Benefits and Sky TV/plasma's etc

TarfHead said:
Do you really want to be a citizen in a State where a bureaucrat tells someone how they may and may not spend their money ?
Click to expand...


Yes, if it reduces my taxes, provides incentives for people to come off social welfare and make a positive impact on society.
 
TarfHead said:
Do you really want to be a citizen in a State where a bureaucrat tells someone how they may and may not spend their money ?
Click to expand...

No - but I object to giving them 'free' money above the necessities for living that they choose to spend however they please!

Id rather provide shelter, food, heat and light directly instead of just handing over the cash.

Its a bit like the beggar in town - I dont give him cash because if I do I know he will go to the off licence with it. But I would buy him a sandwich. Does that make me some kind of control freak? Maybe, but if Im going to give charity I want to see it used properly and not wasted on booze.
 
I agree with the op, I've got a two package deal from Sky as that's all I can afford. People who've never worked in their lives have the full Sky package, the same house as I kill myself working for and all that other people work for--for free. It's wrong. The government has enabled people to get like this-there's no incentive to get a job / no reason to work if it's all just given to you.
 
Don't cut benefits - cut the duration of benefits.

No lifetime JSA.

JSA of 5 yrs max across your lifetime.
 
truthseeker said:
My Oh has recently found himself in the unfortunate position of claiming Jobseekers Benefit.

He has had to go to the social welfare office on a number of occasions to sort out various issues (someone entered his address wrong on a computer, someone else told him the money would be there on a tuesday but then it wasnt and he should have been told friday etc....).

Last time he was there he was in a queue and the guy behind him in the queue was drinking a starbucks coffee and using an iphone to have a loud conversation where he stated that he 'had a bit of a head on him this morning cos he took a few yoks last night, but seeing as he had to get up to sign on for his wages, did yer man on the other end want to go for a few pints at lunchtime'.

The whole office could hear this conversation.
Click to expand...
God forbid that he might actually spend his redundancy payment, eh?
 
Complainer said:
God forbid that he might actually spend his redundancy payment, eh?
Click to expand...

Possibly. But unlikely. He was early 20s. He was dressed in the 'uniform' of shiny tracksuit bottoms and football jersey, tattoos extending up to be visible on the neck, and the hollow chested stoop that one associates with drug abuse.
 
truthseeker said:
Possibly. But unlikely. He was early 20s. He was dressed in the 'uniform' of shiny tracksuit bottoms and football jersey, tattoos extending up to be visible on the neck, and the hollow chested stoop that one associates with drug abuse.
Click to expand...
Ah silly me - he LOOKS like he never had a job, therefore he defintely never had a job. That explains everything.
 
Complainer said:
Ah silly me - he LOOKS like he never had a job, therefore he defintely never had a job. That explains everything.
Click to expand...

If he calls his benefit payment "wages" would you still give him the benefit of doubt? If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
Of course we could just ignore all evidence that the benefit rate in this country is more than we can afford and burden taxpayers with the debt to pay these layabouts for their nice to haves and the like if that's what you prefer Complainer!
 
Ceist Beag said:
If he calls his benefit payment "wages" would you still give him the benefit of doubt? If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
Click to expand...
If he's talking about 'wages', then it sounds to me that he is more used to being employed than unemployed.

But maybe we should stop building public policy based on what one bloke saw in the dole office?
 
Complainer said:
But maybe we should stop building public policy based on what one bloke saw in the dole office?
Click to expand...

Who said we were? But there is plenty of evidence to suggest the benefits in this country are far too generous, especially given the state of the public purse.
 
Complainer said:
Ah silly me - he LOOKS like he never had a job, therefore he defintely never had a job. That explains everything.
Click to expand...

Complainer - you might want to believe that the social welfare office is full of people who have worked for years and fallen on hard times. The reality is that there are some scroungers who have never worked a day in their lives and live off the state. My OH told me of one particular example. He was shocked by the numbers of people up there standing in line, drinking starbucks coffees (there is a starbucks nearby) and moaning about having to stand in line, while loudly discussing various activities that people would be disgusted that social welfare money is being spent on - drug use, alcohol use, sky packages, holidays abroad, the latest designer gear etc...

You may think that someone referring to their benefits as 'wages' means they are used to being employed. I would absolutely disagree with this - in my own experience the people who refer to their benefits as wages are those who are NOT used to earning an actual wage. Anyone I know who has genuinely fallen on hard times refers to the money as 'social welfare'.
 
truthseeker said:
Complainer - you might want to believe that the social welfare office is full of people who have worked for years and fallen on hard times. The reality is that there are some scroungers who have never worked a day in their lives and live off the state. My OH told me of one particular example. He was shocked by the numbers of people up there standing in line, drinking starbucks coffees (there is a starbucks nearby) and moaning about having to stand in line, while loudly discussing various activities that people would be disgusted that social welfare money is being spent on - drug use, alcohol use, sky packages, holidays abroad, the latest designer gear etc...
Click to expand...
I fully agree that there are people who have never worked a day and live off the State. I'm not so sure that I agree that many of these people are spending on sky and starbucks. Your OH has no idea of the status of any individual in the queue around him, so I don't see how you can come to any conclusions based on observations.

It is interesting to note that those who spend their welfare payments largely on smokes and booze are really being very patriotic. They are recycling most of their welfare back to the State via VAT and excise duties.
 
Mpsox said:
...neighbours of my in laws are on disability benefit yet the wheelie bin seems to be jammed full of beer bottles every Monday morning.
Click to expand...

Well it is their right to drink a lot of they wish - maybe they feel they need to? Not a great idea maybe but hardly indicative of a luxury lifestyle - you can beer for about €1 per bottle.

Their diet could well be poor - scrimping on that to fund their beer money. Perhaps they rarely buy new clothes or have a holiday?
 
truthseeker said:
My Oh has recently found himself in the unfortunate position of claiming Jobseekers Benefit.

He has had to go to the social welfare office on a number of occasions to sort out various issues (someone entered his address wrong on a computer, someone else told him the money would be there on a tuesday but then it wasnt and he should have been told friday etc....).

Last time he was there he was in a queue and the guy behind him in the queue was drinking a starbucks coffee and using an iphone to have a loud conversation where he stated that he 'had a bit of a head on him this morning cos he took a few yoks last night, but seeing as he had to get up to sign on for his wages, did yer man on the other end want to go for a few pints at lunchtime'.

The whole office could hear this conversation.
Click to expand...

:eek:
 
Complainer said:
Have you told your OH that it is quite rude to earwig on other people's conversations?
Click to expand...

How could he help overhearing them in close queuing quarters with people shouting - would you like me to suggest he wears earplugs when he goes to queue somewhere?
 
truthseeker said:
How could he help overhearing them in close queuing quarters with people shouting - would you like me to suggest he wears earplugs when he goes to queue somewhere?
Click to expand...
No need for that in my experience - just minding your own business has worked for me in any situation that I've been in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top