350 Pound "Baby" on the Public* Dole

Have you seen this story?

“Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom-make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time,” Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter Monday to Inspector General Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr…

In an email response to The Washington Times, Mr. Thornton threatened to kill himself if his Social Security payments are taken away, and said the television episode showing him doing woodwork oversold his abilities.

“You wanna test how damn serious I am about leaving this world, screw with my check that pays for this apartment and food. Try it. See how serious I am. I don’t care,” the California man said. “I have no problem killing myself. Take away the last thing keeping me here, and see what happens. Next time you see me on the news, it will be me in a body bag.”…

Two suggestions: One, we leave him on the doorstep of a church and run. Maybe someone will adopt him?
Two, There's an old Biblical admonition about one not working and not eating. I don't wish to be crass, but I think his threats of suicide are mere posturing. I think as soon as the checks ran out and he got a little hungry, he might find woodworking more fulfilling than he does now while his every need is catered to!

If not, if he really is batsh*t crazy and a danger to himself, there are other institutions to take care of that.

BTW, I have some fetishes I wouldn't mind the state subsidizing!

*I originally used the word "State" in the headline, but in the sense of "the State", not "one of the states". "Public" is perhaps a bit less confusing. -ed.

Hat tips to Mrs. C. and Memeorandum

California Welfare: It's Worse Than You Think

My friend, the Left Coast Rebel, has an excellent article below, on the mess that is California and the slippery slope the politicians keep greasing. The only trouble with the Rebel's article is: It's even worse than that.

In talking about the Food Stamp mess, first we might note that the politicians have renamed it last October, to get rid of some of that nasty stigma.
The new name? CalFresh

"This rebranding campaign will go a long way in helping to erase the unfortunate stigma associated with this program and encourage families to seek CalFresh as a resource for putting healthy meals on their table,"

-First Lady Maria Shriver

And well they should. Back when the government printed the food coupons, the next person in line could see what you were using. I remember an incident from over thirty years ago. It was the mid seventies, I had just bought my first house, (for fewer dollars than my current car, but the devaluation of the dollar is another story!), at a time when it was suggested that your mortgage payment be no more than 25% of your gross income. Mine was about 33% of my take home, so let's just say times were tight!

I was in the grocery store, buying some sliced bologna for my brown bag lunches. The guy in front of me in the line was a healthy looking, burly fellow, and I noticed that he had just bought two of the biggest t-bone steaks I had ever seen. And he had junk food and dog food and beer, and the checker told him he couldn't pay for the dog food or the beer with food stamps. (Sorry, Fido. Get a job!) So the gentleman proceeds to pull a roll of bills out of his pocket that would have choked a horse, peeled off a couple of fifty dollar bills and paid for the non-covered items.

You will forgive me, if in a moment of weakness looking at those steaks, pondering the tastiness of my lunchmeat, if it didn't at least cross my mind that maybe this guy didn't really qualify for foodstamps?

So, now that stigma has been taken away. Instead of a printed food coupon or stamp, the recipients receive what amounts to a debit card they swipe through the machine at the grocery. Much harder to see at a glance how the person in front of you is paying, so no one can tell who's using them. And in itself, that's not a bad thing. This is: the EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards, as they are called have not been allowed to be used for alcohol or cigarettes, but they could be used for cash! In other words, the person goes through the line, pays for the allowable groceries and then asks for cash back, which they could then spend on literally anything.

In fact, last June, a small scandal revealed that the EBT cards were being used to withdraw cash in California casinos!

California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.

The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.

So, add gambling to the alcohol and cigarettes we provide welfare recipients in California. Add to that the irony that the state is spending literally millions of dollars to convince Californians not to smoke, while they are subsidizing tobacco products for the poor, the people who are statistically most likely to smoke. Go figure.

Cross posted at LCR.