#Benefits Programs

[somerandomg33k]

"Someone said to me...."

"I mean giving everyone everything they need is unrealistic and people are gonna abuse the hell out of it."

I am afraid many folks believe this. Many Liberals in fact.

But confuses me is that if folks aren't 'abusing it,' then folks are not using said systems.

Granted, social services in the USA are means test to hell and are design to keep folks off of those programs instead of being so inclusive that it actually benefits the folks that need those services. But "we can't have folks take advantage of 'MMMYYYY Tax paying dollars." Urg.

[luetta]

[jadeannbyrne]

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[eggplantgifs]

Niina Petrokina: Dune » 2025 European Championships

[pillmillipedes]

k is so much better than j holy shit

[upathosarts]

trying out csp. might be biased but i dont like it very much

[chronicallycouchbound]

I refuse to call government assistance programs “welfare” or “benefits”.

I’ve been on government assistance programs my whole life. I have never lived above the poverty line.

It’s a system that doesn’t care about my wellbeing, they care about doing the bare minimum to keep people alive enough to function and work, and if you’re disabled and cannot work, they give significantly less of a fuck.

And benefits?? What benefits?

Food stamps that run out within two weeks because I am budgeting with 8$ a day with literally dozens of dietary restrictions? Or do you mean the housing voucher that I have to never even have a gift card, penny to my name, Sams club membership, phone bill, literally anything that could be “income” in order to qualify? That same housing voucher system that if I mess up even once with I not only lose all government aid for at least 5 years, it’s also mandatory PRISON time for 1 year?? “Oh but they would never do that, right?” Nope! I have several friends who are now felons for minor lease violations and unhoused as a result! Oh maybe you mean the state health insurance that doesn’t cover most treatments, specialists, and testing I need and if I tried to make a gofundme to cover, I would lose aforementioned housing? Oh and we can’t forget all the money I get for being disabled, which is exactly 0$. I’m still fighting for SSI and have been for 6 years! That’s over 6 years with absolutely zero income. ZERO. And guess what, whenever I *do* get on SSI, I will lose my housing voucher. And I won’t be able to afford my current apartment because even in subsidized low income housing it’s too expensive for the maximum SSI “benefit” amount. And on SSI you can’t have savings over 2000$. Oh and they do make housing for people who are low income where you pay 30% of your income but I can’t even be on the waitlist since I don’t have any income. And on top of all this, I can never get married because I’ll lose all of the programs.

I could keep going. That’s not even half of the programs I’m a part of.

• None of them give me cash in hand. Even for vouchers I have to provide receipts for everything.

• Food stamps just straight up won’t even cover ineligible items. Which includes hot foods.

• I genuinely don’t believe that there’s a way to “game the system” and why would you? You would gain literally nothing.

• It’s designed to keep people poor. Once you make over a certain amount, you lose all or almost all benefits. There’s no way to slowly transition out of the programs, if you’re someone who’s able to. It’s all in or all out.

• All of these barriers are made significantly worse while unhoused/homeless. I’ve been homeless for over half of my life and there’s so many fucked up rules. If I missed one night staying in the shelter, I lost my housing voucher because I no longer was “verified as homeless” even if I was sleeping outside still.

[creepyscritches]

RFK Jr having to have healthcare civics explained to him during his confirmation hearing for the HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY POSITION is insane. He's constantly talked about lowering costs, but it's so revealing that the civics he's having explained are largely centered around BASIC FUNDING FLOWS

[bumlets-appreciation-blog]

Can you guys believe that the Children's Aid Society that ran the Newsboy Lodging House on Duane Street is still around? It's just Children's Aid now but a name change is expected after operating for over 170 years. It's one of the oldest (and largest!) non-profits dedicated to helping children and has helped found programs ranging from holiday toy drives to free school lunches. Obviously, any program this old and this big isn't perfect but it's nice to see that even after all these years, they're still trying to help.

[cejav13]

Liza Colón-Zayas To Be Honored by The Violence Intervention Program (VIP) in NYC at Their 40th Anniversary & Benefit on May 20, 2025

[kirby-the-gorb]

[alwaysbewoke]

[creating-by-starlight]

Older men just don't get it sometimes huh

[non-un-topo]

This fucking dumbass right here is gonna apply for a master's degree in gender studies in the homo/transphobic year of our lord 2025.

They want to assassinate me so bad.

[queen-mabs-revenge]

I'm just saying maybe you shouldn't talk about the Luddites if you actually refuse to engage with their historical struggle and the reasons for it and instead just perpetuate the bourgeois propaganda about them and somehow act that's the materialist take. get fucking serious please.