Addendum to post below, "20 years of heartbreak..."

I have mentioned on this blog my little group of pet emailing lurkers- people who do not comment but email me instead. Some are positive and some are negative. I do not know if they do not have blogs so are unable to comment ( I have "only registered..." enabled for comments) or if they wish to hide their identities. I have always respected their privacy and have never posted their addresses, even though some have shown no respect for me.

A copy in today's email:

"Johnny appleseed" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
is_america_burning@yahoo.com
Subject:
Boohoohoo poor whiner!
Date:
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 16:51:15 -0600

What a crock of crap about your daughter and "baby". Everybody knows
that
dead beats like her can get on welfare and every other bloodsucking
drain on
the working class. She is just too lazy to work and wants everybody to
feel
sorry for her. She probably drives a welfare cadillac and gets by
better
than us poor working stiffs. Your just trying to make the president
look bad
for cutting off some of the "benefits" these parasites get. I applaude
his
efforts to be fair to us that work for a living. So spare me the
crocodile
tears. Your a liar.
_________________________________________________________________
Johnny appleseed (undoubtedly a pseudonym) displays an abysmal ignorance of the reality of hard core poverty. Yes, there are the abusers of the system who do milk the taxpayers for benefits. But many of the poor truly cannot help their lot in life and many fall between the cracks when trying to get aid.

I publish this young man's email to demonstrate the attitude of many Americans. I have heard and/or been told that "all those people have to do is get off their dead asses and get a job". Getting a job that pays a living wage is not easy for some people, and just try to support a family on minimum wage. I have heard that recipients of benefits are just lazy, dead beats, sorry no good trash and, like Johnny says in his email, bloodsuckers.

The fundies (and Bush) assert that God blesses the good with wealth and curses the bad with poverty, so that the plight of the poor is their own fault for being such sinners. They also assert that recipients of benefits are thieves, stealing from the wealthy or working class. I rather doubt that the wealthy pay much towards the benefits, especially with all the tax breaks Bush has given them. It is the hardworking middle class that contributes the greatest amount to the government coffers. However, the fundies believe that the monies paid to recipients has been stolen from the "haves" and that they have no right to the money spent on them.

They claim to be Christians but apparently cherry pick the scriptures as they desire and interpret them as it benefits them. The scriptures admonish the faithful (churches) to care for the widows and orphans (the poor) and to help the sick and crippled. During the era the scriptures were written, there were no government programs to help the needy; taxes went to the crown for other uses. Plus the fact the populations were smaller. The poor begged, some stole, to survive, some sold themselves or their children into slavery, and some died. The writers of the scriptures could not possibly have foreseen the huge nations and populations of today so advised the members of the churches to help their needy neighbors. Obviously the churches cannot generate sufficient income to support all the poor of today. (Seizing some of Pat Robertson's fortunes might help a little).

So we come to more cherry picking and to "faith based initiatives". Since the scriptures say for the churches to provide aid to the needy, their goal is to eventually place all benefit programs in the hands of the churches to administer. Isn't that what the scriptures say to do? But is it expected that the churches (fundies, ofcourse) finance the programs? Ofcourse not. You taxpayers will continue to do that, except the government funds will be turned over to the churches to dole out as they see fit. Judging from the track record of the "faith based initiatives" so far wherein the churches were given aid funds to administer in Africa and other third world countries, we can surmise what kind of aid the people would receive. Meanwhile, over the past few years, Bush has repeatedly and usually stealthily pared down and pared down the benefits for the poor. I suppose he and the neocons need more funds to spend on the projected 75 year long war against terrorism - read that world conquest.

I knew a little about the system because my eldest child had to draw benefits. She had 3 myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) during her 30s and the onset of a number of debilitating conditions. She worked when she was able but often could not work. I supported her and her 4 children for a number of years until my husband put his foot down and said "No more!", at which time she went on public assistance. Still, I was quite ignorant of the real state of affairs, as most people of our socio-economic class were. Not until my husband transferred all our assets to a foreign country, abandoned me for a younger woman, I was left virtually destitute and had to enter the system myself did I learn what it was like from the inside out.

These past ten years have been an eye opener and gave me a much better understanding of the poor. Consequently, the Johnnys of the world can be no more rabid than I about the abusers of the system who take benefits that should go to the truly needy. I am not a violent person but I want to slap their jaws when I hear them chortle, "it's free! it's free!" No, dammit, it isn't free! The taxpayers pay for it. Where in blazes do they think the government gets the money?

So what do the poor do when the government reduces and reduces the benefits? To make it look good, there will be small additions in the budget and large cuts of other benefits.

For another view of how the Bush administration dumps more of the burden on the states and what happens to the people who need a little assistance, check out Granny's post "Health Care" at http://isamericaburning.blogspot.com/2007/02/health-care.html . You all know Granny. She is a great grandmother rearing and supporting her 3 great grand daughters, one of whom is somewhat handicapped; her husband is chronically ill, on medications and often hospitalized, her daughter is terminally ill with cancer. How are they going to make it under the new rules? I'm sure that Granny would like a positive answer and solution to that question. My former daughter-in-law would like the same.

The government has set guidelines and criteria for people to meet in order to qualify for aid. However, much is dependent upon the local authorities who administer the programs, how they interpret the rules , whether or not they make an effort to find solutions to problems that do not fit one-size-fits-all, or who cater to certain segments of the population but are hard nosed to others. Yes, my dears, that happens. The "good old boy" system is alive and well.