Here is one example of our wonderful welfare system. About 2 years ago my best friend was kicked out of her boyfriends home with her one month old baby. While she was pregnant (she was 38 years old) with her only child she lost her job and continued through her pregnancy with only unemployment to assist her since no one would hire her because she was pregnant. When he kicked her out of their home she came to my home to stay since she had nowhere else to go. With no job and her unemployment gone she had no money so I encouraged her to seek some assistance for the first time in her life. She went out and got the paperwork she needed to fill out and come home with a glimmer of hope that maybe she could get on her feet. She filled out all of the paperwork and turned it in. With in a couple of days she was denied all benefits because she was living in my house and I did not qualify for benefits. This saga continued for several months and even appealed their decision to no avail. However while she was trying to get assistance several migrant families would come in and would be given assistance with just about all of their needs including food, insurance, and vehicle maintanence. Talk about a slap in the face to someone who paid into the fund her whole life. Fair, I think not. She finally found a job as a waitress in a restaurant in town and I saw her go to work and make 4 dollars in tips which really did not pay for her gas to work. She eventually found and decent paying job and finally was able to move from my residence after 18 months without ever receiving any assistance for her or the baby. Something in this system needs to change. I guess I do not know how they can help some and not others.

Times are very tough through out the state and as a State employee I have noted that nothing is being told to any employees about the status of their jobs. Our governor initiated a business process through out the state and held town hall meeting with her employee’s telling them how much she valued all of our opinions. Well she spent millions on this and has since kicked all of our opinions to the side. Inclusion………right. I go to work everyday and watch all of my fellow works who are scared of what their future holds for them and their families. I also watch them looking for other jobs outside of the state of Michigan. Michigan is slowing losing well educated and well trained workers. I would probably be right there with them however I have 12 years to retirement and could not even begin thinking about another 25 years with another department.

I believe Michigan has a lot of potential and I enjoy living in our great state. What the solution would be, I am not sure but what has been tried is not working and the state continues to decline. Something has to change.

My mother in law(poor because of her own actions and that is a fascinating study into how to easily get benefits cause everyone owes me mentality) was put into a nursing home under false pretenses. The home knew the family was lying, as well as my mother in law. I got with the Attorney Generals office and asked for an investigation. Within 4 days I had a reply that the state investigated the situation is not going to do anything. Within the letter was a flyer asking that anyone knowing of, report medicaid fraud!…here’s the kicker…the family sold her home and split the money…state got nothing. She stayed in that home for 1-1/2 years. That was minimum $7000 per month that could have gone to someone deserving…

Why would I throw that up at you? Not to be mean, but to point out that it is the honest guy that wants to work that gets kicked around. You should be at the top of the list, not excluded entirely! Your case is a bit different in that workman’s comp is involved. Those attorneys expect that you will give up because they will drag it out and try to force your hand. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t investigate your actions on the street. (taking video when you are not aware of it) Thank god for your parents.

Aaron, you are the perfect example of what the system was set up to take care of. You are also the perfect example of how the system needs a complete overhaul, if not privatized and get state workers out of it. You are not included in the 4 years and your off mantra that I scream. You are a disability case and that is vastly different.

Granholm didn’t inherit a bad economy, she inherited the auto industry. Rather than deal with the handwriting that was on the wall 20 years prior to her campaigning, she blames Bush. She courts union jobs and brings 600 all the while, 2800 are leaving at the exact same time. The auto industry were one of the 1st to outsource overseas, to save a buck(think plants in Canada and Mexico), but now the unions scream about how unfair outsourcing is? We lost work to Ohio and Indiana that should have come to MI, all because Jennifer had another plan…but I am glad it ended up in the mid-west. In my neck of the woods, southwest MI, we are growing through investment in the medical industry, ala Dick DeVos and family and many other generous people….Do you think she could support that? Oh heck no! Nevermind that it created jobs and brings revenue.

Everyday I see op-eds in the newspapers about how we should be nice to Jen and cut her some slack, it was the evil Republicans that cut the SBT! Well that $900 billion shortfall was there before it, as a matter of fact she hid it during the campaign….take a look at how much the state budget allocated for advertising MI as a great place to start a business..as some of the readers here about the prime advertising slots that we paid for in AZ, CA etc…look how much is being promised to new business start-up…but Aaron can’t get benefits he rightfully deserves…

Heck, take a look at Detroit…look at what it was and what it has become. One empty building and house after the next. Why aren’t some of those structures being condemned and then sold? Do you realize the potential for revenue/growth if the state would allow that? Do you realize that it will take away the safehavens for the gangs and drug dealers that basically are squatters on the private property?

Are you blown away yet?

I ruptured a disc in my spine several years ago at work and was generally taken care of by worker’s comp for a while – until they decided (post-surgery and before they paid the bill) that my injury didn’t happen at work (lawsuit pending, to say the least). I didn’t qualify for state assistance during that period so I didn’t apply for it. It has now been a YEAR, four identical re-application forms, and two state-paid doctors later and they’re barely giving me enough assistance (for food only) to keep me alive. Even though several of my own doctors (helping me for free I might add) have testified in my comp case that I’m permanently disabled and will most likely not be able to work again.

Now, in the past week, I’ve been told I need to fill out all these forms again or I’m losing my meager food stamp allotment. With Granholm’s threatened state shut-down, I’m not exactly hopeful that I’ll be getting ANY financial aid, let alone renewed food stamps.

As I said, I think the standards for receiving assistance were lax at some point, but they sure aren’t right now. Were it not for my parents spending their retirement money on my care, I’d be out on the street right now. So I’m not arguing with you – just presenting a different perspective.

Aaron

The problem with the services being cut back isn’t that the services are being reduced but rather that people have come to rely on government assistance as a lifestyle. It stopped being a hand up and became a hand out decades ago. I worked in or managed two rent to own stores. Our customers were far from destitute, but many had been living in government housing for decades. I lost count of how many multidisk CD changers, home theater systems, or big screen tvs I’ve delivered to people living in government housing (aka “the projects”) because it was cheaper than renting a regular apartment. We had customers who were spending $100 / week renting big screens and other consumer electronics while crying poor and living in government housing. What is wrong with that picture? Too poor to pay rent so the government has to pay it for them, but not too poor to spend over $450 a month to rent a big screen TV with a home theater system. They were living in 2 story tonwhouses with utilities capped at $30/month. The problem isn’t that they’re cutting services that people need, it’s that the people have become such parasites that they need someone to wipe their noses for them.