AUGUSTA, Maine — Mainers seeking to cheat the unemployment compensation system are up against yet another tool to catch them, a state computer match with the national database of newly hired workers that found 350 cases of potential fraud on its first use.
“We have been using the state new hire database for years,” said Laura Boyett, director of the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. “This is the first time we have been able to query the national new hire database.”
Employers in every state are required to enter information on all newly hired employees, which forms the national database.
She said federal funds were used to pay for the necessary changes to the state computer system to allow it to pull data from the national database and match it with the state list of those receiving unemployment benefits. She said the new hire databases at both the state and federal level were created to help collect child support payments but have proven a good tool to find fraud and improper payments in the unemployment system.
“We have had great success with the state new hire database and now we are able to check on individuals that are collecting benefits from Maine but have moved on to another state,” Boyett said.
She acknowledged the 350 cases of potential fraud found on the first computer match is a large number given that only about 1,000 individuals living outside the state are getting Maine benefits from all of the various unemployment programs in any week. About 30,000 people living in Maine collect unemployment benefits weekly. She said each case will be reviewed because some may be properly getting benefits because they were hired, but have not actually started work or are working part-time and are still eligible for some benefits.
“We have to look into every case because most of these will not be fraud, but some will and we will seek return of improperly paid funds,” Boyett said. In cases where the state believes it was fraud, the case may be turned over to the attorney general for prosecution.
In addition to civil penalties and interest, there are criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and up to a $2,000 fine for unemployment fraud.
“This is good news,” said Peter Gore, vice president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. “There have been a host of different proposals to expand benefits under the unemployment system. But the reality is there have been no pieces of legislation, until this session, to bring more accountability to the system.”
That measure would bolster penalties to as much as 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 depending on the severity of the fraud involved. It also would increase the time a person is disqualified from receiving benefits.
Sen. Chris Rector, R-Thomaston, the co-chair of the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development committee, is the sponsor of the measure. He praised the Labor Department’s use of the national new hire database to find fraud and errors in the system.
“Our goal is to make sure that everyone who is entitled to benefits is receiving benefits and anyone who is not entitled to benefits is not receiving benefits, plain and simple,” he said.
Rector said he wants to “root out” what fraud does exist because it drives up the cost of unemployment taxes for employers. He said the entire cost of the system is paid by employers in Maine, unlike some other states.
“I do not think that fraud is widespread in the system,” he said. “I think Mainers that are out of work want to get back to work just as soon as they can.”
Rep. John Tuttle, D-Sanford, the lead Democrat on the committee, agrees with Rector that there is little fraud in Maine. But, he said, any fraud should be prosecuted.
“Since the economy has down-turned and the massive increases we have had in unemployment, I think we will continue to see cases like this,” he said. “We should go after them to the fullest.”
Boyett said the national new hire database will now be checked weekly for potential fraud, just like the state new hire database. She said the program will be one more ongoing effort to reduce unemployment fraud.
Liberals say, “Fraud is a small part of the welfare costs here in Maine and nationally.”
The evidence says otherwise.
Sen. Chris Rector, R-Thomaston said, “I do not think that fraud is widespread in the system,”
Next time, try to read all them fancy words.
Give me a break! Why do you guys insist on fraud not being an issue when it CLEARLY is!!
350 cases of unemployment fraud translates to over $5 Million a year ($300 per week per person times 52 weeks.)
But I think that just the tip of the iceberg. How about the fraud perpetuated by those who receive benefits but are really not looking to go back to work?
We were assured by the Baldacci administration that there is only about a 0.2% fraud rate in Maine. Looks like we found them all at once!
“New database match finds 350 potential unemployment fraud cases on first try”
Read where the headline says potential fraud. Doesn’t me definate faud
Doesn’t me definite fraud? Huh? Remember it was only the first run at the match up potential. There are several more ways to match. Some say $5m is chicken feed, but put them all together and you have a lot of money. But PTkitty is right, the ones receiving and not looking add up to a larger problem. And there is no enforcement. You can be in California or Vegas and file on the internet. and get away with it again and again.
Thank you for that broader knowledge comment!
Honestly. I know of quite a number of people that just collect and never even look for work. Don’t care to. Don’t want to. Fill in names of places that have been closed for years as having applied there. When their UE runs out, they will go on welfare and food stamps they say and probably will too. No big deal. I am still working. Just send the bill to me.
report them! We are all paying!
Report the Governor while you’re at it. You are all paying for his fraud as well…..
What is the Governor’s fraud? If you define it I’ll report it.
Where was your anger while the banks were duping investors with bad packaged loans? these criminals cost every home owner in the nation tens of thousands of dollars. And we are supposed to be more concerned about the $40 bucks this cost us?
Glad you have your priorities!
The banks are just as guilty of a crime as anyone who
defrauds the system. Remember one thing though; all those bad loans were the
work of lawmakers who were egged on by organizations like Acorn, who forced the
banks to lower standards so that people that in no way would otherwise qualify
for home loans were able to achieve the “American Dream” of
homeownership. People went into banks and signed on for loans to purchase homes
that they could not afford, interest only, no money down loans, and low teaser
rates that exploded to high interest within 5 to 10 years. When they could no
longer pay their payments they simply walked away.
Just a guilty….perhaps thousands of dollars compared to billions or trillions……I think not!
Go ahead and make excuses for the big criminals out there. They are counting on conservatives to clear the path for their crimes by deflecting criticism towards to poor. Nice job on that!
Nice try, I am not buying into your liberal argument that all the wealthy are the reason for the situation this country is in.
I know a guy who contracted to drive for the “Lynx”. He collected nearly $700 a week while collecting unemployment. When I asked him how he could do that, he said his car made the money. I said thats bullshi*!!! Now he’s employed making $9.76 plus gets an additional $4 an hour on top of that because he was a former Mill worker. He said thank you Bill Clinton!! When I asked he how he slept at night while screwing the government. he said with both eyes closed.
Methadone Express…Its all one huge scam.
Methadone YES ! There is one of the biggest scams in history. Provide a place away from society (an island?) where they are forced to withdraw. Maybe they won’t do it again.
I know a girl that was fresh out of school and landed a 50k a year job with the State, complete with free room and board in a mansion, and free food paid for by the State (You and I), free heat….OH YEAH ….She doesn’t count because her Daddy is the Governor….
False comparison. This guy was brazenly breaking the law. His excuse is not a legitimate one. He is committing fraud.
The program that Clinton put into place to help displaced workers only provides money for re-training, not salary enhancement. Your info is very questionable.
I am eligible for disability due to a degenerative disc. I have ALWAYS worked anyway until I moved to Maine from Mass. I looked for work for 5 yrs in the Guilford area and was told I would NEVER be hired ANYWHERE, because I am a Masshole. Well Mainers….because of your poor attitude towards others I now sit back and collect FULL disability with all the trimmings, and YOU pay for it. I tried to work and play nice with others but real Mainers have other plans. You could’ve had me working beside you and paying IN to the State….instead you chose to keep me out…..now deal with what YOU have created. When Maine people grow up maybe the economy will too : )
If you really wanted to “work” you would have moved back Mass. But alas you too wanted a easier and softer way.
Why did you come to Maine if you did not have a job lined up
in the first place? Let me guess, benefits are better here in Maine than in
Mass. If you find us here in Maine to be an inferior species as it sounds you
do, why don’t you fly to hel! back to your beloved Massachusetts and don’t
forget to take all the family you brought with you, dumbMass.
This is what I like about idiots who comment on the BDN website and don’t read the entire headline. It say “POTENTIAL” not confirmed cases.
Who needs to read and comprehend an article, when you have a lame political agenda, and a seventh grade education ?
Maine is it’s own worst enemy.
5 million a year…now take the average DHHS salary (50k) x number of employees (3600) and tell me what THAT figure is ? 180 Million ! If we just got rid of 65,000 welfare “cases”….why do we need all these social workers ? It’s funny that every time you hear the word fraud….it’s associated with poor people that in MOST cases, have to do it just to survive, while the wealthy just keep on taking with no complaints from anyone.
