Why is it that people on welfare/social security always complain about bills but never pay them?

I was in the social security office to have my name changed and overheard a man complaining that he had not got his check, that he was disabled and needed to pay the electric bill. Within the 10-15 minutes he was in there he said that he was late, he had to meet friends to go on vacation to the mountains and the best way to get ahold of him was his cell phone. Why are working Americans paying for "disabled" people out of their tax money that have the money to go on vacation and pay for cell phones when they complain about necessary bills that needed to be paid?

i never said that this man was old. This was a late 20's early thirties white male, dressed in very nice clothes and driving a decent car. I am not judging him, I only ask why do the people getting help have to complain, and the people that are making the $5.15 an hour minimum wage make less than the people getting a free check each month and not appreciating it enough? Apologies to the people who are reading this that have welfare and social security and actually do pay all their necessary bills. Including internet access.

people on welfare need something to talk about and unlike people who work they cant talk or ***** about there job so they ***** about welfare or bills that working people are paying for anyway.I imagin that theses people will be givin you all kinds of answers about this and all I ask is how the hell they got a computer.

I saw your point of view, but also was among those who pointed out you were wrong in thinking disability and social security were welfare payments from the US taxpayer. Why ask if you don't want to learn? Report It

We have had taxes and welfare for thousands of years. Report It

I pay all my bills first.

1) You complain about people on welfare / social security based on one overheard example.

2) Social security and disability checks are not need-based, and social security is paid for by a person's own employment.

3) Cell phones are not more expensive than other phones. I use one for all my long distance because it is cheaper, and the phone was free.

4) Poor people and disabled people can still go on vacation to the mountains with their friends. It doesn't imply riches.

No doubt if I were there I would agree with you about this guy, but I think you draw too many conclusions based on the one incident, and you have not described anything actually outrageous, though maybe there was more to it than you have described. All I read is that someone in a hurry because he was going to the mountains went to complain that his disability check was late -- a grouchy guy who didn't want to wait in line, but who was complaining because he wanted to pay his biils, not because he didn't.

Welfare and Social Security are two differen things. The later we all pay into and our employer pays as much as we do. This includes disability insurance and my only gripe there is they consider drug and alcohol addictions as disabled. You'd be suprised how many alcoholic homeless people pull down a disability check each month.

Welfare is another issue; and general assistance is quite small. Still there is plenty of abuse but the real crime is the cost to disperse the welfare in the first place. We don't spend that much on welfare anymore; but we spend billions to actually give it away. Quite pathetic.

because they only want hand outs...once the hand outs stop comming they complain and complain untill some else gives em another hand out and so on and so on.....

yep I hear ya make you wonder if we are stupid & their the smart ones.... the more the get away with the more they try harder to get money..they use it for their needs but no paying rent, bills groceries is not a priority to them....
I for one, am fed up with my taxes going to these lazy people

the government needs to change their system & fast...

I know how you feel.

I remember once when I went to a supermarket to buy groceries, there was a Fat Lady in front of me buying all those foods with food stamps and even got Cash changes back when I paid my groceries with the money I worked hard for.

That was the day I decided to vote GOP.

Here is where you are missing key bits of information...

You as an employee pay into the Social Security Tax Fund. This man worked his whole life paying into the social security tax fund only to turn around and not get nearly as much out of it as he put in. But his bills are not cheaper. If anything they are more expensive. So this man who worked for a period of time is collecting probably less money than he put in and his bills have not gotten any cheaper... but he's making less money. He's worked for a living, he deserves a vacation.

The real question is why when people hit retirement age do their bills not do the same? Why does corporate america insist that old people pay the same for their electricity and heat and gas and air even though they are fully aware that their income is less? The answer is because no one cares about the elderly in this country... they don't spend as much money as they used to...

People like you need to stop over generalizing things. You don't know what anyone's situation is truly like until you've walked a mile in their shoes. I'm beyond poor, robbing peter to pay paul so to speak but I recently went to Seattle for vacation. How did I do that if I'm poor and can't pay my bills? Because someone else saw how hard I was working and treated me to a trip. I didn't pay a dime. How do you know this man paid for his vacation?

How do you know that his friends weren't paying for him to go on the vacation? Cell phones can cost the same as having one hardwired phone in the house depending on your "plan" and he may be part of a family plan and have free local calls. Do you know for a fact that he was on welfare and not on a disability pension, and just because someone isn't in a wheelchair or mentally challenged doesn't mean there isn't health issues that you can't immediately see, are you a doctor or a psychic? Maybe you need to walk a mile or two in a disabled/social security person's shoes before you are so quick to pass judgement on them. Perhaps you believe that if a person is on disability they need to be sitting a government subsidized housing with no phone, no electricity, no food, no clothes and no life, after all they did get sick what use are they to anyone in society!

WE, as wage earners, pay into the Social Security System our entire earning lives. If we become disabled, we are entitled to benefits...there is no requirements as to how those benefits are spent, just as there are no requirements as to how Retirement benefits are spent. Are you suggesting that a disabled person should not be allowed to leave his house? If he is due disability payments, he should get them... simple as that.

