• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 48 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

Economy Cuts : 6/5/2009

What you say is " every time there are cuts and we are told to " pull in our belts" it's the ones who have the most to loose who get the least help".

Trish

: 6/5/2009

Yes the ones always dictating for us to pull in our belts are the fattest ones in Government. That being said, perhaps some of those benefiting from Calworks will now attempt to get jobs produced by the tax savings to small businesses of cutting these welfare programs and end their "funemployment".. who takes advantage of Calworks the most? Those who come to America to "take the welfare Americas won't take".

Socialism at work : 6/5/2009

"This helps employ plumbers, painters and other skilled workers." People should not be dependent on government for jobs! This is why we are in this mess. The government does not produce wealth, it gets money in one of two ways. Borrows it, or takes it from you in taxes. When the money it takes is gone the debt goes up. Government jobs are not sustainable - they do not feed revenue back to the government. Those dependent on the government take more out of the treasury than they replace in taxes! Eventually it runs out and the budget is broken. Removing Calworks is good and past due. Now the private sector can do the hiring instead and produce more revenue to the govt.

Realist

: 6/5/2009

I hope we are finally learning that money doesn't grow on trees (unless you are the Federal Government and you print more money) and if you keep handing it out to people, you are sure to do one thing: Attract and create more people with their hands out! There are less and less contributing, more and more taking and eventually you get exactly what we have now! A broke government! Lower taxes and handouts and you will get what we need to fix this - a stronger private sector to create wealth which creates revenue. Then private organizations can afford to care for the needy!!

: 6/5/2009

"If CalWORKs was dropped, it’s unlikely the 9,000 children and 3,000 adults in this county who rely on the program would starve. But they could end up homeless and without money for other necessities like clothing. For food, they would still have food stamps, Gallagher explained..." THIS IS INCORRECT. FOR A FAMILY OF TWO (PARENT AND CHILD) FOOD STAMPS TOTAL LESS THAN $200 PER MONTH FOR BOTH PEOPLE. FOOD STAMPS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO FEED A FAMILY. PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON FOOD STAMPS HAVE TO FIND ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF FOOD TO STAY ALIVE. WHY DOESN'T GALLAGHER STATE WHAT THE FOOD STAMP ALLOWANCES ARE FOR FAMILIES, SO EVERYONE WILL KNOW IT'S NOT ENOUGH.

: 6/5/2009

Wealthy Santa Barbara is a twisted little town. People who are doing well financially come out with all kinds of hate for people who are not. And so it goes with comments on this news story. How could anybody cheer and say it's about time we get rid of these services? Having money certainly doesn't prevent people from being ignorant.

: 6/5/2009

Colby Frazier, you are a spectacular reporter. Thank you for the coverage.

Cut it all!!! : 6/5/2009

Cut ALL give-away money! This is money that is stolen, by the government, from the tax payers who are the people who are doing the work. I have worked all my life, raised a family, put food on the table and clothing on my family. If/when I loose my job I go out and work hard to get another. I put money aside to aid my family during the transition between jobs. Why do I have to give MY money to these people who sit around, make no effort to find a job, and get fat (ligerally) on MY MONEY!! Usually, the people using food stamps in front of me in the grocery store are FAT! Yeah, they must be scraping by!! How did they get fat!!! On the free money stolen from my paycheck by the government. How about public housing?!? In S.B. most public housing buildings are nicer than the home I have worked on for 25 year to fix up!!! The government is stealing my money to give it to people who choose to not work or make an effort to support themselves. If it is too expensive around S.B. for someone to live then LEAVE!! Go to Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, etc. where rents are cheaper --- you have no RIGHT to rob me of my hard earned dollars so you can sit on your butt in S.B., watch TV, get fat, all on my dime!! Please, Governor, eliminate all of this give-away money for people who are just scamming the system!

Calworks : 6/5/2009

As anyone would plainly see if they walked the halls of the county social welfare offices most, if not all the beneficiaries are illegal immigrants from Mexico. Try getting help there if you are a citizen speaking English. They will often times not even have paperwork written in English. It would be cheaper in Mexico to provide the food and care for these Mexicans. We should simply send aid to Mexico first.

