Mich. governor signs 48-month welfare limit

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

Source: Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday signed into law a stricter, four-year lifetime limit on cash welfare benefits, prompting advocates for the poor to warn that tens of thousands of residents will find themselves without cash assistance on Oct. 1.

Michigan's first-year Republican chief executive said the state will offer exemptions to the limit for those with a disability who can't work, those who care for a disabled spouse or child and those who are 65 or older and don't qualify for Social Security benefits or receive very low benefits.

Some recipients who are the victims of domestic violence also may be temporarily exempted.

"We are returning cash assistance to its original intent as a transitional program to help families while they work toward self-sufficiency," Snyder said in a statement. He noted that the state still will help the poor by offering food stamps, health care coverage through Medicaid, child care and emergency services.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/mich-governor-signs-48-month-welfare-limit-231915012.html

[LAGC]

1. That's real nice with the shitty economy.

I mean, I can kind of understand it when Clinton passed Welfare Reform, back when unemployment was under 5% and there were plenty of jobs for almost everyone.

But right now with unemployment so high and nothing to fall back on? Is taking away the social safety net really such a good idea?

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

2. No, it isn't, but that won't stop them.

I'm all for giving these people a limit when unemployment drops below 5.5%, but not a lifetime limit. If the economy is crappy, lots of people don't have a choice. The general limit should be 12 months when unemployment is below 5.5% in a state, but we're nowhere close to 5.5% in most states. Michigan certainly is nowhere close to 5.5%. Their published rate is 10.9% which means the true rate is somewhere around 16.5%.

[oldhippydude]

5. there are not any limits to corporate welfare

why should we limit people... Clinton's action was a travesty

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

15. I support eliminating all corporate welfare

So your issue is not with me. Why do you think Clinton's action was a travesty? Not necessarily disagreeing, just asking.

[oldhippydude]

19. as one who worked in LBJ's "war on poverty"

i know that poverty is multifaceted.. its much more than just a shortage of money, and yes by the way we did decrease poverty!!

[alp227]

17. +infinity n/t

[krispos42]

3. Why not just rename Michigan "Mississippi North" and be done with it? n/t

[Kennah]

4. Well, if one is trying to tip the scales towards revolution ...

... this is a good start.

[blank space]

6. Do any other modern western nations have this kind of limit ?

Or is it just the US ....

[blkmusclmachine]

7. "Reform." Code word for:

"We're gonna underfund/lay the seeds of destruction for _____ ASAP."

It's bi-partizany.

[tomg]

16. Key point. We simply have to stop calling

What those right wing sociopaths are doing "reform." educational "reform" is privatization. Economic"reform" is gutting consumer protection. Tax and social security and Medicare "reform" is nothing more that destroying the safety net and middle class and reducing the poor to little more than serfs.

[dembotoz]

23. or bi - partly - nazi

[Demeter]

8. Up Until Now, Michigan Never Had a Death Penalty

Up until now, poverty wasn't considered a capital crime....

[Bob Loblaw]

9. Let them eat cake.

[Honeycombe8]

10. Many states don't have cash welfare at all for those w/o children or disability.

I'm in TX, where there is no cash welfare for able bodied adults w/o kids. I come from Louisiana, where there is also no cash welfare for able bodied adults w/o kids. There are a lot of other states like that. It was a surprise to me to learn that some states still have it.

TX and LA do offer Medicaid for the truly poor (you have to be dirt poor to qualify, and the care is pitiful, but at least it's something), short range minimal food stamps, and you can sign up for what's called Section 8 housing (you have to be employed to qualify; but if you're poor enough, you can get on a waiting list and eventually get into some sort of subsidized housing....it's a long wait, though, is what I hear....and you can't get on the list if you're unemployed).

[blueclown]

11. It's almost as if being poor is a crime.

And when some of these people turn to crime to pay the bills, we'll lock them up, adding more bodies and costs to a prison system that needs to be shedding inmates, not increasing them.

Welfare has failed in what it was intended to do - provide citizens with a soft-landing in the event of long-term financial issues, and I would consider unemployment one of those issues - and that failure fails directly on our policy makers.

[Odin2005]

12. Gratuitous cruelty. Disgisting!

[adhd_what_huh]

13. Why can't the state waite for the current crisis to pass, why now?

"Michigan continues to face financial challenges, and the fiscal reality is that we cannot afford to provide lifetime cash assistance to recipients who are able to work," Health and Human Services director Maura Corrigan said in a statement. "Enforcing lifetime limits for cash assistance ensures that available funds are targeted toward those recipients who need a helping hand while they find employment."

[tawadi]

14. Heartless. eom

[alp227]

18. when the snow melts next spring expect a LOT of dead bodies of poor people

while Rick Snyder's X-illionaire cronies come back from their vacations in the Bahamas with evil grins.

[Auntie Bush]

21. That would make a good cartoon. nt

[alp227]

25. I can't draw though, so this'll have to be an unsolicited idea nt

[Betty]

20. if there is no end in sight to this unemployment

situation, and I see no end, then they have no right to stop helping the people who have lost jobs through no fault of their own. If our corrupt government is going to coddle the billionaires and the wall street criminals who caused this cluster fuck, they will have millions of permanently unemployed people on their hands.

[Beavker]

22. A FB friend chalked it up to making these people

"self sufficient". The guy has a sugar mama wife, and they both benefit from government contracts in there line of work, and he was in the navy. But it's okay I guess because he was "working".

[E-Z-B]

24. Expect crime to coincidentally spike in Michigan as well. People will be desperate for food &

shelter.

[area51]

26. I guess it makes sense to do this ...

... seeing how jobs are easy to find. </sarcasm>

30.5% unemployment rate in the U.S.

[panzerfaust]

27. Absolutely!

We must choose between supporting the rich and helping the poor.



Clearly, the former are more worthy.