“You don’t have a paycheck, you don’t file taxes, you have no income.”
You can’t say that welfare caseworkers aren’t helpful. A man calling himself Ted Ceanneidigh walked into a Maine welfare office and presented his problem. He worked for himself. He had a lucrative, cash-only business and didn’t pay taxes. He had plenty of money and drove a Corvette. He showed his business card, which incorporated a certain well-known leaf as a distinctive symbol (and it wasn’t Canada’s maple leaf). Interestingly, he said he operated his parents’ fishing business, though that was going under — all they knew was that the boats were going out and money was being placed into their bank account. He was requesting the state’s subsidized medical assistance, though he had enough money to be able to afford private insurance —but that, he said, “doesn’t matter.”
That’s when the Maine civil servant advised Mr. “Ceanneidigh” to keep his income hidden. And offered him government assistance in medical care. After all, it made a sort of bureaucratic sense: The man couldn’t show a paycheck, didn’t file taxes. Obviously no income!
This was a setup, of course, a private “sting” operation organized by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. You can watch the video on YouTube.
It showed something interesting: The narrow focus of Health and Human Services caseworkers. They are there to give out “welfare.” Even to criminals. Even if it bankrupts the state.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
12 replies on “The Ceanneidigh Case”
Because “it’s good for everyone”.
And, (I think it was) a few weeks ago, a person receiving food stamps ( and I think welfare) won several million dollars in the lottery, AND WAS STILL collecting (and saw nothing wrong with it) food stamps.
But, consider, Geither & Daschele and a member of the president’s cabinet ( forgot her name, husband is a federal judge) forgot to pay taxes on tens of thousands (if not more,) in Daschele’s caase, i beleive it was in the area of $1 million in perks, not sure)- so why not take the free medical?
The politicans all do.
sorry if there are words spelled incorrectly
I’m having a little trouble reconciling your advocation for DIRECT DEMOCRACY with our Constitution.
You would appear to be trying to circumvent the one thing that the founders considered crucial to protect the liberty of the individual and the minority.
Are you against our Republican form of government?
Paul, you miss the real problem here and that is; The state should not be in the welfare business in the first place. This is real “common sense”!
For C to force A to give to B for no other reason than that C believes he is doing “good” (even if he has a majority with him) is merely thuggery.
…and why are you advocating for DIRECT DEMOCRACY?
1/2 the story, caseworker called supervisor who stopped the whole thing and retraining will be done.
paul lepage been looking at this.
The strong checks on government power are:
1) jury trials (jury nullification of law)
2) elections (only checking the worst of the worst, but providing a strong check against that, as a response. The worse of the worst is difficult for most humans to identify, so things need to get very bad indeed, before elections check totalitarianism.)
3) Citizens’ right to recall, and right to directly eliminate unjust laws.
If the Constitution fails to live up to its mixed promise, #3 is there, Brad. If the Constitution fails to live up to its promise, then the Republic was already destroyed, and “direct democracy” is a net benefit, since it allows people to directly limit their government-in-shambles.
Also, that’s another check against the worst of the worst, such as death camps, etc… If the government refuses to hold an election, or keeps something off the ballot, you can be sure it’s a warning sign of horrible intent, given who seeks the government jobs and the unconstitutional power they represent.
-Jake
Stories like this don’t surprise me. Neither does the “damage control” that follows their exposition. The welfare state’s “services” exist to buy political patronage. End of story.
It is wrong to be jealous of anyone else’s healthcare. The doctors in the Healthcare system compete to provide the best care for every patient. The patients do NOT compete in any aspect of the healthcare system. Ideally the doctors should be so good at their work and medicine shoulkd be so readily available that the doctors literally put themselves out of business. All forms of competition have limits. An NFL team could go 0 – 16 but a MLB team has never gone 0 – 162. The average person should have healthcare as good as the prisoners in our jails.
Brad — direct democracy is limited in the US via the Constitution — i.e. if a law is passed via a majority that violates the liberties guaranteed to individuals in the Constitution, it is supposed to be declared null and void via the courts. Jacob supports citizen initiatives which aligns with the right to petition the government guaranteed in the Constitution.
Regarding government welfare, I believe the argument that since the money is taken by force from some and then given to others, that the welfare is immoral. I also believe the Framers intended that government should never be in the welfare/redistribution business. It should be eliminated. But I fear the bankruptcy of the US will be the only opportunity to get rid of it.
Play informative for me, Mr. interent writer.