350 cases of proven fraud? NOT! That is your number. The article also says “…because some may be properly getting benefits because they were hired, but have not actually started work or are working part-time and are still eligible for some benefits.”
So why do you not also figure that all of them fall into the above category and that fraud is 0%? Each is probably as close to the truth as the other. Fact is, the truth is probably somewhere between those numbers, but you want to sensationalize and use the worst possible number to prove what you believe, not what is true.
Hmm. Are these 350 cases of possible unemployment fraud from the same people who brought us the 200 cases of possible voter fraud? How many real cases of voter fraud were proved? None. My guess is that there will be very few proven cases of unemployment fraud identified this way. Somebody please find a way to prove the real fraud – the bogus job search fraud. Please.
Um I hate to remind you to read the story. The headline even.
“New database match finds 350 POTENTIAL unemployment fraud cases on first try”
Potential does not translate to all 350 were guilty of cheating on unemployment. Let’s at least wait until the final results are in.
This smells very much like Charlie waving a piece of paper with 200+ college students names who may or may not have committed voter fraud.
did you not read the article? Most of those cases won’t qualify for fraud
I agree that fraud is an issue ! I do not agree that it stops with welfare/unemployment cheats. There is just as much fraud at higher levels and it usually has a much bigger price tag.
So let’s just find a court that let’s everybody, little and big inclusively off the hook cause there’s no such thing as right or wrong.
How reasonable !
Mainers, take note of this.
This is representative of the mentality that all of us will be chewing on and deciding which way to take the state as in the upcoming election there will be only two choices…either the traditional culture we have always known as Maine or this secular movement as represented in the above post.
The choice is yours.
Ayhup, so if you support the Founding Fathers
and their US Constitution which speaks of separation of Church and State, how could you vote for people who think “secular” is a bad thing ?
“Their” US Constitution? I’ll let you answer that one for yourself.
Whether you like it or not there are plenty of Mainers who obviously have have different opinions than you. My opinion and votes are no less than yours or anyone else’s and…our Constitution of the United States………… is all an American needs.
Keep reading it till it all your questions find clear answers.
“our Constitution of the United States”
Did you write it, or just think you can rewrite it ?
It’s becoming more and more clear that you have very little respect for the jewel bequeathed to all citizens of this country. You have other choices if you are unhappy.
If something I said upset you , I’m sorry, I am sure.
Now you take care of yourself, and please take your meds, everyday.
OKAY ?
It’s impossible for you to upset me.
Is it your need for people to try ?
I’m sorry, I can’t co-operate.
I will not be co-opted into
reinforcing your co-dependent
paranoid political delusions.
Good luck, be good, and get real.
I would wish you luck with your projection issues.
You are projecting protection ?
Cool, you ARE an interest case.
Can we wait for some convictions, before we get all excited, please.
This does sound amazing like another press release where the LePage Wrecking
Crew had the names of 250 students who were POTENTIAL voter fraud leads.
How many of them were charged and convicted of anything ?
WHY ?
Says the Democrat…”“Since the economy has down-turned and the massive increases we have had
in unemployment, I think we will continue to see cases like this,” he
said. “We should go after them to the fullest.”
Try reading more than just the headlines before going on a crusade!
“We have to look into every case because most of these will not be fraud, but some will and we will seek return of improperly paid funds,” Boyett said. In cases where the state believes it was fraud, the case may be turned over to the attorney general for prosecution.
Fraud Knows no boundries!
I’m a Liberal and I agree.
Good work.
Go after every deadbeat there is. These low-lifes are cheating employers who pay the taxes and other unemplyed who are in actual need of this safety net.
Since former employers are notified when a former emplyee files for unemployment and has a chance to dispute the claim, I wonder if there needs to be some changes in the rules or if some employers might need investigating.
“…most of these will NOT be fraud”.
LOL!!!
I’d be willing to bet $50 that MOST ARE fraud. I’d also be willing to bet $10 that you have never been on the unenjoyment.
Do you have a ” liberal” fixation?
When did unemployment become welfare??? Also the article says potential. That means could be, not is. The article said each one will be checked to see if legitimate. Maybe we should wait until the results are in. Sort of like the voting fraud!!! Really amounted to almost none, only wishful thinking on the part of this administration.
The employer pays into Unemployment Insurance Fund not the employee. The higher turnover of employees the higher rate the employer pays. Therefore it’s considered a social welfare program.
You are the only person I have ever heard call unemployment “welfare” !!! I can’t stop laughing it’s such a ridiculous statement!!!
So what do you call it?
I call it welfare, too. So does dictionary.com, definition 2 and 3.
There is really no sense to wait until the investigation is complete. If, like the “voter fraud” last year, it turns out to be not true, the right wing nuts will still rant and make up lies. Let them sputter now so that everyone can see what fools they are.
Unemployment became welfare when you recieve it without deserving it and continue to collect it after you have become employed. That is welfare, because you are know taking a benefit that someone else is paying for.
When Rush said it was ?
Imagine if we could stop the wealthy tax cheats! Now that would be HUGE !
Public Service Announcement
Report Unemployment Fraud
Unemployment insurance fraud is a crime. You can report instances of unemployment
fraud, questions and suspicions by phone, email, fax, or mail.
Your name can be kept Confidential.
Call the Benefits Division at (207) 621-5100
or the Unemployment Claim Center at 1-800-593-7660.
Send info to Mr. Gerry Parent in one of the following formats:
Email to: Gerald.P.Parent@Maine.gov
Fax to (207) 287-8351
Mail to:
Bureau of Unemployment Compensation
Attn: Mr. Jerry Parent
47 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0047
CONFIDENTIAL
Do All three, Phone, E-mail and send a Letter.
Follow-up in 30 days with a Certified letter if no response.
Send a letter Directly to the Governor’s Office, that should get their attention.
Keep a written log of actions and attempts to notify.
Hold them Responsible!
Yes, Welcome to the Communist state of Maine. We too want you to spy on your neighbor and report them to the authorities.
Lol…yeah…the crooked authorities that set such a fine example for us….
Would you report your neighbors if; you knew they robbed a
store, were abusing their children, stole a car, committed fraud against you or
another or were guilty of any other serious crime? I guess stealing tax dollars
or unemployment benefits is now an acceptable crime within our society, or at
least the left side of the block.
Drop in the bucket vs. wealthy tax cheats. Call your local Rep. instead and ask why Romney is only paying 12.5% on his billions tucked away in tax shelters located the Kaymen Islands. Please remember tax evasion is a crime. Hold the wealthy Responsible.
You have proof of illegal tax evasion by Mr. Romney? Wow! I would think that the elite liberal media would have been up his colon over his financial statements. I look forward to your in-depth reporting.
WOW ! You have proof of these 350 citizens being guilty ? I would have thought that the elite conservative media would have come forward by now to show such proof ! Mr. Romney has admitted to using his tax shelters ! Do you think that just because he legally found a way around our tax code makes it fair tax policy ? By the way…. how is your own colon ? I hope you find it is working OK ! You may need it some day .
PS. I hope that you continue on your own “in depth reporting” !
SUPER WOW!!! You know, I didn’t say that these 350 were welfare cheats. The article said “potential” fraud. You DID say that Mr. Romney is a “cheat” Using a legal tax shelter is not cheating in the minds of all but the most envious liberal wedge issue class warfare types. I do see that you have provided no proof of your accusations of his cheating. So why not man up, apologize and hope that the conservatives (both of us) on this board see fit to forgive and forget unlike the liberal wolves who nip the heels of elRushbo.
You can believe what you want to….. just don’t try to sell it to me ! Save it for someone who watches Fox News and listens to Rush Limbaugh…and I do forgive you.
Like Geithner? Oh yeah, we did catch him.
HUH ?
Tim Geithner, Obama’s secretary of treasury. He failed to pay Social Security taxes repeatedly year after year. He owed 10’s of thousands of dollars and and acknowledged being responsible for paying those taxes and continued to NOT pay them. Until, of course, he was nominated by Obama administration. For some reason he wasn’t charged appropriately as you or I would.
