Agreed. They should also make her pay back every penny she received since she won.

Oh and the best part is she was on food stamps, and she spends money on playing the lottery?

WTF.

So when do they pull the govt welfare from Big Oil?

Big Oil makes lots more than this woman in Mich. and still we give them 24 BILLION DOLLARS in corporate welfare every year.

Talk to me about that and then I'll know we've really done something.

The woman became an instant 1%-er and immediately greed set in.

.

What an absolute DISGRACE.

To the girl who won the million dollars - you definitely NO longer need any financial assistance from the government or anyone else. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking this assistance and MUST pay it back.

To the mother: You are even more of a disgrace. If you were a good parent/citizen, you would have taught your children not to abuse a system that was intended to help people only. I will always support assistance programs, but I will not support people who abuse it.

To the government in Michigan - I realize with state budget cuts that it's hard to keep track of these type of cases... but you are also a failure for not following up on this type of case.

Well ... the article indicated that she was on a lottery show where she won the money. That being said, have no idea if she was using money to purchase lottery tickets.

No, not entitlement, just a lack of knowing right from wrong (some would say lacking in morals).

Admittedly when I was unemployed I was in Colorado, but every 2 weeks I had to report any and all income. Not doing so would have been fraud. i can't imagine that MI has much different laws than that.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton told WDIV. "I feel that it's OK because I have no income, and I have bills to pay. I have two houses."

That's definitely entitlement. She has two houses but it's okay for her to get food stamps because she doesn't work.

Again, the issue here is that food stamps are given out to people WHO HAVE PERSONAL ASSETS.

There should be NO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE of any kind, including food stamps, to anyone who has not exhausted ALL of their own resources first.

If the public is supporting you in any way, you should not own any homes, plasma tvs, timeshares, country club memberships, investment accounts etc.

Anyone wanna bet she'll be reapplying for food stamps by year's end?

If it takes that long for her to blow all that money..

UnitedStates1776---Great post, great question. I am morally and religiously opposed to giving any industry making 10's of BILLIONS of dollars of profit EVERY QUARTER one penny of government subsides. When do we stop that??

This is a young woman who, clearly, had "delusions" of grandeur and entitlement. Why did she buy a new house - she now has two houses - when she could have spent the money for college in order to educate herself, thereby readying herself for the job market. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese proverb.

Oh well...she probably wasn't smart enough to go to college, anyway. Smart enough to take advantage of the system, though.

I predict that in a few years she will be broke and will have to sell both her houses anyway. She doesn't appear to have much of a work ethic.

Piece of crap.

I'm as liberal as they come and this woman is a complete idiot.

I say since she has been recorded as having acquired this amount of money she is no longer EVER able to draw government assistance of ANY KIND PERIOD.

Live within your means woman. Damn this pisses me off.

Ruken..."Oh and the best part is she was on food stamps, and she spends money on playing the lottery?"

What kind of cold-hearted person are you? You don't think poor people should have the right to have hope for a better life? You would deny them that by not allowing them to play the lotto? You're probably the same type that thinks welfare recipients shouldn't be able to own a flat screen TV.

(Don't get upset...just playing devil's advocate.)

Excellent point Kris .

However, she wouldn't even have to go to college. There are plenty of Tech schools that can enhance ones wages and possible future employment.

Some certificates, challenge the success some degrees might give vs the job market.

What kind of cold-hearted person are you? You don't think poor people should have the right to have hope for a better life? You would deny them that by not allowing them to play the lotto? You're probably the same type that thinks welfare recipients shouldn't be able to own a flat screen TV.

My point was rather if you need government help, it should be when you're at your wit's end.

People that take government assistance but still have enough for luxuries (cable, internet, etc) really obviously aren't in need of assistance anyway.

This is just my opinion, but one I feel quite strongly about.

A great example of why we need to thin the welfare rolls!! You would not believe the fancy cars at the LOW income housing I see. Cars I could NEVER afford but heck I only work 6 or 7 days a week!!!!!

I have a feeling that she'll be back on welfare next year after she loses the houses for failing to pay property taxes.

@onejulia

There should be NO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE of any kind, including food stamps, to anyone who has not exhausted ALL of their own resources first.

There's the post I was waiting for. Based on your premise: Worked your whole life to get where you are, paid into the system and now you find yourself unemployed? Don't worry, you can get help. Just as soon as you sell everything you own and spend all of your retirement savings supporting yourself and your family. That is the new American version of "looking out for your brother".

Food stamps are there to help people eat. They don't just go to the unemployed, or people on welfare. There are literally millions of working poor who get up and go to work every day to support their families who make so little that they still qualify for food stamps. Per your example, if any of these people have any assets, a car, a tv, etc, they have to sell them and be living in the street before you would allow them to qualify for food stamps.

We really don't know the whole story involved with this young woman. All we know is that she won the Lotto and now everyone is cheesed off at her because she still was getting food stamps. Granted, it is possible that she didn't report her income but; we don't actually know now do we.

BTW If this young woman actually broke the law, I'm sure there is an eager beaver prosecutor out their that will be more than willing to make sure that she repays her "debt" to society.

onejulia - Personal assets are allowed for a reason. You cannot stop someone from receiving assistance because they have a home (a primary residence, whether rented, mortgaged or owned). Otherwise the government would need to provide that to them as well. I don't have a problem with helping someone with food stamps but the fact a lottery win is not considered income is simply disgusting. But two homes is out of control.

I own my home and have been unemployed due to the construction market. Thankfully I didn't need food stamps because I had savings but I shouldn't have been kept from that assistance while I got back into the workplace if I didn't have that savings. That isn't the case here. She took advantage of the system even with winning a $1M. Obviously at 24, she wasn't taught what was right and wrong. Her mother is a poor reference for her continuous learning obviously from her statement as well. You should ask them why the house was more important than an education. Nope, she needed two houses and a new car. That is where you should have issue.

Oh, just make note as well, a note/loan cannot go on a home if you are unemployed. So "exhausting" all personal assets would be impossible to put food on the table without lossing the residence. That logic of yours still doesn't make sense. But if you want to pay their rent, let them know. They are out there to take advantage of that as well.

You're right United......., I mean big oil doesn't do anything for this country. No sirree! Well I guess they do create a few jobs. Oh and I guess they do provide an invaluable commodity that just happens to drive our entire economy. Then there's the billions in taxes paid to our federal and state governments, not just by big oil but by the people employed by big oil, and the other industries that employ workers and make goods to sell to big ol nasty oil. OH snap, I guess they also donate millions to arts, education, and other worthy causes. One other point of clarification, the government doesn't give big oil a dime, they only allow them to keep more of what they made. I hate it when the media and people use terms like "corporate welfare," it insinuates that corporations are given money collected by the government through taxation of other hard working Americans. They aren't paid anything by government.

Mikewall what unpaid income taxes does Romney owe? Do you think he's broken the law? His income is capital gains and he pays the same rate as you or I do on capital gains. The rich pay plenty in taxes, far more than any government services they use. The people that cost us the most are the poor. They collect money from the government and pay zero taxes. Romney will pay more money in taxes this year than most people will pay in their whole life. We used to admire people who made lots of money, but now they are bad people because they have more than you!

Knowing government the way I know government, she could have spent 3 hours on the phone getting passed from one to another trying to ask (beg) to be removed from the various welfare roles ... and 3 months later she'd still be receiving welfare benefits. this is why the ever expanding welfare status of America as a whole is scary. Welfare is something that once a new recipient is created, that recipient will forever more remain a recipient, no matter future events. Welfare as it was designed was a good thing, but it in NO way represents that today. Today, welfare only serves to perpetuate helplessness.

The fact that there is no law against receiving food stamps after coming into a large amount of money is the fault of the state legislators. While I believe she was morally wrong she was not legally wrong. If she had notified all government agencies and still received benefits that would have been a different situation. She knew how to play the system and I'm sure she's not the only one, she just got caught.

stupified - I stand by my statement.

As a kid my mom had to go on food stamps when my dad left her with 8 kids. I know exactly what it is like.

I don't care how hard you worked to get all the stuff you have, you should have enough pride and gumption to NOT ask your neighbor, who may be worse off than you, to give their tax dollars in the effort to feed you and your family.

I know people on food stamps; watch them drive by in their Escalades while I am clipping coupons to afford my own meals. I struggle and would never ask for any public assistance of any kind until I had used up my last dime.

Carrie, I still stand by my statement.

Food stamps are not an entitlement. No one is entitled to be fed by their neighbor.

If you lose your job, your home, your assets and need food I would be the first to help out. Including helping out with housing. This is what a social "safety net" is about.

It is NOT about enabling people to hold onto wealth and assets while their neighbors, who may be worse off financially, are feeding them.

stupified - I stand by my statement

I didn't expect anything any different.

As a kid my mom had to go on food stamps when my dad left her with 8 kids. I know exactly what it is like.

Then you should know better.

I know people on food stamps; watch them drive by in their Escalades while I am clipping coupons to afford my own meals.

If they bought and paid for the Escalade before they went on food stamps, what is the problem? Now if what you are intimating is that they are indulging in welfare fraud, then maybe you should report them instead of complaining about how you have it so hard.

FYI I do pretty well for myself at this time but; I raised 4 kids on minimal wages and still managed to put food on the table and eventually buy a house. I never had to apply for food stamps or welfare and always drove a beater that I worked on myself, in order to minimize costs. I know plenty of people who work hard and still don't own anything and don't make enough to make ends meet. Denying benefits to everyone based on the actions of a few is just silly. Fix the system, don't destroy it.

UnitedStates1776 The greed was there before she won the lottery.

IndieParty Is that like saying that 96% of the black population voted for Obama because he was black?

My mother who is dead survived my father and when he died of alzheimers she notified the Social Security system and returned the checks uncashed to them. She was a republican.

Be very careful how you lump people together by political organization or race. You will have egg on your face and words to swallow when you can't prove what you say. The federal government published election statistics and it showed that 96% of all blacks voted for Obama.

Now why would 96% of blacks vote for a man who is half white? What if there had been a DNA mutation and he was born white? Would he have gotten 96% of the black vote?

Glad to hear Michigan finally woke up and corrected this. Hopefully they will get to that new legislation now.

