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Saturday, August 18, 2012
2:38 pm
311 Comments
Chubs has lost 2 pounds. June has lost 6 pounds (there is some crap about her not wanting to lose too much weight too fast because it isn’t healthy, but it’s written all over her face that she knows she isn’t fooling anyone).
Someone has gained 4 pounds (Between the nicknames and still not having everyone’s real name yet, I don’t know. It’s not the pregnant one, or maybe it is?).
Alana has gained a pound.
Since Alana is six, I don’t know if that is good or bad. I only know that I need someone to tell me whether or not a 6-year-old should way almost 70 pounds. Seriously. Is that bad? Is it good? Is it to be expected? I have never been good with guessing people’s weights and I’ve never in my life guessed a child’s weight. So, it’s just one more thing that I am asking you to help a sister out on, Gasmii. I have no clue whether I am supposed to laugh, be outraged, or be worried.
Let’s jump ahead to the baby shower. I think the pregnant one’s nickname is Chickadee/Anna (at least, I hope I have been calling her by the right name), so let’s just start from there. She is in her third trimester and her family is throwing her a baby shower. So, there are presents and games and celebrations with the family. Everyone is at June’s mother’s house and Chickadee is excited about the party.
I’m excited about this photo of a young June. There’s an awful lot of determination in her eyes.
June’s mom (?) is babysitting Glitzy as we look at a photo of a young June and hear her talk about what it was like to get pregnant at 15 and how difficult it was. Chickadee talks about how she will probably only be an “OK” mom, but not a perfect one. It may have been the alcohol, but I enjoyed hearing that. She knows her mom isn’t perfect, but loves the idea that she could be just as OK as her mom is.
There are plenty of people who think that June is awful as a mother. I don’t, though. I think that June is doing the best she knows how while making sure her kids are happy. Or, making sure her kids could tell her they weren’t happy and why.
There is a great deal of logic going happening in June’s parenting. I just hope people don’t forget that because of the whole disappearing/reappearing neck crust thing. Because, once that shit has been pointed out to you, it’s stuck in your mind forever.
Anyway, June believes that Chickadee is going to do well because she has the support of her whole family. And, of course, Alana can’t wait to treat the baby like a little princess. They play baby themed games and open presents and it’s a pretty typical baby shower. Until Chubs decides to bring Glitzy out. He totally stills focus and the family is starting to realize how much trouble it will be to raise a pig when they also have a baby on the way. And that is why you don’t give kids pets as consolation prizes.
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Oh Plath, you have elevated seeing double to a high art form.
Yay! On to reading your glorious ‘cap.
suger bear kind of gross me out alittle..with all that spit in that thing he had..plus the dude has no teeth or they’re all brownish….but good news…he was planning on getting some action from honey boo boo mommy…”i dont want to even know how that turned out..”…but i laughed and laughed..the show is funny..LOVE YA HONEY BOO BOO CHILD!!!!!
Hey Plath, you are confusing Pumpkin (Lauryn, 12) the tomboy who is NOT on the diet and took the etiquette lessons with Chubbs (Jessica, 14) the one that wants to lose weight before hs and is Alana’s BFF. Pumpkin is the one who fell in the cart and tried to give June rust remover. She’s got the bob hair and is mouthy. Chubbs is actually not on camera all that much so far.
I’d like to say I’m disappointed for knowing this, but I really find myself enjoying this family.
There were 2 episodes, in the 2nd one June and Sugar Bear went on an anniversary date. And her and the girls went to a spa.
OMG, Plath, Caliguy has the same smoker/grill only just a wee bit smaller! I am known as the best girlfriend ever because a neighbor wanted to get rid of it, and I secretly bought it, put a bow on it, and had it snuck into the garage. When he opened the door, there it was!
Great recap! I enoyed seeing June doing the math with Alana as well. I just really wish Alana would learn some poise and manners.
Alana seems to have toned it down a little bit… Not to the level of a normal person, but more like going from obnoxiously hamming it up for the cameras to just being a cute, crazy six-year-old.
Not sure how much an average 6 year old should weigh, but my own daughter is 5 and she only weighs 42 lbs. Of course, my oldest daughter was in the 80th percentile when she was 4, and she turned out fine as a teen. I guess it just depends how a child can turn out.
I, too, am enjoying the show. I love how the kids really love their mom. I get so sick of children being horrible to their parents on other reality shows; this one seems to be turning out differently than I originally thought it would.
I can’t forget how harsh June was during their first T&T show. She was jerking Alana around by the arm and hissing at her. I wonder how nice June is when things aren’t going her way. She certainly likes being in charge.
I always wonder what these extreme coupon people will do if there is a house fire or tornado. All that work and all that ‘stuff’ gone just like that. I wonder that about the survivalists who stockpile too.
I’ve known some people like June who could be very pleasant as long as nobody challenged them but they had a mean streak that that came out as soon as they felt attacked.
They need to buy some books instead of a pig, get everyone out of the house for a couple hours a day and quit sleeping so late.
I wasn’t allowed to have a Slip-n-Slide because they were ‘too dangerous’…and then one miraculous spring day when I was 12, the SnS with a splash pool was introduced. After the novelty of it wore off, I used it to lay out. The little sprinklers were awesome for keeping us from overheating.
I’m so glad our brave little recapper is taking one for the team. I’m fascinated by this family but I know I couldn ‘t stomach neck crust or forklift foot(TM June) which apparently is featured in the next episode.
Or as Santa’s helper Elvis would say, “Thank yew, thank yew verra much.”
Also, what is it with feet? Bobbing for pig’s feet, Uncle Poodle’s missing toe, Alanna’s funky l’eau du Frito feet, and Mama’s foot was flattened by a forklift?
When I saw that TLC was featuring HBBC, I was disgusted. Sure enough, I watched. I still can’t believe myself, but I love these people. They really seem to care for each other. The girls are respectful of their mom, but not afraid to mess with her and June has a great attitude and can laugh at herself as well. While I am sure that some of the things Alana says are tweaked…for the most part, it seems very spontaneous. I totally loved the way Alana interacted with her coach and her dress maker and they, in turn, seem to enjoy her. So help me God… I love this little girl and I hope that TLC won’t ruin her and her family.
For anyone keeping count, Sugar Bear and June are “not married”. Plus the other three girls have different fathers.
Just a reminder that there is “someone for everyone” if you just keep looking and willing to “settle” when times are tough.
Something tells me that June and her clan live off a lot of government programs: welfare and possibly disability payments for June’s “mangled foot”.
The big question is who are those other men that found June “attractive enough” to bed her in the first place? Are pickings that slim in GA?
I’d love to hear from the teachers and neighbors of this awful clan of Neanderthals. Bet they have some pretty interesting stories to relate about June and her passel of illegitimate kids. Not one. Not two. Not three. But four. The Angelina Jolie of the South!
Sugar Bear is only the father of Alana.
@PlathAddict You probably already know your recaps of this show are the best 1s on the internet. But I wanted to tell you that anyway.
I’m so not 1 of those new sincerity people. But this family makes me feel good.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always been super diversity privileged. And known about people having all kinds of different ways. To where I just take it for granted. So I’m not upset to know the same thing’s true even of the 1s that aren’t kin to me.
Like most everybody’s said what shines through is the way they love and enjoy themselves and each other. And you get the feeling they’d be the same nice good hearted people. No matter what kind of ways and customs they kept. Or where they lived.
@Victory My guess is on their 1st ToddlerT they were all real nervous. From being on tv for the 1st time. And they always cherry pick out everybody’s worst minutes for the show. I don’t think June’s got a mean streak. I do think they’ve all got big streaks of a tree that’s standing by the water though. Just from the way they’ve handled all the nasty things that’ve said about them. And like @PlathAddict said you could see that in June’s eyes. Even back when she was a teenager.
@sig I hope not too. To tell the truth I worry more about their heads getting turned by the Hollywood bug than I do about them having fun wallowing around together on their settee. Eating cheese balls and fat cake.
Sig @10, you really nailed it. I can’t stand so much tv because shows feature disrespectful kids all too often– T&T is a case in point. Kids don’t rule the household, or if they do, it’s so wrong. This is a strong, loving family and I’ll join Kthxy (Finally on the same post. I’ve missed ya) in agreeing that it would be a shame for them to be spoiled by fame and (to them) fortune.
I really don’t care whether June and Sugar Bear are married or not, considering the divorce rate. All that really matters is that they are a loving, at least seemingly stable, family, no matter whose kids the girls are.
I do have a real question. Sugar bear is a coal miner, right? Is it normal
for them to work 7 days a week? I’ll admit to getting a little upset when he went off to work while June and the girls lay in bed & ate cheezy balls.
I bet Plathdaddy is in hog heaven with that sweet smoker. Nice job!
I too find myself really enjoying this family. As you point out PA, there are so many obvious producer set ups. IMO they are backfiring on TLC because we fat, lazy loosers on the internet are actually loving their family values and genuine respect for each other.
And how much fun were those girls having on the redneck SnS? There’s no better memory than being with your friends/family and acting like a goofball. Besides the slip n slide, we had an aluminum feed/water trough as pool. It was a whole 2.5 feet deep! Most days there was a minimum of 5 kids at a time “swimming”. We were rich.
i still like this family, but someone needs to do an intervention with june’s couponing addiction. first off, she’s saving money in the sense that she’s spending less on products than she would without her coupon scheme, but she’s technically wasting money buying stuff she doesn’t need — i bet some of the stuff they stockpile, based on the sheer quantities of it, goes bad before it can be consumed, so really she’s buying things she doesn’t need, even though she’s spending very little. it’s not like everything is free. and even if it were, it’d bother me in the sense that i hate people throwing away food. i think maybe i was reincarnated from someone from the great depression, though, based on my hatred of food wasting.
i’d heard of the mythical piggly wiggly; this was the first time i actually saw one on tv (or anywhere). it was like a southern moment right here in the northeast. oh, and i didn’t know they called shopping carts “buggies.” i learned something watching honey boo boo! oh, and about obesity grime and its dangers from your honey boo boo recap. my day’s learning is complete.
“I need someone to tell me whether or not a 6-year-old should way almost 70 pounds”
It’s “weigh.” Otherwise good recap. This family is growing on me.
@ShantiG, I am upset. I take offense at your “fat, lazy loosers (sic) on the internet” comment because…. oh wait. Nevermind.
*brushes off cheesydoodle crumbs*
oh, i forgot to comment that if (and hopefully she is) june is serious about the not wanting to lose weight too fast, i think that is, actually, excellent. i actually think it’s a good example for the girls rather than some mom encouraging them to go on a crash diet that could develop into something worse. i’ve been hospitalized for anorexia several times and i’m uber sensitive to these things; i actually was soooo happy to hear june say losing too much too fast is unhealthy, because it is.
70 pounds for a six-year-old is a LOT. i am 5’8″ and 29, and i have weighed 20 lbs more than she does as an adult (not that i should have weighed that little), and i’ve never weighed even close to how much any of the other teenagers do, even when i haven’t been underweight … so, yes, 70 is not an appropriate weight for her unless she’s freakishly tall, but it doesn’t look like she is. they all obviously do need to lose weight for health reasons, but i hope mama june encourages them to lose it slowly over something dangerous, especially if they’re going to keep it off.
Just for sh!ts and giggles, I put Alana’s weight into a kids’ percentile calculator. We don’t know exactly how old she is (you need years and months). At 6 years, 0 months, 70 pounds puts her at “greater than 97th percentile for weight” which is the highest they measure. At 6 years, 11 months, they put it at 95th percentile.
As I mentioned previously, my niece weighed 40 pounds at 6 years and 6 months, although she’s on the smaller side (but not the smallest of her friends). Still, Alana is almost twice that.
@turtlegirl93 — i don’t remember whether he’s a coal miner, but if he is, i highly doubt it’s normal. my guess would be that he has some sort of second job if he’s working 7 days a week.
Hey PlathAddict! Love you, but (of course; when has anyone ever said I love you without a but) I am pretty sure they ARE in middle Georgia. McIntyre is only two hours from me in Atlanta. I think it is near Maconoplis. So it is SMACK in the middle of Georgia.
Sugar Bear works in the chalk mines. I have no idea what that means, ellemenop.
Haven’t seen this epi yet. But, if they feature this squealing pig as much as they did last time I don’t know how much I can watch. It’s darn annoying.
re: Alana’s weight
OK, I’m fat so I can say this. Alana OVERWEIGHT for a little kid. Her gut sticks out. Aside from the obvious bad eating habits and health issues that are developing pageant officials ain’t gonna find that cute much longer. I’ve no experience with pageants, but I bet you anything that if it comes down to it a cute thin kid is going to beat a cute fat kid every time. So, June can coupon her 4XL panties off to get Alana in these pageants but the kid’s heart it going to be broken when she stops winning anything. Or, at the very most gets those, “Everyone gets a pity sash.”
Stop buying fucking junk food and get some books and help your kids learn about the benefits of fruits and vegetables. Plant a garden and get them excited about tending it and eating what they’ve grown. (Insert PSA logo here)
End of Rant.
Whoa @NellieB!!!! Gasmii say we love Plath all the time with absolutely no buts about it!!!!
I just didn’t want to sound critical!! That’s all! You know, the Thompsons gave the impression they were from South GA in the first TnT episode. I still think they are and have to look it up.
@2muchbravo …… agree that pounds per individual that kid is over eating. She has rolls of fat on her arms,legs, face, & belly.
@ellemenop …… very sorry for your struggle with weight as I understand that it is a tough battle. Would not fear for the HBB family as I don’t think that any pressure would make a big change in their eating habits. They are the opposite of anorexia which is obese another emotional issue.
Reading the comments, find it interesting that June & her man are not married & June’s prior kids are fathered by other men. The smarts of the product named June is coming to be clear. How much is this family making off the government thus me? Aware June is. No dummy that one but I think well aware on to work the system.
