Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Rob Long ·
March 8, 2012 at 8:09am
From CNN:
Amanda Clayton hit it big playing the Michigan Lottery. Like many winners, she used her $1 million prize to buy a new house.
But the Lincoln Park, Michigan, resident is receiving money in another form -- $200 a month in state food assistance, according to CNN Detroit affiliate WDIV.
And she's not sorry about it, either:
Asked if she had the right to the public assistance money, Clayton answered, "I kind of do. I have no income, and I have bills to pay. I have two houses."
Another reason why I miss Ronald Reagan.
- Comment (20)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (0)
Comments:
Dec '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Clearly she is in need. Where can I donate? Would homeless people be willing to chip in to help out since they have such few bills?
Nov '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Makes me glad I get up before dawn to drive to work. When my money is taken for taxes, it feels good to know it goes to people who really need it.
May '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
We heard the dog whistle, Rob. Wink, wink. (That's a joke, MSNBC)
Jul '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
USDA and state agencies recruit people to go on food stamps. To go off of them, it's the honor system. Exactly. Backward.
Jun '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
If you've ever been in a convenience store on the first of the month, it's a real eye-opener listening to underclass patrons in line for the lotto. Life for them is a lottery. The idea that you can lift yourself out of poverty through hard work and perseverance is completely absent. Lotto corrupts public morality.
The flip side is that state lotteries are a devilishly clever way to tax the welfare class. And it's completely voluntary. Makes you wonder why the clergy hasn't started a crusade against this obvious exploitation of poor people. The government giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other, all on the same day!
Nov '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
I make it a point to go to Walmart with my fiance on the first Saturday of the month. It is slowly making her a libertarian.
Dec '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Dogbert, of the Dilbert comic strip, describes the lotto as a tax on people who are bad at math.
May '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
The creation of state run lotteries is morally the worst thing we've done since Jim Crow. Amazing how we took something run by the mafia, legalized it, monopolized it and now market it to poor people who can't afford it. Why isn't there more outrage that we allow our government to advocate destructive behavior and use that destructive behavior as a revenue stream? I'm all for legalizing most vices including gambling but government should never monopolize and promote it. Can't we parse allowing vice and promoting vice?
Jul '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Speaking of...
A couple of years ago, I was behind a young gal (early 20s) at the gas station checkout who bought $20 worth of lotto tickets. She told the cashier that it would be nice to win some gas money. I couldn't help but suggest to her that she just spent the gas money. Her expression was confused for a moment, then blossomed into a smile of discovery. "Huh, you're right! I never thought of it that way."
I was very proud that I waited till she left the store before performing the requisite eye-roll and head-smack.
-E
Jul '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
This issue (and, to a lesser degree, tobacco policy) really shows how corrupt both parties are. Sincere people on both sides of the aisle should be against this; on grounds of it exploiting the poor (left) and being immoral (right). Yet, neither party seems to to have any desire to give up such a huge revenue stream. Furthermore, the fact that it's done on a state level shows that state republicans and democrats aren't any better than their national counterparts.
-E
Jan '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
As disheartening as this woman is, what's truly infuriating as that at no level of government was there any kind of trigger that would make one ineligible for these types of benefits.
After all the press this incident has gotten, I'm not aware of any one reporting that she is ineligible for these benefits. We may as well heat our homes & water by burning cash.
Dec '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
The EPA would be on you like white on rice.
Feb '12
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Here's some more silly ideas: if your income is high, then you pay $1 for your ticket; if your income is low, your ticket costs you 50 cents; and if you're jobless, we give you a ticket. If you have a high net worth, your prize is limited to $50,ooo; If your net worth is "average", your prize is $1,000,000; and if your net worth is nominal, your prize might be unlimited.
Wouldn't this cause a conundrum for some people who might be lucky enough to move up to another group? At least it would make the lottery less regressive (and more "fair").
Feb '12
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Oh, by the way, my head hurts from banging it on the table. I live in Michigan.
Feb '12
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
I endorse the offerings in the Paules thread above. Winning the lottery did nothing for this woman's sense of dependency -- and why would it? How does success in the dependency racket we call a lottery help you to break free, if it's the only thing you know? If we substituted income taxes with a sales tax, we wouldn't have to give a rebate to the poor, we could compensate by just canceling lotteries.
Edited on March 8, 2012 at 6:52pmAug '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Problem with all this: Most lottery tickets are purchased by middle-income and upper-income people, not lower-income people.
For the majority of lottery ticket purchasers, it's a recreation activity, rationally entered into with the full knowledge that the odds of winning are astronomically low.
On the other hand, lower-income people spend a higher-proportion of their income on lottery tickets. In raw terms, however, higher-income people buy more lottery tickets than lower-income people.
Nov '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Link, please?
Misthiocracy: Problem with all this: Most lottery tickets are purchased by middle-income and upper-income people, not lower-income people.
For the majority of lottery ticket purchasers, it's a recreation activity, rationally entered into with the full knowledge that the odds of winning are astronomically low.
On the other hand, lower-income people spend a higher-proportion of their incomeon lottery tickets. In raw terms, however, higher-income people buy more lottery tickets than lower-income people. · 3 hours ago
Aug '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Mar '11
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
You are being unfairly critical of Amanda Clayton. It is not up to her to determine if she is eligible or not. That's the state's job. What are you? Some kind of nark?
Jul '10
Re: Lottery Winner Pockets $500,000. And is Still Collecting Welfare.
Lenny, put on a helmet.
She is not the first major winner of the MI lottery to continue to collect food stamps. Last year, another parasite did the same thing.