Joe Citizen

Wow!!! : 6/5/2009

There seems to be many angry and frustrated folks out there....Questions I'd like to pose: 1. Do you realize Mr. Taxpayer, that all of us taxpayers pay in excess of 4 billion dollars yearly for folks that are uninsured/underinsured because those folks access the most expensive "health care plan" - the emergency rooms? 2. Do you realize that the monies for food stamps truly can't feed a family in a healthy way and come the end of the month there are children that go to bed hungry and feeding the family potatoes/pasta as a main dish is all they may have AND because the parents are at such a loss for coping with the impact on the family that child abuse soars? 3. Without some safety net, desparate people do desparate acts and now John Q. Public becomes a crime statistic because of these desparate times, further putting a strain on ALL resources that have been scaled back to barely any assistance? A lot of times it takes just one "life changing" situation to put a person in dire straits and the struggle back is sometimes too much for the soul and changes people. The people no longer trust, have faith in themselves to break the cycle that they are caught in. It's costing MUCH more than any of us will ever know and change lives to such a monumnetal degree that there may not seem a way back. Instead of referring to "them" as an enemy - what can you do as a member of the human race and all that is special about you as an individual that may make it possible to touch just one person back on the road to self support, being a piece of the safety net so this person(s) can feel they are valued as member of our human race? Just my thoughts. These are disturbing and sometimes unsettling times and since these times seem to be making all of us more divided we need to gather together to help each other. Meet with your circle of family and friends to come up with ideas that will help everyone - develop a barter system, put a family up for a portion of time, volunteer (that's always an eye-opener), then go home and count your many blessing. These times are a struggle for every single one of us. Give yourself permission to treat yourself and someone else especially wonderful, however that's defined.

A volunteer

To Previous Poster : 6/5/2009

I hope "Cut it all!" finds herself elderly, disabled, homeless and without family to help her one day. Then perhaps she will develop some compassion. Albeit late in life.

State Government Criminals : 6/5/2009

It is too bad we couldn't prosecute the Governor and all the others in state government, for incompetence. They are the ones that caused this mess. Spend Spend Spend.....now these idiots and their liberal media socialist buddies are trying to make us overly taxed citizens look like it is our fault.....Let's wise up ....vote no on every bond issue that comes out. Stop spending on education. This education fiasco is going to put us all in the poor house.

Fed Up

Mean Minds in Paradise and Cut It All : 6/5/2009

There are some mean minded people on here and the one who gets first in place is Cut It All. I hope he never finds himself homeless and that he has many more years fixing up his own home because he is lucky to have a home to call his own. Through no fault of mine I lost my home of over 30 years and now I am lucky to live in one of those housing complexes that he derides so bitterly. I am a senior and I thought i would have my own home until I died. I miss my home desperately,and my pets and my garden. Sometimes I dream I am back,that I am young, laughing with my family. Then I awaken ,crying. I hope CIA never grows old, sick,lonely and homeless. If his luck does run out I hope the well has not dried up because bitter, mean minded people who think like him have won this battle.

Emily

From Cut it All : 6/5/2009

Give me a break!! I can't believe you people. I am paying all sorts of taxes, the equivalent of several months of my pay each year, much of which is being given away to people who are leaching off the system. You all can't be this blind? The fat transient who is bugging you for money as you walk down the street has plenty of food - he wants your money for booze and drugs because he has already used up his government assistance check on booze and drugs and he wants MORE from you. And he doesn’t want to do anything about his alcohol/drug problem except get money from you to feed his desires. This has nothing to do with caring about other people. I (we) can't earn enough money to give it away to all the people who want to scam the system and get freebies. Don't you dare castigate me for not caring - I am being forced to give my money to all these people - there is nothing in the Constitution that mandates the kind of strong armed altruism that is being forced upon us by the Government ... and, of course, the reason the government does this to us is to get the votes from the leaches so they can stay in power. What about personal responsibility? Don't give me BS about increased child abuse, people with no health insurance, etc. I have worked hard to provide all of those things to my family whom I don't abuse. The operative word here is WORKED which the leaches are not doing. If their children don't have food or clothes it is because they are NOT working. The constitution does not mandate that I (we) take care of the world. We can't - there isn't enough money as evidenced by the horrible financial situation that the municipalities, counties, states, and the Federal Government are in. Why do you think there are all of these financial problems in government - because they have been giving away to the leaches so much money that they stole from us that there is no more to give and we didn't vote to give more because we have all given enough. It is time that we stop giving away our hard earned dollars to the leaches and cause them to take responsibility for themselves. Their situation is not my, or your, fault it is their fault because they haven't made the effort that the rest of us are making. If you want to give them all of your money you are free to do it - there are plenty of charitable organizations around --- give freely!! You have no right to steal from me. And, no, I will die a very happy man because I will have worked all my life, provided for a large family of workers who are raising children who will work, and I will have accomplished much in my life because I don't, and have never, expected the government, nor the world, to take care of me.