You also must have been listening to Fox News reporting on this. Let me set you straight !
Geithner had not paid $35,000 in self-employment taxes for the years 2001–2004. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international agency and his employer during the time in question, did not withhold Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, but instead reimbursed the usual employer responsibility of 50% of these taxes to employees who were subject to the taxes. Geithner had received the reimbursements and paid the amounts received to the government, but had not paid the other 50% which would normally have been withheld from his pay. This failure to pay was noted during a 2006 audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in which Geithner was assessed additional taxes of $14,847 for the 2003 and 2004 tax years. The statute of limitations had expired for 2001 and 2002, and Geithner did not file amended returns or pay the additional amounts due for those years until after Obama expressed his intent to nominate Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury.He also deducted the cost of his children’s sleep-away camp as a dependent care expense, when only expenses for day care are eligible for the deduction. Geithner subsequently paid the IRS the additional taxes owed.
A far cry from hiding your billions in the Caymen Islands like Mr. Romney. HA !
Good job justifying the actions of a tax cheat – pathetic
I did not justify anything or anybody ! Just gave the facts ! Problem with that ? Who are you ? Official Right Wing Government Censor ? Now that is pathetic !!!
I’m not sure how copying and pasting a segment from Wikipedia was supposed to set me straight. Most of it agree’s with what I said however it did fail to mention the part where he signed an agreement indicating that he understood that such payments were his responsibility and that he received extra pay from his employer specifically for the purpose of covering their portion of the taxes. Geithner subsequent paid the IRS the taxes AND $15000 of interest AFTER being caught, (more than once) nearly 10 years after he initially failed to pay them. What would happen to anyone else who got caught doing this? Certainly they wouldn’t be appointed to the secretary of the treasury.
Not quite getting your point. Are you saying that wikipedia is not a reliable source ? What is a good source ? Fox News ? Maybe Fox knows more than the rest of us ? You tell me !
My point is that citing a website that collects contributions from anyone, even anonymous contributions, isn’t exactly reliable. Like when they reported Ted Kennedy was dead, when in fact he didn’t die until a year later. Wikipedia’s own site talks about inaccuracies that can remain on the site for years.
Regardless, your citation in large part supports what I had said, but like many liberal media outlets, it left out a few of the juicy details.I’m not suggesting any sources. I personally like to check them all. I’m sure your liberal friends thought that the shots at Fox news were funny the first time but even they must be rolling their eyes now. How many times are you going to use that line?I think a reasonable argument can be made about Fox’s bias based on what they include in their broadcasts but the same argument can be made for what the mainstream media leaves out of their broadcast.
Who are these liberal media outlets ? And who decides how they get on the list ? What about the right wing media outlets ? In your opinion what makes the right wing media so truthful, while you claim that everyone else just makes up lies ? Could it be that any media source that doesn’t agree whole-heartedly with the extreme right is labeled a liberal media outlet ? I am not a liberal, but I am constantly accussed of being a liberal by the right. I think that the extremism from both sides is pathetic ! I just don’t get it ? What was innacurate in the Wikipedia article on Geithner ?
To answer your first question, I would suggest CBS, NBC, CNN, PBN to get started. There is some intelligent debate on what would put them on the list, not anything that could be posted here.
Clearly Fox is conservative but then you have already noted that in your multiple jabs at them. Not sure why you ask though, I just acknowledged in my previous post that they too were bias.
I said nothing of who was lying and who was not.
Perhaps your definition of a liberal is not that same as others.
I’m glad to hear that extremism on both sides bothers you. Could you give me some examples of left-wing extremism?
To answer your last question, as I have said a couple times now, in large part, the wikipedia citation agrees with what I said. I then drew attention to the fact that I took issue with how it leaves out the part where he signed an agreement indicating that he understood that paying these taxes was his responsibility and that fact that he was caught not paying them several times over 10 years but continued to not pay them until he was nominated to be the head of IRS.
I would consider CBS,NBC,CNN, and PBN all middle of the road. neither left or right and I think that they try to clearly represent both sides of an issue.I would group both Msnbc and Fox quite clearly in the biased catagory ! My definition of a liberal is one who would be favorable to progress and reform. My definition of a Conservative would be one who would be favorable to preserving existing conditions and Institutions, while having a desire to restore traditional ways and limit change. An example of left wing extremism would be the anti-capitalism groups (none of which are prevalent in the US.).
As far as Tim Geithner is concerned… Whether they were late or not…. he did pay his taxes, ! I can only hope that Mr. Romney someday has to pay taxes on his Billions hidden intentionally in the Cayman’s
If you are a “no compromise” conservative, could anything ever set you straight ?
That is good evidence of Mr. Geihtner committing an illegal act. Where is the evidence of Mr.Romney acting illegally? Hello? Helllloooo? Anyone home? Anyone?
Put your money where your mouth is ! State what evidence your have that will hang Geithner ???
Hello Hello, Anybody Home, Anybody ??? Maybe you could search Fox News.com ??
PS. it is spelled Geithner not Geihtner.
How about the part in the clip that you posted in which Mr. Geitner(God, even his name is hard to spell) did not pay the taxes he owed because the statute of limitations had expired, until he was nominated by Obama to be treasury secretary? That;s pretty damning in itself. Says a lot about his character. And the character of he who nominated him.
You can believe what you want to….. just don’t try to sell it to me ! Save it for someone who watches Fox News and listens to Rush Limbaugh . You are right though…..Mr.Romney certainly is a “character” !
He and others in Obama’s cabinet still owe hundreds of thousands in back taxes but its okay, they are democrats so you do not read about that in the Bangor Daily News.
At least those evil rich people the libs hate pay taxes (and more than their fair share in my opinion).
What planet are you living on ? You mean like GE ? I seem to remember they didn’t pay anything…..
You seem to forget that GE is one of Obama’s biggest backers. They helped him get elected so they got some really sweet government contracts. GE is making billions working in Obamacare and several other big government contracts.
GE is not a person, but I understand your point to some extent. I am sure the evil rich that work for GE pay their taxes. Plus, I am sure it doesn’t hurt that GEs CEO, Jeff Immelt, is the Chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness for the current administration.
Dude! tjones4 is referring to people (individuals), not corporations. And he is absolutely right.
To be fair, you are also correct that corporations such as GE and thousands of others pay little or nothing. They usually aren’t breaking any laws, and that is the sad part. This is often blamed on the Republican party but that blame is somewhat misdirected. Obama, the most liberal president ever, appointed Jeffery Imelt as the US Employment czar. Jeffery Imelt is the head honcho at GE, America’s tax evader extraordinaire. And Imelt has moved almost the entire GE labor force overseas. In addition, almost all of the income taxes in this country are paid by the higher income and middle income. The bottom 45% pay nothing and that is the most unfair of all. Everyone should pay something albeit adjusted to income.
GE pays hundreds of millions in taxes including payroll taxes, unemployment taxes, income taxes, real estate taxes, personal property taxes, workers comp insurance, sales taxes, use taxes, excise taxes- shall I continue exposing your lie?
Big corporations = zero taxes
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/ad-lib/2011/apr/10/tax-evaders-wall-shame/
50% of the eligible voters pay no federal income taxes
Democratic Supporters = zero taxes
Income trends among 90% of Americans are relatively unchanged over the last decade. Nearly all segments of the population are moving relatively in proportion. Which is to say, they’re barely moving at all.
But look at the top 10th percentile and a different story begins to emerge. The super wealthy are getting much richer, as everyone else’s incomes are practically stagnant.
In 2009, the richest 10% of Americans accounted for about half the nation’s wealth. Narrow that focus a bit further, and the trend is even more alarming. The top 0.1% — those who make at least $2 million each year — controlled 10% of the economy.