@crockpot — I would bet a year’s salary (and I would not do that lightly since one of my favorite photoshopped ads is of a billboard featuring a big engagement ring with the copy, “Two months salary, my ass! Cubic Zirconia.” ) that the HBB fam is on all kinds of government assistance and is probably one big reason June refuses to marry her shack-up. Her mother’s duplex looked exactly like the federal government housing units that were put up a couple of miles down the road from Chez Cranky.
Great recap! Laughed the whole time. @11 I had no idea about all you posted about marriage and the girls father’s. Thank you for that information. I thought that they have been together since the oldest daughter. I wonder if the girls see their fathers and did they have to give consent for the show. We don’t see a lot of Sugar Bear, from the little we see he is devoted to all of the girls. I am finding myself like others caring about the family.
Great recap and I love this family – they do really seem to care for one another.
I do think Alana meant it when she said Elvis helped Santa build toys – she seemed so sincere when she said it and I couldn’t stop cracking up.
Pumpkin is such a snot-nosed little brat…reminds me of me when I was 12. And now.
CANNOT WAIT for the second part…their anniversary dinner was so funny. Poor Sugar Bear and his deer statue! He tried. And I thought the card he got her was so sweet. Much like the three desserts June had after dinner.
Oh good lord, I get so sick of everyone always making the “living off the government” assumption just because someone has kids by different fathers. I’m sure June has learned to be frugal as a (possibly, at one time) single mother, and possibly needed help in the past… but if Sugar Bear is working 7 days a week I doubt they qualify for help now; and not with the added TV income. Judge less, people! I doubt your hard earned tax dollars are going to support Honey Boo Boo’s pageant dresses.
@miz — 4 kids from 4 fathers, pregnant at 15, daughter pregnant at 17 with no baby daddy in sight, and June’s mother living in a gummit apartment. Yeah, it’s a real stretch to make the “living off the government” assumption. @@ I will judge as appropriate, thank you very much.
I’m always sort of confused by “couponers”. They save money, yes, but it’s by buying a ton of crap they don’t need just because it’s free or cheap (I don’t mean toilet paper, that is necessary). But wouldn’t it be less money just NOT to buy it in the first place?
@Gwen I agree. I toss most of the coupons I get out. Of course, I don’t have a big family to feed. But, most of them are for stuff I don’t use or need. So would be useless even though it’s a good deal.
Oy, what a show! TLC hit the nail on the head w/ this one! What I like about this family is that they care about each other and seem to enjoy one another’s company. But that’s it. I HATE their laziness ( except for the dad), total lack of nutrition, and the fact that they are willing to sell out Alana’s childhood for some fame and money. A 6 yr old cannot consent to a show like this – she has no ability to foresee how this might affect the rest of her life. And, NO, a 6 year old shouldn’t weigh 70 lbs!! My almost 10 year old weighs 59 lbs. Why doesn’t June take some money she’s “saving” with her couponing and buy some fruits and veggies??? Or how about taking a long walk with her kids every day? That’s free and would help everyone.
Gwen – you are right – once someone has 5 years worth of toilet paper already, it doesn’t “save” anything to buy more. She said she saved $100 at the store and can now buy a new pageant dress, but that makes no sense. Half the crap she bought isn’t even needed so that doesn’t give her extra money.
Whoever had the dirt on June losing her kids: give more details!! These boards have become waaay too nice to these TLC crazies! I want some dirt!
@crockpot — compulsive overeating is definitely an eating disorder … i actually think it’s worse than anorexia or bulimia because they get even more flak, usually (not that people don’t give anorexics and bulimics plenty of shit), as if it were that easy to “just not eat like that,” just like it’s not easy to “just eat” or “just don’t throw up.” being overweight is one thing, but being flat-out obese has underlying issues just like anorexia and bulimia do. unfortunately, they don’t seem like the sort of family that would seek therapy (but maybe i’m wrong). i get pretty upset when people call obese people disgusting; it makes me really sad. it’s not disgusting, it’s a psychological problem that led them there. you’re right, though — it’s unlikely they’ll encourage crazy dieting in the family; i guess i just worry because the food abuse is already there.
@miz — agreed on the assumption bit. it happens way too much!!! having kids by different fathers doesn’t automatically mean you are on welfare!!! geez.
“having kids by different fathers doesn’t automatically mean you are on welfare!!!
When 3 out of 4 of those fathers are nowhere to be found, the mother is young and uneducated, the mother is a redneck whose own mother lives in government housing, then yeah, it pretty much does.
I had 4 kids by five different fathers and I wasn’t on welfare!
But I was on Maury.
i’m sorry crankguy, but it really isn’t. people stereotype way too much. WAY too much.
I love the I’m not the Father dances.
Oh and I meant to say that I didn’t get why they were showing her sneezing so much either. Beats me.
@41 Jazzy and Plathy– I am thinking the sneezing is like June’s farting– maybe they call sneezing nose farting–who knows with these crazy kids.
I love The Family– its just laughing at people who laugh at themselves. Its a great break from the “ladies” of NYC and NJ.
I love June’s frugal ways– good for her– alot of people are deeply in debt and best way to staysolvent is to keep spending in line. Now that being said–the hoarding of tp, papertowels, shampoo etc isn’t really a savings. If she was donating to a shelter or sharing them out with friends and family then good. She has quite a stock-pile and alot of products go bad after a while–she better check the expiration dates–have a friend who used expired sun-block and it wuddn’t pretty!!!
I hope June at least went after the dads for child support!!!! OMGL– and that Anna will do the same. She should out the guy on TV just for my amusement of course.
@ellemenop, June is living the stereotype to the tee, so I call it like I see it. I wonder if people who complain about other people being too judgmental ever realize that they are being judgmental themselves? WAY too judgmental.
I call bullshit on June’s frugality. She is being “frugal” so she can redirect that money and waste it on those stupid pageants. Anybody who does pageants ain’t frugal. Now it is true that she got really, really lucky and the pageants paid off somewhat with money coming in from TLC, but that is just a temporary situation — a fluke — and that money will be gone soon enough.
i complain because i hear/read people overuse stereotypes.
there are at LEAST two women (in my town who have huge trust funds; they just wander around with bags talking to themselves due to mental illness; they appear to be homeless, but they never ask anyone for anything or bother anyone, but one would make the assumption that that is what they’re going to do. i only know who they are because i’ve been living here for a long time, but when i first moved here, yeah, i thought they were homeless, too.
june appears to be uneducated, and she definitely is obese, there is no denying that, but how do you KNOW she is uneducated and living on welfare? you don’t. maybe she is. i don’t know, but you don’t either.
not to mention that no matter how “frugal” june may or may not be, welfare will NOT keep you in enough cash for living expenses and weekly pageant expenses. while i don’t know anyone on welfare, i know people on disability, and their benefits are all around $1,000 a month — less than a typical pageant’s entire cost, so even if welfare is slightly more than disability, it just wouldn’t be able to happen.
@ellemenop, I just say that it is much more likely that June is or has been on welfare than not. June has no visible means of support other than Sugar Bear, and since they are not married she is not entitled to any of his money other than rent, assuming it’s her house and not his. I’m betting it’s his house. I really don’t see how your knowing a couple of bag ladies with trust funds translates into June not being on welfare. I love, by the way, how you are assuming your rich big ladies are crazy just because they choose to live differently given their circumstances than you would choose.
If we are swapping anecdotes, I know a lady with wealthy living parents and a multi-million dollar trust fund who lives in an old single-wide trailer and drives a ten-year-old Toyota that she bought used. The car and the trailer are well maintained, but they are far, far, far below what she is able to afford. She wants the money to support her for her lifetime, so she does not waste a penny, and her monthly income from the trust far exceeds her expenses, so she just puts the excess in the bank and in investments. Now, THAT’S frugal, if you want an example of frugal.
What are these coupons of which you speak? Every week I go through the newspsper inserts and perhaps clip one or two that I can bring to the store.
Most of the coupons I see are for things that I either don’t need or that I can get more cheaply by buying generics. Since I cook with things called “ingredients” I don’t have much use for the mixes I see.
Also storage shelves cost money, and I wouldn’t have enough room to put them.
I think it’s just a hobby. Like pageants.
the connection is that by looking at someone you can’t know what their deal is.
as for their mental illness, i know for a fact that they suffer from different forms of it, so there’s nothing to “love” since it’s not an assumption. that’s my whole point — assumptions don’t always lead to facts.
My daughter is 6 and weighs 50 lbs… 70 is a lot for a 6 y/o. That said, I love this family! They obviously love each other and have fun. I think they are a little gross and un couth at times but there is a lot of love and laughter. Nothing wrong with that.
as for your “anecdote,” it actually completely supports my point — if you don’t know the person and you’re judging them by their living situation, you can easily jump to conclusions.
@snowshoecat — i agree — it is definitely a hobby.
@ellemenop, your only real point is that things aren’t always as they seem. That’s true. But, most of the time, things are EXACTLY as they seem.
i’ve found it’s not effective to make assumptions, that’s all i’m saying; and, yes, that was my only real point because that is what i was saying.
Everybody makes assumptions, so I’m a little impatient with people who claim that they don’t. Most of us made the assumption, at first, that June was married and Sugar Bear was the father of her four children. I assumed, because I had no reason to assume otherwise, that his income from working seven days a week was adequate to support their simple existence, keep everybody in cheese balls, and pay for pageants. I have changed my assumptions as more information is revealed, and now I assume she is your typical white trash welfare queen based on what I see, which is all I have to work with. I acknowledge that there is the possibility that there is other hidden information that, if made known to me, would cause me to alter my assumptions once again. None of us have perfect information, and if we did, then we would not even be having this friendly discussion.
i never said i’ve never made an assumption, only that i find it ineffective. as such, i avoid doing so.
that being said, and based on my knowledge of what amounts of cash the government normally doles out and how much pageants cost, i still find it rather doubtful that welfare is a viable path to affording pageants.
I ASSUME, with all that implies about the slight possibility of my being wrong, that without Sugar Bear’s income, they could not afford pageants. If I am right, Sugar Bear’s income supplements the welfare money. I am also ASSUMING that June refuses to marry Sugar Bear (he did say last week that she refuses) because marrying him would reduce her payments. I am also assuming that her new granddaughter will be getting fed on WIC vouchers. Am I too judgmental? Nah, not too much and not too little, but just right.
I honestly made the assumption that Sugar Bear was the father of all 4 girls and I also made the assumption that SB and June were married. I assumed June did not work and was receiving some type of government assistance, not welfare per se…possibly disability benefits. None of my assumptions whether true or untrue have changed how I view these people.
Whenever I go to the store and they are out of something I need, I always think of the extreme couponers who find it necessary to buy 50 units of something at a time just because they have a frickin’ coupon.
lol, calm down. this isn’t really that important. i assume you need to chill.
i assume you need to chill.
See? You are right. This assuming stuff right and left really works.
After seeing the episode that revealed that Sugar Bear and June aren’t married (though he keeps asking) and that he is father only to Alana and the other girls have (according to June) different fathers, I too began to wonder about welfare. Welfare, child support from the Dads, AFDC and Medicaid probably account for most of June’s income. That and Sugar Bear.
I have known waaaay too many women who will not marry their Baby Daddies but will live with and be supported by them. And most do so because marriage would mean a substantial drop in income.
No, I do not know this is what June is doing, but I’d bet it’s pretty accurate. She can accept money from Mike and live in his house yet can claim to be unemployed and have zero income other than child support from the daddies and get government money. Yes, she appears to truly love her kids, however, what a horrible example she is setting for them. I take issue with anyone who will allow someone else to pay their bills and not agree to marry in return. If she isn’t marrying him because she doesn’t believe in it or doesn’t love him, then why is she living with and being supported by him?
This aspect of their lives bother me because I see it being repeated by her daughter. 17, pregnant, probably receiving government assistance and living in a house being supported by Momma’s latest baby daddy isn’t what I see as the great American family way. And all the love in the world won’t teach these girls to take responsibility for themselves and their bodies. I fear they will all grow up to be June juniors with lots of kids and expecting someone else to pay the bills.
Appears my heroine has feet of clay.
@crankyguy You used welfare queen wrong. June is not who you would describe as a welfare queen. They are the women who get their hair and nails done every week. And walk around with Gucci and Louis Vuitton accessories while on welfare.
@sagittarisukim, okay. Noted. Seriously though, I have heard of these women, but I have never had it explained to me exactly how they are able to pull that off. If they can pull it off, then good for them. I don’t blame them for taking advantage so much as I blame the politicians and bureaucrats who allow it to happen.
June WAS on public assistance and in fact was caught “de-frauding” the welfare system by not claiming money her “boyfriend (SugarBear)” was making at the time. She was arrested for it and I believe is now off of all Govt Assistance. She had to repay some of the money back (restitution) and has steered clear of Food stamps, ect since then. However her daughter who got pregnant at 17 is on medicaid, and WIC.
More to come on the fathers of the other children~ still digging
Also- In March Georgia’s Children & Family visited the family…after they were sent a tape of Alana “dancing on a bar for dollars!!!”
The video, which can still be found on YouTube, was not filmed by the network however showed Alana in a darkened room, dancing atop of table as coloured lights flash around her.
June defended her daughter’s actions by explaining that Alana had been dancing in a college bar, not a sleazy one.
I really wanted to like this mom….but dancing on any bar as a 60pound 6yearold…for dollars…NONO June
@Karen, I forgot that the mothers eat off of WIC, and not just the babies. I would hope that the TLC money is enough to keep June off assistance for the time being, but how many seasons on TLC are we going to see of Team Honey Boo Boo? Did she have to claim any income from Sugar Bear other than that portion that was allotted to Honey Boo Boo by reason of him being the biological father of that one child? This is a woman who knows how to work the system, in my very humble opinion.