Hatred Rears It's Ugly Head : 6/5/2009

Yeah, and Cut It All, did you know that over 50% of bankruptcies are from people who have lost their health insurance AFTER they became sick, and their insurance companies then dropped their coverage, and they went through their life savings taking care of their own medical bills? You can do all the right things, as you say you are doing, but no one is immune. How dare you call anyone who has needed help from the government "leeches". I'd like to plant you in The Dark Ages so you can see what a world of fending for yourself without government intervention is like. Just recently we had the Red Cross in town set up shelter to help people evacuated from the fire. Are they leaches? I can understand resenting paying so much in taxes, but I do not understand your hatred and stereotyping of those in need. Go to hell.

: 6/5/2009

The PBS series Frontline has an excellent documentary on Americans and bankruptcy and health insurance. It's titled: "Frontline: Can You Afford to Retire..." Google "PBS Frontline" then search for "bankruptcy". Almost all of us are on a slippery slope. Japan has an excellent government funded health care system. Everybody has access to health care, and they are a very healthy population. But noooooo, we have idiots like "Cut It All".

It helped me : 6/5/2009

The last time my husband beat me, he missed me and hit our two year old baby. I filed police charges against him and went into a domestic violence shelter. The shelter helped me apply for CalWORKs and after about four months of therapy, I enrolled in community college and got my associate degree and certificate in ultrasound technology. The government paid for my childcare and helped with books, uniforms, and a bus pass. I'm working at a hospital and earning about $45,000 a year. I'm off all government help, pay taxes, and my daughter will start kindergarten in September. CalWORKs helped me get my life together, find a good job, and be a healthy mother. My social workers were encouraging and I probably wouldn't be alive without the program.

Heather

Give it a Rest, Cut it All : 6/6/2009

Cut it out Cut It All! Most people I know have worked all their lives in this town and some are still working into their 70's and they don't have your twisted view of the world. We all have children and thank God they were not brought up with your selfish and bitter thoughts. The privileged learn to give to the not so lucky in life. It;s called noblesse oblige. Sad for you who never learned this and instead you will pass on your bitter legacy. However it is good you are happy and can sleep at night with all that gall running through your system. Unlike the not so lucky lady who grieves for the home and life she lost and whom you clearly resent the roof mercifully provided by local housing authority. She will not be getting it free by the way, she will be paying rent,30% of her income, no doubt from her SS and perhaps a widow's pension. Because just like us all she probably worked all her life, too. Hundreds of people like her have lost all to Medical bills and nursing home bills so good luck in your old age and I hope your kids don't mind looking after you as they pay the bills and watch their inheritance melt away. However with the sentiments you have taught them they might just leave poor old Dad to fend for himself.

Local Taxpayer

Real journalism : 6/6/2009

THANK YOU for this article and for practicing REAL journalism. It IS women, children and elderly overboard FIRST. What that says about us as a society? It says that we are morally bankrupt.

helpamotherout.org

Great article : 6/6/2009

Thanks very much for this very well-written and researched article. Reading the comments section often ruins part of my day, but I always do it anyway -- I can't help myself but I need to learn to avert my eyes.

A Very Good Article......... : 6/6/2009

........ indeed. Sorry the comments ruin your day. I agree they can be depressing. However I can also find them both enlightening ,clarifying and sometimes inspiring., and always a study in human nature

