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There are quite a few group living arrangements in Maine where everybody is on welfare. Their combined incomes make for a very comfortable lifestyle. Back in the 1970s it would have been called a commune. However, back in the 1970s government food was cheese, flour, oatmeal, large cans of fruit like pears, powdered milk and sometimes canned meat. That was it.
Every other Thursday I pick up food from a supermarket for the local food cupboard. It is high quality frozen meat, Haagen Daz iced cream, over aged artisan breads, pastries, fruit, vegetables and other ordinary items. Our local food cupboard feeds a lunch on Friday afternoon when people come for their groceries. In my area, these are people genuinely in need. The lunch is well attended and it is the social high point of the week for some of these folks. Most are genuinely disabled after working all their lives. They are not comfortable taking charity. It was an eye opener for me when I was asked if I could pick up the food every other week. Because of my white hair, the person who asked assumed I was retired. I am not retired. I work full time, but I am self employed and get to schedule myself.
These food cupboards around Maine are an important service for those in need. In rural Maine, people travel a long way for the food. It can be 40 miles or more to the nearest food pantry or cupboard. The locations have different names. I have never taken even a piece of fruit from my cargo.
Every week I drop-off food to the un-wed teen mothers home and the Shaw-house both located in Bangor. About a month ago I noticed an Out-Reach center had opened in Old Town for teens without without secure homes, so I have been dropping off food to them once a week as well.
I did not see it before. But now as I have began delivering food to these places. There are a number of 13 to 17 year old girls who are pregnant and in need [a home, independent living skills, job skills, etc].
Even in Old Town a surprising number of teens lack stable homes, they are not attending school and coach-surfing.
There is a whole lot of assistance provided by individuals, churches and other non-government groups. They can tell who needs it. What Gov. LePage is trying to do is stop providing taxpayer dollars for alcohol, cigarettes, big screen TVs and tattoos to those able to work.
As someone who has been in situations where I was unable to save or blew through my savings making it harder to get on my feet again I'm not a fan of this and glad to see most states aren't either but to see that maine is, well its disheartening.
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Originally Posted by boiselover
fair enough and I get the thinking behind it and I've been there it just makes it so much harder for people to end up self sufficient.
OK, let me get this straight...you want the state of Maine to support people while they "save" and work on being "self-sufficient"?? Over half of year 'round Mainers don't have $5,000 in a bank (or under a mattress), and will never be truly self-sufficient, but have never been on welfare!
Please try to understand, that welfare is for truly desperate people who have zero money to survive on, and are really needy. You want Maine taxpayers to support people while they save $5,000, when those same taxpayers don't have $5,000 themselves?? What am I missing here?
I have a military pension and my wife is a federal employee. She just became eligible for her federal pension, so she applied for it to see how much her pension would be, etc. As it turns out, for us on my military pension and with her federal pension, we will qualify for foodstamps.
My wife has decided to keep working for now.
I generally think of DOD pensions and Federal pensions as being rock solid respectable pensions. However they are small enough that even with two combined your gross income is small enough that without any children you qualify for some aid.
Well, there are still a lot of people on welfare and food stamps that work, they just can't afford to pay for housing and food plus utilities on their paycheck.
We have restrictions in Washington on what you can have if you're going to be on food stamps. I'm not exactly sure what they are since I know I'm not anywhere near going over them, but I do have an issue with not being able to keep a savings account with maybe $1000 in it or having a second car if I was married.
If a couple is working (and they may be both working part-time minimum-wage jobs) and one car gives out, at least there is still one other car for someone to drive to work and get groceries with. Also, if a repair on either car is worth more than the job is worth, it's very probable that car won't get fixed and now you only have one person working, which isn't really conducive to getting them out of poverty.
On the other hand, if a person is allowed to put money away in a savings account for just such an emergency, they'll be more likely to fix that car and keep going to work. And that money would be lots safer in a bank than at home under the mattress.
I ended up living in my truck while working full time making $5.50/hr. It took me years to pay off all my debts and work my way back up to $10 when I could finally afford to put first, last, and security on a place to live. I wasn't on food stamps at the time and I didn't have any restrictions on my money, though. If I had been forced to spend all I earned (well, what there was of it) in order to get food stamps, I never would have been able to save for a place to get me out of my vehicle.
Something else I keep seeing. Seems like all of you are agreed that Maine is full of poor people, yet you all want to cut benefits. May I respectfully ask how the last ten people left in Maine making any money and paying taxes are going to support the state when all those poor people are gone?
Well, there are still a lot of people on welfare and food stamps that work, they just can't afford to pay for housing and food plus utilities on their paycheck.
At one time we lived in Washington state and owned a home there. I spent a lot of effort shopping for land to homestead there. We really like the Olympic Peninsula, and we would have loved to retire there. But the COL and taxes are so high that I would have never been able to support a family on my pension, if we had decided to retire there.
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... We have restrictions in Washington on what you can have if you're going to be on food stamps. I'm not exactly sure what they are since I know I'm not anywhere near going over them, but I do have an issue with not being able to keep a savings account with maybe $1000 in it or having a second car if I was married.
$1000 is a lot less than the proposed limit of $5000 here.
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... If a couple is working (and they may be both working part-time minimum-wage jobs) and one car gives out, at least there is still one other car for someone to drive to work and get groceries with. Also, if a repair on either car is worth more than the job is worth, it's very probable that car won't get fixed and now you only have one person working, which isn't really conducive to getting them out of poverty.
Two income households where both jobs are part-time minimum-wage and seasonal are very common here among households raising children.
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... Something else I keep seeing. Seems like all of you are agreed that Maine is full of poor people, yet you all want to cut benefits. May I respectfully ask how the last ten people left in Maine making any money and paying taxes are going to support the state when all those poor people are gone?
Something else I keep seeing. Seems like all of you are agreed that Maine is full of poor people, yet you all want to cut benefits. May I respectfully ask how the last ten people left in Maine making any money and paying taxes are going to support the state when all those poor people are gone?
Oh thank you for saying this.
Frankly I don't see how anyone short of the professional class breaks into adult independence anymore. The cost of housing and vehicles are so out of whack with wages that I wouldn't be surprised to see more people living in trucks or even tents!
My usual soapbox speech: why is it so much easier for people to get all riled up about welfare when compared to corporate greed the money 'wasted' is chump change?
Frankly I don't see how anyone short of the professional class breaks into adult independence anymore.
By living within one's means (ie. going without the luxuries that we have become accustomed to knowing as "necessities")?
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Over half of year 'round Mainers don't have $5,000 in a bank (or under a mattress), and will never be truly self-sufficient, but have never been on welfare! 