Regardless of whether or not this was illegal is besides the point, morals alone should tell you not to be doing this but that is the type of mindset many on government assistance have. Hey free money why should I work?? I know many others would probably of done the same thing but this just goes to show how worthless some people are and how screwed up our welfare system is. The woman and her mom are scum in my book.

It is time we get some welfare reforms in place and do it now. I'm all for helping people out and having the programs in place to do so but losers like this who knowingly take when they shouldn't make my blood boil and even more so when the idiots in our government aren't taking the needed measures to stop this crap, though at least they got this one fixed. On the flip side this is what she gets for what I'd say amounts to bragging about it, should've kept her mouth shut.

Like Ruken said above, I'm sure she will blow thru this money in no time and be right back in the same place since she obviously isn't using this oppurtinity to permantely better her situation.

"I feel that it's OK..."

Sums it all up. The nerve of some people.

"But it's nobody's business if she's not breaking the law."

So, as long as she didn't get caught, that makes dishonesty okay? They both should be arrested.

@Indie,

You, and EVERY OTHER Republican on here that complains about entitlements would do the EXACT SAME THING if you were in her shoes.

Get off your high horse, dishonesty has no political affiliation.

Nothing but white trash!!! Just look at her picture.......it says it all!

And this is the problem with all of the government assistance programs. Instead of talking about raising taxes to pay for these programs, they need to go through all current clients and verify eligibility. Then put into place safeguards to ensure the recipients don't do what this woman did. I know of more cases of abuse than I do of cases where the people need and deserve what they're getting. VA, Welfare, Unemployment, Food Stamps, Housing Assistance all are abused to the detriment of the needy. The so called 99% are every bit as greedy as the 1%!

ImL8 - not cool and uncalled for. Like Ron Burgundy says "stay classy"

Amen Woodlawn.... Or can I say "Amen".... This is the mind set now... entitlement...

There was a time when receiving food stamp or welfare had a stigma attached to it. Now it's looked at as if it had been earned. I might as well give up if the population as a whole doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. Give up, collect unending unemployment (even though the economy is supposed to be getting better), food stamps, and vote for Obama.

If she didn't buy a new house and new car she would of had money for food then. GREED to me.

Having a place to live is not "wealth." That is a basic need. I am upset that having a car counts against me for assistance. I have a car so I can work. I rarely go anywhere besides work, my son's school and daycare in it. If I didn't have that car, I couldn't get to work, would lose my job, and then need even more assistance. But according to some of you, I should sell the house my kids live in so I can feed them in the gutters. What a bunch of bull$hit. No one should have to lose everything before getting a little bit of help. Yeah, people like this broad go in and take advantage of all of us (my taxes go into the welfare system too, jacka$$) when she doesn't need help. That doesn't mean no one should get it. That doesn't mean I'm entitled or irresponsible. I get by with minimal help from the gov (at this point, I only qualify for WIC, have only used daycare subsidy and TANF in the past, which I got off of in the first month because I found a job, never have gotten food stamps) and work toward not needing any. That is what these programs are for, and some of us actually use them that way, so back off.

ImL8, you're embarrassing yourself. I feel sorry for you.

Well said woodlawn1. Remember that Republicans give more money every year to charitable organizations than Democrats. Oh yeah, they are greedy aren't they.

Might as well leave her on food stamps. With a mindset like that, she's an entitlement lifer! 500k? SHouldn't take her more than 2 or 3 years to burn through. Everyone knows how fast most lottery 'winners' end up becoming losers. At least she put $200k into the system (via her taxes from the lottery). Most welfarites don't put that much into the system over their lifetime.

No, not entitlement, just a lack of knowing right from wrong (some would say lacking in morals).

Wrong, it is an entitlement attitude and it shows a lack of pride and self respect, which is obvious by her lack of motivation to get off government assistance. The left has bred a class of people that think they deserve and are entitled to their government check each month. Somehow it's become acceptable to leach off of society.

@ itiswhatitis

"Get off your high horse, dishonesty has no political affiliation."

I disagree - you HAVE to be dishonest to be an affiliated politician or you don't last long with the good 'ol boys.

I can NOT believe she was let off. I received a better job and went to court to fight me having to pay back here in New Jersey. And it was actually the workers fault and they admitted it. Here this woman admits to her wrong doing screwing the government. And people wonder why other countries laugh at us. Amercian justice at its best. I would make her pay every penny back. And yes I have three children whos father at the time refused to help me at all. Go cry to someone else. She knew well what she was doing. Why Amercias in delt because of people like her.

needle in the eye the only way you get on those shows is you had to of bought at least 1 ticket & lost and sent it in for the 2nd chance of being on the show.

There was also 1 where you had to win 1000.00 dollars to be entered to get on the show

When she originally applied for food stamps, she signed paperwork that stated that she was to notify the state within 10 days of any change of circumstances. So she purposely defrauded the state. And the state can have her repay what she defrauded the state. Assuming that people would be honest enough to do what was legally required of them is shortsighted on the part of the state. Hopefully, any bill they pass will close several loopholes. Including assets.

Wotcha bet she reapplies for food stamps next year. I can understand allowing applicants to have one home and a cheap car, but 2 houses and a new car should be enough to disqualify. Being a student and working PT or owning a car worth more than $5k is in several states.

I'm guessing this genius will be back on food stamps again in the very near future. The money will all be frittered away and she'll need a job. Everybody's heard her take on moral responsibility, financial management and work ethic, but since she's not breaking the law, it's nobody's business. So guess who's gonna hire her: nobody's business. Good news, lady, the food stamps will be flowing again!

woodlawn

IndieParty Is that like saying that 96% of the black population voted for Obama because he was black?

What the hell does that have to do with every person reacting on their own greed?

What's wrong? Can't handle the truth about your own greed when it is shoved in your face? You really expect us to believe you would turn down free money? Please... save your bulls*** lies for someone else.

ItisWhatitis

Get off your high horse, dishonesty has no political affiliation.

I stated that EVERYBODY does what is in their own best interest. The only difference is that Republicans, like YOU, will judge others for doing it... even though you would not think twice about doing it yourself.

Both of you miss my point... that you are all hypocrites because you would all do the exact same thing. So go ahead and complain about people taking "entitlements" when everyone can see that you have your hand out at the same time.

What this really comes down to is jealousy... you are jealous that she got free money, and you didn't. So you are going to act all holier-than-thou, preach about how "sick" people make you with their entitlements, and pretend that you are above that. When in reality, everyone knows you would do the exact same thing.

You want to know the difference between me and you? I have the balls to be honest and admit that I am greedy and would not turn down free money. YOU, on the other hand, are not man enough to admit the truth. So you lie and pretend you are better, when the truth is that you would take free money just as fast as I would.

She will be back on food stamps with in 3 years!

IndieParty,

You seem to be really mad at Republicans and their greed. Please look up the statistics on charitable contributions provided by members of the House and Senate. They are required to list this information publicly. Guess who is more charitable as a group??

Keep drinking the koolaid. "All Republicans are liars and cheaters." Just like all Democrats are gay or tranvestites."

To OneJulia :

Your mother had to go on food stamps. So it is OK for your mom to go on food stamps, but not OK for others who may need it. I am sure your mother welcomed any help she could get. And I am sure others must be grateful for any help they can get these days. That does not mean they have to go and live in shelters or under bridges and to walk everywhere looking for a job, to be able to receive government help. Especially people who have worked and paid into the system during a lot of years.

When your mother bought food with her food stamps, did you refuse to eat it ? Because after all if we follow your logic, after your father left your mother, unless you were all living under a bridge, starving and cold, with no assets whatsoever, no furniture, no toys, no clothes and after having exhausted all your assets (home, car, furniture, etc. etc.), you shouldn’t have been untitled to anything.

People get into jams for all kinds of reasons (accident, loss of job, sick child), and I do hope that the day you need help people will give it to you, without asking you to forgo ALL of your assets before helping out.

In this particular case, I do agree, that once she got her money, she should have stopped receiving food stamps, especially, when we learn now that she has TWO homes. And she does not seem to be looking for work.

But otherwise OneJulia GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSES and shut up. There are plenty of good people who worked long and hard to have their home, their car, didn't defraud the system, who paid their dues and now are at the other end of the stick and do need temporary help.

It is galling to see you coming off that people, who may have help your mother when you were young through their taxes, should be denied now help because you don't feel they are entitled, because they still have a roof over their heads.

When you say "Food stamps are not an entitlement. No one is entitled to be fed by their neighbor.", I guess people should starve to death, like in a third world country before getting any help from governments of one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

I hope for your sake that you never, never have to ask for help, because with such an attitude, I would think twice before helping you out. After all, I wouldn't want my taxes used to help my fellow man.

What an UN-christian attitude.

Two words for this gal - White Trash

I bet she's broke within two years, and..............back on welfare.

@IndieParty

I stated that EVERYBODY does what is in their own best interest. The only difference is that Republicans, like YOU, will judge others for doing it... even though you would not think twice about doing it yourself.

Wait. YOU are criticizing OTHERS for JUDGING PEOPLE!!! You've got to be fcking kidding!!! That is the ONLY thing YOU do on NewsVine. Whine and cry all day long about republicans and how evil they are. Do you know the meaning of the word hypocrite? If not just take a look in the mirror.

Or you can vote for Mr. Romney and wife Ann Romney who feels she isn't wealthy yet has over 200 million dollars!! With Republicans who seek only to make the rich get richer and destroy the poor and homeless. The cases involving food stamps and lottery winners are rare at best but Amanda Clayton should repay the amount she used of food stamps since she won that 1 million.

Really people are defending her? She owns TWO houses. Owning one should put her over the income limit to receive aid. This is not unemployment due to her losing a job. She is getting WELFARE by getting food stamps. There shoudl be unemployment and aid for those who just lost a job.
IF you were employed you paid into the insurance and deserve the help.

If someone loses everything like their business house gets i'll. And the doctor bills take everything. The wife or husband just takes off and leaves the other with kids and no income. That is what Aid is for. And it should be temporary. And basic Aid Food shelter clothing to help get a job. Daycare for kids so the parents can get back to work. That type of thing.

This girl knew she was doing fraud New car and a second house. Are Assets the money she received changed her income bracket. And she said nothing thats fraud.

Ruken

Anyone wanna bet she'll be reapplying for food stamps by year's end?