That’s a far cry from the 1950s, when the suburban American dream ruled: the bottom 90% of Americans controlled about 68% of the economy
As a result, the financial industry became increasingly powerful, leading to a self-reinforcing race for more profits that brought about a new era of financial innovation and extreme risk-taking.
The result was an economy controlled by the wealthy, or so-called “plutonomy,” as three Citigroup analysts described in 2005.
“The world is dividing into two blocs — the plutonomies, where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few — and the rest,” the analysts wrote in a controversial research report
The bottom 50% do pay taxes, they may not pay income taxes,thats because they don’t make any money
“At least those evil rich people the libs hate pay taxes” ? Not quite sure what you mean by that. I don’t mind paying my fair share of taxes and I do ! If you are calling me a Liberal….. I am not a Liberal. I sometimes hear Liberal opinions on the news but I don’t know anybody personally that is a Liberal. Sometimes I wonder if Right Wing extremists like to call anybody that is not a Right Wing extremist a Liberal. Could I be correct ?
PS. I believe that middle class, hard working Americans pay their fair share of taxes, but I’m not overly sure the same can be said of the wealthiest Americans !
and NO they don’t pay their fair share. What math class did you fail?
What is the fair share that rich people should pay? And could you please define “rich”? Thanks in advance for your reply.
I agree……..go after where the big money is, NOT the pennies. Oh, that’s right……those are the folks making legislation in their favor and then turn around and say, “we earned it.” I say ……..you stole it!!
You seem to have confused unemployment compensation with ‘welfare’. Are you now painting with a brush that broad, or are you just so quick to judge that you didn’t take a moment to read the article?
And, let’s keep in mind the timing of this story. Penguin just got caught writing checks to 19000 people who should not have received. Now he’s trying to show us how tough and on the ball he is at the expense of unemployed folks. He’s trying to shift the story, but “350 potential” scammers pales in comparison to 19000. Especially since we can’t believe that Penguin actually found 350. Because he’s got a long track record of lying to us.
Governor LePage has never lied to the people of Maine, and no research you can conduct can prove otherwise.
HA HA HA.
try to keep up
Unemployment compensation is not a social benefit program that’s similar to welfare? They’re both designed to keep body and soul together until you can get back on your feet. Granted, they’re funded differently and have different ‘target audiences’ but the essential common element in both is as I’ve described.
Shouldn’t you say
19,000 were just caught accepting and cashing checks that were sent to them in error?
That to me sounds like fraud. I will not excuse the fact that continuing to
send benefits to 19,000 is not a complete failure of the system, but do you
think the Governor physically compares the checks cut to a list of those that
are eligible. To me it sounds like there is a department full of career DHS
employees that knew the mistake had happened and did not speak up and make the
problem known. The new computer system that this error was caused by was
procured with the approval of the previous administration as far as I
understand. So I am sure your statement that LePage was caught writing checks
to 19,000 that did not deserve them might be a little off base.
I am trying to think of the “TRACK RECORD” you speak of. Where is your information coming from that he has lied to us?
Unemployment compensation is welfare. please look at dictionary.com ‘Welfare” definition #2 and #3. I do not think the our governor is solely responsible for the DHHS error that resulted in even more welfare than was authorized. So many folks are on welfare in Maine now that what the heck does an extra couple , 350, or 19,000 mean anyway? After all, only half of us pay income taxes, and you can bet that not too many on that list of 350 or 19,000 are in that half.
This is about unemployment benefits, not welfare. What evidence are you referring to…not this story, I hope. At this point 40 people liked what you said. That may indicate what social media “likes” are worth.
Why make this a liberal / conservative issue? No matter the party you align yourself with you’d want to prevent stealing from the system wouldn’t you?
It depends how you define stealing. The far right considers that anyone who is receiving benefits is stealing and the left thinks as long as you think you deserve it, it must not be stealing.
“It depends how you define stealing. The far right considers that anyone who is receiving benefits is stealing”
… but that the banks were not, when issuing, then selling off bad, knowingly,
falsely rated mortgage backed investment instruments .
But no matter the party you align yourself with shouldn’t you be suspicious
of how much this sounds just like the 250 students who NOT CHARGED NOR CONVICTED OF VOTER FRAUD ?
Why not ?
Then no matter the party you align yourself with, if you support the US Constitution
why not that innocent until proven otherwise bit of it ?
There is no evidence yet, just “potential” fraud. I think both Liberals and Conservatives alike agree that no matter how much fraid there is, there should be better ways of detecting it, and all fraud needs to be prosecuted.
All by itself “Should” statements are woefully insufficient. How else do you propose to solve the problem that Liberals and Conservatives can both applaud?
Well, for starters, knowing the difference between a database anomaly and factual verification would probably be sufficient.
The data will manifest itself and the liklihood that it will be handled ethically is infinitely greater than it ever has been for decades.
Fraud is rampant in other places as well. Look at the State employees that are “double-dipping” and getting a pension AND a salary every month. Another interesting point….why is it now that 65,000 people are not on welfare anymore, we haven’t seen even one single lay-off at DHHS ? Take the average 50k annual salary of a DHHS employee times 3600 employees…$180 million…sound familiar ? Right about the same number as the budget shortfall….yet nothing is said about that ! Why ? And these figures assume a 50k salary ! Many of these employees are making far more than that…..!! The poor have sacrificed everything….now how about the wealthy ?
Is it fun for you to bash on women and children while big corporations steal?
Yeah, the Liberals on here have been asserting for many weeks that fraud barely exists, and is certainly not widespread enough to warrant any kind of legislation aimed at combating it. Hmmm… I wonder what ELSE they are wrong about…?
“Hmmm… I wonder what ELSE they are wrong about…?
Why not ask what conservatives are wrong about,
Like voter fraud ?
Where are all the convictions after the last election ?
If there is so much voter fraud and no convictions, no charges being brought,
who is being weak on crime?
If conservatives can’t have things two different ways at once, they have nothing.
How am I wrong ?
This sounds remarkably like the 250 students who were supposed to be committing voter fraud, too.
Don’t all excited until you have some convictions.
Those will mostly likely come after get we have a new Attorney General.
Wait, the story says “…because some may be properly getting benefits because they were hired, but have not actually started work or are working part-time and are still eligible for some benefits.”
So, how can you say that fraud is widespread? Oh, yeah, you Tea Partiers don’t need to wait for all the facts. When we talk about Mr. Poliquin’s taxes, we need to wait. When we talk about the lies LePage told about Millinocket, we have to wait for the whole story. But when it comes to unemployment, we can assume the worst because that’s what you want to think, even in the face of few facts and preliminary numbers. I hope the final numbers are also published in a few days. Wonder what your attitude will be then? (Actually, I don’t wonder. You people still think there is widespread election fraud in spite of zero evidence.
Do you mean the evidence suggested here? This 350 people amounts to less than 1% of recipients and, most likely, less than 1% of the cost of the program. This, if anything, says that the problem is very small.
The wealthy criminal avoids scrutiny as all eyes are turned to fighting against the poor. Just the fraction of deceptive mortgages sold in Maine and settled by Citigroup and BofA are easily a thousand times the economic impact on us.
Every time we allow ourselves to become fixated on punishing the poor, we expend valuable resources that could be used to make a much bigger impact by going after big dollar fraud, like overbilling hospitals, deceptive lenders and fly-by-night scammers.
Where can we find the evidence you speak of?
didn’t you read the article?
With the use of this database, that should be easy to either prove or disprove when everything is checked out.
Assuming ALL the data IN the state maintained database is current and has been validated.
If you believe THAT, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell ya’.
This story just may play out to be a long one with lots of ‘I told you so’ comments.
Welcome to the age of computers. Hard to believe that new legislation is needed for accountability, though.
All you hear is fraud fraud fraud, in every program there is fraud.. I’m starting to see a pattern here with these republicans.. You go to DHHS and apply for food stamps and you get them and now they are saying fraud .. You collect unemployment and go to another state to find work your living with a relative and fraud fraud even if you still haven’t found a job.. to me that’s not fraud just a person trying all he can to find a job..
