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    BlatheringHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 2:48pm

    I’d encourage everyone to not lose the forest for the trees on these stories. I’m a big ol’ liberal softie and at times I was like “dye allergy? the new gluten” or “organic farming? hippies” but really...it’s buying healthy food for a kid and it’s a job that pays no worse than anything else and has a social good component intended.

    Each week I just feel like I’m tilting at trolls and strawmen when we (as human nature tends) start to nitpick “well, did they have 3.5 month’s salary in the bank, a pre-arranged daycare solution and certification from Dr. Spock? Then they shouldn’t have kids” because no one (intentionally silly example aside) except my insane college roommate (engineer, of course) really does three years of planning on how and when to have a kid.

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      ThisGuyBlathering
      4/27/15 2:54pm

      I found myself doing the same thing, then immediately feeling guilty about it. It doesn’t matter how they got there, everyone makes poor decisions.

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      BlatheringThisGuy
      4/27/15 2:58pm

      Except internet commentators. There will be someone here soon to gripe that he worked six jobs while getting a 4.0, never had sex until the preschool application was approved and Granny had booties knitted, never left one job for a potentially better one without confirming it would last indefinitely, etc.

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    MajesticSeaFlapFlapHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 3:20pm

    Heyo! I am the face behind “One Family’s Budget” So if anyone has any questions or comments about my story, here I am. I promise to answer any legitimate questions (maybe not right away because I am almost done taking lunch) As for the trolls COME AT ME BRO! I’ll most likely ignore you anyways.

    I noticed a few comments about my son’s issue with dyes & artificial flavors, and no its not “hippy based garbage” or anything like that. He has been diagnosed with either ADHD or Aspergers depending on which pediatrician I talk to and if he eats anything with a high level of artificial coloring or flavoring his entire demeanor changes. To the point where, at 8 years old, he will turn down most sweets he is offered because they make him feel so awful. My food allergies are so bad I usually prepare my husband & kids a meal and then eat something else on my own. So, its all legitimate, no “food-babe” type nonsense here :)

    The main reason I sent in my story is to show that there is no incentive, beyond a drive to better oneself, within the programs themselves to do better and get off assistance. You lose more than you gain and the losses are not minor. There are flaws within the system that should be addressed.

    But I believe that almost anyone could end up needing assistance with a single stroke of bad luck, and that it absolutely should be available for those that need it.

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      ThrumbolioMajesticSeaFlapFlap
      4/27/15 3:40pm

      The main reason I sent in my story is to show that there is no incentive, beyond a drive to better oneself, within the programs themselves to do better and get off assistance.

      This has always been my problem with “social aid.” It’s a fucking band-aid. It’s a stopgap measure that doesn’t stop the damn gap!

      If we want those who are perpetually at the mercy of the service industry to “better themselves,” then we need to increase awareness of and accessibility to avenues toward that goal.

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      MajesticSeaFlapFlapThrumbolio
      4/27/15 3:46pm

      Absolutely. People working to better themselves should not be penalized for doing so. Benefits should be reduced as income increases, but it should be done at a rate comparable to the increase. An extra $500 a year in taxable wages should not equal a loss of $5000 in benefits.

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    MS38Hamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 2:52pm

    Part of what I will never cease to be surprised by is the lack of severance in a lot of US jobs. Frankly it’s something that we, North of the border, apparently take for granted.

    My dad has worked for a former Canadian Crown Corporation that bought a very struggling American company in one of the Carolinas (I can’t recall which...) and when he went down shortly after the purchase the staff there approached him and asked him if the severance was a joke.

    He thought they meant the pay-out was too low, but apparently they couldn’t believe that the company had told them they’d be losing their jobs in six months and they could either start looking for a new job while finishing out the six months or take the immediate, a nice, severance package.

    They 100 per cent did not understand why the company was giving them ‘free’ money when they were being let go.