If it takes that long for her to blow all that money..

I'm thinking it has already happened! Did you notice the "past tense" in what her mother said? The quote is..."She said that after taking a lump sum payout of $700,00 and after taxes, her daughter received $500,000. She used that money, the mother said, to buy a new house and a car." Notice the word "used", it is quite telling!

I don't believe it's a sense of entitlement, but rather, "if they keep giving me food stamps, then I will keep using them". I believe it's a combination of government responsibility and personal ethical behavior.

Biarrote

I guess people should starve to death, like in a third world country before getting any help from governments

First, if you own a home, cars, and other "assets" and allow yourself to starve to death, then you seriously have a self-preservation problem.

Second, all this help is not coming from the "government" but is being funded by the taxpayers. It is not an insurance program, where you pay in and will get back when you decide you now need it.

Any time someone takes something they don't truly "need", someone else is left without.

Thats a big part of the problem nowadays. People don't know the difference between NEED and WANT.

JC in G

You seem to be really mad at Republicans and their greed. Please look up the statistics on charitable contributions provided by members of the House and Senate. They are required to list this information publicly. Guess who is more charitable as a group??

I said everyone is greedy... Jesus Christ, learn to read.

And really? Charitable organizations... you mean tax deductions, right? Oh wow... one group uses more tax deductions than the other. Shocking... wonder who that is?

Take away the tax deductions and let's see how "charitable" you really are?

Glad to hear Michigan finally woke up and corrected this. Hopefully they will get to that new legislation now.

Why should Michigan, or any other state for that matter, have to pass what is basically a knee jerk law to address the greed exhibited by this woman? Wouldn't the same purpose be served, without all the BS of a new law, if they just printed on the ticket that you are required to notify any government agency that you are collecting benefits of any kind from, within 10 days of a change in income?

There are times when more laws are NOT needed, just enforcing the ones already on the books, such as in this case. We already pay too much for the waste of time politicians and their dubious laws without adding to the smoke and mirrors of more laws while failing to enforce the ones already on the books. You can't legislate morality without having ethics involved. The politicians constantly prove that they are the last ones who should be trying to legislate either morality or ethics. Enforce the laws already in the books that this woman broke, and stop the knee jerk adoption of new laws.

Shame on this young lady! She knew what she was doing was wrong but I feel she was working the sysyem as long as she could. I too live in Michigan. I'm a single mom with two kids and I lost my job and ended up being unemployed for a year. I applied for assistance and was turned down. Because I got $698 a month child support I made too much money! Well it wasn't MY money, it was the kids' money. Child support is not considered income because it is money to support the kids..it is money that goes to the kids not the parent (ideally) and you do not have to report child support as income on taxes. My rent was $700 a month and child support paid my rent..to keep a roof over the kids' heads. No money left to pay for gas, food, electric or necessities yet I made too much money. I was not eligible for any amount of money to help until I was working again. The system is whack for sure however it is not the systems fault they continued to pay this girl. She didn't report that her income or bank account had increased so how would they know but I would think that yes, she committed fraud by not reporting. She should have to pay the money back and her name should be flagged as someone to watch because yes, we all know that she will squander her winnings away (two houses and a new car) and will want back on the system. However, by that time she should have a job as I am confident that she is job searching. ;)

mikewall 1.16#- I am no Romney fan but just how did he cost tax payers money? It is ignorant people like you that make our lives worse than they are every time you vote; you don't have one clue as to capital gains laws; I assume you are talking about that. But not a crime actually it is very legal. This woman is just like every other Lib out there give them the chance and they would all take a hand out even if they didn't need it, saying just what she said oh I didn't know it wasn't OK because I am not working and own two houses.

This is exactly what conservatives are talking about. Once you start giving away things, without conditions, persons then believe that no matter what happens they are entitled to those things for life. This is the mindset of the "99%ers." The rich need to give everything that they have to those who have less so they can continue to do absolutely nothing except whine about how unfair the system is.

Backcountry,

Whine and cry? Not so much... I prefer to use logic and facts to push Republicans in a corner. Then I laugh at how they try to twist words around to justify their own actions... or they simply disappear.

For instance... when YOU claimed that YOUR tax dollars were being used to "pay for" contraceptives. Even though the contraceptives in question were part of a private insurance plan that YOU were not part of. So the facts show that YOUR "tax dollars" were not used. Then I laughed as you tried to twist your words, and somehow justify your position with the most retarded explanation I have ever heard. Once you started going down the path of "paying for a lifestyle choice you did not agree with", I pushed harder... showing that your lifestyle choice to lead an unhealthy life of obesity was no different, or that your choice to have kids forced other people to pay for you. That got you even more riled up. It was hilarious, really.

But you are right, I do judge Republicans based on their actions. I judged them when they mocked and "boo'ed" a soldier on national television. I judged them when they chanted "let him die" in regards to someone who could not afford insurance. I judged them when they called everyone on birth control a slut. I judged them when they tried to force their religion on us by making this a "Christian nation". I judge them when they scream "smaller government" but push for big government laws in the bedroom. I judge them when they complain about spending, but want to ban abortion so we spend more on welfare babies. And I judge them every time they use the Bible as a weapon for their political agenda, even though I can point out a verse they are defying... a verse that makes them a sinner... a verse that shows how wrong their actions are.

So do I judge you? Abso-f***ing-lutely. But I no longer follow a religion that tells me not to judge, YOU DO. And you still preach the "morals" of your religion, even though you defy it's laws. Wonder how your God feels about that?

indie--you mean to tell us that you would turn down free money? Really? No one believes you. Like every other Republican, you are ruled by greed

wow...how the left shows in your mentality. it is you that are the greedy...give me..someone else should pay attitude. and you truly cannot believe if someone turned down the free money because you always have. grow up have some pride and respect. i would probably go hungry before i got on food stamps.

How many of you holier-than-thous paid $200,000 in income taxes last year? And you've got your panties all bunched up over something less than $2400? Hahahahahaha...

@IndieParty

And really? Charitable organizations... you mean tax deductions, right? Oh wow... one group uses more tax deductions than the other. Shocking... wonder who that is?

WTF do charitable tax deductions have to do with anything? You think these people somehow save money by giving to charity? You do realize that the deductions don't come close to covering the amount given right? If anything taking away the deduction would do nothing other than reduce the amount they give by whatever amount they owe in taxes on the amount of the deduction.

Anyone who uses charitable tax deductions as an excuse to negate the actual charity is nothing more than a blind puppet reaching for any little pathetic thing they can come up with to criticize whatever group they constantly hate on. Why don't you own up to the fact that YOU and your attitude are what's wrong with this country. The people on the left who hate people on the right for any and every BS reason are EVERY BIT AS BAD as the people on the right who hate the people on the left for any and every BS reason. YOU are the thing you constantly bash on even if your color is blue instead of red.

Then I laughed as you tried to twist your words, and somehow justify your position with the most retarded explanation I have ever heard.

Umm, selective memory? I was the one laughing and you were the one without a response. What a twisted little world you live in. There is pretty much nothing you couldn't con yourself into believing is there?

Forget the lottery...what's she doing drawing welfare if she already has TWO houses? I don't have ANY houses, and I pay my own way.

I'm gonna get blasted for this but whateva. I wasn't too concerned that she won the lottery while on food stamps and still recieving government assitance. Why? Because 1 million dollars will not last forever. Especially taxes and yada yada yada.

But then I read she bought another house (why not downgrade your first one or pay off the mortgage) and bought a car.

Seriously? You wouldn't to put that money towards something long lasting instead of a money hole?

If she had money to buy lottery tickets, she had money to buy food. Period. No way this was her first purchase.

Further, if you get ANY kind of assistance from the Government, yes, it is my business as well as that of every other taxpayer because where in the heck do you think the "Government" got the money to give to you? They CONFISCATED it from us under constant threat of penalties and/or jail.

To IndieParty and Stupifed: If you think all the welfare and entitlement benefits are justified, then by all means you are free to support them WITH YOUR MONEY. Stop spending mine!

To onejulia - Well done. A person with integrity and ethics. Hard, very hard to find now days.

@IndieParty

So do I judge you? Abso-f***ing-lutely. But I no longer follow a religion that tells me not to judge, YOU DO. And you still preach the "morals" of your religion, even though you defy it's laws. Wonder how your God feels about that?

Actually what you do is make up BS excuses to falsely justify your hate. You point out the actions of individuals and transpose them on an entire group, the most pathetic excuse ever. As I've already told you, I'm not a republican, I'll share my thoughts on the discrimination against gays and our ridiculous military budget if you doubt me. And I'd also like to point out that I'm not a Christian either, I'm Agnostic, so there is further proof that you just make up a bunch of fairy tales to support the utter garbage you constantly spew. Criticizing others for judging even as you do it yourself makes you a hypocrite whether you believe in God or not. But you just go ahead and live your little fairy tale as the rest of us laugh at you. At least your posts are good for that. LOL!

IndieParty

I do not think that it is fair for you to use the term "they" when referring to actions that an individual or a group participated in and not every republican participated in. I myself am a Republican. I have been homeless and took care of myself. I have never used public assistance. I have worked 3 jobs at one point in my life to just try and get by. I have also donated my time and my money, even when I did not have much to help a person who truly needs it. I do not think it is right to judge all by the actions of some of the visible ones. The problem is that there are two incredibly different extremes visible with both the Democrats and Republicans.

Really, with your "logic" used in your tirades, I could say the same about any group where one person or a small group has done something that is horrible. Does that mean because some Caucasions belong to hate groups ALL Caucasions are that way. That's what your reasoning of Republicans implies.

This whole thing is ridiculous. Instead of fixing the problem, everyone sits and points fingers. When this happens, everyone just continues to go to further extremes. This country is in serious trouble and the two party system that we have in place has become a joke.

Indy Party!!!! I love what you say. I agree 150%!!!!!!! Thank you!!!! I could not have said it better myself.

To Bunkie White trash???? I saw the picture of her and she is black.

IndieParty,

It's very sad that you think the food stamps are 'free money'. They're not. They're money your fellow citizens worked for, and which the government has requisitioned in the form of taxes. That's the blood, sweat, and tears of your countrymen. How can you possibly consider that "free", and not feel an intense sense of shame? The government hands out exactly ZERO dollars in assistance that it didn't first take out of the pocket of someone who worked for it.