When you read about the fraud fraud fraud, these
aren’t the same people you are trying to make to
be martyrs. The fraud being scrutinized is being
committed by people who are not supposed to be
getting something for free that many of us are paying
for them to have. Someone is eligible…good.
Sounds like your a fraud, your who they are going after.
Its an old Gypsy Trick.
Start a commotion, Point at someone else, and pick pockets!
They can only match a person on the federal database if they are a new hire. That means they get a job and seem to be still collecting unemployment. Those who “still haven’t found a job” won’t be in the federal NEW HIRE database. Does that help?
If you are working in another state and collecting unemployment from Maine. That is fraud. Plain and simple.
Unemployment fraud makes it harder for those in REAL need to get the benefits they need. I’ve met individuals working the system in every way possible and it’s ugly. People who make a good living most of the year, live with a spouse and children but refuse to marry just so both of them can qualify for more benefits, put in job applications and actually REQUEST not to be called for an interview or position “but if unemployment calls, tell them I applied OK?” And seasonal unemployment – really? If able-bodied woods workers and construction workers can’t support themselves on what they make in a year, they should find different professions. Teachers don’t qualify for unemployment every summer, why should taxpayers support all of these other (less important and PRIVATE) industries if they can’t make enough to get by?
Teachers are paid a yearly salary.
I don’t know how it works up there nowa days, but in Ma. the teachers and bus drivers are applying for unemployment for summers, and even snow days! Some have been getting it, too, until it just blew up in the media. Watch out for behind the scenes union negotiations….!! Taint pretty.
Teachers receive a certain amount of money per year. In some systems it is paid out during the school year and in some it is spread over twelve months. Either way, it is the teacher’s responsibility to budget their salary to last for the year or take on extra work by teaching summer school, tutoring, etc. to supplement their incomes.
Hope you never have to take a seasonal job. You might just change your mind on such an inane statement.
So take a seasonal job, but if you know it’s seasonal then be responsible – either budget your money to last the year or line up other work for the off-season. Don’t be a frigging sponge just because “duh, I don’t have a paycheck this week even though I knew it was coming.” Be a grown-up!
The question I implied was….. What if that was the only job you could get ? Do you think that everybody who wants a full time job find can find one ? Now take your own advice and act like a “grown up” !!! Think before you hit the “post” button again !
If you’re not making enough seasonally to survive and you’re actually LOOKING for work instead of faking it, like so many of the ones I’ve met in Aroostook, then I guess you would qualify. But my question is, would you really CHOOSE to go back to the same seasonal job year after year instead of look for stable year-round employment? And wouldn’t you be more compelled to find year-round work if you didn’t have taxpayer money to lean on during the off-season every year? Maine is a pretty generous state for the unemployed and a lot of people move here for that simple reason.
I’m sure there are some who abuse the system… but to just stereotype everyone who is receiving benefits because they work seasonally doesn’t make any sense to me. You may be from “The County” but I am from Washington County and we have a lot of seasonal workers here….maybe more than you. Most of them are good hard working people….who deserve their benefits and would have a real hard time making ends meet without them. All of them would be glad to have a full time, good paying job if it were available.
Say it isn’t so. Please say it isn’t so.
Just think if we could get all these loser cheater of the system, we could help the elderly, vets and the disabled. These 20 something year olds can go to work just like us, or move out of this State.
Imagine if we could stop the wealthy tax cheats! Now that would be HUGE !
Do you just copy and paste the same post? Just wondering as this is the second time I’ve read the same post.
Care to enlighten us on who “the wealthy tax cheats” are?
Care to share your tax rate for 2011?
My tax rate was NEGATIVE%. I got a check for $4,924.
Someone put their money into the system and i got $4924 of it.
My guess is that person was not you! More than likely it was one of those evil “wealthy tax Cheats”
I consider myself “middle class” ! Between my wife and I we paid over $10,000 in income tax another $6,500 in property tax in 2011. If you don’t like my posts don’t read them my friend !!! You must exercise control over your eyes !!! This is easy to do….just use your brain!
PS. Mitt Romney would be a “Wealthy Tax Cheat ” !!!
If you and your wife have no children and only take the standard deduction, that means you make about $90,000 per year. That much property tax (assuming a 20 mill rate) is applied on a house valued at $325,000.
You are amongst the richest 40% of all Mainers.
(The 4th quintile, i.e. the top 40%, begins at $79,958 household income.)
I own income property in CT. I am by no means wealthy. I am nearing rertirement and I own property that I would like to sell, but with the market the way it is I am stuck paying the taxes for the time being.
You may not consider yourself wealthy. But more than 60% of Maine households bring in less money than you every year. Most of them cannot afford income property in other states AND a house in Maine. Many can barely afford a trailer. I’m sure they would consider you rich.
That is the reason that I do not begrudge the 60% of maine households that make less than me any benifits that they deserve. I only begrudge the wealthy their tax breaks……. that come at the expense of those same hard working people of which you speak !
Your evidence of his tax cheating? Hellllooooo? Anything? Anything at all? Oh, no, nevermind.
What is your evidence of these 350 being guilty my friend >>>
Imagine if we could stop the wealthy tax cheats! Now that would be HUGE !
Is there an echo in here?
WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT ??????????????????????????????????
Evidence of cheating? Heellllooooo?
what is your evidence ?
While your out doing your investigative reporting of Mr. Romney’s tax cheating, see if you can find Ms. Fluke’s ” friend”?
WOW ! You are as classy as Rush Limbaugh!!! Bravo !!! It takes a brave man to insult a woman over something he knows nothing about ! I hope you have a friend.
I doubt that. BUT, what if we taxed the wealthy an extra percent or two? And their tax rate would still be staggeringly low compared to the 50’s and 60’s.
AMEN!!! (cheering loudly)
Wow. 350 out 1000. That is Huge!! Crackdown on offenders so we can help the people that really need help.
POTENTIAL!
Sounds like they used the DHHS computer, may-be.
Imagine if we could stop the wealthy tax cheats! Now that would be HUGE !
Start with Romney and his Swiss Bank Accounts. He is breaking the law and hiding taxable money over seas.
AMEN !
Where did the information about him have money in a Swiss Bank Account come from? It cam from his tax return he released. Amazing how one is hiding information about taxable income on his own tax return.
Do you have any proof of your ranting or just making it up as you go?
Covering your eyes and refusing to look something up yourself is hardly any better.
I have looked it up. I have found nothing that would back up this slanderous ranting. Just because this is a forum that you can remain anonymous does not give you the right to say whatever you want with absolutely no proof. Sorry to disappoint you.
And your evidence of his cheating on his taxes is what? Don’t you think that the elite liberal media like NYT, Washington Post, MSNBC, or others would be all over this? The 18 likes on your totally unsubstantiated post speaks volumes about the political affiliations of the board rats on this screen. Lets see if I can get some hits.
LIEPAGE IS A DOOFUS
PENGUIN IS A RAT
ELIOT CUTLER IS A GREAT SON OF MAINE
ALL OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENTS PEOPLE ARE BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
The “I don’t think…””’ That is just where the problem is!!
Welfare fraud, naaah. It is people’s rights to steal from unemployment and welfare, just like it is their right to ocCUpy tents.
Imagine if we could stop tax fraud by the wealthy. Now that would be more than just a drop in the bucket. Unfortunatly it is the wealthy’s right to steal from the Government to occupy their mansions!
It is their right to peacefully protest rampant corruption on Wall Street. Big Deal if they are in a tent in a public place. That doesn’t affect you. Corruption does. Turn off Fox News.
OK. So if I am against illegal protests that cost us the taxpayers money, I am a fox news zombie. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not.
BTW: Peaceful? Google “Arrests Occupy Maine”
Before all the cop haters jump all over this story and ask “where were the protectors of privilege”
and how is it they are so busy they could not catch this,let me quote the Maine moonbat on the criminal justice committee Annie get your gun Haskell or is that Bangor get tough on crime Cain ?