@Ellemonp, chalk mines…coal mines…I knew it was some kind of mine. Too bad it’s not a coal mine. HBB could have sung “Coal Miner’s Daughter” for talent.
So sorry to hear about your struggles with weight and a healthy body image. I was a binge-purger through high school and college. When I began recovering, I ballooned up. I still struggle with stress/emotional eating. I opted to have lap-band surgery nearly 3 years ago; I think of it as a tool, not a miracle cure. I will always have to watch what, when, and why I eat. It’s not easy. I am 11 lbs away from my goal weight; like June I made the decision to lose slowly but mostly steadily. I’ve had setbacks but I never gave up.
Hmmmmm…I’m wondering if roadkill jerky would be a good diet snack?
Truly, I wish Chubs the best and I hope she sets an example for Alanna.
Sidenote–*if* June is collecting disability, her payments could be reduced if she were to marry Sugar Bear. My stepfather has a form a muscular dystrophy and his benefits were drastically cut once they were married. If he & my mom divorced but cohabitated, his $$$ would be restored. Those crazy guv’mint paper pushers. (Also, he’s soooo not a deadbeat; he’s always worked but he has physical limitations, and the muscular degeneration is progressing as he ages.)
I really wanted to like this mom….but dancing on any bar as a 60pound 6yearold…for dollars…NONO June
Somebody else pointed out in another thread, and I agree, that when it comes right down to it, this is really no different than parading a kid across a pageant stage. It’s just another venue. I assume (I love to assume) that her clothing was of the type worn in her pageants and was not part of some separate stripper ensemble, and that bar patrons were not allowed any inappropriate physical contact with Honey Boo Boo, even though I’m sure that HBB KNOWS that she’s SEXY!
@helena handbasket — i’ve never thought of that, but now i will. do they make coupons for sugar-free popsicles? because i have a guilty addiction to those, and half the time they’re alllll gone.
@crankyguy — nah, just sometimes. but i’m glad we agree.
@timgunsister — yeah, but if mike chooses to continue supporting her without her accepting marriage, that’s really his problem. i’m sure june isn’t holding a gun to his head. however, i actually felt sorry for sugar bear when he said she won’t marry him and he’s asked a few times. poor guy.
@turtlegirl93 — i’m happy to hear you were able to stop bingeing/purging. it’s definitely all really hard to “quit.” i hope you are able to continue addressing residual issues you say you’ve had since, though, but it’s awesome that you chose to lose necessary weight steadily, which is not just safer, but usually what really stays off, anyway. and i hear ya on the stepdad thing; it’s sad how people are so quick to blame everyone on disability as a deadbeat, whether they are or not.
@ crankyguy — When I worked at doctor’s offices, we would have patients come in driving brand new SUVs, with the latest & greatest cell phone in a perfectly manicured hand, every hair in place after coming from the salon, and dressed to the nines in expensive clothing. When asked for their insurance information, we were handed a Medicaid card. Some of these women admitted to viewing their children as additional sources of income, and very few of them used any kind of birth control; just popped kids out, then let the public school system take care of them for 10 hours a day as soon as the kids were old enough for HeadStart. They made milking welfare, WIC, and Medicaid their full-time jobs, and had complex systems for how many nights a week their boyfriends could spend the night, what possessions were safe to put in their own names and what they needed to put in (usually) their own mother’s name, and so on. It was insane.
@Karen – love you, girlfriend! I knew there was more to June than meets the eye. Someone also posted on another thread that she has lost custody of her girls more than once. Very sad. Anyone can have one mistake, but FOUR? And followed by your daughter doing the same thing?? June is someone who knows how to work the system to her benefit, and anyone who sees it any other way must have some pretty rose colored glasses.
June – take the money you’re saving from eating roadkill and buy some good food, and maybe some dance classes for Alana so she can lose weight and learn some grace. Throwing money at pageants when she has no chance of winning is just such a waste.
Oh yeah, June, and save some money for some birth control for the three teenagers. PLEASE??????
Also, she said something dumb about doing the time if the girl does the crime. Have they ever heard of adoption? There are tons of people that would love adopt an infant. Why not propose that as an option to Chickadee?
Hey guys, Sorry to have been MIA. I’m not sure if you guys know who Lynn Hudson is (her blog used to be called “I Hate Jill Zarin”) but she was a friend of mine and she passed away late last week (around the time I was writing out this recap). So, I haven’t felt up to being online all that much. But, I promise to read all of your comments and respond soon. Thanks for all of the hilarious and witty commentary. I’m counting on it to get me through this week.
@GirlTurtle, Federal Social Security benefits have no restrictions on benefits based on income/marital status. I was a Claims Rep in a former life as well as a recipient, so I know. It is a medical need, not a financial need program.
Other disability programs have different criteria.
@ Plath — So sorry to hear of your loss. With a blog titled ‘I Hate Jill Zarin,” I’m guessing that Lynn was snarktastic and a lot of fun. *HUGS*
@Plath, sorry for your loss. I learned of her death yesterday and it shocked me. I mean, when it comes to Housewives blogs, she ranked up there at the very top in terms of popularity, visibility,… everything. But she was a friend, a mom, a wife, and my thoughts are with all who loved her. *Hugs*
@65 Karen– refilling your cawfee mug and setting a nice grilled cheese sandwich by your ‘puter– keep digging !!!!! This is awesome!!!!!
Oh that’s horrible.
aaawww Plathy— hugs doll– this is sad news. And yes with the title of “I Hate Jill Zarin” I bet too she was “a blast in a glass”–(aawww Jersery Deena)
sorry to hear, plath.
@ellemenop – I saw an episode of Extreme Couponing where the shopper cleaned out the infant acetaminophen (aka Baby Tylenol) aisle – I thought to myself, now what happens when someone comes in needing that medicine for their sick baby and they are totally out???
@plath…sorry for the loss of your friend.
@ the rest of yous – keep on keeping on!!
@Plath, I am with the others in sending my most heartfelt condolences. Good friends (especially the ones who snark well) are special, precious and very rare. We can’t afford to lose one. I’m so sad for you.
And it is a shame that my comment beat yours out, or I would have sent this myuch earlier.
I hope our comments do something to cheer you.
Plath… big hugs. I am sorry for your loss. I remember checking out her funny blog. Keeping you in my thoughts.
@SnowShoeCat, I don’t know all the deets. He refers to it as “disability” and I know they met with a lawyer who specializes in SS claims and such. The lawyer is the one who suggested d-i-v-o-r-c-e.
If I find out more info, we’ll discuss at our TnT mockathonfauxgeant. While wearing our glittertards, of course!
On the welfare tip, you guys are blowing my mind…and I live in The Bronx!
I don’t know how it works in other states but a person can’t just lay up while on welfare in NYC. They have to “work” (cleaning parks, etc) or go to school or enroll in some type of training program. Only way they can get away with staying at home, I believe, is if they have an infant. But since day care is provided for free for anyone on welfare, I’m not sure that’s an excuse one can use for long. (Maybe that’s why some ladies keep having babies?) Either way, they will have you working a regular 9-5 day and you’ll only take home a few hundred dollars in public assistance and food stamps. Is it even worth it?
Anyway, my aunt teaches a GED program and the math course of a pharmacy tech program in NYC. The students (various ages) are all on public assistance and there are tons of courses/training programs they could enroll in to help them get employed. Which is great, but here’s the kicker. They are very specific about the type of program you can enroll in while on welfare. No liberal arts, art majors, etc. Only something that could get you hired right away. Although a lot of the Workforce programs are short courses like security, food handling, etc..one could even enroll in college up until their AAS degree. In an approved major, of course. My aunt tells me that financial aid is the responsibility of the student where college is concerned but welfare will continue to support them in the normal manner while they study.
It’s great that welfare is helping these people become employable. But the truth is, these are low-paying jobs. So, if a mother of three or 4 like June were on welfare in NYC, welfare would cover everything..her rent, food stamps, (WIC is just milk and bread and healthy stuff to make sure the proper nutrition is doled out. A lot of people use food stamps for junk food, and skip the fresh produce. But, I digress.) If this mother wasn’t getting child support and had to rely on her own..imagine her learning a trade and getting a job. These jobs probably start at minimum wage or if salary, low-mid $20′s. For a family of 4? Then she suddenly makes too much for Medicaid and her kids lose coverage. Then her food stamps get cut because she has a steady income. Then she has to pay a 1/3 of her salary on a section 8 apt. All of a sudden, she got off welfare but can’t make enough to survive! As much as I HATE to see people abuse the system, like the ones with their nails and hair done, I do understand why some well-meaning people find themselves back on welfare after realizing how difficult life is to manage with a meager salary, poor education, and children to care for. It’s a double-edged sword.
@SarClassy, that is amazing! Funny (!) thing is that honest people jump through all the hoops and do everything they can to get the minimum. Then there are the ones who work the system .
Having worked checking eligibility for Social Security SSI– the need rather than income part of the program– I saw them all. One little old sweetie told me how the money helped her install her first bathroom. She described stringing a rope between her back door and the outhouse so she could use it in the winter.
The Public Assistance program is the same here in Philly. BUT, I know so may people who can work around it. I have a friend who has been on welfare for…well ever, she simply keeps enrolling in programs and as long as she is in a program she will keep getting assistance. I have another friend who had 6 kids living high on the welfare hog(Section 8(freaking 6 bedroom house for 45 bucks a month) food stamps, cash, medical ,utility stipends) until the Clinton reforms. She got into a nursing(something in the medical field) program and now owns a home and has 2 cars making more than I do. BTW, aren’t you cut off WIC when your youngest child is 5.
I’m sorry for your lost Plath.
@sarcastire, you are so right. There’s a huge disincentive for folks who want to become self sufficient. Very often, a person might get a $40/month raise at a job and lose $60 in food stamps.
I don’t think June would be eligible for welfare; since she and Sugar Bear are the in the same household, his income would be included for purposes of eligibility. The pregnant girl is probably eligible for her own grant, and WIC. At least with WIC, a recipient is limited to buying actual food – no processed junk food, has to be actual cheese as opposed to ‘processed cheese food’ (which is neither cheese nor food), etc.
Where I live, people can use their EBT card (essentially food stamps) at the farmer’s markets. HHS has a worker at the market to handle the conversion (I don’t know exact details) since the farmer’s don’t have card readers.
Nancy Grace HLN show is on right now with HBB family & child abuse charges. Go watch!!
Thanks Crockpot! I just put it on!
Now they’re saying the dad is trying to get custody. I thought Sugar Bear was the dad? Did he leave June? Or maybe they’re talking about one of the other kids. And they just said that the girl’s baby is going to be born with 2 right thumbs??
Oh no, a six fingered swamp baby!
@Jazzy, it sounded to me that they said HBB’s dad is trying to get custody, so something is confusing fer sure. It’s funny that the editor of the effin’ National Enquirer is on the show spouting off his righteous indignation at TLC for T&T and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. That’s right — the National Enquirer.
Oh, now it’s some other kid from another family whose father is trying to get custody, not Sugar Bear.
The custody thing is for kid named Maddy with the Dolly costume.
I love Nancy but she is going overboard. Again. Who the hell called DSS on June for giving the child “energy” drinks? It’s probably Sprite. I hope they turn in all of the parents who give their kids Pixie Sticks.
@crankyguy – hahaha!! I guess even the NE guy has to have some standards!!!
Yes it’s another kid that the dad is trying to get custody. The mom’s big defense is that if her daughter was in gymnastics or swimming she’d have the same type of costume on. Hmmm… haven’t really seen many fake boobs in those sports!
@jeesew – DSS was called b/c June was letting HBB dance on a bar for money. Not really a great thing for a 6 year old to be doing…
I live in S.C. and Nancy is from Georgia. These have been going on for way over 50 years. So, did she grow up under a rock? We took dance classes and had friends that were in pageants. “Everybody” did it and several were in the Miss SC Pageants when they got older. One girl became Miss Universe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Bartholomew
I thought it was that twit who was complaining about “Prostitots” outfits. It is tacky but not a reason to call DSS.
@Plath (((HUGS)))
Jeesaw – I see a big difference between beauty pageants for children and those for adults. If you want to do that as an adult, fine. But tarting up a toddler, including fake boobs and butt, is a bit much for most people to stomach. Plus this is what is in the news, so of course Nancy is going to get all worked about it!
Thankyew @crockpot! Hauled Hubbycat’s carcass in so he could see first-(sec0nd?) hand what we have been snarking about.
How many parents could possibly get so in a twist afrer seeing that? We are easy compared to her.
That was a recap of all that has been said before here. Did show HBB dancing on the bar. Looks like June might have opened a can of worms with her new show. Authorities are not amused & will be looking close at the family.
Also talked about the Dolly Parton child being forbidden to do pageants by court order.
Interesting but nothing new.
@snowshoecat & all ……we are easier & more fun
with a much better sense of humor!
Re: Welfare assumptions & June
In 1996, the Welfare to Work Act substantially limited access to welfare benefits. Currently, each state receives a federal block grant which it administers based on a set of federal guidelines.In Georgia, Temporary Aid to Needy Families requires the following:
TANF Eligibility Requirements
In order to be determined eligible to receive TANF benefits, the following criteria must be met by the members of the assistance unit (family):
http://dfcs.dhs.georgia.gov/tanf-eligibility-requirements
Age: A child must be less than 18 years of age (19 years if s/he is a full-time student).
Application for other benefits: A TANF applicant/recipient must apply for and accept other benefits (Unemployment Compensation, Workman’s Compensation, Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI), Child Support, etc) for which s/he may be eligible.
Citizenship: A recipient must be a citizen of the U.S. or a lawful resident alien.