Maybe you care so little about your fellow taxpayer that you have no problem accepting handouts you don't deserve from the government, and certainly there seems to be a trend towards more and more of our citizens believing it's ok to do so. . .but it's not. It's unethical even if not illegal. It's immoral. To try to claim those folks here criticizing that behavior are lying, is to try and rationalize your own belief that this sort of thing is ok.

There are still MANY of us that feel you should work for what you get, and if you have to accept a handout to get through a rough patch, you should pay it back at first opportunity.

"I'm not saying it's the right thing to do," Euline Clayton said of her daughter's use of food stamps. "But it's nobody's business if she's not breaking the law."

Of COURSE it's our business. It's our tax dollars she is taking in the form of food stamps she no longer needs. It's legal (at least until now) fraud. Euline Clayton should be ashamed of her daughter. I know my parents would be ashamed of me if I acted in that manner.

And the odds of her being a Democrat are 100%!

What kind of cold-hearted person are you? You don't think poor people should have the right to have hope for a better life? You would deny them that by not allowing them to play the lotto?

hs321, that's quite a twisting of the posters' words. The way I read it, is that the poster didn't believe that taxpayer funded government assistance should be used to buy lottery tickets. That's money intended to buy food. If you don't need it to buy food, you don't need the assistance. . .it's really that simple. Government assistance, if it MUST be taken, should be used for its intended purpose. To do otherwise is defrauding the taxpayer and the government.

So, she collected maybe $1500 in food stamp benefits and paid $200,000 in taxes...every government should love that type of "parasite"...hahahahaha...

So why shouldn't she continue to get food stamps after winning the lottery? She was doing what so many MILLIONAIRE POLITICIANS have done for decades: Receive Public money when they don't really need it.

And don't you think it's wrong to do so QuackedOne?

Give a (wo)man a fish and (s)he eats for a day. Try to teach a (wo)man to fish and (s)he says "why the hell do I want to do that when I can get the fish for free"!!!

Really 2 houses what a LAZY POS freeloader!!!!

Roadhead - if that works with no new law, I'm fine with that. In one way like you I agree there are too many or plenty of laws that just don't get enforced but other times there aren't enough or proper laws in place, or sometimes existing ones need tweaked or updated. In this case it could be the latter. At the very least they would have to address this loophole and modify the current law so that is part of it. So yes maybe not need a whole new law but clearly a loophole that needs shut and made clear to anyone what penalties are and what constitutes a change in situation, even though I'd say this is pretty clear here, there are still dummies/leaches like this lady. I say the easiest thing would be to have that as part of the paperwork you fill out (I assume there are plenty of legal papers you have to sign when winning the lotto and you go to collect) and that if you are on assistance a letter sent immediately to that agency stating your new situation. As I'm pretty sure taxes are collected right away too. No reason these entities or other government entities can't or don't talk to one another - yet another problem our government has.

I'd give it 33/33/33% that she is either republican/ democrat or tea party. I see tons of tea party people preach one thing and then do that other thing. Don't your remember "Keep government out of my medicare!". Probably someone like Glenn Beck who collected unemployment for several years and yet rallies against "government socialism"

To OneJulia :

I repeat : GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE and shut up.

Look around you. People have been losing their homes left and right, in the last few years. The fact that you own your home, DOES NOT mean that you have money in the bank or that you can sell it. And if the car that you are driving is 10 years old, how much do you think it is going to fetch it you manage to sell it ? Not much by all accounts.

So I stand by my previous post. Because if I own a roof, but I cannot unload it, what I am supposed to do ???? I guess following your screwed reasoning, that I should eat it brick by brick instead of starving to death because HEY I own my home, so I do not have any “NEED”, just a “WANT”. Maybe burn the furniture to keep warm in winter ?

All that does not mean that I have a self-preservation problem. And I do know the difference between NEED and WANT. And everybody NEED a roof over their head, and everybody NEED to eat. It is not a “want” it is a “need”.

@Indy Party, the insurance money is not private your rates are based on total output, its a money pool and its a rip off, rich mans welfare, if they spend on someones claim then that money is charged back to all participants so you are wrong again. the more claims the more rate increases so it all goes onto the consumer and when a system is abused you pay.

This woman is a scumbag, she should pay back everything, its not right what she did, she was stealing from her fellow citizens I guess that's the new way of thinking now days. attitudes like hers is what will ruin this country. the fact is she became ineligible for welfare and other entitlements the second she won the lottery, she knew this she is just playing dumb, and she can be charged with fraud.

Onejulia if someone pays taxes for twenty years before they ever need any assistance themselves I would definitely say they were paying insurance. I doubt very seriously if you were hurting so bad you needed food stamps that you would sell your tv and sentimental jewelry before you got food stamps, get off your high-horse. You come from a woman who had eight kids with a douche, not too bright, one might say that was HER fault... I wouldn't but I don't feel like I am above everyone else...

And Democrats call Republicans greedy.The truth is Democrats are just as greedy as Republicans.

Clayton told WDIV. "I feel that it's OK because I have no income, and I have bills to pay. I have two houses."

Devil's advocate: So....NO INCOME ? What $$$ did she use to buy the Lotto tickets ? Oh yeah, the FOOD STAMP money. No income, so surely it couldn't have been rental income.

IndiParty-Tell me how it is different when DemocratBill Maher calls Governor Palin a C**T so how is it different, or how the president killed a American citizen for being a terrorist without a court case, I know it is ok for the civil liberty's of someone to be taken if they are taken by a Democratic president than it is ok. I say they are only names but the president took the life of an American without do process

@geo-1957883

And the odds of her being a Democrat are 100%!

Only 40% of people in Michigan claim to be democrats so if you want to bet on that I'm sure you'd get plenty of takers.

@Abby, lottery tickets can cost as little as $1. When was the last time you were able to buy 2 weeks worth (or a month's) of groceries for that? Even $5? Give me a break. This woman in the article is an idiot, by no means am I sticking up for her. However, stop referring to it as YOUR tax dollars. Plenty of us have contributed our own tax dollars into that very system. You don't monopolize it just because you haven't needed to use it.

Instead of blaming the people who use an available government program to their advantage, the way its meant to be used why not call for an entire overhaul of the system? The amounts of money they give away to people are just ludicrous. As a single mom with a 3 year old (several years ago) I had to swallow my pride and use food stamps while I was in between jobs (blah blah blah, I used them for a couple months until I was back on my feet). I was given nearly $400 a month. FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH for myself and a toddler that never wanted anything but macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. There is the real problem right there.

Indie, do you have paypal? if so let me know, I'd like to send you enough money to buy a @!$%#ing clue, in your case it might take me a few payments.

You donr like repubs? thats fine, they'll still be ok with that.

You say the only reason they donate is for tax write offs? Well that explains why Dems dont donate as much, they are against paying taxes, look up Obama's appointees, how many we're behind on taxes?

But you are right, I do judge Republicans based on their actions.

Bull@!$%#, bull@!$%#, bull@!$%#, if you judged on actions you would have condemned this woman insted of using it as an excuse to blame the "other team", you are just a pissed off liberal, you aren't fooling anyone.

To Bunkie White trash???? I saw the picture of her and she is black.

What does race or color or ethnicity have to do with this woman and her greed? This is about ethics/entitlement/greed, not about color. Just so you know, Bunkie is correct in saying that she is white and that this is more about the entitlement mindset than it is about race.

sometimes existing ones need tweaked or updated.

It is time @1.89, the law is already in effect that people collecting government programs are required to inform their paying agency within 10 days of any change in income status. No new law is needed, just updating the current one and then enforcing it. You are correct that there is zero reason why the different government agencies should not have a master list somewhere that shows who may be collecting from any government agency. That should be quite simple to accomplish with the computers of today. With all of the different government agencies that probably have a file on most all of us, why shouldn't they be talking to each other? Sure would be a great start to cutting down on the fraud and waste in a few of these programs.

It should be mandatory before any new laws can be enacted, that old laws either be updated to include any current needed changes, or the old law be repealed entirely and be replaced by the new one. That we have so many conflicting laws, that are poorly enforced, does little good for anyone but the printers, and the politicians who are wasting time and money behind their smoke and mirrors.

This greedy woman never should have been able to collect more than 1 additional check after she won the lottery. If she was getting paid in advance for food stamps or any other government program, she should be required to pay back all monies that she wasn't rightfully due, plus interest. This should have been changed/enforced, after the guy last fall was also found to have been a lottery winner and also still drawing food stamps.

Where I live, social services office has a rule that says if you apply for any type of public assistance, all information you give will be verified with other agencies to make sure you receive what you are supposed to. they check on child support, alimony, assets such as homes/properties, boats/vehicles.

And they DO check--I can attest to that personally. (I applied for Medical assistance for my youngest child, who is autistic and needed special services from his school--and they at first tried to deny him because they dug out the fact that I was a former undocumented and spent 3 years in ICE detention while trying to locate the missing paperwork.)

Also if you apply for public assistance you are automatically enrolled in a welfare-to-work program-- you have to particpate in job-readiness classes, have to turn in four verifiable job contacts each week, have to do 20 hours of work in a government office doing entry-level stuff like typing or sorting mail or something similar; and have to do 20 hours of community service/volunteer work at a charitable organization in order to receive benefits.

If the state I live in can pass those laws--AND follow through on enforcing them-- Michigan should be able to, too.

@dan-282760

To Bunkie White trash???? I saw the picture of her and she is black.

Color blind? She doesn't look very black to me- http://abcnews.go.com/Business/michigan-million-lotto-winner-longer-food-stamps/story?id=15876636

Please don't paint every single one of us who receives food stamp benefits by this one person's brush. I don't have a dollar to spare to buy a lottery ticket, and if I did, I wouldn't be getting food stamps. Some of us request the help because we sincerely need it as we try to improve our financial situation.

Ron Paul 2012

Reduce Welfare

Charity begins and should end at home. If your neighbor sees you struggling and deems you worthy you will get help. If you are a load to society and your neighbors see this, you go hungry.

They really need to bring back Little House on the Prairie to show how people should care for one another. You don't cut a check, you cook them a dinner.

UnitedStates1776 Comment collapsed by the community

So when do they pull the govt welfare from Big Oil?