FBI Agent Accused Of Masturbating In Public
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/12/ex-fbi_agent_sentenced_to_pris.html
May 25, 2007 09:02 PM
FBI Agent Accused Of Masturbating In Public
Posted by, Marissa Pasquet KOLD News 13 News Editor
FBI Special Agent Ryan Seese, 34, is facing sex offense charges after a cleaning woman said she found him masturbating in a women’s lavatory on campus, according to a University of Arizona police spokesman.
And I suppose that we are supposed to believe their numbers? I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, but what I am saying is that, this administration seems to have a pattern with giving unreliable accounting and withholds information for it’s own particular purposes. Chaos, comes to mind.
And, what about those two banks in Maine that still owe millions in bailout money? And what about the State Treasurer who seems to think that it’s ok……if he breaks the law? That’s what we are talking about, correct?…..breaking the law?
its not mardens,but were “open for bussiness” thats if were not all in jail ,hard working cheating folk that is,what are they trying to do for the people of maine ? get roxanne quinby for a spokes women on maines labor force why dont they,were all fat lazy on welfare and cheating the system,what company in their right mind would do bussiness in maine.
You make absolutely no sense.
lapage is a swine and so are you that make sense,not everyone who get help is fat lazy no good dead beats,plenty of these people need jobs not like maredens
“Lepage is a swine”…..and THEN, you call a fellow poster the same? I hear Marden’s sells dignity, it’s probably either a close out or fire damaged, but what the heck, it’s cheap. I’ll loan you the money.
Of all the things that are wrong in this world, and you are calling a person names?,..”that makes sense”? She said nothing about stereo typing people……….you did.
I believe the list was new hires. If it’s anything like the list we used to get, most of the people had already reported it and the correct action had been taken. The lists are usually at least 2 quarters behind. This is nothing more than the continuing saga of the search for fraud. A solution looking for a problem.
nice. Alot like walking back along the road looking for the nail that flattened your tire, rather than changing the damned thing and continuing on.
First define which version of the law; it seems the law has the least effect on those who are closest to it.
This proves once and for all you have to move to another state to find a job. Guess a few people forgot to cancel their unemployment benefits once they got their new OUT OF STATE JOB.
I don’t trust statistics from any state computers. With that said, investigate and prosecute every case we can. There are good people who need these benefits and the ones that manipulate the system do it in every facet of life .
make it hot for them.
I hope the lawmakers read these comments. I was astonished when I was talking to a lawmaker about fraud in the unemployment system and they DENIED that there was any fraud in the system! WHAT!? You are making policy decisions for our state and have no idea what happens in the tourism industry when the season ends??? If you want to track down fraud, start by seeing what employees return to the same establishments year after year. Then look at their unemployment logs and start checking up on a small sampling of people who are seeking benefits EVERY YEAR. Fraud is rampant in the system. For those of you actually looking for work I applaud you, but for the rest of you who just need a paycheck all winter until a Lobster Pound opens back up and you can make great tips, get off your duffer, we can’t afford you any more. I’m embarrassed to be represented by Kruger, what a joke.
ljdjbd, i apologize, my anger is as great as yours for the amount of the abuse.
Over 50%, Jeremy? Glad you’ve got the figures. Where did you get them? Even if 100% of the 350 out of 1000 are fraud, that’s 35%. You think 25000 in-state recepients are cheating? Wow, please, provide your basis.
Probably got them from MHPC’s talking points memo.
Math isn’t Mainer’s strong point.
Conservative math is what you mean.
Using it you can cut taxes and balance the budget, too, in theory, but it just in theory,
if the record is counted, too.
Will you be just as outraged hen it turns out that the claims were exaggerated just to manipulate you ?
Will you call for people to be fired for lying to YOU ?
It’s difficult to respect the opinions of people who pull the wool over their OWN eyes.
I like how the conservative strict Constitutionalists have convicted them already.
Go figure.
Oh … counting your chickens before they hatch is a principle of conservative math.
I get now.
Try some smelling salts to clear your mind!
You are clearly out of touch with reality.
More evidence that we need to crack down on fraud. It’s no surprise that people find ways to cheat but it needs to be stopped and Paul Lepage is determined to stop it.
I suspect if we had a criminal justice system that worked…..
Ok, great first try on the poor. Now, to be fair, let’s focus on the so-called job creators who benefit from huge tax breaks but don’t create a single job. Also, let’s focus on tax evasion in general. Doing that will generate a lot more money than cracking down on petty unemployment fraud.
Many Big Time LIKES!!!
Every time Lepage gets caught lying or stealing tax payers money his propaganda machine drags out some petty crook to distract us from the crimes Lepage has been committing.
They could do like South Carolina does now give those on Unemployment a certain amount of time to find a job that is at least minimum wage if not their benefits are terminated. Maine should pass a law and do the same exact thing. This way you can find out who is getting jobs and those who are lazy and want to cheat the taxpayers. They should do it to those on Welfare as well it would certainally put the energy in those lazy folks to get off the couch and march down to the career center and get jobs.
Everyone should be able to make a livable wage…………that is NOT minimun. Minimum wage still qualifies for welfare. How about the companies let the wealth “trickle” down so that everyone can survive. GREED is unacceptable. I don’t blame people for staying home, raising children, playing outside and enjoying life on welfare if it means more money than working.They aren’t stupid………..until all the top greed stops………….you will have those that are smart enough to collect welfare and enjoy the day!! The big tax breaks that these companies get should allow them to pay a livable wage, but no they chose GREED and take it all at the top. any company that is given a tax break should have to pay at least $15-20 and hour or NO tax breaks.
wonder if this same program can be run on politicains who are running for office,liers cheats and scum could be weeded out. Or better yet rewrite it to give us the infromation on what they recieved for help, besides clean election funds hey the money all comes from the same place OUR PAYCHECKS
After reading some of the posts it seemed like all of the 350 cases have been judged guilty, my suggestion is lets wait and if some are found guilty then procute them to the fullest. Perhaps then
we will have a better idea what is the percentage of fraud.
Anybody disagree?
I can’t even make a guess how many will turn out to be fraud. The last time I collected was years ago. I remember the form I returned asked me to report all wages or self employment earnings. I returned them with doubts that they were being properly reviewed and filed away. I think the first problem they will have is locating any reporting forms these 350 people sent in. Another thing I wonder about is how much verification they can do when people list places they have applied for work. It seems like the requests for confirmation could get very annoying to a business that gets a lot of job applicants.
Fairfax Financial Holdings got a $400 million tax break that it very likely didn’t deserve. “Fairfax borrowed shares to no economic effect simply to create the impression that it owned them… Given these developments, it will be interesting to see if the I.R.S.’s Whistleblower Office questions the tax benefit reaped by Fairfax.”*
The IRA has been ignoring this. Do you suppose one day we might get as upset about multi-million dollar corporate scams as we do about the penny-ante scams committed by poor people?
*http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/business/fairfax-financials-400-million-tax-break-revisited.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all%3Fsrc%3Dtp&smid=fb-share
You mean like Solyndra’s $535 million scam?
Of course you will find experience in minimum wage jobs. If you can’t find work in your field, you have to start at the bottom someplace again. That’s how it’s done. It seems that even someone qualified to be a shovel operator is holding out for that bank president job.
The point I was trying to make is that there are only so many jobs at any pay level. Once they are filled, darkcat33 is saying the rest of the unemployed should have their benefits cut off. That is foolishness.
Better would be if an agreement between a company and the employment office would allow the government to pay partial unemployment while the company is training someone at a lower pay rate. Once they are trained enough to do the job, they would be taken off the unemployment and receive full pay, according to the job, from the company. In other words, have the companies train the people they need with help from the government. That will benefit everyone involved.
Not only are there only so many jobs at a particular pay level, but there are also only so many jobs in any area. Just because you can’t find work in a certain area doesn’t mean you should kick back and have your neighbors support you. Maybe people have to move to a different town or even a different state to find work. What ever happened to doing whatever it takes to support yourself or your family?
