A good friend of mine has multiple sclerosis. For over two years she fought to get disability as it is too much on her body to work the necessary hours in order to sustain a comfortable living situation. Comfortable as in, being able to have walls around you, yourself fed and the heat on in the winter. After two years of making phone calls and filing papers that would lead to more phone calls and claim denials she gave in and paid a lawyer to represent her even though she could not really afford it. The lawyer brought the same claim she attempted to file for over two years and it was approved immediately.
She began receiving $1000 a month to live. $500 goes directly to rent to live in a slightly shady part of town. $100 goes to medicare so she can make her regular necessary check ups. Now it is realized that her medicine for multiple sclerosis is not covered by medicare and she needs to get something called gap insurance. This is going to cost somewhere around $150 a month. This leave her $250 a month to live with $200 food stamps.
Before going on disability she was receiving $200 food stamps and $200 cash assistance. After receiving disability for a few months they turned off her food stamps because they said she didn't need them anymore since she was receiving other benefits. After a few months of just using the cash assistance they told her that she should not have cash assistance and should have food stamps but since she was using the cash assistance when she was not supposed to have it that she now had to repay all that she used...something like 4 or 5 months worth.
Don't get me wrong it is a blessing that there is money available for her to live. Even if it is in a shady part of town. And it is great that she has some money for food and expenses even if it is just $450 a month. That is a little over $100 a week to eat and live. It is amazing that she is provided for in any way. But why do they give and then just take it all back forcing someone to live in poverty?
This is her story. There a millions more like this in one form or another. Even if it is not this drastic the entire population is taxed and taxed and their taxes are taxed. Most people accept this money being taken from their pocket in every paycheck and with every transaction at the store because it goes back into the country and makes it a better place and helps its citizens. Yet how well are the citizens who are sick and hungry cared for?
While trillions of dollars go into the "defense" budget this country marches on plowing through countries full of brown people because they have weapons that we sold them. TRILLIONS. To build the war machine. While my friend with a disease lives in poverty. And when i leave her apartment and walk up the street i see the streets filled with trash, junkies sitting on stoops, people who walk up and down the street talking to themselves, families with nothing to eat and homeless people asking for change or a cigarette to suppress their hunger.
Imagine if those trillions went back into the country of the citizens whose hard labor not only earned but CREATED that money that goes into the system that build the war machine to fight the imaginary enemies the machine itself creates. Not only could every human in this country be provided for but every human in the world could. Nobody needs to be hungry, homeless or ignorant.
Instead everyone is robbed so a machine can go murder countries full of innocent beautiful men, women and children.
Where did the living Nazi's go after World War II? Who won that war? The only difference in the blueprints is in scale. And this one is grand. A grand lie on a grand scale.
Happy Memorial Day.
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