It’s my welfare check I’ll spend it how I want

Mark McKenna
August 28, 2010
3 Comments

I recently read an article about Welfare recipients in Michigan and California spending their welfare cheques on gambling, it was called something along the lines of Welfare Recipients Gambling with Government Money… Immediately, my response was, yeah so what? But then I continued to read the article and found that the writer was making an argument that Welfare recipients, or “deadbeats” as they were referred to in this article, that spent their Welfare money on gambling should basically be handcuffed and labeled as fraudsters.

Aside from the argument that yes, it is hard working tax payer’s money that goes into the Welfare system, I had to ask some real questions, like what was really being said here? Why was gambling being singled out here? And, is gambling the only so-called unacceptable activity that a Welfare check can be spent on?

Many people on Welfare don’t spend their Welfare checks on the things that we, who aren’t on Welfare feel like they should be spending them on. But let us ask ourselves, is that really our business? Again, yes, hard earned tax payer’s money, ya, I get that, but does that mean Welfare recipients should be policed on what they spend their Welfare checks on?

Okay, let’s take a different angle. Suppose we live in a free fucking world, and suppose a person on Welfare decides to spend his check on alcohol, which I’m sure is far from uncommon, what then? Is that person a fraud? Should that person have his Welfare check ripped from his grasp? One can see both sides of the argument, but can you see where it ends? Can you see where I’m going with this? You hear all the time about people wanting less government, more freedom, yet it’s those same hungry hungry Hippo-crits that usually lobby for this type of action. All I’m saying is choose one or the other but be prepared for the consequences. Welfare is designed as a safety system for those less fortunate or unable to work, of course in any system, there are those that abuse it, I don’t think it’s something that can be policed.

It’s funny that gambling was used in the article I read, because gambling itself is an entertainment activity, and naturally there are those who abuse that to their own detriment as well. It’s also funny how gambling was the only activity targeted in the article, when I can think of about a hundred different things a Welfare check probably shouldn’t be spent on, with gambling being at around the bottom of the list…Take this how you need to, but at least gambling offers at least the chance of a return.

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Tags: Article, Welfare
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  • http://CalvinAyre.com Calvin Ayre

    What this article misses is that the main form of gambling that is done by poor, especially welfare recipients is the nearly impossible to win long shot of the Governments very own Lottery. Most poor are doing this in an illfated attempt to not be poor anymore and this hope is force fed to them by the very Government that is giving them the check. This is true in most Western states….basically these people are not gambling for entertainment but buying into the Government sold fantasy that they can actually win.

    I see lotteries and Government policy as the bad thing in this story not that middle class folks can get a punt on a game on TV or Play a round of Black Jack. This is not a gambling story so much as a Government policy story…and that policy is give the poor money with one hand and take it back from them with the other.

    • JBV

      I disagree, welfare is describe, by the government, for aide in a time of need. It is a financial aied from the government or private organization because of a time of hardship. To me this is not an on going goal set in life to feed on when you are able to go out and at least attempt to look for and at some point in time, find a job.

  • Brogts

    I agree. It is ok to have a welfare system, but to take advantage of the on going workers while you sit at home and be lazy is un exceptable