Because neither welfare nor social security is enough to pay the bills. 2) if people like you would give some of your money to help others than greed, nimby, conservitism, liberalism, poverty, pradaism, blingism, and every other ism would not exist. Furthermore, stop and look at yourself, you need the same things, how will you feel when your bubble burst and you need Soc Sec? Tax payer dollars thats a croc! WE MAKE MONEY HERE, your a fool and you are the reason people war and rob and steal I bet you think what Angelina and Brad are doing is stupid too. Some people! Maybe if you got your head out of your a$$ and stopped worrying about your precious tax payer dollars and more about being part of the solution to the worlds problems you would understand, dont worry keep voting for bush it will get you what you want i am sure.

What about that disabeled man yo spoke of, maybe he was part of a team that built the highway you drive to get your precious money, better yet maybe he manufactured the pills you take to keep your dumb a$$ alive. You never know where a person comes from...your a fool, I hope you dont belive in religion and GOD either cuz if you do you give your fellow humankind a bad name.

what a croc!

IGNORAMUS

Very good question Lisa and the only response I can make to that is our social welfare system has been continually revamped to assist those who chose to remain ignorant, lazy and socially displaced. Not unlike our correctional systems in many aspects in that we house, feed, clothe and even pay them to NOT rehabilitate their lives. Personally, I don't see a solution to the problem other than for hard working American tax payers to collectively unite and refuse to pay taxes without true representation although that's certainly like waiting for the next ice age to happen. We need a tax payer movement but to get a vast majority to take active roles would be like asking people to not eat at McDonald's. Isn't going to happen.

This is the kind of redneck riff-raff I hear all the time. You take a snippet from a conversation you overheard at a government office and you automatically assume: (a) This individual is paying for his own vacation; (b) Having a cell phone is a luxury (e.g. they are cheaper than landlines where I live); and (c) Somehow, this individual is not deserving of his benefits. If this individual managed to be approved for Social Security Benefits, he: (a) did work all his life to pay into the system in order to collect; and (b) is disabled enough to meet their stringent criteria. I am basically tired of hearing from people who want to micromanage the lives of others; for once, leave the poor alone!

You forget that you pay into the social security system and that you get an amount back based on what you payed in.

But I suppose that you believe that people who worked but are now old or disabled should not have phones.

The fact that this gentleman was concerned about his bills is a good sign. They are a priority for him. He wants to pay them.

I can understand that some people believe that the poor, old, sick, or disabled are not entitled to have any comforts or enjoyment in life. I will never get upset at a disabled person for buying a $5 chocolate cake when he can get by with a $1 package of crackers. That man you saw is hardly living a better life than you are if he is worrying about being able to pay the electric bill. Cell phones cost at most $30/month more than a land line, hardly living the good life. I believe a $350 vacation once a year is acceptable for someone who lives in government housing watching a cheap TV day after day. That's saving $30/ month for a brief period of enjoyment.

Do you seriously believe that disabled people should be made to have harder lives so that you can have your taxes lowered 1%?

Your disabled friend lacked patience. Did you stop to think that a hard life and living with a disability can affect your mood? Show some compassion for handicapped people in the future.

All we need is for the government to come in and tell us how to live our lives.

Because welfare breeds laziness...if welfare was done away with (and it should) then people would starve or work. Which do you think they would do?

i FIND THIS QUESTION VERY OFFENSIVE, AND FEEL THAT YOU MAY BE JUDGE MENTAL.. My father is 70 years old he has been disabled for the past 10 years because of a terminal illness. Let me remind you the 50 years before he became ill he paid taxes and had social security withheld from his check. therefore he is drawing what he is in titled too. My father made over 50,000 a year before he became ill was forced to file bankruptcy and loes everything he ever worked for because he was in the hospital for two months in a coma. Also disabled people have a hard time. paying for their medications because they are forced to meet and pay a monthly spend down on their medical bills. Did it ever occur to you his friends and family are paying for his vacation, so he may enjoy the rest of his life!!! You may one day find yourself in need from an accident or illness,

You answered your own question. Not all people who recieve social security or public assistence are dead beats. Most DO pay their bills. People who recieve SS and PA are no different than other people. Most are responsible people but a small group are not. You really shouldn't generalize or lump all people together. Furthermore, Social Security Disability is based on the money that a person has paid into his or her social security accound when he or she was working. It is not a hand out. And it is not based on financial need. It is based solely on the contributions made to the account IF the Social Security Administration determines that the claimant is disabled.

As for the man you saw, perhaps his family or friends were paying for his vacation. For all you know, it may have been his LAST vacation before his impending death. And perhaps he needs a cell phone to stay in touch with his medical team. Maybe he is on a list for a transplant. I don't know and neither do you.

I noticed that you put quotation marks around the word disabled.
Why? Are you suggesting that the person you saw wasn't disabled? Perhaps he had a disability that you couldn't see. For all you know, he may have cancer, liver disease, kidney failure, AIDS,or some other serious condition that prevents him from working.

Now I have a question for you?
Why do some people feel the need to judge other people and reach conclusions without any real information upon which to base their conclusions?
By the way, I am a retired Registered Nurse who used to work with disabled people.