US laws prevent the use of welfare in liquor stores and gambling establishments

Tym

Meh, I think it's a good idea. Not being to gamble or use Adult Entertainment (which i'm hazarding a guess is pornography) is hardly going to kill anybody.

And in all honesty people who can barely surive (and with our cost of living and dole amount, people can barely survive) shouldn't be able to buy alcohol to begin with.

And in all honesty it would another incentive for people to get jobs, for the few people who see the dole as easy money. Meh, tis a good idea.

Tombi!

Tym wrote: »

And in all honesty it would another incentive for people to get jobs, for the few people who see the dole as easy money. Meh, tis a good idea.

Except you know, the unemployment rate is shooting up instead of shooting down.

People aren't quitting jobs that pay 400+ just so they can sit at home all day bored outta their skull

Muir

spacecookie555 wrote: »

Im so sorry Muir I just read up properly on it that is a fantastic scheme, I had no idea it was that good, wish I had, ah well thanks Muir I would have never known that.

Yup, I think it's probably one of the only useful things they are doing. =]
You might have got the 1 year thing from, if you do a 1 year PLC on the BTEA, you can't do a second 1 year PLC on it, you have to progress to the next level.
Springboard/Bluebrick is good too, they're courses specifically offered to those who are unemployed, and there are a fair few postgrad courses and they are free of charge, which is great for people who got a degree but want to further themselves & cant afford the high cost of paying full fees for a masters.

I agree with you about the grant though, but I think this year is the first year where if you're under 23 and don't live at home then you don't have to include parents income, whereas before if you were under 23, even if you lived alone it was based on your parents. So hopefully they are changing things now for the better.

Fair play to you for putting yourself through college like that, I hope it paid off!

Dartz

I literally cannot believe I read someone insinuating that alcohol and gambling can be counted as necessities previously in the thread..[/QUOTE]

But amusement and stimulation is. We all need it. A little diversion is as much a part of life as food, or water. Even if it's an hour or two drinking with friends.

Once gambling, or alcohol or whatever has been banned by the government, isn't it easier to justify more and more things being banned. How about car ownership? That's pretty expensive, isn't it? Or for that matter, anything not directly related to the continuation of life?

And don't give me any ****e about it being an encouragement to get off welfare. The vast majority of people don't need much encouragement. And those that do, well, the vast majority shouldn't pay the price for them either, should they?

It's one step. And it's a step in the wrong direction. And one step is easily followed by another, then another after that.

Tombi!

Dartz wrote: »

But amusement and stimulation is. We all need it. A little diversion is as much a part of life as food, or water. Even if it's an hour or two drinking with friends.

Dartz, I forget what's it called but it's something about the necessities of life.
You have the basics: clothing, food, shelter, etc.

I don't think entertainment is even on it). The problem is that a lot of people who say "don't spend on booze, etc" literally think that the money should be on the most basics of stuff.

Ah, here it is. Mazlow's hireachy of needs (nicked from Wikipedia).
I think being told "you're not allowed to drink because I don't feel you should" is keeping a lot of people going to level 4.

Run_to_da_hills

Keeping welfare recipients off booze and gambling should be the least of the concerns of what's going on in the US at the moment.

Tombi!

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Keeping welfare recipients off booze and gambling should be the least of the concerns of what's going on in the US at the moment.

Well what is going on at the moment? Just a quick explanation. Or do you mean in general in the list of problems that would be very low down?

Run_to_da_hills

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

Well what is going on at the moment? Just a quick explanation. Or do you mean in general in the list of problems that would be very low down?

Obama signs executive Order To “Control” All Communications During A “Crisis”

EXECUTIVE ORDER – Signed July 6, 2012

K-9

The thoughts "they can feck right off" came into my head and I avoid profanities if at all possible!

token101

They have managed to make the poor hate a system that will ultimately benefit them, this is hardly a big step really. A guy with a company named after a Batman villain managed to beat off two vile religious zealots to challenge for the biggest party's nomination. They're not having an election, it's a game show where whoever gets the most money, not votes, wins. Fair to say America is well ****ed!

DonkeyStyle \o/

Someone getting pissed and staggering in and out of Paddy Powers every day is a quite different to someone having €10 worth of cans at the weekend. I'm generally not in favour of regulations that make life harder for decent responsible people on account of a few extreme cases.
There aren't enough jobs for the people who want to work, so trying to rustle up the (shall we say) more dormant part of the workforce doesn't seem that useful right now.

gaffer91

vard wrote: »

You haven't understood me correctly here. I was saying exactly that. Scrapping the dole is not a viable option.

Apologies, my mistake, I thought you were being sarcastic.

vard wrote: »

Nobody needs to get drunk. That's an entirely separate issue - if you feel you can't unwind or live without alcohol you have a problem. Unfortunately there are many such people with similar problems, but hey we're Irish and that's what we do. I'm not about to get into that argument though -- drinking should not be a welfare entitlement.

I think I have created some misunderstanding here. When I said "People on the dole are the people who really need it" I was responding to your comment saying "[the dole] should be chopped, slashed and redistributed so that those who really need it get the support they need", i.e I was referring to the fact that people on the dole are the people who really need the money, not the alcohol. My mistake.

vard wrote: »

I believe the dole should be there to support individuals in retraining, surviving and helping them towards going back to full-term employment. The money should be spent on essentials. That might include a phone for interviews, the internet for applications and a million other things. It doeds not include Alcohol and gambling.

Well I think the dole is there to provide an extremely basic standard of living for when people are between jobs. As I see it whether this life entails alcohol use or not should be up to each individual jobseeker. I don't see alcohol as a big evil that some people do. Agreeing on what is "essential" is also practically impossible. I could easily make the argument that unwinding with a few drinks with friends is important for a person's mental well being and is thus "essential".

Chinasea

Welfare is supposed to keep the wolf from door imo?


http://www.thejournal.ie/richard-tol-esri-working-paper-withdrawn-484845-Jun2012/

Paddycrumlinman

It will be exploited some way shape or form. As a resident in Florida, we have a food stamp system, its essentially a debit card and you can only buy certain Items on the card.

I've been approached several times over the years by folks who will buy me $100 worth of Groceries at the store and all's I've got to do is give them $60 in cash.

It happens all the time and it's a rampant practice. Why don't we look at the sociologically issues surrounding poverty, joblessness and corruption before we start to treat people like they belong in concentration camps.

Fentdog84

Everyone whether they be on welfare or not is entitled to have a life, and a social life. Now, the person that goes out every week and spends the majority or all their money on booze obviously has an alcohol problem and they need to be helped or forced into programs to help them. But really this kind of legislation is ridiculous and isnt going to work or help anyone..

toniTan

The New York Post recently pored over two years of EBT withdrawals from ATMs, finding a number of welfare card withdrawals at strip clubs, bars, liquor stores and so forth, using ATMs that accept EBT cards. The Post obtained 200 million records, involving 18 months of data from 2011 and 2012, via a Freedom Of Information Act request. Many also make cash withdrawals to purchase alcohol or tobacco, which are illegal to purchase with welfare benefit funds.