Imagine republicans applying for welfare & food stamps, oh the pain, the pain.

[Philosoraptor]

Imagine them being forced to suffer the humiliation of standing in unemployment lines, welfare and medicaid lines, soup lines, I imagine they'll STILL be blaming the Democrats while they stand there with their kids.

No, I don't look forward to it, but just imagine it.

[Warpy]

1. I just want to see the smugness wiped off their piggy faces

I'm starting to see it now as the awful truths about the Magoo/bible Barbie ticket and the cash grab sink in.

I don't wish welfare on anybody. It's a lousy way to live.

[texastoast]

3. Piggy faces

Ha! I just got finished rereading Animal House. Needed to prepare myself for what is coming.

[Philosoraptor]

4. It IS a lousy way to live I'm sorry to say.

[FarCenter]

2. It would be painful for the "country-club" Republicans

But the "septic-tank" Republicans would just dig for root vegatables and shoot a moose for meat?

[texastoast]

6. I'm a septic tank Democrat

And what we will be finding out about is that by deforestation, we've gotten rid of a lot of survival food. Many trees species contain edible inner bark that can be harvested and eaten as starch. Cattails from drained swampy areas are an incredible food source. The list goes on and on.

[undergroundpanther]

5. Sorry

But I'll be LAUGHING that the fucking assholes,hoping their benefits get screwed up,and they wait,wait,like so many other desperate poor people do,when they thought they were immune to failure as they spouted coultergiest talking points watching them panic and whine as that stubborn shell is crushed by reality whining about what they deserve and they go beg the liberal next door for help because everyone tells them to shut up and go away, you republicans caused this shit from the beginning.Let them go cry at Reagan's grave for redemption the assholes.These stupid conservatives loved feudalism and the divine right of kings bullshit as long as they were not made the lowest class peons in this glorious empire of shit.And when they stand in the bread line with people they insulted,didn't help and shunned they will have to see what their liar ideology is all about.And cry.

When the thugs they idolized throw them out of the pram,I will be laughing, not with them, but AT them.Because I hate all things wall street and conservative.I like them to feel the pinch others have been forced to feel for YEARS.

[Philosoraptor]

7. I'd be happy to switch yearly salaries with them.

When they get TURNED AWAY from the food stamp line will they still admit they voted for bush, two fucking times?

[shraby]

8. Just maybe they'd find out it isn't so easy to

collect a welfare check..the regulations are strict on who qualifies and what you can own.

[Lyric]

9. I've seen it happen before. It's not pretty.

Republicans have no idea how the welfare system works. They actually *believe* the stupid right-wing talking points about lazy welfare queens, so when THEY find themselves in a tough stretch, they expect to be able to walk right in and get welfare help, no problem--after all, those "lazy" people have no trouble getting it. Unfortunately for them, the right-wing notion of how welfare works is, well, WRONG. You can't just walk in and get help. There are a thousand rules and regulations involved.

An acquaintance of mine named Richard tried to get welfare a couple of years ago--he expected to be able to just breeze in and get a handout, because (to quote him,) "All those lazy fucks have no problem getting a handout--why should I?" Unfortunately, he didn't realize that if you own an asset worth more than $1000, you usually don't qualify for cash. If you're not disabled and you don't have any kids, you usually don't qualify for cash. They offered him about $20 a month in Food Stamps, but nothing more. He bitched for months afterward, and I tried to ignore it, but eventually I had to say something.

Richard: I'm so sick of these welfare bums. *I* tried to get help, a decent working man, and they turned me down! But these lazy fucks can just suck the teat dry, easy street all day, no questions asked. I tell you, it's enough to make a man blow his fucking top.

Me: Did you ever consider that maybe the reason you were turned down is because it ISN'T easy to get welfare? That there are some pretty crazy-strict rules, which means that the only people getting it are people who MEET those rules? Which means they're probably genuinely desperate and needy, and NOT just a bunch of "lazy bums?"

Richard: *sputters* Well...I...that's bullshit. If they weren't lazy, they wouldn't NEED welfare! They could get a damned job.

Me: Did YOU have a job when you applied for welfare?

Richard: Of course I did. *MY* case was different. My hours had been cut, and it was just turning winter, so the gas bill was skyrocketing--it wasn't MY fault.

Me: Did you ever consider that maybe other people are just as "different" as you? That their situations might be as complex and unfortunate as yours, and that maybe they aren't entirely at fault either? Just like you?

Richard: *blathers on with some anecdote about how he once knew some people who got welfare, they were lazy/worthless schmucks, therefore ALL welfare recipients are just like Those People He Knew*

Me: It's not exactly fair to judge all welfare recipients by the actions of a few bad apples. You can't just assume that your experience is universal. That's like saying that all black people are bad because you once knew a black guy who was an asshole.

Richard: Well I'm just sayin', if the welfare system wasn't completely screwed up, they would have helped ME. I'm a working man, goddamnit. What the hell is the system FOR, if not to help people like me?

Me: Well they WOULD have helped you, if you had met the standards. You could have sold your car, for example. Then you wouldn't have been over the asset limit.

Richard: If I sold my car, how the hell would I have gotten to work? That's crazy.

Me: You could have taken the bus. Many, many welfare recipients don't have cars. They walk, or take the bus.

Richard: *sputters* Well...it's HARD to do that. I have a bad back, the old knee injury, I couldn't handle that kind of physical exertion every day, blah blah blah.

Me: And yet you seem to think that poor people are in perfect health, and therefore should be able to "get a damned job" even if they don't have cars. You blame them for their own circumstances, without even knowing what those circumstances ARE. You call them lazy, worthless, etc., without knowing a single thing about how they wound up on welfare. You don't seem inclined to be forgiving to THEM, so why should anyone be forgiving to YOU?

Richard: But *MY* case is DIFFERENT! I wasn't at fault! (ad nauseum)

I'd dread the thought of Republicans showing up at the welfare office, truly. They have two sets of standards--one for themselves, in which everything is excused, and one for Those Other People, in which everything is "their own damned fault. Personal responsibility!" You'll often find the same mentality in the pro-life crowd--"MY abortion is for a GOOD reason, but fuck the rest of you!"

[Philosoraptor]

10. I see Adam Sandler and Sean Penn in the movie

Very nice characterization, that's exactly how it would go.

"My welfare line visit with Andre"

[uppityperson]

11. Some already are. It is difficult way to live. And they still blame the Dems.

[LeftishBrit]

12. I wouldn't wish it on them for all their lives...

but it might do them good to experience something like that for about a week.

Some years ago, a British Tory politician, Michael Portillo, accepted a challenge to change places for a week with a working-class single mother, and look after and feed her four children while doing two low-paid part-time jobs. He just barely made it through the week, and after that changed from being one of our most right-wing Tories to being one of our most liberal Tories. I sometimes think that ALL MPs and others in positions of power should be required to do something similar!

[Philosoraptor]

13. Walking a mile in the shoes of others can be a shock.