“Better would be if an agreement between a company and the employment office, ( THE GOVERNMENT) would allow the government to pay partial unemployment while the company is training someone at a lower pay rate”
That would just extend the welfare culture to the work
place by getting the government to pay for your training costs.
The opportunities for fraud in a system like that ripe.
It would create difference classes of employees, ones easily fired for anything, as soon as their (YOUR) government assistance ends.
It is a big part of the Heritage Foundation agenda, though.
So Gov. LePage’s, too.
We’ve got to say that, too.
BDN :
Lawmaker’s bill would create $5.25 “training wage” for teens
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/03/30/news/lawmaker%E2%80%99s-bill-would-create-5-25-%E2%80%9Ctraining-wage%E2%80%9D-for-teens/
Nationally :
Four months of training to pick apples? HB 1258′s disguised minimum wage cut would hurt economy
http://washingtonpolicywatch.org/2011/01/21/four-months-of-training-to-pick-apples-hb-1258s-disguised-minimum-wage-cut-would-hurt-economy/
Universal health care coverage, like exists in most of the developed world would do more good.
If you support the government covering your training costs
are you opposed to a system like you support for that covering everyone’s medical insurance cost ?
Why not ?
It is what you are already competing with on the international market.
That will benefit everyone involved, too.
People do not look at the upside of under employment. If you take a minimum wage job, pretty much all that is available in Maine these days, you qualify for food stamps, LLIHEAP, rent assistance, and many other social programs designed to help the poor. You would have to make $25 an hour to pay for all those things on your own. $400 a month in food stamps, $800 in fuel assistance, your kids eat for free at school, Maine Care to take care of your medical needs, and the list goes on. Every time someone is forced to take a minimum wage job, the tax payers of Maine take it up the kiester a little more. What a country! lol.
Seriously $25 per hour? That’s ridiculous. Sure it would be nice, but you certainly don’t need $25 per hour to live in Maine. Of course, a liberal thinks that satellite TV is a right, cellphones are a right, computers and the internet are a right, etc. As for cellphones, we are all getting mass mailings from Safelink, the free government cellphones for “safety”. Except they have free anytime minutes anywhere in the country, free texting, etc. Safety is the ability to call 911 and maybe 1-2 emergency family members, not to have your kid texting their friends.
My point was that when someone takes a minimum wage job they are working for half of the federal poverty level. This makes them eligible for a plethora of public assistance programs. When you add up the food stamps, rent assistance, child care, LIHEAP, MaineCare, etc. and put it on top of your public assistance wages, it is the equivalent of a $25 an hour job. That is what you would have to make in order to pay your taxes, buy your own groceries, pay for your own heating oil, and buy your own health insurance and end up with the same standard of living as the under employed. There is a local health care clinic that charges you on a sliding scale based on your income. If you work for public assistance wages, a doctor’s visit is $10 and a dentist visit is $20.
Free texting? Do you know this from experience?
They are running commercials stating this.
They are running commercials and sending flyers in the mail and through local newspapers. You have to be on welfare to get one of these free phones which you get up to 250 free minutes each month which includes free texting.
These phones are intended to allow people to apply for work or have access to emergency services.
Without a cell phone, never mind a car,
in America, are you really employable ?
How competitive compared to job applicants that do, are you, really ?
See:
Free Cars For the Disadvantaged
15 Dec 2010 – Established in 1996, Charity Cars mission is to help disadvantaged
families and individuals become less dependent and more self-sufficient.
http://www.civicrenewal.org/free-cars-for-the-disadvantaged.html
I take it you don’t own a small business.
I do happen to own a small business. What does that have to do with big corporate America taking advantage of tax payers when they pay “public assistance” wages? Low wages hurt everyone but the top 1%. It hurts small businesses on every level. The more localized a business is, the more stagnant wages hurt your bottom line. I am not like a lot of business owners who believe that cheap wages are a blessing. They are a curse. Low wages are the biggest problem with our economy today. Wage earners, or the middle class, fuel our economy. When their wages do not go up, the economy goes down. Unless, of course, you are in the top 1% and profit from paying “public assistance” wages. When I started working full time in 1978 as a fire fighter/ambulance attendant in Wells Beach, Maine I earned $5 an hour, the minimum at the time was $4.50 and gas was .80 cents a gallon. Gas prices have gone up at just about the rate of inflation and they are about where they should be. The problem is that the wages have not kept up. Today’s minimum wage is stuck at $7.50 here in Maine and gas is $4 a gallon. You do the math. If the wages had kept pace with inflation, which they should, the minimum should be about $20 an hour today. If the wages had kept pace with inflation, people would be able to buy their own heating oil and groceries. They would also have more income to support local businesses, just like mine.
Just to add a little icing to the rationality cake you produced: Who has benefited most from the non-growth in the minimum wage? Oh yeah, the tip top 1% crowd . . .
I think we need a personal wealth cap of $1 billion. We have anti-trust laws to prevent one business from ending up with a monpoly. Why don’t we have the same protections against a handful of people ending up with all the money? The 6 Walton heirs now possess more wealth than the bottom 96 million Americans, or $93 billion. Paying their average employee half of the federal poverty level must have helped. I have never heard them publicly thank the American tax payer for caring for their poverty stricken employees while they pile up the billions either.
——————————
Onthewater, Lately, I have been demanding the same level of respect for my rationality as some others demand that we all MUST have , for their ” no compromise !! “, irrational, “faith based”, political beliefs.
But my real point in replying is to point out where I asked, above;
” So is there some hidden agenda at work, may-be ?
What could that be ?
Does anyone, know of any possibilities of what could explain that ?”
;-/
re; “I take it you don’t own a small business.”
If YOU do…do you support the developed world’s international standard of universal health care ?
If not why , why not ? It is good for both your family and your employees’.
So to end the welfare culture, to lower social services costs, to end welfare fraud, to do all the things that the TEA people want to accomplish, including increasing the State’s revenue to balance the budget would be furthered by paying a living wage ?
Funny that they seem to not support solutions that would work.
Odd that, huh ?
So is there some hidden agenda at work, may-be ?
What could that be ?
Does anyone, know of any possibilities of what could explain that ?
Greed is my guess.
——————————
Democratic Party: lying, stealing, cheating, bearing of false witness, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia, rape, murder. Great party.
You forgot multiculturalism, a BIG forgot
Pedophilia is defiantly a Republican issue since they support Santorum and Lepage.
I have found that the people wanting to work, DO! And the ones that don’t want to work, DON’T! I know there are exceptions and some people try and try to get a job and can’t. But, for the most part, some people work VERY hard, to make sure they don’t have to work.
In every human endeavor there are those who will take advantage of a system. That said, I resent the broad brush people from the right use to paint those on unemployment or welfare. Having been unemployed for a long period back in the 1980s, I know how hard (and boring) it is to just sit around all day while your friends are working. Personally I think the CCCs should be brought back in times of high unemployment. If you know the history you know thousands and perhaps millions of men and their families benefitted and many roads, bridges, and parks were built which have had a permanent benefit to everyone.
At the federal level the republicans have blocked every jobs bill brought before Congress, but also blocked every effort to eliminate tax breaks for large companies. Welfare for the rich is ok by them, but someone collecting unemploymet or receiving welfare of any sort is a thief in their view.
This is why the republican party is doomed come november.
Sorry… The function of the government is primarily to protect the safety of every American. Beyond that, the debate will continue as to exactly where the limits are relative to what other functions pass governmental responsibility.
There are plenty of us who are painfully aware that every government job vacuums out our wallets unlike private sector jobs which help us by spreading the wealth base. Assuming you agree that the government can and will always take care of you from cradle to grave with no need for the private sector your plan will fail as it has every other time it has been tried.
The function of the private sector is to create capital. Before you get too squeamy, take a deep breath then clear your mind ….capital in the hands of the ethical small American businesses owned by your neighbors is a good thing. One of the benefits to the community is the creation of…..jobs…and the reason that capitalists and conservatives will win in November.
(clapping, cheering, screaming and whistling) here here!!!