Deprivation: A child must be deprived due to:
Continued absence from the home of at least one parent
Physical or mental incapacity of at least one parent
Death of a parent
In a two parent family in which both parents are able-bodied, deprivation is established if one parent has a “recent connection to the workforce.”
Enumeration: All assistance unit members must have or apply for a Social Security number.
School Attendance: All children ages 6 through 17 who have not graduated from high school or who have not received a certificate of high school equivalency must attend school and have satisfactory attendance.
Immunization: All preschool children must be immunized.
Income: An assistance unit’s countable, net income must be below certain established limits that are adjusted for the number of persons in the AU. A family must meet the financial criteria to receive TANF. For example, a family of three (mother and two children) must have a gross income below $784 a month and countable assets of less than $1,000.
Lifetime Limits: Receipt of cash assistance is limited to 48 months in a lifetime. The limit may be extended if it is determined that an extension is justified due to certain hardships, including domestic violence and physical or mental incapacity.
Paternity: The AU must cooperate in the establishment of paternity. The paternity of a child must be established at application and whenever a child is added to an active case.
Work Requirement: All adult recipients have a work requirement, and are required to participate in work activities and training for at least 30 hours weekly. These work activities help recipients gain the experience needed to find a job and become self-sufficient.
Cooperation with Office of Child Support Services is a requirement for receiving TANF benefits.
Note: A family receiving TANF for ten months might not receive increased cash assistance for the birth of additional children.
If she is disabled and on SSDI, then there are earned income limits on that as well. HCHBB salary would pretty much get her kicked on federal disability for life (I think the earned income limit is $9,600 per year).
I work in social services, so I do want to emphasize the “welfare queen” myth is just that. June’s mom may be in some sort of subsidized housing, but HAs here in Georgia typically have strict work, age or disability requirements. If you don’t have actually familiarity with how social services work in your state (as federal block grant programs vary from state to state in administration) please research something that is not on Fox News. It’s not a joke that we don’t have a strong social safety net in this country and it is very hard to be poor and hard to stop being poor. If you are not in that population or work on my side of the equation, then it’s easy to by the myths. We middle class Americans do a good job of insulating ourselves from poverty in this country.
Or buy the myths…
@nelliebelle1197 — Fox News? You seem to be implying that people who think too much welfare is being handed out are mindless dupes of Fox News. I don’t have the interest or the inclination to research the fine details of social services regulations, but I do see people buying beer and cigarettes with cash and then using their EBT cards at even convenience stores to buy soda and chips, and then drive off in cars that are newer and more expensive than the model that I drive. And, it’s not something that I see just every once in a while. I went to an emergency room a while back and had to wait for hours while people who were obviously on the dole and using the emergency room for primary care were shuffled in ahead of me for free while I was stuck with an enormous bill. If you are suggesting for one moment that rampant abuse of the “safety net” is a myth, then I will have to assume that you are pushing an agenda for even more benefits which I think is rather self-serving since it’s what insures your employment in “public service.”
@NellieB, thanks for the inforamtion. I guess I’m not among those too concerned whether or not June and her brood are on assistance since I know how regulated the programs are (having been a regulator).
Just leave the Little Debbies to us. Snarking takes a lot of energy, you know.
Or ensures …
@nelliebellie1197 — thank you for posting some facts. i hate how much irrational hatred gets so quickly bestowed on those who are on any sort of disability. many times, it IS something the person receiving benefits actually requires. i also think that people don’t realize that it’s not that easy to be approved for these programs, and how much documentation is involved, how many people are rejected, etc.
and before anyone says anything, i will straight-up ALSO add that i AM one of those people who think there should be more benefits … whether they benefit me personally or not, i think paying higher taxes to ensure a decent quality of living for all citizens is a good thing. people will take advantage of it, yeah, of course — but that will happen in ANY situation, so if some bad has to come for the common good, then i’m totally okay with that.
Cranky, I do not work in “public service”. I work in a social services non-profit funded by private donations and foundations. We fire clients who lie to us or who we catch gaming the system. We still can’t manage the demand. Hmmm….. making assumptions, huh?
There is abuse of any system out there. And yes, we do need a stronger social safety net. What we have does not work. You see people all the time in fancy cars going into convenience stores to buy chips? How do you know to whom the car belongs? Assumptions. Most people use social services to get by and they still barely get by. Most are good people. I generally like what you post, Cranky, and I love Eric Cartman, but I don’t back off on this sort of thing. I see evidence of what is needed every day. Sadly, the people who make the laws and write the legislation have not a clue about it. What sounds good on paper or the campaign trail does not really translate well in in life. That’s the main reason things are broken.
“and before anyone says anything, i will straight-up ALSO add that i AM one of those people who think there should be more benefits …”
HA! I had already ASSUMED that.
good for you, crankguy. i’m impressed.
Oh boy! A benefits debate!
I don’t think that the problem is benefits as much as what the focus is. There always will be folks to work the system. The vast majority don’t. What gets lost along the way is the focus on breaking the chain. I believe that if we take the folks in the system, give them the support they need, but at the same time focus on their kids, and get them to do the same, then the chain can be broken. With the current welfare to work sort of programs, kids are getting shuffled around daycares and state programs while parents are struggling to make the ends meet and spending too much time away to parent their kids in a good way. I think that we need to take a family, and do what we can to ensure that the children in that family will go to college and graduate- even if that means more ebt, etc.
@nelliebellie, Yeah, I make assumptions all day long just like you assumed that I watch Fox News, but I don’t want to assume anything in this case, so I am asking if your job is put people on government benefits whether or not you work for a white hat nonprofit or the government.
As to the cars in convenience stores, you seem to be assuming that the cars don’t belong to the drivers. I guess they borrow them from their more affluent friends, then.
I think Cranky was trying to pull a funny, there, e-nop.
I have to be honest. I’d rather discuss this stuff with you guys than read one more pageant syncophant/fool/delusiona talk about what so and so said to them at such and such pageant and how Maxine, Betty and Annette are in some sort of bizarre menage with Mr. Todd and everything is rigged and nothing is fair because they spent $37,876.93 for a polyester sash and a paste tiara.
People abuse the system. Sometimes the system abuses people right back (as in, denying folks benefits who genuinely need and are entitled to them). Can we acknowledge that this happens (I could tell some stories myself) and return to our regularly scheduled snark?
Re couponing: We all agree this family could be eating healthier. It would be great if June could direct her couponing toward healthier food purchases. But that ain’t gonna happen, because the vast majority of coupons are either for non-food items (cleaning or personal care products) or processed foods. You might see one for the occasional “healthy” food such as granola bars or yogurt, but even they are likely to be full of sugar and/or artificial flavorings. It’s cheaper and healthier to buy a big tub of plain store-brand yogurt and mix in your own fresh fruit.
Also, if you live in No Double Coupon Land, like me, you can always do better buying store brand than brand-name-with-coupon.
Extreme couponing is a sport. If you enjoy it, knock yourself out. But IMO there are far more efficient ways to save money at the supermarket.
I work at a non-profit. I wasn’t actually aiming the Fox News comment at you directly, BTW, cranky. It was more of a general statement about how no one seems to research or analyze anything anymore other than what they see on TV. I guess I was too general.
I do say I am pretty disillusioned to discover that June has actually had that many kids by that many men that closely together. I liked the image of Sugar Bear and June together forever in white trash heaven. But she is damned lucky to be that loved.
Couponing is great for non food items. Food items, not so much.
When I do it (which is not often at all), the best food deals are candy. Sometimes I might be able to get a box of fancy velveeta whatnot for fifty cents, but really, that doesn’t happen much.
Sometimes you have to get the stuff you don’t need. That’s part of couponing. I’ve had to get three bottles of doculax, even though we never use the stuff, because I netted around $4 each.
Respect mah authoriTAY!
Oh, and I do pretty well with coupons and gift card with necessity purchases. Yesterday at Target, I went from $110 to $86 with buy 2-get a gift card, coupons, and 5% off Target card. I got some stuff I need and a book for my son and a toy for the baby. But where the hell and why the do you get 65 Nesquik coupons (my son is 5 and has never seen Nesquik, TBH)? That’s the part I don’t understand more than the toilet paper hording- from where DO the coupons come?
@nelliebelle1197, want another convenience store story? I was getting some coffee one Sunday morning and I saw a woman going through every single paper in the rack removing the coupons. She did it right in front of the clerks who said nothing to her. That’s one way to do it.
I should change my avatar since, unlike Cartman, I don’t have any au-thor-i-TAY. You can ask mrs crankyguy if you don’t believe me.
@cranky- that is actually cracking me up too much to say much other than maybe we better get you a hobby before we have to call you convenienceguy. Did she get into a Cadillac with her rogue coupons?
I have a South Park avatar, too, btw. But it is me as a SP character. It’s old and I just realized I have a burrito and camo pants with my Phillip and Terrance t shirt. Not sure what I was doing that day.
Here’s some trivia I learned from doing volunteer work with a women’s shelter a while back.
They count up household income when people apply for welfare. It doesn’t matter if they’re married or not. So they’d count Sugar Bear’s check from his job. Unless they didn’t know he stayed there.
I don’t think most welfare depts have got enough budget these days to send somebody to go through houses hunting for a man’s razor etc. Like you read about them doing in old books.
But in a town with just 700 people it might be hard to keep it that much of a secret that Sugar Bear’s been living there for 8 yrs.
Even before they were on tv. Plus their show $ would also count as income.
You can go look up the most household income somebody can have and still qualify. For about every USA county and state. And the amount a month they’d get. Food stamps too. And any you don’t see on the internet you can just call them up and ask.
Nowhere’s going to tell you how much somebody makes. But most places’ll tell you where this or that job starts out. Like if somebody was thinking about applying at the kaolin mine. They could call them up too.
I don’t mean to sound insensitive. Sometimes people just need to believe things are a certain way. I used to work with a lady that knew for a fact that everybody that comes to the USA from anywhere else gets a free house, $50 thousand a yr for every person in their family, and tax bills of 0. Plus free doctor and medicine.
And near about the same thing if you applied for welfare. Which anybody could get no matter how much they made or got from wherever. She talked like it made her so mad. Then as a side effect of times changing she found out different. But instead of relieved it ended up making her feel worse.
So it’s totally true making assumptions can be tricky. All that time people had thought she was super against anybody that was poor. But it was actually the opposite. The poverty where she lived made her feel bad. She was older. And watching it grow over time had just made her more depressed. So her beliefs she had were how she coped. But when they got shot down it was a Jenga effect. Which ended up messing up other stuff she believed. And it was all stuff she couldn’t do anything about.
Anyway just because you can look something up doesn’t mean it’s going to be the best idea for every single person.
I can’t get past Crusty showing her neck dirt.
@kthxbai, you make it sound as if only the neediest of the needy can get welfare. Some non-profit group was running local television ads a few years back trying to get people to come in and get signed up for government medical benefits and they even had representatives of this group on the local news to spread the word. The claim was that only about 50% of the eligible “clients” were being “served” by whatever program they were pushing and that benefits were available whether a “client” was a citizen or not. Now it is very true that I don’t know the specific requirements for eligibility in that particular program or even remember the exact name of the program, but it seems to me (or maybe I have this perverse need to believe it) that if the program has to advertise to get people to come get the government freebies, then the requires can’t be all that strict. As I have mentioned before, the sheer number of people that I see using EBT cards when I go for groceries or at a convenience store is just too large for me to think that it is all that difficult to sign up for EBT/food stamps. And even if the requirements are much more strict than I ignorantly believe, I still don’t understand how they can be used for junk food like pop, chips, cookies and candy. Sometimes that is ALL these EBT clients have in their carts, and then more often than not they have cash for cigarettes.
I have also been approached several times in the parking lot by guys who want to go shopping with me so I can pick out what I need, have him pay my bill with the his EBT card, and then I give him the cash. When I refuse they offer a discount. When I refuse again, they increase the discount to 50%. When I refuse again, they cuss me and go look for somebody else.
As for June, I don’t believe that she is currently on all kinds of government assistance since she is now so prominent , but nobody can tell me (must be that need to believe again) that she has not been a burden on the taxpayers for some number of years before Sugar Bear buttered her biscuit.
June was “fired” for “gaming” the system! She was caught and charged with fraud & theft due to her “mistakes” on her applications for certain public assistance. She is now on “disability” and will not be marry her “boyfriend -Alana’s dad”
BTW something else I found interesting….Sugar Bear;s address on his license is NOT the same as June’s..wonder if that is one way they were “gaming” his address I believe is the same as his cousin/aunts…but I am still digging on that.
Her daughter is now a separate person/household and therefore CAN collect WIC and food-stamps on her own as she DID go back to high school after that baby was born and per GA can collect a lot as a single mother and FULL time student.
Did I mention Ms June took some online “courses” to be eligible as a student as well to get some of her “benefits”…I like the spacing of the girls ages too…almost 2-3 years apart on each..right around the time cash assistance stops paying out, not to mention that fulltime daycare you get while you take your online classes.
HMMMMMM- lets be honest the system tries hard, but it gets FOOLED a lot. There are a lot of people on welfare that need it and use it to better themselves…there are others who keep popping out the “benefit baby” every 2-3 years so they can just cruise by until they get in a car accident or find a new disability to screw the system. Not pointing the finger at everyone on welfare- you know who you are!!
@cranky Guy **AMEN!!
@Karen,,, this maybe true BUT this family is now getting PAID high dollar. The girl has her own show so I dont think its going to matter if they get their benefits or not. Hopefully they will be cut off from all of that. I dont think they will be able to get around it.. She is all over TV.. She is bringing in ratings that are going through the roof.
Did anyone see Nancy Grace talking about “Honey Boo Boo” last night? I usually like Nancy, but she was so far off the mark with this one.
Oops I see alot of you did see Nancy Grace, neva mind!