    I’ve never lost a job and not gotten a respectable severance, I couldn’t imagine the stress and upheaval just being cut-off at whim could cause...

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      ThidrekrMS38
      4/27/15 3:01pm

      Yup...I’m an American living in Canada. I’ve been away for so long now that I feel like the U.S. “way of life” is nothing short of sadistic. The reality, though, is that they don’t know of any other way; couple that with “American exceptionalism” and people are just convinced that life cannot be any better.

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      MS38Thidrekr
      4/27/15 3:07pm

      I won’t pretend Canada is perfect - we are damned far from perfect - but it always comes as a shock that a country both physically and culturally close to us has these small but important differences that I’ve never thought about is quite shocking...

      I couldn’t imagine being in the position these families are, especially with children. It’s so heartbreaking.

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    ThrumbolioHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 3:00pm

    You should just title these threads “CONSERVATROLLS: SOUP’S ON!”

    Seriously, it’s like fucking catnip for them.

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      DashleyinCaliThrumbolio
      4/27/15 3:06pm

      But it’s so fun to nitpick through someone else’s difficult personal story to look for all the ways that they’re a fuckup and deserve to be miserable.

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      ThrumbolioDashleyinCali
      4/27/15 3:07pm

      It’s just fucking boring. Tedious, predictable, repetitive, unceasing.

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    ThePriceisWrongHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 2:46pm

    My ex-husband (father of my oldest two) does not pay child support

    HOW DOES THE STATE LET THIS HAPPEN??

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      LieutenantDanIceCreamThePriceisWrong
      4/27/15 2:55pm

      If dad doesn’t have an income there’s not a lot that can be done besides throwing him in jail which doesn’t really get the money flowing either.

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      ThisGuyThePriceisWrong
      4/27/15 2:57pm

      I work for a staffing agency and some of these parents have a system to avoid paying. They know it takes around 3 weeks for the DHHS to get an IWO out to a new employer and they quit right about that time and move on to the next temporary employer.

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    Sara-Slaughter607Hamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 3:05pm

    I concur with the absurdity of cutting all benefits because of a .50 raise to make you over the income...

    I turned down a raise at work because it would have put me over the threshold for my childcare assistance.. I would have gone from paying my share which is $139 per week to $298.

    I don't fucking think so. Single mom with toddler, works 45+ hours per week to live so that we don't need programs. The childcare is the only thing I NEED help with. It is prohibitively expensive.... her father was abusive to both of us and I kicked him out. No child support.

    I did what I had to do to keep my child safe.

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      thevoidlesscreatureSara-Slaughter607
      4/27/15 4:04pm

      It’s nuts. I have a friend who receives benefits (housing and SNAP, I think) and no way is it worth it for him to take a job for minimum wage or even $10/hour—he would end up homeless because his benefits would be curtailed but his pay at those kind of wages wouldn’t cover rent and food. He’s a trained paramedic and has been a part-time adjunct but is really struggling to find a full-time job that can pay the bills and put food on the table.

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      Sara-Slaughter607thevoidlesscreature
      4/27/15 7:37pm

      The do really put some people between a rock and a hard place...

      As I said, in my situation, I was up for a dollar raise, which I would pocket $28 per week extra after taxes. However, my childcare would increase by $150 a week. It would make zero sense for me to do that. Higher salary = WORSE situation than before. Its completely fucked up.

      I hope your friend finds a great job soon.

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    DiscoInfernoSupressionSystemHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 2:48pm

    The compulsion to cut assistance to the poor isn’t just a manifestation of the GOP’s pathological need to hurt anyone perceived as weaker than them. It’s (as most people have long since figured out) deeply rooted in racism.

    Here’s a legendary chat with Republican strategist Lee Atwater.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_…

    Questioner: But the fact is, isn’t it, that Reagan does get to the Wallace voter and to the racist side of the Wallace voter by doing away with legal services, by cutting down on food stamps?