Big Oil makes lots more than this woman in Mich. and still we give them 24 BILLION DOLLARS in corporate welfare every year.

Talk to me about that and then I'll know we've really done something

Why was the above post collapse ? Sounds reasonable.



OneJulia:

Just so you know a person applying for welfare is allowed certain assets like a car and a home, etc.

You don't have sell everything you own under the sun to qualify for assistance. That is only your opinion and if you feel like you need to sell everything before you feel right about asking for assistance then that is your prerogative. It's a good thing you don't set the rules for everybody else.

OneDirtyRat-You maybe right. When my Mom and Dad separated my Dad didn't give my Mom a penny and so she got assistance for a year. Back than you could not have a car that cost $150,000 and you get welfare without selling it. You couldn't even own a house without selling it, before you were given assistance. They also ask you every month if you have assets or money to declare for that month; they even ask if you have worked and not been paid for it. If the system has changed to allow you to have a car that is of substantial value and you are able to have a house and get welfare, that right there is what is wrong with the system. It is to be used for people struggling for a short time not for a life time and if you have assets you should have to sell them to get help. My mom wasn't on the deed to my Mom and Dads house so until they divorced my mom didn't see any money. If we start saying the government will take care of you no matter your assets than what keeps someone like Romney from collecting welfare?

The biggest issue that I have is that she owns 2 homes, and says so. She should have to sell one of those homes in order to pay for it. At least get a renter or something. There really is no reason why someone that won that kind of money, at her age, can no afford her own food if she owns one house at the time, and then buys another one with that money. I get that alot of people arent renting and things, but there are ways to get renters in. There are ways to get around it. I know of many places that buy houses outright. No excuse. She exceeds the limit of what she should be recieving assistance for. If she is recieving food assistance, what are the odds that she is recieving medical too? Pretty high as here it is easier to get medical than food. WAY easier.

Bill:

If the system has changed to allow you to have a car that is of substantial value and you are able to have a house and get welfare, that right there is what is wrong with the system. It is to be used for people struggling for a short time not for a life time and if you have assets you should have to sell them to get help.

I'm not sure what the cap is for the value of a car or a home, but I do know people are allowed certain assets to qualify for assistance. Think about it. If someone had to sell their house to qualify for assistance then they would probably turn around and ask for section 8 housing. That would be more cost to the taxpayers to not only feed them but to house them, too. Now if they owned a multimillion dollar home I'm pretty positive they wouldn't qualify for any assistance before having to sell it and have a home that's more within their means. I disagree with you in thinking that someone has to be homeless before qualifying for assistance.

Here where I live people on welfare can only be on it for 5 years (actually less than that I think) and they also must prove they are looking for work if unemployed. To think someone can live off of the government's dime till they die is not accurate. I think the only case that takes place is for someone who is disabled. But I could be wrong for I'm not a case worker and I'm not an expert in welfare assistance. I'm sure somewhere someplace there are the exceptions.

As far as owning a car goes, I would imagine there is a cap to the value before qualifying for assistance. But again, I'm not sure of that. I do see people driving expensive cars at the social services site but I can't say if the owners are the actual ones trying to qualify for assistance; they could be just giving someone a lift. Next time I see someone driving an expensive car at the social services site I'll try to ask them what the dollar cap is for the value of a car and still be able to qualify.

But, again, I disagree that people should have to sell everything they own to qualify for assistance. I agree, though, it shouldn't be a lifetime thing. It should be a temporary thing and help people to get back to a position where they can support themselves and get off of assistance. But if they have nothing that would make it that much harder for them to get off of assistance and be self sufficient.

Many people bitch about "welfare mothers" and welfare fraud. While the fraud does exist, the percentage of fraud cases is so small it really is a non-issue. There really isn't any hard factual numbers anywhere but I did read this article where the author tried to pin down some hard numbers. She had great difficulty but she surmised the percentage of fraud is around 2%. Of course there are some cases of fraud that cost in the millions of dollars because of organized crime and schemes. But for the large majority of people on welfare they are getting assistance because they really need it. I have gone through the qualification process myself and it is very thorough. The paper work needed is extensive and they do check everything. For some it is just a game and they know how to play it well. But, for some it is a monumental task because they aren't too bright to begin with and are very disorganized and don't hold on to needed documents and such.

While the system is not perfect, it by no means needs to be completely overhauled. Maybe some tweaks here and there. But the system works for most people in that it helps the most needy. Of course, there are those that take advantage of the system but that is not necessarily a reason to keep the majority others, who do follow the rules, from getting the help they truly need.

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich" -- John F. Kennedy

OneDirtyRat- Yes, I understand that you believe that the 2% of fraud is all that is happening here but that number only represents those cases that are caught, But it is a big deal there are 4,963,771 people on welfare 2% of that is 99,275.42 fraud cases if you say on avg. that those cases received $500 a month for 12 months that is a dollar amount of $595,652,520 Billion so yes 2% is kind of a big deal and not a none issue as you would have us believe, remember those are only the cases that they know about so I would believe that we spend about $1 trillion in fraud.

I see your point of not making people sell there house to qualify for assistance and that does make more sense to me that we would let people keep there house as long as we did not let them collect benefits beyond so many years.

Yes, the did at one point put a cap on how many years you could receive welfare, but have reversed that mandate and went back to you being able to collect welfare from before your baby is born to the child's 18th birthday providing they were not born in one of the (I believe it is 4 years) years where there was the cap.

I do believe in helping those that need a hand but a hand is different than a life time of entitlements.

Here is the link about the total number of people on welfare, http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_wel_cas_tot_rec-economy-welfare-caseloads-total-recipients

I think you meant to say million, not billion. I was like "whaaaaaa?" Hehe

Still, that is a lot of money wasted and I agree something needs to be done about it. But, again, compared to what we waste on other programs and what we spend on defense, that is basically a drop in the bucket.

It is a non-issue in the sense that many people want to scrap the program entirely based on a small percentage of fraud. Don't get me wrong, it is an issue that needs to be addressed but it's not an issue from the stand point that the entire program needs to be done away with as many would argue.

I do believe in helping those that need a hand but a hand is different than a life time of entitlements.

I agree, except for people who are disabled.

Considering the many other issues that we face in this country (deteriorating infrastructure, etc.) I think this issue isn't really one that should be given so much lip service by so many, especially the right-wing. I think a lot of it has to do with this class warfare we are seeing and the hate mongers have to have a scape goat and the poor are very venerable to these attacks. With these hard economic times I can understand why so many would want to point fingers, especially at people who are getting hand outs from the government and are perceived by many as lazy, do-thing freeloaders.

I'll be glad to see the day when we can stop hating each other. But something tells me I'll be long dead and gone before that day ever comes.

One Dirty Rat- My mistake it is million. Yes, I totally agree about the disabled they should get our help for the rest of there life. Here is were I stand on the entitlement issue, you are right we need our bridges and roads rebuilt; so we take all of those that receive assistance that are not disabled and we put them to work rebuilding our infrastructure than they learn a trade and we don't have to pay someone else to rebuild when we have all this labor. If they don't want to work than they don't get a free check, I think we could do this in other places like the medical field. All would learn a trade and we would help them from being on assistance to tax paying citizens. You are pretty smart it seems to me even if we have differing views; I think you could see there would be a benefit to doing this.

Bill:

I think that is an excellent idea. With as much work that needs to be done with our infrastructure that would keep thousands with work for a long time. Actually, with how much the roads and bridges have deteriorated they could probably have work until they retire. We could also train people, as you suggested, in other fields that are in dire need of workers. The medical field is always hiring it seems, especially in nursing. I was also thinking about all the jobs migrant workers do in the fields. We could put people to work in the fields instead of illegals. I am a supporter of getting illegal immigrants out of our country though it would be a monumental task.

This may sound radical, but if I could call the shots, I would end the wars, bring all of our troops home, put them on the border with Mexico. I would end the drug war, decriminalize all drugs, legalize pot like alcohol. This would put a major dent in the cartel profits. Then I would redirect our law enforcement (DEA, etc.) to focus their resources on taking out the cartels. Either Mexico's government would work with us, or if not, we would go into their country just like we did with Pakistan to get bin Laden, and take out the cartels with covert operations using drones and such. I would also use our military forces at our ports where millions of cargo containers come through and check EVERY last one for any terrorist activity like the smuggling of weapons or WDM bomb parts, etc. As of right now we only check a small percentage of the containers. This way we could end the drug war, keep all of the drug profits in this country helping our economy instead of it going to organized crime. I would use the funds from marijuana sales to beef up the education system to keep our youth from going down the path of becoming addicted to dangerous drugs like meth and heroin, and would also use those funds to help rehabilitate those people needing rehab (notice I said "needing'-not all drug users need rehab). I would basically redirect the funds we use to fight the drug war to education and rehabilitation. I would do away with the health insurance industry which has caused skyrocketing medical expenses and have a single payer health system that EVERYDODY (including our congressmen, etc.) would pay into and take advantage of. It will be expensive at first because we are one sick nation with heart disease and diabetes, etc. I would use the drug profits to help subsidize the cost.

I would also reform our government and law making process by taking the lobbyist and the money out of politics. I would pass a law that all laws have to be written separately and voted on separately (none of this adding a law to another law BS to sneak things through). I would get rid of the electoral college in favor a popular vote. I would go back to tax payer support for campaign contributions and end this @!$%#ed up superpac BS. Corporations wouldn't be "people" and we would tax the @!$%# out of them if they bring products into this country manufactured in other countries like China, etc. so they would have no choice but to bring the manufacturing jobs back home. Our strength used to lie in our manufacturing capability and was one of the reasons that made us a great nation. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I could on with many other ideas. LOL I guess my thinking is that we need to go back to the way things were before greed got a hold of our leaders and our government, to the way things used to be when times were good and prosperous for most. But, the way things are going now, I'm very worried we are seeing the beginning of the end of the America we all used to know.

I know I went off on a tangent, sorry. Any thoughts?

OneDirtyRat for U.S. President LOL

One

I have been an advocate for all of the things that you have mentioned. You are very right about our drug policies in this country. I am all for legalizing all drugs also. Country's where drugs are legal actually show us that addiction goes down as does crime if they are legal. Also the use rate on hard drugs like heroin goes down because you have older users telling younger users why would you do this drug look at what it has done to me. Instead of the policy in America were the older users try and get the younger users hook so that they can do it without much cost to them.

