Countered the "Waiting for Cheques" Argument today...

[CatBoreal]

I cannot believe the stupidity of some people.

My partner at work, a fiscal conservative, asked if I had been keeping track of what's happening in New Orleans. I told her I had and was horrified by what we were seeing there.

She asked me why I thought people stayed. I said it was most likely they were too poor to leave. She said: "Yeah, waiting for their welfare cheque no doubt."

(Let me preface this by saying, I've been crying for days, haven't slept much and have been on tender hooks since all this started. I am surprised that I came up with a coherent answer.)

I said:

"If they were, can you blame them? Their money is either minimal or entirely gone because that's how welfare works, you can't save any up for a rainy day. So they're facing the loss of their home, no money for the forseeable future, no clothing, no food, no nothing. Not to mention they need to buy fuel for their vehicle, if they have one, so they could get the hell out of Dodge. Doesn't it make sense that they'd stick around and *hope* that maybe the could get some cash on hand to maybe tide them over until they got help?

However, given that there was a general evacuation order, and that most likely the Welfare cheque lady, the mail deliverer and the banker could afford to get out of town, do you think anyone would be that stupid to stick around for a cheque?"

That shut her up.

[txindy]

1. That really is a stupid talking point they use

Who would be there to cut the check, deliver the mail, and cash the check? :crazy: The freepers just parrot what they hear. They have no minds of their own.

[Zodiak]

2. it's racism

they so want to use the "N" word, but can't, so they resort to this coded language with a wink and a nudge to their white friends.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. "More excuses for Bush's mistakes."

When I'm dealing with a brain-dead Freeper, that's what I use.

Sometimes I tag it with, "Where is the Commander-In-Chief's sense of Responsibility?" Feeding a Freeper a couple of Freep buzzwords at a time usually creates brain overload, and you don't even have to be nasty to them to do it.

My mother works with a couple of Maximum Freepers where she works. I showed her how to deal with their jibes: "Hey, the President took responsibility on August 26th. It's on FEMA's web site and it's on the Presidential web site. Go read it there before you start lecturing."

--p!

[Lindacooks]

4. GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

That is a fabulous reponse!

[Catherine Vincent]

5. A DUer last night pointed out that if an idiotic repuke

mention anything about folks waiting on their welfare check, ask them why do you think they were on welfare? I don't know if they will but they'll have to admit that they think most of these people are blacks waiting on welfare checks. Then you can ask them "so you think most black people are on welfare?" Then you can inform them that they are what you call the "working poor" (living pay check to pay check).

p.s. this link--->http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/08/katrina.forgottentown.ap/index.html

I guess they will say the same about these folks too?

[Garbo 2004]

6. She obviously never heard of the working poor, people who have jobs but

not enough resources to leave especially when they had no where to go. Also, home owners, business owners, stranded tourists, disabled, elderly, and workers stayed. Some people had a choice, some didn't.

I'll wager none ever imagined, with promises of the feds who said they would be on the scene asap with assistance after the storm passed, that they would be stranded for days, in some cases a week or more, after the storm without food, water, medical care. Which is why critically ill patients who could not be moved were kept in hospitals. All they had to do was ride out the storm and relief would be there asap. That's what they were told.

And with "welfare reform" (enacted under the Clinton administration as I recall) welfare ain't quite the way it used to be, although folks like her wouldn't know that.