@Pat Ledoux, it even had a phone interview with the ex-manager of Team Eden Wood. I had never seen Nancy Grace before, but she seemed like a lunatic to me, ranting about pageants being amusement parks for child molesters. She got madder than hell at the lawyer who calmly told her that if pageants are shut down because child molesters might get off on looking at little girls then public swimming pools would have to be shut down too. His argument, which seemed to be lost on her, is that some vague possibility of some pervert getting hold of some pageant child was not sufficient reason to ban pageants.
@Karen
How did you find out the addresses on their licenses and her DD’s schooling situation?
To everyone else, let’s not forget that WIC is a farm subsidy. It’s done in the name of helping those who are disadvantaged, but when it comes to it, it is available to all families who make up to double the poverty line in income and it’s solely a farm subsidy in disguise.
As for EBT, well my experience working in a grocery store has lead me to believe that it’s mostly used by those who need it. And it’s an economic boost- it certainly helps us at the store. More sales means more hours for us. Yes, we do see our fair share of families that collect and play obscene amounts of lottery, consume alcohol, and smoke, but for the most part, they’re just normal people.
As for the junk food, well we get ebt and I can tell you how liberating it is. We’re no longer worried about not having enough to for food to get though the month. We can buy meat now. And when we both have a day off and go to the park, we can buy deli sandwiches and pop. It’s a real treat. Is it the best use of the ebt? No, but it’s within our budget now.
The whole system is messed up. It’s not so much that it pays to be poor, it’s more that there’s this awful window of disadvantage. We’d have to have our income make a 12k jump a year to make it worth making more money. Until that point, all the income over what we have now would go straight to health insurance, food, childcare, etc.
FTR, we get wic, ebt(food only), and health coverage for the kids. Not one of our kids were conceived with the intention of getting more benefits- while all were wanted, none of them were actually intentional. We’ve only collected ebt for a year, as we’ve had hard time like most for the past year or so. We pay all medical costs for my partner and myself out of pocket. We pay full rent for a very small place.
Nancy Grace is such a drama queen. Her voice is always at volume level “shrill”. IMO.
@CrankyGuy, could you pass the brain bleach? I so did not need to think about Sugar Bear buttering Mama’s biscuit.
Random thought: Wasn’t there a cereal back in the day with a cartoon bear named Sugar Bear?
Question: isn’t Honey Boo Boo only a 6 episode show? We’ve already seen 4 because they’re running back-to-back on tv (although TLC only has 3 posted online). How much money could they really have received for this first run? I have no doubt they’ll make more bank if they are picked up for more episodes.
@crankyguy, I agree, she was acting like a lunatic. The ex-manager was Heather Ryan, an idiot as well. Just ask Dear Crabby!
Karen- how do you have access to peoples’ records and drivers licenses? Who are you?
Golden Crisps that nasty sweetened puffed wheat cereal had Sugar Bear as its mascot. I think he spoke in a ‘hip’ voice.
And Karen- Georgia has a lifetime maximum of 48 months on TANF unless there are dire circumstances. The federal statute that governs the block grant maxes out recipients at 60 months over a LIFETIME. Georgia also does not guarantee an increase in benefits and has a cap on the number of times you can have benefits increased by having children. By the way, for a single mother of three the maximum monthly benefit $280 per month. Only about 10% of people in Georgia who are at the 50% of poverty threshold or below actually get benefits (that’s less than $800 in income from other sources for a family of FOUR).
June won me over with the zombie attack Apocalypse statement. And she is right. Teach the kids early about the zombie uprising and how to prepare for it.
Did I miss something? Did we reach the century mark unhearalded? Are we so excited about talking about the pros and cons of welfare or cheating, or whatever that we missed it? Are we too jaded by the number of centuries that we didn’t care?
Well I say congratulations Plath!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sparkle Dingo Baby, it is indeed an honor!!!!!!!!!
On the weight thing my son is 97% percentile on height and weight for a 5 year old and he weighs 50 pounds and is I think about 42 inches tall. So he matches height and weight. So depending on how tall she is that amount of weight could be okay. I do think she might be a little on the chubby side though just by looking at her. But with kids young like that, she can have a growth spurt or whatever and catch up.
Doctors look at the charts and don’t want more than like a 5 to 15% disparity between height and weight I think.
Cranky @129, many programs either get matching funds or are funded depending on the amount they spend during the year. If the funds weren’t used, or not enough of the funds were used, the program could be cut or receive fewer $$$$$. Hence the scramble to use it or lose it.
University funding works that way in many cases and it’s nice to cash in on a new computer or other goodies because a program needs to spend to receive.
Ah beaurocracy.
Dire circumstances are up to the “case worker” to approve…maybe having ANOTHER kid, getting “injured” at work, “health” issues…all of those can be approved by your case worker..yes there are rules, but those rules are bendable, and who determines the bend for you?? Your CASEWORKER! At times they have to get approval but it’s not like they are the CIA….although to give it to them they did catch her once!
as to who I am….well I am just a bored blogger like everyone else who knows who to research.
It’s not hard to look things up online…all you really need is the birthdate and last name. All of which Alana’s mom and dad put on EVERY pageant entry form
BTW- June & her 3 youngest are not currently accepting help…but her eldest daughter and the new baby ARE…they are not bound by June and Alana’s income. Chickadee is a single mother and fulltime student and thus gets the help she is entitled to under GA’s system. I don’t have particulars but I could do some more “research”
I don’t have anything against her getting money to help with 4 kids..but it’s kinda sad to me she now pimps out her youngest the way she used to pimp the welfare system. Maybe she can’t stand & work, but if she truly wanted to provide for her family she could sit at a computer all day and work! Like all the rest of us…and I know it is shutting the door before after the cow has left the barn, but DAMN lady STOP procreating if you can’t afford them!!!
97 and 98 you are confusing things. DFS visited in March because of the energy drinks. It was shown on TV no one needed to call. They came back in the beginning of August because of the video of Alana dancing on a bar for money. I have spent years in Wisconsin, so kids in bars is nothing new, but never did any of them “dance” for money.
Does anyone know if Georgia makes you repay any assistance received like other states do?
@SSC, yeah, I used to work in a government office for a few years. The department heads are always looking to expand their sphere of influence and authoriTAH by getting more funding and more projects and hiring people that they really don’t need. And, yes, they do need to use it or lose it. Better still is to use it all and then request an increase for the next budget year.
They go to conferences and compare notes on their budgets and how many subordinates they have. One middle manager went to a conference where he learned that some alumni of his college had more employees under them than he did. He came back and demanded that he be given more people to boss around with a one-year deadline or he would quit. A year passed and he quit because his demands had not been met. He moved from our state agency to a federal one where he got more people under him than he ever would have gotten had he stayed with us for life. Ah, tax dollars at work.
Ah, Dante should be here listening to this. I think a few more levels would be added if he knew about modern politics and beaurocracies.
And we are among the more “progressive” countries. Still!
Plath: So sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I’ll keep you and her family in my thoughts. *Hug.*
i’m genuinely intrigued — is it normal for there to be kids in bars in certain states? are there no laws against that? or are you talking about en eating establishment that also has a bar? because here they would never let a kid into a bar with their parents, AND are extremely strict with checking IDs before allowing anyone into a bar in the first place. when i was underage i could sneak into certain lower east side and brooklyn bars as a college student, but now i get carded absolutely EVERYWHERE i go, both in nyc and new jersey (not sure if philly is as strict, but i haven’t been going down there much lately), and im 29.
@ellemenop, June is old school, and is just taking her cues from the masters: “He began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken.” — Frank Sinatra Wikipedia article.
Hey, it worked out just great for Frank, so who are we to judge?
@crankyguy ….are to funny. I’m loving reading you!
@crankyguy LOL That’d be a good example of an opinion. Which I didn’t give. I’ll try to explain it better.
Numbers can be figured out, looked up etc. And anybody that looks at it will see the same number. But 10 different people can look at that number. And think 10 different opinions.
I put that lady as an example of how come assumptions can be problematic. And also of how everybody’s not cut out the same way. There are people that get vertigo on a step ladder. And people that’ll feel just fine standing on top of the Burj Khalifa.
@nelliebelle1197 Re: #140 I think that’s got to do with what all proof they have to show. Which is different in different places all over the USA. Just like the $ amounts are. In some places they might take just their tax paper saying their income was 0. But somewhere else they might also have to prove nobody’s giving them any $ or food etc.
So for some of them it’s like the old saying about proving a negative.
Plus since times changed, some people don’t want to apply for anything. Because they’re still in their culture shock adjustment period. Thinking they’ll get another job like they had before. And don’t want it on their credit report.
@crankyguy: You and I are normally on the same page but here’s where I disagree on your idea of how welfare should be used. EBT/Food Stamps are used to purchase food. What right does the government have to prevent someone from buying a bag of chips or a Yoohoo? I mean, really, this is getting real Big Brother. Sure, not everyone eats healthily but that doesn’t give any the right to be denied benefits because they like a snack every now and then.
If health is such a concern, ban it for everybody, not just the poor. In NYC, soda and fruit drink larger that 16-20 oz will be banned from everywhere but supermarkets and delis. No supersizing, no big gulps, no big drink to share at the movies. It’s not, “everyone can have soda but you poor people over there..you go eat an apple.”
Also, government benefits used to only be doled out to people who were in dire straits. Meaning if you lost your job, but still had your house and car, you wouldn’t qualify, because you had assets. Therefore, you would have to be drained dry of everything you had…every asset lost, before the government would consider helping you. Nowadays, thanks to the tanking economy that doesn’t want to tank any further, people may still be eligible for benefits if they lose their job while maintaining savings accounts, a car, and a mortgage. Not saying what they would receive in benefits would cover their present expenses but they will be helped. So it’s totally possible to see someone with a nice car using food stamps because most likely the car was purchased/leased before they went on public assistance.
Now, some politicians want the poor to be dirt poor.
‘Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare announced that people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings or other assets will be barred from receiving food stamps. People over 60 would have a $3,250 cap.’
“Conservatives frequently bristle at the idea that poor people might have nice things while receiving public assistance (“they have a television on welfare!”). But Pennsylvania will now create the most bizarre of disincentives: dissuading poor people from saving.
“We all know that families need to save money to get off government assistance and achieve self-sufficiency.
So it’s not only inhumane, but counterproductive to force people to drain their savings before they can get any help. Someone with less than $2,000 in the bank would easily be wiped out by one visit to the emergency room.” – Carey Morgan, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.
“What right does the government have to prevent someone from buying a bag of chips or a Yoohoo?”
It has the right if it is paying for it. We just have to disagree strongly if you are okay with Nanny Bloomberg banning certain sizes of drinks for everybody (talk about Big Brother), but think the government has no right to restrict the use of food stamps. WIC restricts what can be bought, so I don’t see why it can’t be done with EBT. I think your New York senior senator even wants EBT to be allowed in restaurants, but maybe I am confusing him with somebody else.
You think like the cashier I talked to at the expensive natural foods store I sometimes go to. I was in line behind this fat chick buying expensive organic junk food which she paid for with an EBT card. I was shocked and told the cashier. She goes, “What, so poor people are not allowed to eat organic food?” I told her, “No, not on my dime, they shouldn’t be.”
Sarcastire it irks me to know end to drive Section 8 housing and see satellite dishes and new cars. But I digress And being poor now is a cake walk compared to being poor in the 20s.
Ellenmop in Wisconsin you can bring your kid into the bar. You can bring in your under-aged wife as well. My ex-boyfriends dad would pick him up from school and head straight to the bar until dinner time. Doesn’t take much for people not to care.
@somoscinco — see, there are people who think you shouldn’t be allowed to go have a deli sandwich and a soda with ebt, and to me, that’s cruel & inhumane. being underpriviledged financially does not make someone subhuman. everyone is entitled to a treat, whether it’s the occasional daily sandwich and soda or $10,000 handbag.
@labowner — that’s really interesting; is it because there is no law against accompanied minors being there, or because the law isn’t really enforced? i would be so confused if i saw a kid in a bar!
*occasional deli, not daily
So people shouldn’t be allowed to buy junk food nor organic with an EBT card, cranky? Pray tell, what SHOULD they be allowed to eat?
And I love the indignant stance that people take in regards to their tax dollars and welfare recipients. Like they are directly supporting *that person right over there* who is using an EBT card. So you look at her with contempt. Pfft! Classism is the last acceptable for of prejudice…people don’t even have to hide it in polite company.
My aunt worked all her adult life and lost her job at 51 yrs old. Working in administration, most companies find it easier to hire a young college student for less money, and so she hasn’t found work in almost four years. Unemployment ran out and she had to go on public assistance. So if you see her buying organic produce and wanna turn up your nose remember, her own damn taxes paid for them! She doesn’t need YOUR taxes, she worked for over 30 years!!
@ellenenop, cruel & inhumane? Nonsense. When I was poor I had to deny myself those things since I never applied for assistance and had to save money. The government is broke, and it needs to save money too. You will REALLY think I’m cruel and inhumane since I would restrict EBT usage to certain staples only: dried beans, dried rice, oatmeal, the cheaper fresh produce like potatoes, kale, bananas, apples, oranges, yams, etc. No beverages — water is just fine. No animal products. Nothing with a national brand name which is heavily advertised. Nothing with sugar since we don’t want to get stuck with dental bills too, do we? All that is good food, pretty much what I eat most of the time. Nobody is starving that way, and their health would benefit too.