I also think our trade policies are out of control and that the USA has actually pushed American companies oversees do to the lack of regulations that imports have to go through vs what regulations you have to go through in the USA to sell the same product.

Lobbyist are a good point of what is most wrong with American politics I agree get them out of power. Also term limits I would support. It has always been a enigma to me on why we haven't gone back to the popular vote.

Very good idea's well done.

agreed. if this chick wanted to become a poster child, buying a lottery ticket while on food stamps, then winning said lottery and spending the proceeds on a house and a car, WHILE STILL TAKING FOOD STAMPS, should do the trick. I'll expect the right-wingers to be referring to this girl, by name, for quite some time...

As they should!!! Welfare is being abused agian and it needs to end!

The major problem here is the idiotic way the laws and regulations were established. Food stamp eligibility should be based on ALL INCOME and liquid assets - all wages and tips, all gross gambling winnings (no deduction for gambling losses), all gifts and charity (cash or food), any benefits like VA disability, Social Security and Social Security disability and SSI, ADC, unemployment, any inheritance or life insurance proceeds, pensions and annuities, lawsuit settlements, alimony, child support (for the child's eligibility), checking and savings accounts, CDs, brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, cash value of insurance policies, cash in the mattress, etc.

When it was set up to only look at income for a few months, the door was wide open for playing the system. A lottery winning is a one-shot - even if it is included, it would only be in the average income for a few months. With the lax regulations, she probably was completely legal. And if it's legal, it must be OK, huh?

@AKRandy: no, the welfare system prevents prevents us from having people dying on the streets with no place to go and helps to reduce crime. What do you think will happen if you take all aid away? The people in need are going to magically disappear? no, they will be either breaking into your house to rob you, or begging for food on the street corners.

What needs is that lawmakers need to start making laws that actually make sense and address the problem without creating hotbeds of system abuse. (But they rather pass laws the "quick and nasty" way and "we'll fix it later" rather than do it right.)

What we need is funded enforcement, that makes sure the abuses don't happen.

What we need is tougher penalties for violators. Penalties that really hurt, not slaps on the wrist.

She should be forced to pay back the $200 a month that she took after winning the lottery.

Ok, AKRandy, when YOU need help from Society -- you are going to be 100% on your own.

This is why nothing gets done. Conservatives say we need to eliminate waste and corruption in Welfare then the liberals say we are trying to kill kids.

Of course we have people like Randy on our side who would throw the baby out with the bath water. End welfare entirely because somebody scammed the system.

We don't punish everybody for somebody else's actions.

The answer is accountability. There should be 1 person checking for fraud for every one that hands out money. Problem would go away very shortly.

Welcome to "entitlement" society;

Uploaded by MidNightRider2001 on Oct 7, 2009

Thousands of people turned out in Detroit today and yesterday to receive "free" taxpayer money for nothing. Fights and chaos were reported by the local media.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

"Attributed to ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER, LORD WOODHOUSELEE. Unverified."

Liberal "entitlement" mentality at it's finest.

"I exist therefore you need to work and pay for me to exist....get to work, I'm gonna go play the lottery now."

Half of the population supporting the other half;

In 2010, 49 percent — or nearly half — of the U.S. population lived in a household receiving government assistance. According to Investors.com, this percentage of the population has gone “up from 44 percent the year before Obama took office, and way up from 1983, when fewer than a third were government beneficiaries.”

http://mercatus.org/publication/nation-government-dependents

Liberal socialism at it's best. Look at her mother's comments. Easy to see where she failed child rearing 101. You can take this girl out of poverty with $1M. But you can never take the trailer trash out of this family.

Social Security checks for Millionaire Congressmen. Your Government at work -- but not for you.

Hey Trex, how about all the CONSERVATIVE CAPITALISTS who have said "There is no law against it, therefor I did nothing wrong"? Very easy to see the Right-wing Conservative hypocrisy, Trex.

dadoftim, how about showing the actual breakdown of the TYPE of "government assistance" received? Or would that just be too hard to do?

Is it to hard for you to click on the link provided?

From link;

Spending on entitlement programs is one of the main drivers to U.S. debt as such programs have the most recipients. Specifically, 16 percent of the population lived in a household receiving Social Security benefits, and 15 percent in a household receiving Medicare benefits. Medicaid benefits had the largest share of dependents, with 26 percent of the population living in a household receiving such benefits.

About 35 percent of Americans in 2010 lived in households that received benefits from at least one means-tested transfer program. Out of these programs, more than 46 million—or 15 percent of all Americans—lived in households receiving food stamps, 2 percent unemployment compensation, and 6 percent supplemental security income. The percent of the population living in a household receiving benefits for low-income families with children reached 8 percent, and those receiving temporary assistance for needy families reached 2 percent.

Means-tested welfare spending at both federal and state levels has grown faster than any other category of government spending. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found that annual spending for means-tested programs increased by nearly 300 percent between 1989 and 2008. According to Rector, the growth in means-tested aid “greatly exceeded the growth in government spending on education (143 percent) and defense (126 percent)” during this same time period.

The more people receive government assistance, the more difficult it will be to reform these programs. The majority of future federal spending will be to finance this growing nation of dependents.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

"Attributed to ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER, LORD WOODHOUSELEE. Unverified."

No it's the Republican governer that let's this happen. It's a state level issue.

I dont get how someone can own two houses yet qualify for food stamps. Im guessing the restrictions for getting welfare of any sort should be gone over again.

Good, Kevin....you can start whining in November when Obama gets the boot for making everything much worse.....

You KNOW she is a Democrat> ME ME ME

Randy-2925150 Uh Randy did you notice that she had the brains to keep on getting the food stamps and not say anything and she is BLACK!. That makes your statement about republicans being racists ......what? You approve of her taking the lottery winnings and food stamps because she is black and a target for racist comments or do you disapprove of her taking the food stamps because she has the money to go shopping and doesn't need the money to feed her family?

You really need to clear your mind before you make a comment. In reality would it be proper for a black person to make a comment about a person who is white doing the same thing and labeling that person a radical liberal.

Actually, I prefer the term citizen, person, selfish egotistical greedy bastard.

The only thing that Obama really has done is polarize the people. As he is half white and half black, he should not be favoring either group and he should not have been attending an anti American Church with a self proclaimed Marxist pastor who is telling his congregation that they should not patronize businesses that are owned by whites and that every Jew in the world should be killed.

That type of brainwashing I am 100% against. After growing up in a mixed neighborhood, living next to Germans, Italians, Polish People, Jewish people, Black people, Arab people, Lebanese and Syrian People, I found it is the individual who matters rather than the race.

UnitedStates1776:

The woman became an instant 1%-er and immediately greed set in.

Wrong! She was already on Federal Food Stamps and she appears to be very healthy. She does not want to work at a job. She gets free money and food. The Liberal system does NOT work. That is what Liberal Democrats do - take from others.

Is a "1%-er" anyone that makes more money than you?

Poor leech, now she doesn't know if she should continue voting Demoncrat to get her "free" handouts or if she should vote for someone else because Demoncrats label her as "evil" for having money and want to take it to buy the votes of other leeches.

YOu people kill me, still blaming the PResident. ITs a state problem. The government had nothing to do with this. Their are how many states in the United STates. Can you count them. Ok, then every State has its own laws and should police them.

I think Kevin In NY is married to her. He seems to want to defend our great president and all the great things he has done to oh I mean for our country. He seem to put himself under that bus. What a crock. Typical Lib from New York. They think they are all that and more.

Poor leech, now she doesn't know if she should continue voting Demoncrat to get her "free" handouts or if she should vote for someone else because Demoncrats label her as "evil" for having money and want to take it to buy the votes of other leeches.

She's probably thinking that since her food stamps have been cut off it's time she starts voting Republican so the next time she wins the lottery she won't have to dole out as much as did in taxes.

I couldn't agree more. This whole story just makes me sick. The level of entitlement is beyond comprehension. How can this person look herself in the mirror? And her mother justifies her lack of integrity, too. Sounds like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Unbelievable. I will bet that within one year, her money will be gone, and she'll be back on food stamps. So many people it seems, live to do nothing but work the system. I firmly believe in assistance for those who truly need it. But, it's just so ridiculous that tax dollars go to support these losers.

AKRandy, I have never met a REPUBLICAN who didn't think about themself. The Number One Reason (EXCUSE) given by Right-wing Conservatives for their own money-grubbing, greedy ways: "But I have a right to be rich! If that laid-off, disabled, elderly, unemployed bum down the street weren't so lazy, he'd be rich, too!"".

Oh, and look at any political campaign that uses negative attack ads -- it's (almost) always the REPUBLICAN who starts slinging the mud.

Don't worry, these people always know how to breed.

...that's the problem - they DO know how to breed!! (and really mess up the gene pool!)

(SMH) ...and I need a license to have a dog. OMG!!

I love the holier-than-thou a lot of posters have.

How about FOUR houses and on the Government dole? Yep -- Mitt Romney. He sure as hell don't need that Congressional Salary he's been raking in...............

Hey QuackedOne - Just for the record Governor Romeny didn't take his salary while he was the Governor of Massachusetts unlike every rich Dems that serves in office. He work for free. Why don't you do some research before you open you uneducated mouth. What congressional salary he never was in Congress?

I understand your sentiment, but this action must be based on a LAW. As the article says, the legislature is just now trying to change the law to make the eligibility include gambling winnings. When someone is eligible for a benefit and they collect it, that is that - even if common sense and the majority of the citizens feel the eligibility is wrong. There was a story about a church collecting a healthy US agricultural subsidy for the land under their parking lot - it was previously farmland, donated to the church. The Ag Dept kept paying the subsidy, so the church kept collecting it (even though the land was no longer tillable.) The feds actually refused to accept the money when an attempt was made to return it (didn't want to mess up the books for the program.)

The Michigan food stamp program was set up carelessly. Unless the amended law is retroactive she will be able to keep everything she has legally collected, without penalty. At least she paid her federal taxes on it.

