even NEED them I just got them because I could.”

Remember that scene in Austin Powers when the mannequins head explode?

Yea. That was me.

Oh.. and did I also tell you that the state is paying for him to get his G.E.D and is giving him a laptop so that he could study and look for a job? All because HE WENT TO JAIL FOR BURGLARY AND DEALING?

Or how about the woman that comes in bitching that her 700.00 a month in food stamps isn’t enough?

Or the other woman who BUYS a food stamp card from some barfly for half the amount in cash?

Or the couple who come in saying that yes, they can afford to have a second baby because they’ll be getting more food stamps when the baby is born?

Is it me or is something wrong here?

Why can’t the widowed father of 5 kids get any type of help from the state because omg.. he actually has a JOB.. but a baby making factory can get free food, free housing and a monthly cash stipend and is doing NOTHING to make her life better? Because to HER .. her life is SWEET.

“… I ain’t gotsta do nuffin’. Dey gotsta give me my money” .. that being an actual conversation I had when I asked what she was going to do when the state finally goes bankrupt and her food stamp card becomes useless

Some would say that I have nothing to bitch about because I choose to accept the food stamp card in my store. But I couldn’t have a store unless I take food stamps. The majority of my customers are on it.. and instead of having a moral struggle with it, I just feel like I’m basically getting my own money back.. since as a working person, my taxes go to providing them their lifestyle.

So you’ll have to forgive me when I hear about how the current administration wants to give MORE of my hard earned income to somebody else.

I’m struggling but because I had a job.. and I own a store.. nobody cares. Nobody is giving my kids free school supplies.. or school clothes.. or lunches.

No one cares about how I’m going to make my next car payment or utility payment or the fact that I had to cut out a lot of things that we’ve become accustomed to in order to keep a roof over our heads.

As long as there are more people with their hand out then there are with their hands in their pocket.. we are going to be forced to dish it out. And that’s just plain wrong.

Give a man to fish and he’ll eat for one day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat everyday

… or something like that.

For more details on Food Stamps, read THIS post that I wrote back in April

<< end rant >>

PA BILL THAT BANS ALCOHOL SALE TO WELFARE RECIPIENTS

Here we go again… the issue with Food Stamps.

THIS I didn’t know existed.

Apparently, there is a loophole which allows welfare recipients to purchase alcohol with their Access cards and Child Support cards

NOTE: I don’t care what people do with their child support money. For one, that’s private money and not issued by the state and two, after everything that I go through with Spaz and Bubba, I’m seriously thinking about two fisting some shots!

A State Rep, David Reed, has issued a bill that would prevent the sale of alcohol for people receiving food stamp.

And guess what?

THERE IS OUTRAGE!!

ANOTHER CASE OF THE GOVERMENT GETTING INTO PEOPLE’S BUSINESS!

Hmmm.. could it be that the State Rep is a Republican and that AUTOMATICALLY calls for opposition from the Libs?

Isn’t it the liberals who want BIGGER government? Who want the government to take care of every one of their needs? Bail out banks and fiscally irresponsible people? Who want nationalized health care? So why would they NOT think that the government would mandate how you can spend THEIR money??

NOTE: I’m going to post about this later but you want to know how Nationalized Healthcare works? You don’t need to look at Canada or England… just head over to your local VA Hospital and ask THEM how well they are treated.

Look.. everybody who reads this blog already knows my feelings about food stamps and why I feel the way I feel. But this is just ridiculous… how can someone actually think that buying alcohol and beer on food stamps is okay?

I’m of the theory that if your not part of the solution then your part of the problem.. and that if you’re standing on a soapbox proclaiming all that’s wrong then you should also come up with how to fix it.

So my fix with food stamps?

Let people work for it. I’m sure there are places, neighborhood, land where everyone lives that is over-grown or strewn with trash … I’m sure there is “blight” in every city, county, borough in the state / country.

And wouldn’t you know it? The governement has a WHOLE WORK CORP of people. You want food stamps? Then you have to throw on that flourencent vest and pick up trash.. cut grass.. paint over graffetti.

In other words.. EARN it. The government doesn’t have to worry about where they’re going to get the money from because they’re already dolling it out.

See. Simple.

But “Simple” is NEVER “Simple”.

I can hear the excuses now.. “I don’t have time to work painting walls” :: Why? Because you already have another job and are fraudently receiving state aid? It happens. More then you’ll want to believe :: “.. but I got kids” :: Then put them in day care or have someone babysit like the majority of the poplace does. Or aren’t you already getting money FOR daycare from the state?” :: “.. but.. but.. but..”

I think, a while back, this came up and I think doing that was deemed unconstitutional. I’ll have to do some research on that.

I’d love to find out who deemed it unconstitutional to work becase guess what? My ass will be out of my cube in a heartbeat!