food for thought

[luckyleftyme2]

Ijust had a chance to read this; my emotions are mixed because it effects many walks of life but the one that bothers me the most is the part about the veteran!
Everyday people

Published:
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 2:06 PM EST
As Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spending continues to exceed budget projections, Gov. Paul LePage recently renewed his call to cut benefits and adjust eligibility standards to reduce the so-called “welfare rolls.”

Amid the political rhetoric, let’s not forget that MaineCare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and similar programs funded by the DHHS budget are human services: Help for real people with real needs.

To emphasize the humanity and individuality of those Mainers who depend upon public assistance programs for basic needs or survival, replace the dehumanizing bureaucratic terms for “public assistance recipients” and “the unemployed” with more descriptive, humanizing terms. For example:

Should we require that “mothers” (instead of “welfare recipients”) undergo mandatory drug testing?

Is it really good public policy to reduce assistance to “elderly widows” or “parents of low-income children” (instead of “MaineCare recipients”) to preserve increased funding to higher education?

Would Maine be on the right track, as LePage recently suggested, if the state trimmed unemployment benefits to “veterans who came back to find their jobs eliminated” (rather than “the jobless”)?

As legislators found out earlier this year when Mainers turned out in droves to share their heart-wrenching personal stories and the real, immediate impacts of social service cuts, recognizing the humanity of people dependent upon state government greatly complicates deliberations about revenues and expenditures.

On Thursday, the same day LePage reiterated his suggestions for welfare drug testing and stricter MaineCare eligibility limits, the governor visited a homeless shelter in Ellsworth. We urge him to continue meeting with Maine’s less fortunate residents to keep fresh in his mind the faces of poverty — not just the numbers.

[e-mail]

Would Maine be on the right track, as LePage recently suggested, if the state trimmed unemployment benefits to “veterans who came back to find their jobs eliminated” (rather than “the jobless”)?

I have a neighbor who has twice served his country in Iraq and Afghanistan He has given to this country aprox. three and a half years overseas away from his family. He had children in college and high school the first time he was called and a grandchild on the way the last time. I know he is an excellent worker and has always taken any overtime offered. I'm sure this has put a financial burden on his family but have never heard him complain. Both times he has returned he has had to find a new employer. How do you suppose this will effect his retirement? do you suppose
a man in his early fifties can build up a pension like this?
how about the businesses he worked for that don't have to maintain a position for a veteran? because it puts a hardship on them? what f-- hardship!
they could hire someone with this reasoning ; you are taking the position of a warrior
and if and when he returns he will have this job back if he wants it. if possible I will find a place for you if not you will be terminated! hmm to simple? Well that vet could be the reason you still have a country to own a business!
really how low is our society getting?
you want to save money gov. check out the profit margin your vendors are getting!