Paul LePage apparently not interested in Lewiston Mayor's online welfare registry

[jpak]

Source: Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage isn't showing interest in sponsoring a bill by the Lewiston mayor to create an online registry of residents receiving welfare benefits.

Peter Steele, LePage's communication director, tells the Sun Journal that there's no plan for the governor to submit such a bill.

Mayor Robert Macdonald said in a column in the Twin City Times that he plans to submit the bill.

He told the Sun Journal the idea wasn't to publicly embarrass welfare recipients, but to make the information available to the public to fight welfare fraud and abuse.

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Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/news/0001/11/30/paul-lepage-apparently-not-interested-lewiston-mayors-online-welfare-registry/1789325#comments

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The Penguin misses a chance to shame the poor?

It's the Allen's I tell ya...

[Chakab]

1. When LePage someone has lost LePage, you know that he's a real asshole.

[virgogal]

2. Why would this shame the poor? It wouldn't bother me. I

don't find being poor anything to be ashamed about .

[PotatoChip]

3. This, if passed, would publicize your full name, your address, what type of government assistance

you are receiving, how much you are receiving, and how long you have been receiving it.

As far as I can tell, it serves no legitimate purpose other than to shame poor people. I'm shocked that Gov. LePage is not going along with it.

[Lucky Luciano]

4. I wonder which friend or family member of Lepage is on the dole. nt

[SwankyXomb]

5. LePage likes the idea

There's just not enough money in it for him to skim from.

[davidthegnome]

6. This should be illegal for so many reasons....

When the little store I used to work at had to stop accepting food stamps (the state started charging a fee for the use of the EBT-card machines) we had a little note up on the window that announced, over a month in advance, that we would be doing so. I remember many angry white men coming in and praising the hell out of the decision. When I told them it had nothing to do with how the store (or it's owners) felt about the food stamp program or helping the poor, they seemed disappointed - and angrier.

There's a lot of people out there (certainly many democrats among them) that feel that any welfare programs are often cheated and misused. In rare instances, perhaps they are. Working in retail though, I saw a lot of people in a lot of different situations. Some of them would count out pennies on the counter to buy things like toilet paper, or a bag of rice, or milk. I'm sure there were many more that didn't even have the pennies - these people badly needed whatever help they could get - and some of them worked full time jobs. Some of them benefited from welfare programs - and good. Damn, I mean, isn't that part of why we pay taxes to begin with?

I have argued this point with many conservatives (and some democrats) in the past. The fact that a few people may abuse the system, does not make the system worthless. Nor does this mean that anyone who is benefiting from the program is doing so dishonestly. What happens when and if the conservatives manage to eliminate the programs? Long, long lines at soup kitchens and food pantries... until many desperate people turn to theft or violence. It would be very, very bad, to say the least.

As for making the public aware in order to fight fraud and abuse...., there will be perhaps one or two cases of it that will be proven - if there are any at all. Parents and children will be shamed, harassed - and likely bullied or worse - when their neighbors, friends - and pretty much everyone else has access to this information about them. The real force behind this is ignorance, hatred - and contempt for the poor.

How can anyone even propose this kind of shit without being shamed out of office?