Jonathan

Answers not feel good responses : 6/6/2009

I am not suggesting that there isn't room for a SMALL amount of government assistance - for example the woman who had to have the police arrest her husband for battering her. Law Enforcement is important government assistance. The military is important government assistance. Schools are important government assistance. I am referring to the HUGE number of people who are taking advantage of the system. Illegal aliens, transients who choose that as a life-style, people who have a significant other bringing in an income but file welfare paperwork as a single parent of a dependent child to get $ from the government in violation of the rules, etc. - they should not be given our tax dollars under any circumstances. Yes, the Feds are screwing up the border and this issue of illegal aliens should be addressed for the good of all but why are we paying for the County Medical Clinic, which provides services to, primarily, illegal aliens? The tax payer cannot afford (as evidence by our government budget mess) to pay for all the medical bills for people from other countries where all they have to do is figure out some way to enter the US illegally then we pick up the tab for the medical bills, aid to families with dependent children, welfare, food stamps, etc. The MAJORITY of people who are in these programs do not need to be in there - they are because it is easy to get in the program and then get free money. These programs are filled with people taking advantage of the well-intentioned system. As a result, the programs have run out of money and the government wants you and I to dig into our pockets and pay more. You people who are deriding me, based on the concept that we should help people who are taking advantage of the system based on your feeling good, are completely failing to address any of my points in your postings - you choose to belittle me but have no substance to your responses because you aren't providing any answers as I am. How much of our money is enough? All of it? Can't any of you see the budgetary mess we are in? The answer isn't making me (us) pay 50% of my (our) income in taxes (I, we, pay about 30% of our income on taxes right now) - the answer is cutting the excessive spending but not on important things like public safety, teachers, and other line-level workers that keep us safe and the country running but on the people who are scamming the system. Do you want me (us) to pay 75% of our salaries for the people scamming the system? How about ALL of the money we make. You people who want to paint my realist views as uncaring have FAILED to address my base point - WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING TO COME FROM AND HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT TO PAY FOR GOOD FEELINGS?

How much more do you want to pay?

Cut It All : 6/6/2009

Maybe people are unsympathetic with your points because in the offset you came on too strong and to arrogant. People don't like to be called leeches,negligent if their medical insurance gives out when they loose their job,eventually become sick and loose their homes. Self satisfaction and smug comparisons with your own well ordered life does not give you the right to judge others, therefore you cannot complain if others judge you. A person who his prides himself for being outspoken and realistic usually follows up this excuse with a brutal verbal attack with no thought or empathy for his target. No one has an answer to the mess California is in. Sadly we have pray hard and leave it to our leaders, who apparently at this moment don't have a clue eithert.

An Observer

cal-works and in-home support services. : 6/6/2009

i see these hardships every day. there are many people who need the help. however, these welfare systems are broken. i can tell you as many people need help there are just as many who are abusing the system. in-home support belongs to the family. families have to take care of their elders. many families like to be paid to care for their grandparents. this is so wrong. what happens to the cycle of lives? your parents took care of you when you were a child, and now you would have to take care of your parents when they get old and frail. and regarding cal-works, that is totally fraud. there are so many people who do not have any physical or mental disabilities claiming to be disabled. it is a disgrace for these types of fraudulant cal-works claims. the governor needs to dismantled these fradulant social welfares. tax payers can not support everyone who does not want to work and who does not want to care for their elderly house-members. california is broke. there is no money!!!! to be fair, every problem needs to be cut across the board. the solution is cut, cut, cut across the board until the budget is balanced. we need to live within our means. california needs to fire all of the current legislators...they are not doing their job.

live within your means

: 6/6/2009

Observer hit it right on. "Cut it all" is ranting that no one is addressing his/her points, and he/she doesn't get it's because they seem like a raving maniac.

Corruption in Every System : 6/6/2009

There is corruption in every government system, and everywhere else, too. We don't demand that we get rid of the police because there are corrupt officers and negligent officers who don't perform. I've worked for the federal and state governments, non-profits and the private sector. Corruption is everywhere. It's an unrealistic argument to say we should get rid of a system (i.e. welfare/public assistance) because it's broke. Our financial markets are corrupt, oil companies are corrupt, pharmaceutical companies are corrupt, school systems are corrupt, etc. etc. etc. Small-minded people ranting and raving to eliminate services because THEY are the well-deserving, hard working people is just the ugliest side of human nature, perhaps uglier than the corrupt systems themselves. People living on welfare or experiencing hard times and in need of assistance are frequently working harder than anyone else to stay afloat or get ahead. I know. I was someone who fell on hard times and sunk to the bottom, and got back up. Being at the bottom and trying to get back up was a million times harder than working for any well-paying job I ever had!!! I needed the safety net of public assistance, because I had no other options. I didn't willingly take it and think "Gee, now I'm in for a great free ride. Whoopie!!!" It sucked. The experience taught me valuable lessons about human nature. I found that the individuals who care and want to help are very rare, and those who show hatred and hostility really shine bright when faced with an individual less fortunate than themselves. So, when I sunk to the bottom, I was a social outcast. When I've got a good job and am on top of my game, I'm the life of the party and my dance card is full. People fail to recognize that I am the same person no matter what side of the fence I am on. I AM DESERVING OF BEING TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT NO MATTER WHAT SIDE OF THE FENCE I AM ON.

