House Set to Ban Welfare Payments at Strip Clubs and Casinos

OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/01/31/house-set-to-ban-welfare-payments-at-strip-clubs

I hope they remember cruise ships also...
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: The calls for greater restrictions on how welfare dollars are spent have grown as media reports have continued to highlight TANF payment misuse. In 2010, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger blocked the use of welfare ATM cards at casinos and strip clubs, after it was reported that $5 million in TANF dollars were spent at casinos over three years. This bill would implement that ban nationwide.

While supporters claim that the bill is necessary to safeguard taxpayer dollars, critics claim it is stigmatizing those hit with hard times to score political points. Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, claimed that the bill would "humiliate and marginalize" poor people.

Humiliate and marginalize....Hmmmm. I suppose having your welfare card declined a strip club or a casino would be humiliating. LOL
(Edited by OCD_OCD)
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franklin1950
franklin1950: the government in its wisdom regulates all aspects of life.
who better to regulate how money is spent.
the government giveth and the government taketh away.

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lavendar_star
lavendar_star: franklin1950 I get what your saying, but spending money on strip joints and gambling its no different then the whole buying drugs debate. If its tax's payers money and they are in need they should spend it on essentials not on sex, drugs and casinos.

As for being humiliated doesn't that come with losing all your money to the house or a strippers grinning away your cash, lol Its hard one to call but that's the price you pay for being on welfare I guess and as OCD previous post showed (why the numbers have increased in welfare claimants) you have less freedom by taking from the government.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I don't know about anyone else, but I consider it theft. Theft from the taxpayers and that means me.
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franklin1950
franklin1950: if i wre a government employee [ post office , military , dog catcher ] being paid by government tax generated money does the mean the government has the right to tell me i can't spend the money one beer or cigaretts or strippers or that i have to buy a certain car or health insurance.
i'm being ridiculous with no intention other than trying to show my complete disillusionment in the thought that the government is forever in every way posible legeslateing more and more control into and onto my life.
a few hundred thousand disapearing into some strippers g-string or a few trillion dollars disapearing
who knows where .
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lavendar_star
lavendar_star: That is a good point Franklin1950 our (UK) government or us now owes a trillion pound to who or what they never fully explain and the government ( like yours I presume) seems to waste money on failed projects, private consultants and bureaucracy as well as the banks. So you make a fair point, like I said I can see both sides of the debate, mind you there is a difference of working for tax payers money and basically getting it free (even though many could of been former tax payers.

You could also argue it helps industries be it the sex or the gambling one and therefore the economy and also adults should be able to make free choices on what they spend their money on no matter how wasteful.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: It is the fact that they are getting welfare and spending it on strippers and casinos is the problem, Franklin. If they want to work and spend their own money on hookers and blow, no one cares.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I don't want to subsidize anyone's hookers, strippers, gambling problems, drug addictions or cruises,,
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lavendar_star
lavendar_star: lol, well for me if your so poor you need welfare then it should be spent on the basics, personally people who spend it on drug, sex or some other addiction obviously isnt using that money on the basics which is troubling, but I do understand where Franklin is coming from.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: Exactly.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: however you must be willing to give up what you want for what you need if you are spending someone else's money.
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Sarcastic Dots
Sarcastic Dots: Good. Though I kinda wish all gambling was outlawed. Oh well.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: Gambling can cause such misery for people who cannot control themselves. I've seen people who look like they can't even buy food or take a bath and they're pushing coins into the machines while rubbing, touching and talking to the machines. They would rather lose what they have in the hopes of winning money than to eat a decent meal. It's a disease.
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Wild__
Wild__: While supporters claim that the bill is necessary to safeguard taxpayer dollars, critics claim it is stigmatizing those hit with hard times to score political points. Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, claimed that the bill would "humiliate and marginalize" poor people.

Hmmmm, I would think that collecting welfare itself would be humiliating. I certainly would be embarrassed.
(Edited by Wild__)
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: Why? They have debit/credit cards that look just like yours and mine so they won't be stigmatized.
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Wild__
Wild__: But they still have to pay for their alcohol and/or tobacco seperately. Thats always a dead give away.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I didn't actually know that..
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Outbackjack
Outbackjack: If its good for Craig Thompson then it should be good for any of us to go and have a gander.
Makes me want to sign on the rock and roll and head down to watch the girlies dance around a pole.
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I was here
I was here: wildman69er said, "But they still have to pay for their alcohol and/or tobacco seperately. Thats always a dead give away."

Not in this state they don't. Their cash advance and their food allowance are on the same card. They choose which option they want to use at the time of checkout when they swipe their card.

It just pisses me off that they can purchase alcohol, tobacco, scratch off lotto and even wedding cakes! on their cards.

Pathetic.
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: One the money leaves the taxpayers hands, there is very little, if any, controls on how it is spent. Children still go without food, but the adults in charge are the ones in control. You can't legislate a conscience. We are merely furnishing the money to enable them, regardless of how it is spent.
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I was here
I was here: Very true OCD and I think that things needs to change in that regard. Like someone said previously (not sure if it was this thread or another...I follow many threads but rarely post)

"Welfare assistance is supposed to be a hand up" (get someone back on their feet) not a way of life YET I see many families that have been on the "system" going back generations.

They have learned to play the system. If they don't use their cash option to pay the rent and get an eviction notice...they just apply for emergency assistance...and they get it. Same with their utilities.

I would like to see it where a person can only stay on the system for a limited time and in that time they are educated or trained in a field where they learn to become a productive member of society.

I would like to see that instead of money that their rent and utilities are paid directly by the government (to ensure it is actually paid and the money is used as it is intended)

I think they should be given food vouchers for "healthy food" that they have to prepare...not food stamps that they can use to buy junk and or sell.


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I was here
I was here: In no way shape or form should they be allowed to buy alcohol, tobacco or gamble with tax payer money
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OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: A prominent black conservative calls the welfare system generational enslavement. I can understand why he feels that way. The more people you suck into the system, the more control you have over them. Slavery masquerading as assistance. Very ugly stuff.
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Wild__
Wild__: There is no silver bullet that will stop people from obtaining drugs and alcohol. By paying for their food, utilities, and rent, whatever money they do have is then freed up to be wasted on their vice(s). I applaud and support all efforts to minimise the abuse of tax payer dallars.
(Edited by Wild__)
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I was here
I was here: Slavery masquerading as assistance???? I'm not so sure about that. They are given everything they need and have to do nothing in return for the handouts they are freely given...

There is no reason for anyone to want to get "off" the system (the way the system is currently set up) Why would anyone want too? They have everything they need and they get to do whatever they want each and everyday.
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