@sarcasatire, thanks for also making that point. and sure there will always be people working the system, but that doesn’t mean the many who aren’t need to be treated like dirt as a result. it’s really a horrible attitude and unfortunately very wide-spread.
and i do think major bloomberg’s soda law is ridiculous, fwiw … it’s not like anything’s stopping someone from going to the next store and buying another large soda, or buying two at a time, or whatever. see, putting together and passing that legislation — THAT was a waste of tax dollars, and does not really improve anyone’s quality of life. i see the idea being there, but it’s still ridiculous.
no, no one is starving that way, and i personally don’t eat junkfood, but that doesn’t mean i think it’s okay to deny people from being able to make their own choices of what they want to eat. in the end, anyway, you ebt limit is your ebt limit, so if you spend it on all crap or all healthy stuff, you run out either way, so why the emphasis on policing each choice? and as sarcasatire pointed out, there are many, MANY poor people who did not get there being lazy or “working the system,” and they deserve a decent quality of life, too.
So someone on Section 8 can’t have cable, Labowner? Goes back to the ‘poor can’t have nice things’ statement I quoted a few posts ago. Doesn’t section 8 go by salary..meaning someone only makes a certain amount and can only afford to pay so much in rent so section 8 provides the rest. Now section 8 has no control over how they spend the rest of their money. If they want to splurge on cable or lease a new car, they can. But their money isn’t spreading as far as you think. Chances are they are spreading themselves thin, no different than many people who don’t have section 8 but still drive cars they can barely afford and live beyond their means.
@Classism? I think that would be the opinion that people have no right to earn over a certain amount if they were born into a certain class. That’s not me. But do I look at people with contempt who use tax money to buy things that I usually avoid because it’s too expensive? Damn right!
again, they get up to a certain amount of money, and as sarcasatire said, they are usually just spreading themselves thin. if you realize after a month or two of buying crap you don’t need that you literally can’t feed yourself, chances are you’re going to learn how to redistribute/rebudget and spend the money on food and things you actually need instead. and if you don’t, so what? even people with very high salaries buy shit they don’t need and later find themselves in big trouble, only it happens on a much larger scale.
@Crank, I’m serious, and not being fascetious. What constitutes organic junk food?
@snowshoecat, organic only refers to how the ingredients themselves were raised. it can still be super-processed and full of saturated fat and be labeled organic, so nearly any junk food type can be organic, technically.
even people with very high salaries buy shit they don’t need and later find themselves in big trouble, only it happens on a much larger scale.
Fine. It’s THEIR money, or at least what is left over after paying taxes to support peoples’ cable bills in subsidized housing is their money. People on welfare are using other peoples money, stolen by the politicians in government and passed out to buy votes.
@SSC, ellenenop is right. See, I’ll say so when I think she is. Organic potato chips, twice as expensive as Lays. Organic Oreo-type cookies, twice as expensive as Nabisco Oreos. Organic pop, twice as expensive as Mountain Dew. You get the idea.
I also think the soda ban is ridiculous. But I appreciate that it applies to everyone and isn’t some weird classist agenda to further humiliate people going through a rough patch. They can’t buy cigarettes or alcohol…, gosh darnit, let em buy pizza!
“But do I look at people with contempt who use tax money to buy things that I usually avoid because it’s too expensive? Damn right!”
I’m quoting myself because I got carried away. It is really not so much contempt for the people doing that as it is utter contempt for the politicians who allow it and even encourage it.
Sarcastire the folks I am talking about have never worked a legal day in their life. We are talking about generations of families who do nothing but pull from the system.
You didn’t address my earlier point, Cranky. If someone worked for 10-30 yrs and paid taxes, why such contempt if they are on welfare for two? Don’t you see it as they paid for their own welfare the same way you see yourself as paying for others?
@labowner, how do you know that if you’re just driving by?
Some coincidence! Watching the news. The first black-owned corner grocery opened in a poor neighborhood in north Minneapolis in 50 years. The husband and wife owners offer fresh fruits and veggies not readily available in that neighborhood (!). The store is a welcoming place, and recipes are available to help patrons cook the fresh foods. The owners also give cooking tips, and talk to kids about food choices.
I remember working on Chicago’s south side. A tough neighborhood where my black friends got not a little grief for hanging out with this white girl (my bud Pearl said she wasn’t scared ’cause she’d just hide behind me). Anyway the corner grocery stores were white-owned, and I was horrified by the prices!
Changes are coming. Slowly, but coming.
How do I know what?
If someone worked for 10-30 yrs and paid taxes, why such contempt if they are on welfare for two?
So, you look at welfare as Social Security? Pay now and take out later? We just see things differently, obviously.
In NYC, you have to work to qualify for section 8. So if that’s section 8 housing, then those people do have jobs. There are just considered low-income and are only required to pay a portion of their rent and section 8 pays the rest. I just looked it up, in NYC, section 8 applicants pay 30-40% of their salary in rent and sec 8 pays the rest. If your income is low enough to qualify for this program, and a third of it is put toward rent then maybe a nice car shouldn’t be high on the list of priotities. But that doesn’t mean that the car isn’t being paid for by working people.
“Anyway the corner grocery stores were white-owned, and I was horrified by the prices!”
I live for part of the year in a small rural town with one grocery store in a fifteen-mile radius. The prices are outrageous because over half their business is EBT so they can pretty much charge what they want. The owner is white and the EBT users are white.
Let’s keep arguing and get this thread up to 200 comments.
Thank you ell and Crank!! Talk about getting an education. Sure I love an Oreo. Who doesn’t? But my kids were raised on as much homemade food as I could turn out and I still bake bread and use healthful ingredients.
So I really am not up on junk food. Organic or not.
Interesting tidbit: The majority of EBT users and welfare recipients are white women. Like 62% of all recipients in the country are white, which puts that figure in the high millions. But caucasians are the majority population so that’s understandable that millions more of them will be attached to certain programs than smaller minority groups.
So, yea..it’s a profit driven business with stores that accept it, but it’s not unlimited money. If someone gets $200 a month, let’s say, then what does it matter if they buy the organic ruffles or the regular one? By them paying more money for each product, their getting less food for the month. If they bought dry rice and oranges then they’ll have carts and carts of food and then some will complain about that. Just let them spend their $200 on soda and ice cream if they want..the $200 remains the same, why gripe about how it’s spent?
@cranky: I’m not sure my point is clear to you. I’m not speaking about social security. I’m speaking about the mentality and contempt for welfare recipients is that “they never worked a day in their life.” (Btw, @labowner, I was asking how you could ascertain that about the people in section 8 housings just by driving by.)
I was pointing out that many people have held jobs and may have hit a rough patch. Since you keep saying “my taxes, my taxes!” can’t they respond with “their taxes, their taxes!” I mean, their taxes, using my aunt as an example, were accumulated over 30+ years. And she’s been on public assistance for less than two, during which, she is almost done with her associates degree in education. She’s a vegetarian, strict diet, having lost her mother to colon cancer. So, you’re telling me that if you stood next to her in line and saw a basket full of soy and tofu and veggies and such that you would turn your nose up in contempt at what YOUR taxes dollars are paying without taking into consideration the 30+ years of taxes she gave the government, too? Her tax dollars are paying for it, not yours!
Seeing a glimpse of someone at the checkout aisle and thinking that by using an EBT card they are milking the system, never worked, have no desire to work, and are sponging off of society without giving back is both erroneous and classist. Sure some do..but there are just as many that may need it for a year or two and then they get back on their feet. And if they paid taxes before and after, they most definitely deserve benefits when they hit a rough patch..and the best way you should look at it is that it’s more from THEIR taxes than YOURS.
I know you weren’t speaking of Social Security per se. I said that you seem to think that welfare should be viewed the same way as Social Security, as in if someone has paid taxes for 30 years then they are ENTITLED to benefits. Any taxes that have been paid in previous years are long gone. The government has to borrow money to pay benefits and CURRENT taxpayers are footing the bill for benefits and interest. In a perfect world, we would all get everything we could possibly want, but we simply don’t have the money to support the kind of public assistance that you think we should have. When we get to retirement age, there is more than a small probability that there won’t be any benefits, Social Security or otherwise, because the current Ponzi scheme will have collapsed.
Sarc besides being a society and environmental major in I also dated an ASA who worked out of 26th & California.
You seem to be putting your grandma in the same basket as Erin from HBB. Two different issues.
I didn’t say that after working for 30+ years they were entitled to benefits. I just said they were entitled to being able to use social services if needed without YOU feeling entitled to look upon them with scorn and contempt.
Dammit! So T&T and the big brother live feed decide to explode on the same day…
Thank you geesus! *goes to play the lottery*
My grandma, labowner? Oh..and what’s an ASA? And what basket is Erin in? (so many questions! lol)
I’m sorry didn’t you say it was your grandma who was out of work? Did I screw that up?
Assistant State’s Attorney.
Erin ie preggers at a young age, has contributed nothing to society but another mouth to feed (yet) and she is pulling from the system. Glad she is graduating high school, but then what?
@sarcasatire, we could do this all day, or until we reach #200 anyway. I should be able to look at welfare recipients with scorn and contempt without you looking down your nose at me for being classist. Besides, the welfare system is allowing people to spend money on organic junk, just like you want, so you win. So you win and I have to get an attitude adjustment too? Nah.
Crank @182. Same situation with me part of the year. ANd I can expect to pay higher prices for the convenience. But a good part of the front of the store is produce. Not so with that store in Chicago, and it was a huge scandal at the time that the absentee landlords/business owners were gouging the people who relied on them for food and shelter.
That is what made the tv spot so encouraging– or sad, depending on the viewpoint. WHy shouldn’t poor people have access to the same healthful foods at a reasonable price (also noted in the feature) that rich ones do?
Come 0n. I don’t want to be asleep and miss the century!
I don’t win. They win. But they don’t deserve your scorn if you’ve been working for 10 yrs and they’ve been working for 30 and they hit a rough patch. Just ’cause you don’t need social services now, doesn’t mean you won’t in the future…
@labowner: I was speaking of my aunt. If what you mean by putting her in the same basket is by saying she is undeserving of scorn being she was an actual contributing member of society before layoffs at Morgan Stanley in comparison to Erin, then I’ll only say that is that you have no idea which is which just by standing behind someone at the checkout line.
Why is everyone talking in italics?
Sarc you have to understand, I am now living in the biggest welfare state of California and it is amazing to see how they legislate to buy votes. If you have a job and a car you are the enemy in this state.
@SSC, I think if people in poor neighborhoods would buy healthful foods, then more would be available to them. A large grocery store opened near my other residence in a medium-sized city that had all sorts of exotic produce for sale. I was in heaven, but nobody else was buying it, so it went bad and the store decided they didn’t want to lose money on it anymore. I think it might be the same sort of deal with fresh food in poor neighborhoods. A store owner is not going to lose money to stock perishable produce that nobody wants. How much fresh produce do you think June would buy even if they offered it at that auction house she likes to go to?
Good I’m not the only one who sees that Nellie.
Cranky, she lives in Georgia, zero reason she isn’t growing fruits and veggies around the trailer.
“just ’cause you don’t need social services now, doesn’t mean you won’t in the future…”
That might be in the Bible, but I’m not sure: “He who scorns those on the dole, shall go on the dole.”
A DOLLA MAKES ME HOLLA!
And if it comes from Cranky’s taxes, I’ll scream with glee!
Lab and Nellie, I’m thinking it’s a site glitch. Even our screennames are italicized.
As I stated previously in my post I know people who have milked the system. I also know so many more former lifetime gainfully employed proud people over the age of 50 that have been destroyed by our current economy. These people are educated with strong resumes. When the economy tanked and businesses closed or ‘restructured’ they lost their jobs. When looking for employment now they are ‘overqualified’…read too old. Some have found part-time jobs that don’t meet their household costs. One by one I found many of them at some point had to apply and were eligible for food stamps.
Crankguy I don’t know the type of people you know, but to be on food stamps to MANY people think its shameful and maybe even previously looked at food stamp recipients as moochers(like you do). Food stamps are funded by tax dollars and a portion of those federally collected tax dollars are allocated to the Food Stamp program. You can’t say that someone who paid taxes 2 years ago money is no longer in that account. If it isn’t there more than likely they have family members paying taxes. In theory their family is footing the bill, not you…considering with all of us paying into this your 1 portion probably isn’t providing much.
Welfare fraud happens, just like tax fraud and insurance fraud among many others. No matter what you do it’s human nature to find a loophole. Long drawn out story short…don’t punish the people who need food stamps for the transgressions of others. And dammit poor people deserve a Little Debbie and bag of Doritos every now and then to!
SSC, I have to really have to disagree with you on your comment above when you state the US is progressive in terms of a social safety net. We are certainly not compared to most other first world countries. My husband is from New Zealand.We have relatives in England, Ireland, Australia, NZ, Wales, and I have lived in England and spend 1-2 months a year in NZ. My husband had never seen poverty like we have here. He was appalled. And he worked New Zealand public housing! We have nothing here compared to other first world nations- the net catches the working class and middle class in other countries. I think we have forgotten what common good means.
I am very pleased with us all, BTW, for discussing a hot button topic and acting like civil human beings. Hats off to us.
@nelliebellie1197 — i agree; the usa is not that advanced compared to other developed nations. for example, i, myself, am originally from a “3rd world” country where you’re either extremely rich or extremely poor, and even though i’ve recently seen a SLIGHT emergence of a middle class of sorts, the usa is obviously much, much higher in the developed nations list than my south american home country. however, i am able to walk into any clinic down there and pay very low prices for appropriate medical care, whether i’m a citizen or not (i am a dual citizen, but my best friend came down there with me last summer — she is only american — and needed medical care twice, both times of which she paid close to nothing and received excellent attention). in this country, meanwhile, citizens and non-citizens alike can’t afford basic healthcare without insurance; how’s that for a high quality of life?
**correction: she only needed care once, for a uti; the other time she CHOSE to get a vaccine there because it was going to cost her less than it would with insurance here!!! that’s pretty sad.
My kids are New Zealand & Irish citizens on top of US (don’t rat me out) and if anyone ever gets sick, we outta here!