You've Got to Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes

You've Got To Walk A Mile In Someone Else's Shoes : 6/6/2009

Thank you for speaking so eloquently on behalf of those who have fallen into hard times and struggled back with dignity, trying hard on the way not to feel the hurt from the snubs and the the void and pain felt from absent "friends" of better days. The journey back leaves one grateful for the help from outstretched hands and in turn leaves one aware of others in need.

Been There And Done That

Thank you : 6/7/2009

To the previous poster. Ironically, it was choosing a career in a lower-paying "helping" profession that contributed to my not having much of a safety net. I spent my life trying to make the world a better place through work on children's programs, and that left me financially vulnerable. As a nation, we don't financially reward people working in many fields that really make a difference in people's lives. When it comes time for my child to choose his career, he and I will have had many conversations about how great it is to go into a "helping" profession, but how important it is, too, to make sure that profession pays well. Sadly, adding good pay to the requirements of a future career eliminates many professions that are necessary to make the world go 'round.

You've Got to Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes

What to do : 6/9/2009

More platitudes and no answers. "Cut it All" may be a lunatic but at least he/she is identifying some problems in the system and suggesting financial remedies - remedies that many of you don't like but money doesn't grow on trees and the Government has run out ...

: 6/9/2009

America is the only developed nation in the world that doesn't have universal health coverage. We're supposed to be a great nation, but really, I don't think we could manage ourselves out of a paper bag.

Billionaires VS Garage Bands : 6/25/2009

Calworks and any similar public services program is in the least fundamentally corrupt and at the most blatanlty criminal organizations who thrive on poor people. Perhaps, over the years they have learned new techniques for abusing and using poor people as a tool to gain more for themselves. It is in the best interest of these programs for poor people to inherently stay poor. It is socialism at its worst when you walk into a brand new 7 story CalWorks building to obtain assistance and all you get is a bunch of unsophisticated bloated crooks giving you the run around. IF CalWorks is doomed to fail I say it's not a moment too soon. BURN IT DOWN NOW!

Will

The real issue is . . . : 6/27/2009

Actually, it's all the big gov. pensions and government employee payouts that are a huge chunk of the budget. Schwarzenegger tried to fight the unions but they won as always, so now the poor must pay (and taxpayers) to fund government employee's pay and pensions. Nice, huh?

wkoenigs

Calworks gov programs : 6/30/2009

I personally know a lot of people who are working very hard and as much as they can to get a well paying job. Personally I'm working on obtaining my B.A in arts. I plan on teaching at least junior college level. I know I'm not lazy, neither take advantage of the help I recieve. I have excellent grades for just starting off and being a young mother of an infant. If goverment programs were not available it would be extremeley hard for me to even continue my education.I do no think of the gov. programs as "free money" I think of it as help and as a good investment for the future. In a way it's like when people invest in businesses. They do it to bring more money in. Goverment programs invest in people's abilities and in their future so they will be able to bring more money in to the community in return.Their is a lot of hardworking and determined people out there who need that government help. It is true that living off welfare is not nearly enough to survive but that is why we need the calworks program to sustain in order for our california's future to improve. Instead of making drastic cuts. Maybe it would be better to have an alternative method for example, stricter rules and regulations, and making sure that people on the program are actually making an honest effort on improving their well being.

Angelica C

CRY ME A RIVER : 7/1/2009

Dear Angelica - Why do you have an infant and where is the father of your baby?

laurie

To cry me a river : 7/1/2009

Wow the subject of my passage was not of wheres my baby's dad.But for your information he lives with me and we are engaged. As to why I have a baby I think you need to have a sex talk with your parents.The whole reason I mentioned my child was to show that their are decent people out their who do work hard while on assistance. Their are a lot of people who have aid who have children. Unfortunateley sometimes these people either can't support or don't have enough to give all the necessities for their kids. Goverment programs help hardworking people find a means to support. Some people are ok with living of a minimum wage job. But personally I want more than that. Most loving and caring parents would want the world for their children. Sometimes unfortunately their are road blocks in life that cause peoples life to be financially unstable. Goverment aid is like having stepping stones to a more secure financial life. I know it's personally helped out my family. Including many others.

