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GOP Maine Mayor Wants To Create Public List Of Those On Welfare
The mayor of Lewiston, Maine, has called on the the state legislature to create a public online registry with the names and addresses of those on welfare in the state, as well as how long those individuals have been receiving benefits.
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Macdonald lamented that there is not list already, blaming "our liberal, progressive legislators and their social-service allies" for making welfare recipients "a victimized, protected class." He did note that individuals' personal information like financial and medical records would be "blocked from busybodies who seek it out of curiosity."
The mayor also said he would propose two additional pieces of legislation that would put limits on General Assistance, Maine's emergency benefits program. One bill would keep individuals from receiving General Assistance benefits for more than 60 days in a lifetime. The other would prevent the state from giving benefits to children born after an individual has already been accepted to the General Assistance program.
In an interview with the Portland Press Herald, Macdonald said he hoped his bill would keep people off of welfare benefits.
"Go into a grocery store. They flaunt it," he said of people receiving benefits. "I’m not sorry. I hope this makes people think twice about applying for welfare."
Macdonald also told the Press Herald that he hopes the list will help the state "go after all these people who are gaming the system." And he acknowledged that the list may hurt some individuals.
"Some people are going to get harmed, but if it’s for the good of everybody, that’s the way it is," he said.
He told the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal that he hopes the bill will stop people from coming to the state seeking benefits.
"It's just killing the city," he said. "The biggest thing here is the albatross around our neck that is welfare. If we can just bring that under control we could probably start really going. Start really prospering and bring the tax rate down."
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TPM
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Macdonald lamented that there is not list already, blaming "our liberal, progressive legislators and their social-service allies" for making welfare recipients "a victimized, protected class." He did note that individuals' personal information like financial and medical records would be "blocked from busybodies who seek it out of curiosity."
The mayor also said he would propose two additional pieces of legislation that would put limits on General Assistance, Maine's emergency benefits program. One bill would keep individuals from receiving General Assistance benefits for more than 60 days in a lifetime. The other would prevent the state from giving benefits to children born after an individual has already been accepted to the General Assistance program.
In an interview with the Portland Press Herald, Macdonald said he hoped his bill would keep people off of welfare benefits.
"Go into a grocery store. They flaunt it," he said of people receiving benefits. "I’m not sorry. I hope this makes people think twice about applying for welfare."
Macdonald also told the Press Herald that he hopes the list will help the state "go after all these people who are gaming the system." And he acknowledged that the list may hurt some individuals.
"Some people are going to get harmed, but if it’s for the good of everybody, that’s the way it is," he said.
He told the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal that he hopes the bill will stop people from coming to the state seeking benefits.
"It's just killing the city," he said. "The biggest thing here is the albatross around our neck that is welfare. If we can just bring that under control we could probably start really going. Start really prospering and bring the tax rate down."
....
TPM
C'mon Lewiston, vote this guy out.
4 replies
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