*too
@Moli: Well said. It really must be scary to have worked so long, be so close to retirement, only to be laid off due to restructuring. Then told you’re overqualified for work in the same field because they can pay a recent college grad a fraction of your salary. I don’t think people realize this. I think they see older women/men using EBT cards and think they’ve been doing it her whole life. No matter how many times they hear “we are in a recession, people have lost their jobs” when they see someone on public assistance they thing “lazy, good for nothing.” *shrugs*
@nellie: I agree that when it comes to social services, America falls somewhere in the middle. Much better than developing countries; having lived and traveled throughout South America, it was pretty commonplace in some areas to see children sleeping on the street. That would never happen in America. I agree that the universal healthcare that happens across the world is what America is lacking. Because while there aren’t many other social services, I know in Brazil I was able to call an ambulance for a passenger in my group, have him transported, treated, and released, without a bill. Granted, the ambulance took a half hour to get to us (traffic), so thank goodness it wasn’t life-threatening, but they provided a service and he wasn’t even a citizen. In America..giving free healthcare to a non-American? Blasphemy!!
I got a free yellow fever shot in Argentina because it was offered as a way to protect the spread of disease in their country. My friend got hers before we arrived and paid a pretty plenty for it in the States.
“if you realize after a month or two of buying crap you don’t need that you literally can’t feed yourself, chances are you’re going to learn how to redistribute/rebudget”
Folks don’t know that if they fill their piehole with junk food, at the end of the month they will have no pie? They don’t know that already? Really? Why should the taxpayers have to fund this “lesson”?
This sounded a bit more snippy than I intended.
No harm no owl
TC, Robin
Italics make things look more snooty. Even though the words are the same in plain old English
LOL
Oh ok…I thought that was my ipad last night…everything is in italics.
“Cranky, she lives in Georgia, zero reason she isn’t growing fruits and veggies around the trailer.”– Labowner, the drought may have something to do with it. Probably not, but it may.
Congratulations Plath on hitting the double century mark!!!!
Sparkle Dingo baby!!!!!!!!!!
That is a feat, even though the current thread has absolutely nothing to do with your excellent recap.
I’m pretty sure that the reason June isn’t growing veggies is that she has no interest in them.
@ 205 Nellie– I agree with you– The term “poverty” in the US paints with a broad brush–it encompases those who barely keep a roof over their head and steal veggies from a roadside farm(which I have witnessed) to those who are on public assistance and maintain cellphones, cable etc. Its at times incongruous. In a perfect world everyone has “some” at least.
I think alot of our frustration with this issue stems from the fraud that is committed. The welfare system is for those who need it–its a helping hand not a way of life. I lived in a form of public housing when I married–one bedroom and one bath with utilities and a laundry room in the building basement–for $400/mo. We had years when we paid $250 due to NYC tax abatements. We left after 15 years paying 900/mo and that included a parking space. We were only entitled to one bedroom b/c we had no children. We had many neighbors who scammed their way into larger apartments and sublet for a few thousand. My neighbor climed to be pregnant when she moved in to a 2 bedroom with her boy-friend. He left 6 months later and still childless she is now on Batchelor 3. She scammed her way in and will remain there until she dies. I had neighbors who are in their late 50′s and grew up in the building taking over their parents’ apartments. Not right. Many of the seniors had second homes out of state. Again–these are supposed to primary residences for people of limited income.
Plath
Holy God. I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my non-crusted cheeks. If I lose my job here, that last post will have been worth it.
You are doing God’s work.
Thank you
Oh boooooooo. I just looked at the TLC schedule and they’re only airing one new episode tonight.
that means there should be one more episode for next week, at least!
I don’t know what happened, but I am loving how from comment #182 on, all the comments are italicized. It makes the discussion feel so urgent!
SSC, if you are still around, I forgot to mention that the natural foods store also sells organic cigarettes. All the earth mother type college chicks who look like they were transported through time and space from 1968 Berkeley smoke ‘em. So good for the environment, don’t you know. Can’t buy ‘em with an EBT card though . . . not yet, anyway.
@Crank, go away? Me? No such luck.
I am amazed at the things that the stores put over as organic. I have shopped the co-op since forever, and I am pretty sure that the things I ladle outof tubs and barrels are truly organic, so I am really aghast at what you’re telling us. I haven’t seen many processed foods there let alone “healthful” cigarettes.
PT barnum was right. I can hear the chuckle from here.
America is the only country where it’s cheaper to eat junk food than healthy food
Burger, fries, and soda. $3 and up.
A salad and 1/2 sandwich combo. $7 and up.
(And forget about trying to feed an entire family..)
In Brazil:
Mcdonalds value meal. R$ 17
A ‘set plate’ of rice, beans, chicken/beef, and salad. R$ 5
@ sarcas — That may be true for eating out, but I’ve found that for my family, it is far less expensive to eat “real” food at home than pre-packaged, less healthy stuff. Like SSC, I am good friends with the tubs and bins at the local co-op, and I put a lot of time into food preparation. I think getting getting a good value for your food dollar is largely a matter of how much work you’re willing to put into it, no matter where you live. That “set plate” sounds delicious, by the way — I might have to change dinner plans for tonight!
It is stories like this one that make us crazy:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120628/NEWHAMPSHIRE09/706289985
Talk about abuse of the system. At almost $7 a pack here in NH, the last thing people should be buying with EBT cards is cigarettes.
@SuburBint, you are right about cooking your own food. A T-bone at home costs not too much more than a Big Mac and Large Fries. A lot of whole food is under a dollar per pound: potatoes, apples, oranges, cabbage, brown rice, wheat berries, oatmeal, bananas, and beans of all sorts. That is for the conventionally grown foods; organic is usually at least double that. I’ve been thinking of doing an experiment, which mrs crankyguy will undoubtedly refuse to participate in, where I will cook everything at home for a year using only the least expensive whole foods and see how much I spend.
@GrammyDi, thanks for the link as I am obviously behind the times since I thought there were at least SOME restrictions on EBT. When the card came out, the big advantage was supposed to be that electronic scanners and payment would make it much easier to disallow items that were not covered, and at the same time removing the stigma of the food stamp vouchers. Who says we aren’t progressive? WooHoo! I’m signing up!! Why fight the system?
“EBT benefits or state assistance money can be used to purchase anything, including alcohol and cigarettes. The cards can be used at strip clubs, tanning and nail salons and tattoo parlors, Whiton said. “
What is with this thread, it seems to be the only one italicized. Have we been possessed?
TurtleGirl93, Sugar Bear was the “spokescharacter” for Sugar Crisps cereal.
Its jingle went “Can’t get enough of those Sugar Crisps, Sugar Crisps, Sugar Crisps. Can’t get enough of those Sugar Crisps. They keep me goin’ strong!” (I will now have an “earworm” for the rest of the day.)
@labowner, maybe it’s my fault since I usually italicize quotes. Maybe I forgot to close my tag on #182 and it infected everybody.
Cranky you would think after the Katrina fiasco something would have changed. Then it comes out here in California folks were going to Vegas or local casinos and using their cards.
Great, thanks crankyguy. Now, who’s gonna explain to Mr. timgunnssister that I caught a little sumpin’ sumpin’ from a gasmi?
just to see what happens
I tried to close italics on that last post, but it didn’t work.
Good job, crankyguy, you broke the internetz.
@Moli and @Schadenfreude, I knew I wasn’t crazy. (Well, at least in this case). I thought Sugar Bear was the Honey Smacks mascot (bear, honey, it made sense to me) but a Google search showed me the frog.
T minus 3 hours 53 minutes to the new HBB!
Crankyguy, I don’t think most people have any idea that these abuses are allowed. In the link I posted, the clerk was a 65-year-old woman. I don’t consider that elderly, but I’m sure that lady would rather spend her days getting her nails done or playing the slots, but she probably has to work to afford food and shelter, and she has to suck it up and sell cigarettes to “needy” people with EBT cards. I’m all for helping people to help themselves, but I know more than a few families who consider collecting benefits an acceptable career. June may or may not fit into that category, but all signs seem to point in that direction. I don’t care if they buy a deli sandwich or a bag of Doritos, but c’mon, my husband and I are struggling to keep a small business afloat, and keep our employees
insured and employed, but it’s none of my business that people are using the system to entertain themselves at a strip club? Fuck that noise. If you need the help, take it, but don’t make fools of the rest of us. I don’t want ANYONE’S kids to go hungry, but if this assistance is not being used to feed needy families, then it needs to be revoked. Kids can’t eat cigarettes, or beer, or poker chips, and I’m not a heartless bitch for not wanting to foot the bill for these luxuries.
“I’m not a heartless bitch for not wanting to foot the bill for these luxuries.”
Oh, but you ARE in the eyes of a good percentage of the population. Cruel and inhumane. I don’t think the average person who has never owned a business realizes the burden of regulations and taxes that are involved. It’s getting to the point where few people will think it is worth the bother, and maybe that is by design.
Just going to put my 2 cents in here. It is healthy & profitable to start a garden. Ex: a tomato plant is $3 and a pack of seeds is $3. From that $3 investment you will get a return of $20-$50 depending on your zone. For the last 30 years I have had gardens & fruit trees. This year I spent $400 in plants & seeds which has feed 12 people for 4 months & looking at 2 months more. I only buy dairy products, bread, & meat. That is it. There is no reason for anyone to go hunger if they have the tools. The catch is that it is work. The ground needs compost, then more compost, & weed,weed,weed, plus water. Once your garden is going it takes less work. Good lord , how did our species survive four hundred years ago? Even if you live in the city you can set up pots.
Sick of the can’t do alas, alas, alas.
If June would get big ass up & try to be productive rather then go with the cycle that I pay for I would be thrilled. God bless American.
@labowner
EBT is now disabled at casinos and minimarts attached to casinos(except for food purchases in the mart) so folks have to draw out their cash benefits before going to the casino now. Just means they have to plan ahead. As someone who does receive EBT(food) and a worker in a grocery store, this irritates me to no end. I can justify(to myself) keeping our food benefits when we do well by knowing that we still live within a budget, and we still are fairly frugal. They benefit our family in a huge way. They lift the stress of having to get more hours, juggle work schedules, childcare, school, etc. They don’t allow us to live haphazardly. We still don’t have cable, we still piggyback on the neighbor’s internet(with permission) and I still find my self cornered into sewing what I need to make up my son’s wardrobe after I buy the basics on sale. (Four outfits under 60, but he needs a pull over and another pair of pants, so I’ll do that with stash.)
Something has changed since we started accepting ebt, I don’t view others with the same contempt when they have a cart full of junk. My cart isn’t perfect, either. It does still bother me when people prioritize lottery, alcohol, cable tv, and other clearly unneeded things. But I try not to judge, because it’s not really different then us spending the occasional $15 to eat out as a family. It’s still money on leisure. Even when times were tighter, we still made sure we had some. They’re just not the things I’d choose to spend my money(or benefits) on.
@Cranky My coworkers and I talk about things that would make EBT better- you know, more restrictive, but healthier food. Special stores, etc. Distribution like commodities, but really, when it comes down to it, the way it’s distributed can’t be changed. There are still nutritional deserts, etc, where there’s just no way to get the good food to the poor in need. Produce is a big loser in a grocery store, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to stock produce in a small mini mart in a poor neighborhood. Maybe, just maybe, if they did checks like the wic checks, we could see a change. Like 30% put on a card for any food purchase, then the rest divided on checks for specific things, in ten dollar increments, like fruits/veggies only, meats/dairy/eggs, bulk and staples. But then you have to address the needs of those who don’t have kitchens to cook in, and really, truly need the convenience foods.
Okay, the idea of taking an EBT card to the casino did make me giggle. How absurd! I will say that’s it’s not unlimited money, so if someone gets $200/month to spend basic necessities and they spend it at the casino the they are an idiot. But it also means they are cutting corners in other areas. No toiletries that month, or something. Or eating roadkill. Spending EBT cash on non-necessities means being willing to sacrifice in other areas a lot. Just like June’s splurging on pageant dresses means her family’s dinner has tire marks.
@SomosCinco …..I think is the dumb down in our culture. The grocery stores can afford to have their product sit on a short shelf live. If folks would go buy great. The crap that lower income folks are buying is easy, tasty, & full of crap. What it comes down to is people getting off their duff & figuring out how to better their lot.
Am also getting more angry about that pig that June bought for her daughter. Could not she have thought alittle ahead & set a coup for a hen & rooster rather then a mini pig that will be unable to adapt into their home? God at least with a less then impulse buy they could have another edge in their favor & HBB would have been thrilled.
I still have not watched this show & know the powers above are duping me.
I heard a blip on NPR a few months ago about some big chain… I want to say Walgreens?… incorporating produce sections into their stores in low income neighborhoods. I wish I could remember and give you guys a link, it was very applicable to where this conversation has gone. Anybody else happen to hear the same story and/or know more details?
Oh chickens would be great! They’re so much fun and a constant food source.
I read somewhere pigs could be litter trained..and apparently are smarter than dogs. But having a coup and getting fresh eggs every morning would be a great idea. And a veggie garden, too.
I think I remember that piece, too. IIRC, they did a series on nutritional deserts.
Unfortunately it’s not just urban areas that have the problem. Many rural or semi rural areas have the same problem. We have families that only make it to our store when they have a ride, otherwise they do their shopping at the casino mart, walking a mile just to get there.
@Suburbint: Target? Walmart Supercenter? They both have big produce sections. I don’t know much about walgreens, I haven’t been.to one in a few years.
“even people with very high salaries buy shit they don’t need and later find themselves in big trouble, only it happens on a much larger scale.”
The operative word is “Salaries”. This indicates that someone worked for the money and buying shit you don’t need while working your ass off is the best part about working. And, you don’t have to answer to anyone about how you spend your discretionary income.
Robin
Until foreclosures begin.
And cars get reposessed.
And credit cards maxed out.
And loans defaulted.