Angelica C

The issue is personal responsibility : 7/2/2009

Angelica - I don't know for a fact but "Cry Me a River" may have been alluding to the fact that many people who use government services do so because they have done something to put themselves in a position to want/need government assistance meaning that if they had made better choices they may not have caused the taxpayer to give them the taxpayer’s hard-earned money. In your case, you chose to have sex which led to you having a baby out of wedlock - it doesn't matter if the pregnancy was planned or unplanned - you chose to have sex and chose to have a baby but didn't choose to get married. You are now living with the baby's daddy and have plans to get married but still are not. The problem here is that your lifestyle choices put you in a financially disadvantaged position for school so now you want me and a bunch of other tax payers to give you a bunch of money so you can go to school. Rather than choosing to have sex, choosing to have a baby, choosing to live with a man and making us pay you for your decisions how about not doing all of these things so you will have more money so I don't have to give you mine? I didn't choose for you to do all of these things, so why do you now expect me to pay for you? What right do you have to rob from me to fund your choices? How about the baby's daddy? Why isn't he supporting you so you don' t have to take my money to go to school? He wants his cake and eat it too - he wants to have the advantage of a live-in sex partner but he isn't willing to make the commitment of marriage and take responsibility for his wife and child so I, and the other tax payers, don't have to. Are you on government assistance because you have a dependent child? If you get married that government assistance will stop ... is this why you aren't married because you are, in essence, scamming the system to get more of my money? Many women do this - have children, get more money from us tax payers, but continue to live and receive support from the baby(s) daddy(s). Because of all of your selfish decisions you, and many people like you, are costing the tax payers billions. You look at government handouts as something the government should do because you deserve it but, instead, you are forcing us to support your selfish decisions and lifestyle. You, and people like you, can blame yourselves for the mess that government is in.

To "Personal Responsibility" : 7/3/2009

Sounds like Angelica is a very young woman. And that she is now making good choices in her life. I'm glad that she's not on the streets with an infant. Thank goodness she is getting an education. "Personal Responsibility", unless you haven't made any mistakes in your life, you have no right to spew your vile contempt at others.

Unfortunately, hatred sometimes reigns

: 7/3/2009

Doing an investigate article on the local Cal Works office would be a great story. The employees there not only do their best to deny qualified applicants assistance, but they are abusive, too. Very sick group.

Using the word "hate" to suppress debate : 7/3/2009

Hatred? Identifying that Angelica has made personal, and selfish, choices which lead to tax payers having to give her our money is hatred? No! it is simply expressing that she, and thousands like her, need to stop looking to the government to fund their personal choices with our hard earned money. Your use of terms like hatred and vile are simply an effort to dissuade those of us, who believe people should be personally responsible, from expressing our opinion that we are tired of people taking our money through forced taxation for government give-away programs. You, sir/mam, are the vile one. You think that I should be forced to give Angelica my hard earned money to facilitate her sexual habits, child rearing, and shirking family responsibilities by choosing to not marry the baby's father. I do not, and have never, forced you to pay for my personal choices. You mention nothing in your posting about the father and his shirking of his responsibilities. Not only do us tax payers have Angelica to blame for her irresponsible behavior in taking our money for her personal choices but we have you to blame for your supporting her in doing so. You are just as culpable in this governmental fiscal debacle as she. If someone broke into your home and took YOUR money to use for their personal choices would you be so willing to call a person, who identifies the thief as a thief, a vile hater?

Feel free to give Angelica YOUR $ not mine!

: 7/4/2009

Oooohhhhhhh. Very nasty.

: 7/6/2009

Angela, hold your head up high and be proud of your pursuits. You've got the goal of being able to support your family, and that is the best all parents strive to do. You're working harder than most married, higher-income parents in Santa Barbara, and those who attack you will probably never know. Being poor is very hard work. Santa Barbara is filled with many people who absolutely hate those less fortunate than themselves. Though it always stings, try to move past their hurtful/hateful words, and live your life as you see fit. Santa Barbara is a mean place for people who are on the lower end of the income totem pole. No one deserves to be insulted because of how much, or how little, income they generate.