    Lee Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, “N****r, n****r, n****r,.” By 1968 you can’t say “n****r,” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “N****r, n****r”

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      RanGalaxyDiscoInfernoSupressionSystem
      4/27/15 3:14pm

      It’s especially fascinating how policy and race worked to trap blacks in inner city ghettos, and how much the systems relies on them being stuck there or in prisons. If an entire work sector up and goes to Asia, of course millions people will lose their only chance at a decent paying job. There is literally no replacement work. What happens to them? They get angry and rally, or stay poor and hungry in or outside a jail cell. It’s unbelievable.

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      DiscoInfernoSupressionSystemRanGalaxy
      4/27/15 3:54pm

      They’re going to suffer without much recourse. That’s the system we have.

      Which, as you’ve probably gathered, is a huge part of the reason why the GOP and its cohorts spend an enormous amount of time denying the existence of privilege and insist that there’s a level playing field. They’ve done a great deal to convince those they’ve hurt the most that anyone who isn’t succeeding is clearly doing something wrong and is presently taking something from the rest of us.

      It’s how they keep white working and middle class America (or what’s left of it) angry at brown people, instead of the ones actively seeking to destroy their way of life.

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    filmgirlHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 3:13pm

    I have no problem with people getting help when needed, what bothers me a bit is that when you are getting help, you have more children. It’s hard enough to take care of yourself when you are broke how good is it to bring another living being into this world so they can suffer with you.

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      ThePriceisWrongfilmgirl
      4/27/15 3:21pm

      Scenario: someone’s condom breaks, thus getting them pregnant. Abortions cost between $250-$400. You probably don’t get that in an entire month for food, let alone to spend on something else. So, you get stuck with a kid because you cannot afford an abortion.

      Many of these people aren’t actively choosing to have children unemployed. If you read a good majority of the stories, they have kids or find out they’re pregnant then they lose their jobs.

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      jonhernfilmgirl
      4/27/15 3:48pm

      Same here, but in most of these stories they were already expecting before the circumstance happened that made them go on assistance. Also, if you read one, it gives a great example why, they get a .75 cent raise and lose $300 or more in benefits, and they only way to get it back is to have another child. The system is encouraging them to have kids.

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    Nate AlexanderHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 2:40pm

    Since the 2016 Election is fast approaching and we will soon be undoubtedly inundated with stories of lazy Americans who joyously suckle the teat of the government, can we please make sure these kinds of stories continue to be published and remain front-and-center for all to read?

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      ArkNate Alexander
      4/27/15 10:33pm

      Pfft, no. Nobody is interesting in hearing about people getting help who need it.

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    JwilloughbyHamilton Nolan
    4/27/15 3:07pm

    Although my heart goes out to people who are sick, lose jobs etc, for the love of God why aren't these people on birth control? In half of these stories these people either had to go on support because of an unplanned pregnancy or are already on support and having more children. I can understand some things are out of your control, but being responsible with birth control isn't one of them.

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      ThePriceisWrongJwilloughby
      4/27/15 3:26pm

      Who, exactly, is going to give them this magical birth control? It’s not free at Planned Parenthood. You have to pay $100 for an appointment, and then pay for the prescription costs the pharmacy. For some reason, people think birth control grows on trees. It does not, and it costs money.

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      RanGalaxyJwilloughby
      4/27/15 3:31pm

      Quite a few of the stories on this page, at least, explain they had kids or were pregnant when times were better, aka at least one was gainfully employed. Nothing can help you if you risk a child and then get hit with this stuff.

      I’d also like to point out, the most effective birth control (IUD) is an expensive one-time payment out of range for most, and other options are still hard to get in many states cost-wise. Even so, they aren’t always effective. Even so, the long-term poor get to a point where they ask themselves “what is the point of living if I am forever unable to do any of things that make it worthwhile, like the basic right of having a child?” Sometimes age forces the question, fertility clinic are out of the question due to expense.

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