Free Money From Your Pocket

This image is making the rounds on Facebook. I'm not on welfare of any sort. I don't need it. I have to tell you that I was on Foodstamps up to January of 2012, but I had a glorious day when I walked into the Multi Service Centre on Pacific, cancelled my account with them and cut up my EBT Card. Haven't had one since, and, thankfully, won't need to get one.

I don't know what the policy is now, but it used to be that in order to get General Assistance (GA), you had to do community service work. I was on that for a short period of time, and that was fine. I did my 20 hours of community service and received a grand total of: $28 a month... that's $1.40 an hour.

I have no idea why I had to work so much for so little. I didn't bother to ask. Originally, I thought I was working both for Foodstamps and GA with my 20 hours a month... but no, I was only working for GA... I haven't truly bothered to go ask. I'm not particularly interested. I'm sure if I did ask I'd be as disgusted with the answer as I am with seeing a host of Illegal Aliens at the Multi Service Centre getting their Foodstamps and GA...

I've mentioned I just got a job. Love my job. I honestly do! It's $8 an hour, and I don't get too many hours, but I honestly love the work I do and Bosslady has a whole lot to do with that.

Last Thursday Bosslady comes up to me and tells me “I need your SSN card by Monday or I have to terminate you.” Oh! Crap! Hadn't had one for 30 years. My VA Card has my SSN on it, so I always used that, and everyone accepted it. Nope, not this time! So I managed to get my rear end over to the Hayward Social Security Office (thank you so much Angela, for getting me there) and got the card. Problem solved. I get to keep this job! It gets me up in the morning...

Anyway, so I'm on FB doing my Mea Culpa on my bad behaviour (last blog) and I see this image posted by one of my FB friends.

Work for Welfare... why the hell not?

Seriously, most homeless people have EBT Cards. They do! And they use them as a form of currency. I've seen people trade EBT purchases for Booze, Cigarettes and Cash at a rate of $2 EBT to $1 in cash. Last I checked a single man got $200 on his EBT a month. It might be more now, but that was what I got when I had it. That's about 20 hours worth of work at $10 an hour.

So: my fellow Livermorons, you have all these people out on the streets who have little or nothing to do... what if we were allowed to put them to work?

And there are things that do not get done that need getting done! Have you been in any of our parks lately? Not to be a jerk to you guys, but LARPD: you don't do a lot of cigarette butt policing! Your parks are full of them. (Smokers, do us all a favour, and stop throwing your damn cigarette butts all over the place. Learn how to field strip them or something...)

If only you got these homeless guys together, had them police Cigarette butts say five hours a week... how much would that help clean up the parks? Homeless people sleep in them, why not help clean them?

I'm sure there are a whole lot of other ideas out there. I'm just some idiot with a computer keyboard, I can't be expected to tax my brain thinking of them all... But then, the City Employee Unions might have a thing or two to say about it... screw their over-paid, under-worked selves... (I have no sympathy for you people who drive up the cost of living for the rest of us, I truly do not! You're a big part of the reason the Homeless problem is as bad as it is!)

I can't blame my fellow homeless for going and getting themselves an EBT Card and GA if they can. When we're feeding and clothing Illegal Aliens and people who have never paid dime one in taxes, why the hell not?

But I have a message to all you taxpaying residents of Livermore who like to point the finger at Cornerstone and Vineyard and Open Heart and the Livermore Homeless Refuge. These operations do not cause homelessness, and they do not invite the homeless into Livermore. Your friendly Neighbourhood Government does through it's “good intentions” paid for with your money. Money that those on welfare get mostly for free, and believe themselves entitled...