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NEWS ABOUT: welfare

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Welfare Office Bans Pajamas

If you look like you snooze, you lose in Dublin

(Newser) - Irish welfare officials aren't asleep at the switch—and they've got a wake-up call for their clients. Dubliners have been a bit too chill when they turn up to collect their welfare checks, so the agency is banning pajamas in the office. "Pajamas are not regarded as... More »

Second Child Shot by Mom in Welfare Office Dies

Timothy, Ramie Marie Grimmer killed after mom fails to get food stamps

(Newser) - The second of two kids shot by their suicidal mom in a Texas welfare office has died, reports AP . Timothy Grimmer, 10, died of his wounds a day after his 12-year-old sister, Ramie Marie. Their mother, Rachelle Grimmer, apparently snapped when she failed to get food stamps to feed her... More »

Jet-Setting Couple Living in $1.2M Home ... on Welfare

Seattle pair accused of filing false claims to get housing assistance

(Newser) - A dispatch from the Department of Injustices: A Seattle couple collected more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance since 2003, money that no doubt helped them maintain a lifestyle that included a $1.2 million waterfront home and trips to Moscow, Paris, Turkey, and Mexico. Chiropractor David Silverstein and... More »

Texas Mom Shoots Kids as She's Denied Food Stamps

Mother is dead, 2 children 'very critical'

(Newser) - A desperate mom denied food stamps for months shut herself in a Texas welfare office and shot her two children before killing herself. Her daughter, 12, and 10-year-old son are in very critical condition. Rachelle Grimmer, 38, had recently moved from Ohio and had not completed the proper paperwork to... More »

Top 1% Nabs $30B a Year in Federal 'Welfare'

Sen. Coburn investigates massive handouts

(Newser) - They’re already in the top 1%, yet they’re getting government handouts worth more than NASA’s budget. American millionaires rake in $30 billion a year from the feds, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn finds in a new report. That’s three times the EPA’s yearly allotment, yet it’... More »

Judge Orders Florida to Stop Welfare Drug Tests

Says it will likely be ruled unconstitutional

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered Florida to suspend its “suspicionless drug testing” of would-be welfare recipients, writing that “there is a substantial likelihood” that the law requiring such tests will be deemed unconstitutional. The ruling comes thanks to an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of one welfare recipient—an... More »

Only 2% Failed Florida Welfare Drug Tests

But that might still be enough for the program to break even

(Newser) - Florida’s controversial new program to drug test welfare recipients isn’t exactly catching droves of addicts. So far only 2% of those tests have come up positive, the Tampa Tribune reports, with 96% testing clean and 2% declining to complete the application process. That rate of failure may still... More »

Food Stamp Abuse Shows Perils of 'Big Government'

Number of recipients surging, along with fraud: James Bovard

(Newser) - The number of people on food stamps has risen from 26 million to 44 million since 2007, and abuse of the system is running unchecked, writes James Bovard at the Wall Street Journal . The federal government is more interested in getting people signed up than helping states curb fraud, he... More »

Florida to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

ACLU files lawsuit saying law is unconstitutional

(Newser) - Governor Rick Scott signed a law this week requiring Floridians to submit urine, blood, or hair samples for drug testing before they could receive any cash aid from the state. Those testing positive will be banned from receiving aid for six months, though they can secure assistance for their children... More »

One-Third of US Wages? Government Handouts

Social welfare benefits make up 35% of wages and salaries

(Newser) - More than a third of the total wages and salaries in the US is made up of government payouts, CNBC reports. Social welfare benefits including Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance account for 35% of wages and salaries—a record figure that is up from 21% in 2000 and 10%... More »

What We Can Learn from Mauritius

How a tiny African nation provides education, health care for all

(Newser) - Imagine a nation that provided free health care and a college education for all its citizens while maintaining a nicely balanced budget. Sound impossible? Well, they’ve managed it in Mauritius, a small island nation off the east coast of Africa with no "exploitable" natural resources to speak of.... More »

14% of Americans Use Food Stamps

43.6M need help to buy groceries

(Newser) - A sizable number of Americans—about 14%, in fact—continue to need government help to buy groceries, the Wall Street Journal reports. A new Labor Department survey says 43.6 million people in the US were signed up with the food stamp program as of November, an increase of 14.... More »

GOP Demands End to Expired Program

Panel blasts $2.5B welfare initiative that no longer exists

(Newser) - In a drive to cut the deficit, a GOP committee called for an end to a $2.5 billion dollar welfare program this week—which might have been a clever move if the program hadn’t already expired, notes Arthur Delaney at the Huffington Post . The committee’s leader slammed... More »

30K-Strong Mob Swarms Housing Wait List

Small crowd arrives today to drop them off

(Newser) - A mob of 30,000 people swarmed over an Atlanta parking lot in a heat wave yesterday, clamoring for an application to get on a waiting list for Section 8 housing assistance. Fights broke out, and children were reportedly trampled, with police stepping in to stop the onslaught, according to... More »

Dems Pounce on Schlafly's 'Unmarried Women' Comment

'All welfare goes to unmarried moms'

(Newser) - After conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly claimed that "unmarried women" are all on welfare at a recent fundraiser, Dems are training their sights on the 75 GOP candidates endorsed by the Schlaafly-led Eagle Forum, plan to paint those she has endorsed as extremists and pressure them to reject the endorsement.... More »

California Bans Collecting Welfare at Strip Club ATMs

State debit cards no longer work ithere

(Newser) - Californian authorities learning that thousands of taxpayer dollars meant for needy families may have ended up being stuffed into thongs have banned collecting welfare at strip clubs. The establishments have been scratched from the official list of places where welfare recipients can use state-issued ATM cards to withdraw cash, the... More »

Critics Warn Jobless Benefits Becoming Welfare

Extensions up to 99 weeks too much, they say

(Newser) - The unemployment benefit program designed to help workers in the short term is turning into an expensive form of welfare as extensions continue, complain critics in Congress and elsewhere. Workers in the hardest-hit states can now claim benefits for 99 weeks, the longest period since the program began in the... More »

SC Lt. Gov. Compares Poor People to 'Stray Animals'

Andre Bauer refuses to back off remarks about welfare recipients

(Newser) - Mark Sanford is no longer the most embarrassing politician in South Carolina: His lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer, is in hot water after comparing government assistance for the poor to "feeding stray animals." Said Bauer, who is running to succeed Sanford as governor: "You're facilitating the problem if... More »

States Ignoring $5B in Stimulus Cash for Needy

Say they can't afford matching funds, despite benefits

(Newser) - About half of US states are passing on a $5 billion pool of federal stimulus funds because of a requirement they put up 20% of the money, ProPublica reports. Only 27 states have applied for money under the program, which gives them wide discretion on how to distribute it—some... More »

Soros: Time for Philanthropists to Step Up in Public Sphere

Gives $200 to every underprivileged NY kid

(Newser) - George Soros is giving $200 to each and every underprivileged kid in New York state, the billionaire announced today, for a total $35 million bill that will make the state eligible for another $140 million in stimulus money. Some have criticized it as a welfare-style handout, but Soros tells Time... More »

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