And liens put on property.
and…
i stand by my opinion; you can stand by yours, but there’s no need to directly mock mine while you do so.
Amen, ellemenop.
I consider lottery tickets an investment….
The moral of the story is that whatever money June is paid for doing the show, she will to pay an exorbitant amount of taxes on. Let’s recoup our losses…EBT for everybody!!
i was just randomly thinking of this, but those of you who are so pissed at june for the pig & think she should have hens & a veggie garden instead: do you guys all have hens & a veggie garden? i sure don’t. and i won’t ever, especially not the hens, but that’s because i have a chicken phobia.
as for the ebt discussion, i’m honestly too bored with it to continue.
I’m don’t have internet for 2 days and look what happens.
Well, I live in the city and we don’t have extra land for a veggie garden. My mom did plant a mulberry tree in the backyard but after seeing squirrels (and a raccoon!) frolicking up there, I wouldn’t touch those fruits with a 10 ft pole.
My mom has a house in the country(South Carolina), with a few siblings as neighbors (and full time residents.) Both couples are retired and like to leisurely garden. One grows sweet potato, okra, tomato, grapes (muscadines. Yum!), etc. He also uses a few acres for corn; it’s sold for animal feed. My other uncle plants everything from pears to pomegranate to watermelon, soybeans, and veggies, too. They also send us a big box of homegrown pecans every Christmas.
When I’m down there, eating homegrown food is so homey and delicious but I can imagine planting it isn’t so fun. But I do lije what @somoscinco said about WIC supporting farmers. We have a huge farmer’s market initiative in NY urging everyone to “buy local.” So not only do they accept WIC and EBT, they give out ‘rebates’ and discounts off the next purchase to encourage return business. It’s kinda like when Catholics in Europe banned meat on Fridays so the fish markets could survive. Sometimes commerce needs a little…push.
i also buy local & from farmers markets (and i’m vegan — and vegetarian since i was a kid), and rarely eat junk food. i’m all for farming subsidies. i also live in the city and thus no backyard, but to be honest, even if i did, i just w0uldn’t do gardening to that scale (or any, i think … not really interested in ever living anywhere where i can have a house or a backyard, personally) … it’s great to buy local & help farms, but i don’t think whoever (and i don’t know specifically which posters were bringing this up) has been angry about june not having her own little mini farm going should be, because odds are most of them don’t, themselves. if they do, awesome, but it’s not for everyone (not to mention some of us are HORRIBLE with plants, even when we try not to be).
@ellemenop, I assume it’s me you are calling out for mocking? If so, it must be because I simply repeated an opinion that you and others here have expressed, and I did not embellish it unless you think women who are cruel and inhumane are somehow not heartless bitches. You essentially called me cruel and inhumane and wrongheaded for having my particular opinion, so you might consider stepping down from your high horse. And with close to 50% of the population now paying no taxes and growing, your opinion is on the fast track to being in the majority. Like I told somebody else who holds your views, YOU are winning. I fully expect to see benefits expand just like you want, until the bubble bursts, that is.
@cranky — you literally used the words i used, which is what i was pointing out.
otherwise, like i said, i am truly bored with this discussion.
@ellemenop, I am not responsible for your boredom. Yes, I did use the words that you used: “cruel and inhumane.” I think I am allowed to do that. I could be wrong though, since I also thought I could say “That’s hot!” until I learned that Paris Hilton was trying to get a copyright on it.
@cranky — you’re hilarious, especially since: a) no blame for my boredom was assigned to you; and b) i simply don’t appreciate mockery as an argument.
@ellemenop: 1) then why tell me how bored you are with the discussion? 2) I don’t agree (we seem to disagree about most everything, so I might ask you to marry me if something ever happens to the current mrs crankyguy) that you were being mocked. You were being quoted.
1) i had already pointed it out and was simply restating; b) you’ve been awfully fixated on my particular wording during several posts now. however, i’m never getting married again; i already disagree with my husband enough.
Fine, just break my heart then. I’ll get over it . . . eventually.
Until foreclosures begin.
And cars get reposessed.
And credit cards maxed out.
And loans defaulted.
And liens put on property.
and…
Thats absurd! Just because folks decide to go out for a steak after work…or decide to waste a few bucks on an expensive skin cream that may not work or an expensive pair of shoes..doesnt mean that they are automatically in forclosure, cars are repossesed and credit is maxed! Geesh.
Awww, shucks! And I was just ready to break out my bridesmaid dress.
Not sure if you read the quote you posted but the point they were trying to make is that people from all walks of life can buy more than they need and live beyond their means. Except those with salaries have the capacity to dig a deeper whole because they are afforded longer lines of credit and higher mortgages than someone on welfare.
See where the poster said “and later find themselves in big trouble, only it happens on a much larger scale.”
So, while you pointed out that they could do what they want they want with their salaries, “because they worked hard for it”,I’m afraid that you missed the point they were making of how more money sometimes lends to overspending on a larger scale which then equals larger debt.
“the point they were trying to make”
Glad to see nothing has changed.
Article regarding misconceptions & realities about who pays taxes:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3505
(by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities)
Sorry to join back in the party with boring facts.
In the words of the great RuPaul, “Reading is fun-da-mental!”
Great convo folks, and glad to see everyone keeping it civil.
“by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities)”
A privately funded focus group that is in the business of saying what folks pay them to say.
Robin
“These figures cover only the federal income tax and ignore the substantial amounts of other federal taxes — especially the payroll tax — that many of these households pay. ”
The payroll tax? Gimme a break. Their employer has to match that and when they receive benefits later in life the amount will FAR EXCEED anything that they have paid in and that those benefits will be paid by the then current taxpayers and by borrowing. I suppose this focus group would like EBT users to receive an at-the-pump rebate on the federal gasoline tax that they pay too. But while this group is quick to point out these other federal taxes that poor people pay, which they will be more than compensated for later in life, like payroll tax, and taxes paid by virtue of buying stuff, everybody ought to consider that when all these taxes are combined for people who actually do pay federal income tax that most taxpayers pay more than 50% of their gross income when all hidden taxes plus state and local taxes are taken into account.
“The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a non-partisan research and policy institute which works at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.”
I know I’m not going to change anyone’s minds & am not trying to-I stopped commenting here a while back cuz I allowed myself to get sucked in to some stupid crap that made me realize I was acting like a 13 year old. I just get annoyed when people form opinions based on personal experience then try to pass that off as fact. Although the facts can still get used as the reader sees fit to prove their point…so i guess, why did I bother?
Being a WI resident I’ve had way more than my share of political discourse lately, so maybe I need to just put down the Google and walk away slowly.
“The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a non-partisan research and policy institute . . .”
Who advocate for the po’. I’d like to know the last time any members of this “non-partisan” institute voted Republican. THAT would be an interesting fact.
Is 278 comments a record?
Well if Crank and elle keep up their lovers’ quarrel I’ll bet we can reach the coveted 300!
And we may have a carryover feud to help the numbers.
Excuse me. I’m hauling my fat lazy carcass to the kitchen to get a bag (family sized. I know there’s one here somewhere) and a Super-Jumbo Slurpee so I can settle in for a read.
Okay guys. Have at it!
@sheese, all it takes is a comment war.
This was a comment war???
I’m outta here.
I NEVER participate in those.
Comment wha?
I would say that comment wars really chap my ass, but that would be a lie. So what would the opposite of ass chapping be?!?!!? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..
Farming subsidies are another form of welfare and are ripping off the American taxpayer.
Yes it is Walgreen’s. They added a “fresh” section to their stores.
Classy opposite of chapping an ass or opposite of an ass? Maybe rubbing in some lotion?
How much do Walgreen’s fresh items cost compared to other prices in the area? If their frozen food prices are any indication, the answer will be “a lot more.”
I buy my cottage cheese at Walgreen’s and they are no more expensive than other grocery stores for that item at least. I have found Whole Foods to have cheaper prices than Safeway and Target cheaper than Costco for some products as well.
Hmmm…the groceries at Target seem a little high to me.
I guess it depends upon the area. I was in a local Walgreen’s and just did a random check of some items that I sometimes buy at Walmart, and they were about 30% higher.
And we WILL get to 30o comments if I have to do it myself. It’s not important that I get #300 but it is important that #300 is achieved. Suggested battle cry: EBT for EVERYBODY!!!!
i can’t wait for the next recap. oh, and to actually watch the episode … it’s on my dvr, but after i watched t&t, i couldn’t take anymore and had to save this for later.
there, there’s a to-300 contribution.
take any more*
I only really buy things from Target if they are on sale or if they are only sold there..like their Southwest Caesar dressing or the Kettle Chips which are $.69 more a bag at Whole Foods and sold virtually no place else.
sarcasatire, don’t you live in new york? i see kettle chips being sold everywhere.
@Cranky, I lurve your battle cry suggestion. I knew there was a socialist in there somewhere!
That is were sales and coupons come into play Crankyguy.
Walgreen’s is one of the only stores that carries Berkeley Farms cottage cheese and there are a two on my walk to work so I will pay the extra $.10 for what I believe is better tasting cc. But this is SF where everything costs more because of the smug tax.
ellenmop: Yea..just the small bags. And not uptown Boogie Down where I live. So I have to get the big 8 oz bags when I go to Target (nearby) or Whole Foods(not so much). But those things are so addictive.. I’d move mountains. Salt & Vinegar, baby!
Even out here in the sticks, kettle chips are sold everywhere. If you buy a lot of something, sometimes going to Amazon and getting over $25 worth for the free shipping is the way to go. I do that for no-salt, whole-grain pretzels.
@sarcasatire, you know what they say: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
It chaps my ass when my local what have you doesn’t have fresh Kettle corn. What that stuff is stale I ’bout lose my mind!
Well, in the Bronx, we have Lays and Wise and Utz brand chips. They market some as kettle but they aren’t the KETTLE Brand chips in the thick, purple bag. Why won’t they sell uptown? I feel gluttonous enough buying four bags at once, I’m not sure i can handle UPS shipping a box of potato chips to my door. lol
EBT FOR EVERYBODY!!!!
URGH, WHEN that stuff is stale.
oh, weird that they don’t have the large bags in your neighborhood. but they also have my love, diet inca kola (okay, so i don’t eat junk food normally, but i’m a diet soda addict … there, i said it) uptown, and nowhere else (that i’ve seen), so i find that more convenient anyway.
@cranky (and anyone else on that subject) — also sometimes going to the manufacturer’s site works out, depending on what it is. for instance, brad’s raw kale chips are $8-$9 a container at whole foods … each container is 2 1/2 servings, so it adds up (i rarely buy them), but i went to their web site & buying a case (or 1/2 case) makes them slightly less expensive … i’ve considered ordering but i’m scared i’ll just eat them all in like a month as meals, lol.
Gypsy kettle corn is an abomination.
Sarc I shop on sale and watch out if it’s buy 1 get 1 free and I have two coupons. When it comes to disposable items I tend to be very cheap, but I will spend good money for items I plan to have for a while.
$2.79 per bag with free shipping. Is that too much? I really have no idea.
http://www.amazon.com/Kettle-Chips-Salt-Vinegar-2-Ounce/dp/B000G6MBVO
You have to pick the 8.5-oz, box of 12 option.
@sarcasatire — my sister is starting fordham next year so i guess i’ll soon be better acquainted with the bronx’s selling style soon. i just remember being pissed about how jacked up cigarettes are in harlem (most expensive i’ve seen — this was a couple of years ago, though; i don’t smoke anymore) if you try to buy them at 3 am because everywhere else is closed. bastards.
oh, crap; i just realized that by next year i really mean next week. my baby is all grown up!!!
In all fairness Labowner you live in SF(?) where I believe you can get some pretty kicka$$ REAL Kellte corn freshly popped daily at the market…#jelly! I am missing CA right now.
For the chip afficionados (sp?), try Dirty Potato Chips if you can find them. Nomnomnom.
These people are such trash, I want to look away but i cant! I can no longer eat a biscuit thanks to this show.
Um, what show was this ‘cap about again?
Okay, so maybe this is the Aussie in me coming out – we don’t have nearly as much of an issue with people taking government aid as the average American seems to – but who cares if June is on welfare? She lives pretty frugally. She isn’t (and wasn’t) one of those welfare queens with a brand new (probably leased) BMW and a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom home in a nice suburb.
I’m sure a lot of the complaints are about how she shouldn’t be letting her daughter do pageants if she’s on welfare because she’s omg wasting tax dollars. Poor people aren’t allowed hobbies on assistance? They’re not allowed some form of escapism (granted, it is stupid, trashy, gross escapism)? God knows HBB needs to feel like a princess more than most little girls her age who are living in a nice home and going to a decent school and have parents with money to sponsor them in multiple extra curricular activities.
I guess I’m a bleeding heart liberal, but I’d be happy for my tax dollars to go towards making a little girl feel special – even if I vehemently oppose the method by which her parents choose to do so. Clearly, the pageants make HBB feel very special, and that’s why I can stomach her pageant career (the lack of slutty stripper outfits helps, too).
As for June being a mother at 15 and her daughter being a mother at 17, I don’t think that has anything to do with June being on welfare or even being a lousy parent. In the US (also the UK, thankfully not here) you have a terrible teen pregnancy epidemic. Girls who are born to teenage mothers are high risk to become teenage mothers themselves – and I mean no disrespect to anyone who was a teenage mother, as I was the product of a teenage pregnancy myself – so it really isn’t surprising. Sad, but unsurprising.
I have zero time for the US government and its insanity when it comes to government aid and especially healthcare. Yes, June exploited the system and that is wrong. But it’s a pretty crappy system. The point is that she isn’t doing it any more (extreme couponing, either), and she is paying back the money.
I just think the fact the household is presently overweight is a bigger cause for concern than how many baby daddies June has or what she did in the past with welfare.