Been There, Experienced That, Moved On

Angela, you go, girl! : 7/6/2009

Here, here, Angela! Keep working hard but stop having babies until you are able to financially care for them. Don't buy into societies lie that it is acceptable and reasonable to NOT hold your baby's father accountable for his participation in your life - demand that he marry you and, if he doesn't, then move out and into accommodations with family or friends - the baby's daddy obviously didn't care for you or the child and just wanted convenient sex. Hold your head up high and get off welfare, or any other type of government handout, immediately. Show the world that you are self-reliant and don't need government's handout of money it stole from the tax payer - by your brave move to take care of yourself you will be a part of the solution, not the problem. Don't listen to those that want to keep oppressing you - saying that, if it wasn't for the government, you would have failed! You are a much better person than they give you credit for because, in reality, they are oppressing YOU because they are saying they are better than you and without them you would be a looser. Don't let these people get to you - prove them wrong by taking responsibility for your decisions of the past (having children out of wedlock) and show that you can learn from these misjudgments by not listening to those who say, without government money, Angela would remain a poor Hispanic girl with nowhere to turn because of her incompetence as a human being. Show these nay sayers who is boss, show them you don't need their hand-outs which are designed to continue to oppress you. You will know exactly who these people are because, when someone like me tells you how capable you are, how honorable you can be, how courageous you will be when you say no to their oppression of you, they will call me a bigot, a hater, vile, and reprehensible. Don't be concerned for me because I know that they are only doing this because they are scared that my words will reveal their true intent of continuing your oppression as opposed to my true intent of encouraging you to be all you can be without looking for handouts from the government. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more satisfying than knowing that you accomplished your dreams, on your own, and that you owe nothing to anyone because you accomplished it yourself. You can do it! I know you can.

Don't let the oppressors get to you

To "Don't let the oppressors get to you" : 7/6/2009

You think your last remark is clever??? Just like the snake in The Jungle Book. "SSSSsssssssssssss. Trust in me". Hey Angelica, I know that when you don't have enough or any parental support yourself, and have a baby, that sometimes you have no alternative but to rely on government assistance. When you've got a baby or young child in your arms, how do people expect you to earn your own way? You can't, and you need help, and it's your right to receive that help. College is a noble goal. Take all the help you can get. Anyone who says you should get off government assistance right away because you can earn your own way is being deceitful. College is a long-term goal, you'll need help to get through it. The woman who just posted previously is a lunatic. Is she screaming when people get financial aid for college? What's the difference between Cal-Works and a Cal-Grant (grant money for college students, unrelated to Cal-Works)? It's both federal money, from taxes. The previous poster needs to take some meds and settle down.

Have the courage to support positive change : 7/6/2009

Keep the personal insults going - they demonstrate your inability to participate in an actual debate about the issues. Invective is all you have to stand on because logic is nowhere in your lexicon of understanding. Talk about a snake in the grass: You want Angelica, and girls like her, to continue to have sex w/out commitment, continue to have babies without the resources to care for the child, continue to allow men to take advantage of them and, as a result of these personal choices, continue to live in poverty because they haven't been given wise counsel as to how to stop this crisis of bad personal choices. All of these things that she has done/is doing, which you support and encourage, lead to her need to seek public funds. Your encouragement has hurt her, not helped her. I have suggested that she stop making self-destructive choices and find meaning in self-reliance as many poor women, who didn't look to the government for hand-outs, have done in the past --- women who achieved success through inner strength that they developed --- women who, even though they were poor or came from disadvantaged backgrounds, succeeded because they nurtured fortitude, worked hard, and achieved great things because they didn't listen to someone like YOU who says that they aren’t good enough to achieve without help so they should continue to have children out of wedlock, let men take advantage of them, and continue to fall victim to their own foolish decisions ... go ahead and insult me all you want - I am trying to encourage young women out of their self-destructive habits as you are encouraging them to keep doing all of those things that have gotten our society into it's current mess. You call me a hater but I am the one who is cheer leading Angelica to be a better person, better mother, and better human NOT the person who is telling her that she is too pathetic to make better choices and accomplish MORE in her life than just take from others.

To Previous Poster : 7/6/2009

I'm saying the reality of her situation might be such that she can't support herself and a baby at this particular time on her own, and maybe she is lacking resources other than government help to keep her afloat, let alone moving forward. I'm also saying it's ridiculous to tell her she should do it all by herself because not everyone is in a position to do so. You find the poor woman who did it "all alone" and you'll find someone behind her helping– grandma... someone. President Obama's mother had her mother, and because of that, she was successful (and thus Mr. Obama, too). (Please note: I have said nothing about supporting or condoning Angelica's past decisions that led to her current situation, though I am certainly more forgiving than you when people make mistakes.)