What a shame though.... "I need foodstamps.. I have bills to pay... I have two houses.." She made very poor decisions with her winnings, but its not the public's fault. Her income for this year is $1,000,000. I hope she has to pay everything back and fines. Shameful behavior and how ungreatful after winning such an incredible sum.

correction...*last year

Nice garbage ethics!

Actually you have to report when they mess up.

There was a woman in Minneapolis that was receiving giant welfare checks and she didn't report them.

She was charged with a crime.

I'll be sure and tell that to the IRS the next time they overpay my tax refund.

then you are a piece of crap also, go support Obama's campaign

Big Bad Wolf - Then you have no ethics and are very immoral. You would be taking dollars from someone who probably really needs it. What a disgrace.

ddt-2220985 - Yep, support Obama. He favors social programs that cost a LOT LESS than CORPORATE Welfare from the "I am for sale" Republicants

Hey I am a Obama supporter....please do not lump me in with this bunch. I am just as disgusted as you by the posters comments not to mention this womans action.

President Obama does not condone this and in fact is in the mist of putting more regulation on Government Assistance.

Why must you right wingers blame everything on Obama. The system was in place way before Obama took office. This fraud has been took place even when Bush was in office.

The blame is on this lady and her parents who failed to raise her right. The blame also goes to the entire government who failed to put in guardrails in place to prevent this type of fraud.

Stop being so small minded.

I think every state has a requirement that you are support to report within a 24 to 48 hours any change in your income, i.e., job, inheritance, etc. It may not be criminal but it should. This is a shining example of what is wrong with our country. Too many think they are entitled and are happy to accept a handout instead of realizing it's a hand up so get off your fat ass and use it to help you improve your life.

DDT, actually if you want entitlements you are better off voting Republican. Yet another right-wing myth exposed:

The report shows that of the 32 states (and the District of Columbia) that are "winners" -- receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes -- 76% are Red States that voted for George Bush in 2000. Indeed, 17 of the 20 (85%) states receiving the most federal spending per dollar of federal taxes paid are Red States. Here are the Top 10 states that feed at the federal trough (with Red States highlighted in bold):

1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)

But to get back on topic ... I'm not opposed to helping out the down and out, but this kind of crap just makes my blood boil.

She should have to pay back all assistance at least going back to when she won the lottery - if not every penny she ever received. This isn't a god-damned charity, society is giving you a helping hand during your time of need, give back when you are on your feet.

Michelle-1583970, you didn't have to say you're an Obama supporter. Your poor grammar gives it away. Did you say he is putting MORE REGULATION...? What a surprise!

North Dakota, Alaska, Montana, and South Dakota each have sizeable Native American populations. If you live on the Rez, you don't have to work: you get a check from the Federal Government merely for staying on the rez. The Federal Government also subsidizes the tribes with IHS (Indian Health Services), food stamps, WIC, among other programs of public dole.

This could be a plausible explanation as to why those states receive as much Federal welfare as they do. There could also be other reasons not discussed.

Statitics are funny things: artfully and properly manipulated, you can make them mean anything and fit to any agenda.

If anyone deserves a handout, it should be American Indians, we stole their land and in return gave them useless sand pits to live on

Yes, Miquel, the right SCREAMS for more legislation to prevent this sort of thing then when a Democrat suggests such legislation they SCREAM that said Democrat is creating too much red tape. And then the SCREAM that Obama is polarizing the country. Nunthin' but a bunch of cry babies and spoiled brats.

@bigbadwolf - the government did not mess up. The food stamp office in Michigan followed the state regulations in paying her the benefit. And it was the state gov, not UncleSam. The food stamp programs are paid with federal money, but the rules of eligibility are set by the states who administer the program.

As it says in the article, legislation at the state level is being addressed to include lottery winnings in reportable income for food stamp eligibility. Until it is a signed law, this is what the legislators want.

"If anyone deserves a handout, it should be American Indians, we stole their land and in return gave them useless sand pits to live on"

Umm Joe - American Indians (aka Native Americans) get a ton of handouts. They receive every form of government handout that exists. They are the poster children of welfare. They demonstrate exactly how giving people never ending government assistance only keeps them on the dole. They have no incentive nor desire to improve themselves. They sit home, eat and drink, watch tv and play video games all day long, many of the adults go to the bars and drink some more. Oh, and they breed. Believe me I know. I grew up 35 miles from a res.

@JM-1992894

DDT, actually if you want entitlements you are better off voting Republican. Yet another right-wing myth exposed:

Actually you are the one perpetrating the myth here. The Federal dollars received versus paid in has little to do with welfare entitlements. These monies include subsidies for ag and oil (which reduce the cost of food and fuel for everyone in every state), trust funds given to Indian tribes (already their money technically) and is further skewed by large states with small populations. For example SD, 9th worst on the list, has 1 mile of Interstate Highway per 1,200 residents whereas NY, 9th best on the list, has one mile of Interstate Highway for every 14,400 residents. Which means Federal funds for Federal infrastructure are always going to favor big states with small populations on a $paid vs $received basis.

It sounds good but is little more than liberal rhetoric. Hers' a list of states that recieve the most public welfare per capita-http://ppinys.org/reports/jtf/welfarespending.htm So the reality is if you want money in YOUR POCKET, you're better of voting dem.

Show me a Right-wing Conservative politician who reports EVERY financial mistake of the government that "happens" to benefit them personally -- and I'll show you a Three-toed Martian Zigwat Chicken-leg Swamp Slug.

It was not against the law, so she did nothing wrong.

She should have to pay back all assistance at least going back to when she won the lottery - if not every penny she ever received. This isn't a god-damned charity, society is giving you a helping hand during your time of need, give back when you are on your feet.

You mean like all those rich, fat-cat Right-wing Conservative Millionaires and Billionaires who make sure that they have their mansions, private hunting preserves, "vacation" homes, three or four cars and yachts before "giving back" a few thousand dollars a year do?

Buying Lotto tickets are a human right, just like $3000/year birth control. The government should enforce legislation mandating that all tax payers cover both entitlements.

I really wish people would read the actual testimony of Fluke. First, very rare is it that birth control reach $3,000. In most cases, most people would pay $25 a month, average, for pills. $3,000 birth control normally will mean an underlying medical situation. With that being said, tax payers are not being asked to foot that bill for birth control. It is to be included in the insurance policies just like, in many cases, Viagra is covered.

In addition, playing Devil's Advocate here, let's say we didn't know that she was on a show where she won the money (another tidbit many of you are missing ... she didn't purchase a winning ticket), who is to say she was provided with a lottery ticket as a gift? So tired of all of you ready to string up anyone who feel has "done you wrong!"

It wasn't $3000 a year either.

It was over the course of at least a few years.

TParty - Please source where you get a $3000/year figure for birth control. I just looked online, and found that a years supply of birth control pills without insurance seems to be less than $1000.

Even if your figures are correct, the benefits outweight the initial cost outlay.

Yep. The government should also enforce legislation mandating that the tax payers cover all entitlements, including those for corporate America.

You should not be spending money on a lotto ticket while you are on assistance.

The poor purchase the highest number of lottery tickets.

So we're dragging in the birth control thing here. Can't tell who listens to Limbaugh, can we? It's being raised by people who have no idea of the impact of *not* having birth control. Let's say you're like the one poor soul I read about recently who is in dire straits because he didn't get his THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FREAKING THOUSAND dollar bonus for working at a bank. He's in real trouble now because he HAS to spend $15,000 a year on his two dogs. Just *has* to, you know. See, if he didn't have two dogs he wouldn't have to pay the $15,000 (I can barely say that with a straight face while my dog is watching) to support his two dogs. And if he had used birth control he wouldn't have to deal with the fact that his kids won't be able to go to the really expensive private school they go to now.

See? Using birth control is a LOT less expensive than having kids. That's how these things work. Call it preventative maintenance. You change the oil in your car to keep your engine from seizing up and costing you more money, you paint your house to keep the wood from rotting and costing you more money, and you use birth control to keep from having expensive children

Easy choice. Couple hundred dollars a year for birth control for about 25 years or so that a woman is fertile or ten times that amount to feed and house the results of NOT having birth control for 50 or 60 years.

@Huh - Some clarification is in order. First, truly poor people have access to free birth control. Medicaid covers it. State health programs that cover people who are poor but not poor enough to get on Medicaid cover it. Planned Parenthood gives it out, as well as many community public health clinics. Now, if one has insurance thru say, an employer, most ALL cover it (read a survey on this and it is true), except, as in the case of Ms. Fluke, Catholic orgs. You might have to pay a small co-pay just like for any generic drug. If you want the latest and greatest BCP that can also cure your every other ailment, the copay might be higher.

The problem with BC and poor people is not so much that they can't get it. It's that they don't want to use it. They want to breed. You can't tell me that all of those 70% of black babies born out of wedlock are due to the mothers not having access to BCPs. There are other groups this applies to as well (can I say white trash here), so don't call me racist.

Who the hell are you to worry about someone spending a few dollars on a lottery ticket whether they work, get unemployment, food stamps, etc.? It's none of you or anyone's business!!!! I agree that this young woman should have reported her winnings to the Food Stamp Office right away as that would have been the right thing to do, and they would have cut her off. When I was on food stamps in the past, if I would have won the lottery (I don't play and never have) I would have reported it right away as I would not want to be on public assistance, or food stamps if I won that kind of money because I would not need it anymore, however, there are people who scam the system and that is an issue of morals. But to say that a person on assistanse should not be playing the lottery is a very ignorant, judgmental statement. I was on assistance many years ago and I'm a light smoker and I used money to buy cigarettes every other day ($3.50 a pack at the time in NY) so does that make me a bad person or a scammer too? I paid my bills but if I had enough left over to buy cigs I sure as hell did!!!!

No buying lottery tickets when you're on Public Assistance? Then look to yourself -- do you REALLY need that gas lawn mower? Do you REALLY need that ATV? Do you REALLY need that 15-room McMansion when there are only four people in your family?

Do you REALLY need any of the expensive toys you have?

ah, yes, i see we've started with the "i'm not paying for your birth control" side of things. the thing that never fails to amaze me is how many of the people who freak out at the idea of free or low cost birth control ALSO freak out at the idea of people being on welfare/food stamps/etc.

totally logical. refuse to help low income folks prevent babies, but also refuse to help the kids that result from the lack of availability of birth control ("welfare?! bah, humbug. let the poor take care of themselves. oh, they can't? tough! starve!"). because it's perfectly reasonable to punish children for the actions of their parents.

