RIP Duchess

My best friend and my avatar. 2004-2011.

Government Leeches And Government Enablers

Or “how the entitlement mentality is destroying the nation.”

Michigan resident and two million dollar lottery winner Leroy Fick still uses food stamps. And it’s legal. And he feels no shame. From WNEM:

Fick said the Department of Human Services told him he could continue to use the card, which is paid with Michigan tax dollars.

“If you’re going to … try to make me feel bad, you aren’t going to do it,” said Fick.
…
DHS spokeswoman Gisgie Gendreau said under federal guidelines, if a person receives a lump-sum payment, the winnings are not counted as income.

Fick’s lawyer (Who’s paying for his lawyer? And is the fee higher than the food stamp benefits?) said it’s all nice and legal like. Too bad Fick is stuck wheeling around town in a brand new Audi convertible!

Meanwhile, Doug Powers has “the urge to go see Atlas Shrugged today.” Dana Pico suggests the possibility of some wishful thinking. “Would it be wrong of me to hope that some harm befalls him?”

Meanwhile, in another part of the city… err, country…

Tina Korbe ( pronounced kor-bee) reports on leech-enabling judges, focusing on one in particular. And she quotes the Wall Street Journal.

In 2005, [administrative law judge David B.] Daugherty’s disability benefits approval rate stood at 90 percent — but it has only gone up from there. From 2006 to 2008, he approved benefits about 95 percent of the time. Then, last year, he upped the ante to 99.7 percent — and is on track to increase that what little bit he can in 2011.

But Daugherty doesn’t merely approve benefits. He also scoffs at “stingier” SSDI judges.

“Some of these judges act like it’s their own damn money we’re giving away,” Mr. Daugherty told a fellow Huntington judge, Algernon Tinsley, who worked in the same office until last year, Mr. Tinsley recalled.

Judge, here’s a clue: You’re supposed to act like it’s your own money, because it’s my money you’re spending!

Tina Korbe goes on to explain that these cases only go before the judge when they’ve already been denied twice. In my book, that should mean a very strong likelihood that the cases should be denied. And so far this year, 127 administrative law judges have approved 90 percent or better of these cases. Doug Powers and Dana Pico’s comments fit pretty well in this instance, too.

But that’s not all!! There’s more!!

Allahpundit reports on another government leech.

Tom Coburn: Why are we paying disability to “adult babies”?

On the one hand, yeah.

On the other hand, watch the clip below. If this guy’s not “disabled,” who is?

“Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom-make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time,” Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter Monday to Inspector General Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr…

Here’s the video of the government leech fat man dressed like a baby.

If it weren’t for societal and government enablers, this stuff wouldn’t be happening. And I wouldn’t be paying my tax dollars for this stuff to be happening. Of course, it helps that these programs from which these leeches and enablers are sucking money are unconstitutional according to the actual words of the US Constitution.