The Humanitarian

: 7/7/2009

Both of us are speaking a little in the dark, when interchanging about Angelica because neither of us have exhaustive information about her situation - I don't know her and I am assuming you don't either. Be that as it may, the little that Angelica has indicated about her situation demonstrates that elements exist in her situation that are relative to tens of thousands of young women in the USA. We have an epidemic of young women (and many other citizens of all ages and genders but we are focusing on a small segment of the problem here) who have bought into the misunderstanding that the government exists to answer all of their problems thus these citizens do all they can to use, or take advantage of, what they perceive as the free money. Their excessive use of this perceived free money leads to the government, for any number of reasons, deciding to tax the taxpayer even more to create even more give away programs which leads to even more people having to pay more money in taxes to feed an ever increasing government give away of tax payer money to other citizens. This is a vicious cycle which has landed us in the current fiscal dilemma at all levels of government because the majority of tax payers have decided that they have had enough with the government taking our money and giving it away to people who should be figuring things out on their own. I am not opposed to very limited, government run, social programs which aids the absolutely most disadvantaged citizens i.e. gravely ill who can't care for themselves, the mentally unstable who need residential care and don't have the mental capacity to get themselves into such a facility, etc. The problem is that, when we create a scale of the truly, desperately, needy to the person who has some struggles but still has the capacity to figure things out for themselves we find people such as Angelica at the end of the scale where she should be figuring it out on her own. This doesn't mean that she can't use her networking abilities to receive a little help i.e. friends and family, but we simply can't continue to attempt to financially afford a social welfare system that has such a broad based scope of people it attempts to "help". Specifically analyzing Angelica - she is young, energetic, intelligent, and is capable of making decisions such as to have sexual intercourse or what major she wants to have in college. Regardless of what her W2 says at the end of the year, she has all of the attributes of a person who, should they desire, can achieve much in life. Society has no place in throwing tax payers money at her and she has no place taking it because she is getting money that could be used to create a stronger system for the mentally unstable who are in a horrible plight right now. Also, you mention that there is always someone behind a person who is doing it all on their own ... well, we know that, at minimum, Angelica has one person ... the baby's daddy with whom she is living (I note that in none of your postings do you ever discuss him). He is getting the benefit of sex when he wants, he gets the benefit of her company, he gets the benefit of having a child - he is getting many benefits. He should man up, get a job, marry Angelica, work overtime or two jobs if he has to, and support his "family". What in the heck are we, as taxpayers, doing supporting Angelica and her man with tax payer money?!? This is absurd. Of course, you can come up with some excuse about how disadvantaged he is thus the two of them can't make it on their own without making the tax payer give them money but where does this type of reasoning stop? We have two people, who can work, getting government hand outs? Can't you see the problem here? If the government is going to support these two, young, capable, intelligent, able-bodied individuals with tax money where is the line going to be drawn? Unfortunately it has been drawn to include them, and millions like them, which is why the government is having fiscal problems. The tax payer has said enough. The taxpayer has decided that able-bodied people need to stand on their own two feet, figure life out, make their own money, and get out of our pocket books. How much more do they, and you, want to tax us? I pay 1/3 of my entire years salary in some sort of tax. Do you want me to pay 1/2 of my salary? I know you hate me for what I say but try to remove your contempt for me for a moment and decide how much more of my money should be taken by the government to support people who can work hard and support themselves? 3/4 of my salary ... at what point do you start thinking about me and my struggles to support my family when the government is taking so much of my money? I know – I am a horrible human being who is so filled with hate that I don’t have the compassion for poor disadvantaged people like Angelica – as you enter the poor house because the government is taxing you so heavily you can’t get out of tax debt remember this supposed hater of mankind tried to warn you.

The Patriot

: 7/7/2009

Ok, I fold. When you present a good argument, I can be swayed. I am reminded of a couple I knew in my early 20's. They had a child. He worked nights, she worked days, so they could each be home with their child and make it on their own. I think Angelica and her boyfriend would still be stuck in poverty, however, because I don't see how she could get college in with that kind of schedule. I think the taxpayers paying for her college (which would include child care while she does it) would benefit society better than having another family in poverty in the U.S., because the long-term costs of that are very high (unemployment, no health insurance, no retirement, etc.) When you attack Angelica, personally, that really disturbs me. When you present a good argument without the personal attack, I am open to seeing things your way.

CPS : 7/8/2009

Do major cutbacks within the CPS system. We would all be a lot better for it.