That didn't take long. Libs? Really?

BMOC - just ignore them. They have to justify their hateful rhetoric somehow and they can't help themselves because they really don't know how to do anything else. Haven't you heard? Liberals don't pay taxes. We hate our country and our children don't die serving this country.

Libs exactly. Something tells me that if this woman votes, she would cast one for the food stamp president.

Good points, Kat. The funny thing is, I'm not a liberal. I just hate seeing people get dragged into a subject for no reason.

God, Libs LOVE to use the word HATE whenever someone speaks the truth about the entitlement mentality of this country.

BMOC, go read some articles where libs are defending people being able to spend welfare money on ANYTHING, they want.

Nobody would care that this woman won the lottery if she wasnt a greedy, selfish wench, but she is, she proves two things, the poor are just as greedy as the rich, and that the welfare system is broken.

When she loses everything by years end i wont hesitate to laugh. if it takes that long.

BMOC - it doesn't matter to me what your beliefs are and you certainly don't have to explain to me --- it's a free country.

Funny thing, my sons (who are both Liberals) tell me that when they were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the bullets started flying, the Taliban didn't stop to ask them if they were Liberals -- all they saw were young men in American uniforms, fighting for their country. That's the reality, and we know some people can't live in reality, because reality doesn't jive with the lies they need to believe to support their warped and twisted views.

I'll leave you with the same advice I gave to my sons: Stay strong and don't succumb.

Kat that sounds like your liberal cop-out when you know this is the system the libs want in place. Rational people dont want to give their tax dollars away for liquor, cigarettes, drugs, lottery tickets and only junk foods. You can claim that it isnt an issue encouraged by liberals, but in private you know it is, and you know its turning a blind eye in the name of votes.

this is the system the libs want in place.

Then why are 8 of the top 10 states / areas in welfare spending red states?

The report shows that of the 32 states (and the District of Columbia) that are "winners" -- receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes -- 76% are Red States that voted for George Bush in 2000. Indeed, 17 of the 20 (85%) states receiving the most federal spending per dollar of federal taxes paid are Red States. Here are the Top 10 states that feed at the federal trough (with Red States highlighted in bold):

1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)

For being so against welfare, the red states sure as hell seem to know how to use it.

Ruken - You'll notice that these aren't exactly the places you think of when you think of higher education but they sure know how to play the system. They feed off the money created by the population areas with the better educated people who have higher paying jobs then SCREAM about how ed-you-ma-cated people are ruining the country. I heard one Santroum speech where he actually said "Do you want the smart people running the country?!" and the crowd shouted "NO!" What? Wait. You want the morons in charge? Didn't we try that with Bush? And aren't we STILL digging out from under that?

Well I will correct you on one state, that being North Dakota. The federal dollars they have received mostly all for flood control and Indians (several reservations and the non-NAs cannot control this). The whole eastern half of the state is one big flood plain, and the federal government is finally coming in the make long-term modifications to prevent the flooding from happening over and over; ie: the massive dike system for Grand Forks and the work on Devils Lake.

North Dakota kids score in the top 5 of the ACT test year after year, and have some of the highest standardized test scores in the nation. Don't assume they are uneducated. They are very well educated.

And no, I don't live there, but have family and business associates living there.

Federal spending =/= Welfare only. There are lots of things the government spends money on.

Less regulation! Less regulation! Less Government interference regulation! Unless, of course if it's to restrict what others are allowed to do with "my" money.

That's the Right-wing Conservative Tea-Tagger rallying cry. The problem is that more restrictions on what anyone is allowed to spend money on is MORE GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE REGULATION.

@Sharpsburg, puh-leese. The last time this I heard of this happening was in California (a couple living in a million dollar home and collecting food stamps), and I can't remember where the other case was, but it was a man who had won the lottery but was collecting food stamps.

Welfare fraud is certainly not geographically exclusive. It happens all over this country.

but it was a man who had won the lottery but was collecting food stamps.

It was also in Michigan.

It appears MI is 0 for 2.

It's not fraud if you follow the law. Because Michigan is not smart enough to include gambling winnings in the income used to determine eligibility, there is no fraud here. Whoever is writing the laws and regulations in Michigan appear to be a group of dolts.

The world is full of these con artists. I have an employee who married a woman with one child who is "slow". Cha-ching! Government gave her $1,000/month in benefits because the girl is "slow". Same employee's wife was previously married to a drug dealer who was killed by police in a drug bust. Cha-ching. Government gave her another $1,000 per month because she is a widow of a killed spouse. Same employee's spouse gets a job at a burger joint and the government find's out she is working. Tells her that she will not be eligible for the entitlements. Employee's wife quits working. "Ain't nobody taking away my money!" Want to guess who? Please December 21st 2012 hurry-up. Get me out of here!!

It sounds like your father was a good man.

You're absolutely right. Did she enroll in a technical skill program or college? Of course not. Did she invest some of the money for a rainy day? Of course not. She simply spends the money without any future plans.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree... both daughter and mother sound incredibly stupid. I'd love to see both of them permanently cut off from any type of public assistance.

It's obvious the story of this bottom-feeder and her mother have made many millions of people-blood boil. You just wanted to jump into your TV screen and let her have it. But the worst part of it all is that she is not the only one who does this-she just happened to be stupid enough to open her mouth.

I'd love to see her and her mother investigated for fraud-fined heavily-denied any future benefits and spend some time in prison. When they get out-community service cleaning up at a homeless camp and serving the poor food. On the weekends they should pick up road kill along the highways.

But you know- I think they are too dam stupid to learn anything from any of this.

It's the biggest metropolitan area around.

It's like I could say..."this dude in Richfield did this"...but none of you would know where that is, so I'd say: "this dude living near Minneapolis did this".

It's not all bad. You guys get points for the Hardcore Pawn tv show.

Yea, and I bet she was a hardworking taxpaying citizen before winning the lottery too.

She most certainly WAS and IS eligible for food stamps, since Michigan does not include gambling winnings in the income used to determine eligibility - the idiots. Changes to the law are in progress, but probably won't be retroactive.

Geez mailman8 - you've posted this same thing how many times? Sounds like you may have won some lottery or gambling earnings some time back and your're still collecting food stamps.

Edit: OMG, you're repeating it again below......!!

It is in Indiana, at least. All the forms I see people faxing in says that you must notify the welfare office *immediately* if all your assets exceed $2000.

Rules are different in every state - in the article, it says "Legislation at the state level would require lottery and other gambling winnings to factor into eligibility for government food assistance programs."

This implies that the Michigan rules do not include gambling winnings in eligibility, at this time, and the legislature is working on it. The common sense phrase that describes this is "closing the barn door after the cows have gone." Until the lawmakers tell the folks in the food stamp office to consider the gambling income, they cannot use it when determining eligibility and benefits.

Yea, nobody should ever have to take responsibilty for their own actions, any chance you get make sure you pass the blame. Thats what i try to teach all kids.

"Lady" is a bit of a stretch aint it?

Guess what, your twat daughter did break the law. Its called fraud and I hope she not only has to pay the money back, but does some time in the pokey for it too.

We need to end these entitlement programs as they are right now. They need a complete overhaul and audit.

My parents always told me to take responsibility for my actions. She's 24, a legal adult and should know better.

...it's the liberals and the President that proliferate this kind of thinking, just look at the way they don't want anyone to identify themselves when they vote......they don't want people to act responsibly and take every effort to make sure people will not be held to account....it's nothing new......

nyccguy, he taught them well. Monkey see monkey do.

hummbird - in the state I live in, Republican lawmakers where trying to pass a law that would prevent EBT card users from using the card in liquor stores, casinos and bars. Guess what. The Dems fought tooth and nail to stop the legislation. Seriously, what does that tell us?

Oh and I forgot to mention, they also proposed legislation that would call for drug testing of welfare recipients, but the Dems successfully fought that too.

A few years ago there was an audit showing EBT cards were being used in places like Hawaii and the Caribbean Islands. (we are in the midwest). The Dems had no problem with this and swept the findings under the rug.

Again, what does this tell us ??????

Detroit is mostly black and blacks work for the welfare system up there, so most don't care if their home girls or homeboys rip off the state, they figure the Whites owe it to them. A SAD FACT, if you like it or not.

Who assigned you the task of black community dictator? Secondly, there is nothing to figure Whites owe us and that's a CASH FACT, if you like it or not. The whites paid the indians and gave back some portions of the land that they took, so it's time to pay us!!

WisePati, here's your answer to this girl's morals:

"I'm not saying it's the right thing to do," Euline Clayton said of her daughter's use of food stamps. "But it's nobody's business if she's not breaking the law."

Momma doesn't have any either. And to momma...it is my business because she is using my tax dollars for her food! BTW, my direct tax dollars as I live in Michigan about 100 miles from you!

@justice4who - LMAO. Dream on brotha. Ain't gonna happen. Better get that through you thick head, the sooner the better. No CASH will be coming your way. NEVER.

I can soooo relate. Makes you want to vomit doesn't it?

Why do you think so many women have kid's and never get married. They live with their boyfriend who doesn't work, and they just sit around and play video games all day long. Besides making more babies of course. Thank you Uncle Sucker.

Yeah go ahead and join this, when they rip off all your money you can collect food stamps!!!

Isn't it nice to know that you get rewarded for making mistakes? I'm a young woman who is going to school because I have something I like to call dignity. I want to work 40 hours a week and be able to support myself, I want to get married and have a family, someday. I am embarrassed to see so many young women and girls getting pregnant and getting all kinds of assistance even though if they would've just kept their head on, they could've gone to school and got a decent job. (Hopefully...with the economy now, I'm not so sure...) Those kind of women/girls give us that are trying to do something with our lives a bad name.

we work for quality of life. you get about $220-250 per child from TANF (T is for "temporary"). maybe its just me, but i'd rather work hard for more money than not work for a pittance. this lottery winner is the exception. entitlement runs deep in the world of the low-income, but there are many families that work hard, still struggle, and need subsidies to make it. where do we draw the line? i don't think anyone has a decent answer.

If you win the lottery and you are on public assistance, what ever you were given should be paid back in full before you receive any lotto payments.