“unlike private sector jobs which help us by spreading the wealth base. ” Spreading it to China? Spreading it to the wealthiest? Your assumption is not been supported by history. Did you miss the whole “minimum wage” as the root cause of welfare comment? Did you miss the whole growth of wealth in the US being limited to a very small percentage of the population comment?
Business practices have had to adapt to every new set of laws in order to prosper every time a new set of politicians has gained power for a very long time. As soon as this very anti private business administration is taken to the curb the country will be able to reinstate a friendlier business economic climate no matter which of his challengers is voted in. Progressives are intent on re-writing history but it is factually true that the country grew very well economically prior to the New Deal.
“Spreading it” … NO, piling it all up on top.
The point that I think works best with the most people …
… like those who might say you are a dam socialist
opposed to the whole private sector,
but who after their knees finish jerking,
then say that they want the POTUS to more to lower gasoline prices.
OMG, what could more socialist than that , right ?
… is to ask them about how the middle class has really fared under the trickle down economic theory.
The record of the tax cuts for the wealthy belies the unquestioning
faith so many hard working middle class people placed in it.
How can middle class people deny what it did to the national economy, and who has been hurt by it the most ?
No compromise ?
Why not, when you look at its the real economic results.
Just look at the record, and how the real economics of it, effects your family.
So, who is benefiting from that no compromise on taxes thing, really ?
ARE WE MAINERS ?
I fail to understand why you were bored and sitting around if you were earnestly searching for a job? I do not believe the republicans are standing in the way of jobs. I must read different material than you :-)
Thanks for missing the message and focusing on a detail. Stop watching Faux news and try to get out more.
I get out quite a bit. I work 6 days a week and I listen to all types of news. I just have to look at the whole picture and I like to focus on feeding my family. I am tired of cheats and liars getting my hard earned money. I got your message. It was very hard on you to take money for not doing anything all day. I got it.
it’s not “your money” . It’s called taxes and that’s what this country is based on and if the wealthy paid enough……………..the country wouldn’t have any financial problems. The rich are stealing more from taxes than any poor people are capable of. Look at the stats and you will see. Corporate welfare is “given” much more money than the poor people.
But its not supposed to be redistributed to those who refuse to work , who refuse to even go job hunting. Those who would rather have us paying for them to live the good life on Welfare , while the rest of us struggling busting our butts doing it the right way. I want my money spent on Education, fixing Infrastructure including building new Interstates, Turnpikes and East-West Highways. I want my money going to Incentives and tax cuts to help businesses spur job growth. Not growing the Welfare and Dependency state here in Maine with a restrictive Nanny State thrown in taking away people’s freedoms and rights. Having Augusta holding our hands like we are little kids. If you want that type of state you can pay higher taxes, but the majority of us voted for something different in 2010.
I disagree, it is my money. You would get along with msallyjones who says silly things like “you are subsidized by tax exemption.” Something very hard for people of a certain political philosophy to understand. The government exists solely to serve the people, not to hold them in tyranny. Every penny that the government spends (except for the 40 cents of every dollar that it borrows in my name without my consent) comes from me and the other 49% of us who actually pay income taxes.
“I get out quite a bit.”
So, have you ever wondered why, or do you just “not compromise”and tune out all that is not politically correct to you ?
I think you are hood winked by the GOP, Keep listening to Fox news and reading all the GOP propaganda and they will surely continue to support your hatred for those less fortunate. They will support you when you think all folks that don’t have the know how to support themselves are loaded up in a truck and taken to a gas chamber.
I do not have a hatred for those less fortunate than me. I have a hatred for that term though. I am not FORTUNATE I have worked my butt off to raise 5 children. I am now married but was divorced for 10 years. In those ten years I did not wait for someone to feed me and my children. I worked and my children now understand how to EARN a living not take it.
I hear you, but please don’t be as extreme as the no compromise conservatives.
They depend on liberals doing it.
It just like that Rush Limburger guy calling the only woman to try to testify on a woman’ issue before Congress a sl… bad name.
He did it to divert the topic, the real issue of big government dictating medical options
in support of a political agenda, and making medical costs higher, and lying about being about religion.
I am slow to say this, but it is a conservation is happening no where that I know of …
So I ‘d suggest the better way to make your point would be to point out that once the
New World Corporate Economic Order, the international 1%, is finished
with its manipulation of the conservatives… especially the “conservatives christian”
middle class, you will end up in just the place as all of us evil, heathen, anti-American
socialists, anyway, because you are not really part of that 1 %, are you ?
That is scary enough.
Beside, the no compromise sorts, once their position is known, have nothing new to say
so have no place at the table, do they really, so must be inflammatory.
I think America is tried of that, but no solutions.
But while we do have to deal with them, don’t take your eye off the prize.
The extremists post for each other, here, or wind up others in the hopes of justifying
their lies, but trust them when say they can’t compromise.
The real point is counter the right wing propaganda with reason so that the silent middle,
those that read this but do not comment, can see who are really the extremists.
I hope you understand and appreciate my saying this here.
… enough to be as supportive of me as trying to of you, too, may-be.
Seriously, positive feed back, instead of just the conservative’s beloved divisive conflict,
is an interesting approach to develop and use between now and next November,
don’t you think ?
So did my suggestions ring true to you ?
What were its strong and weak points, so we can adjust it,
so the willing can compromise to be more inclusive, in defense of the real needs of the real American middle class.
Are you at work ?
well said!!
Do you think raising good kids, keeping your family together,
on welfare is not a lot of work ?
But I agree “I have found that the people wanting to work, DO!”, too.
But I also know they should not all be painted with same brush as lazy welfare queens anymore than self-indulgent trust fund babies should benefit from all the fiscal policies intended for “job creaters”.
Does Lindsay Lohan really deserve the same tax breaks as someone creating work for other Americans ?
Let’s see how the anti-moralists spin this one knowing they’ve hit the bottom of vortex.
Will they now insist on denying the principle of the truth that human nature includes the capacity to steal even though most people choose not to. These anti-moralists can scream all they want about those mean, lying big corporations but when all their breath evaporates it all comes down to every individual’s choice of right or wrong.
350 potential unemployment fraud cases ‘could mean’ 350 potential legitimate unemployment cases falsely accused of fraud.
For the legitimate collectors of the 350 cases unemployment compensation that turn out to be falsely accused,who is going to compensate their time and energy when they are sent on wild goose chases by the government to verify their information they are legitimate?
I do not collect unemployment. I am empathizing with the recipients who are legitimate.
However, Skow, if you never look for fraud(which implies intentional deceipt in order to gain benefits) you’re never going to find any. That’s why the State intends to further investigate to discover whether there’s any factual basis for fraud in the cases that’ve been targetted by crosschecking the databases. If you think that’s a waste of money then you probably also think that the IRS picking cases to audit for revenue violations is a wild goose chase too.
I was on unemployment some 10 years ago. You got to watch every cent you have,even the cost of a stamp. So, some legitimate unemployed are going to ,what?, spend money and time sending in all kinds of foams, photo copy this and that, perhaps have to attend a meeting or two. Then the State says never mind, your legitimate.
I understand your point…noone’s going to get rich on a maximum of $366/week. I’d also guess that you used unemployment compensation for what it was designed for. You were forced to take the time to file the paperwork necessary to enable you to collect unemployment benefits. If the State had evidence suggesting that someone was employed that contradicted their paperwork on file, the person should have the chance to explain.
I’d sooner believe that the burden of proof would rest with the State rather than the individual, which means that other than a phone call to Augusta to explain the circumstances that the State would collect any facts necessary to verify or deny the claim.
As a side note, my wife works at the local public library. Part of her duties involve sending faxes for welfare requests to the DHHS at the request of library patrons. You would be aghast at the number of people who choose to send DHHS fax applications to Augusta at $2.00 per page plus long distance charges versus the number who choose to spend $.50 for first class mail delivery. I don’t think available cash is nearly as tight as when you collected some 10 years ago.
The question is…what will happen to these people if it is found out they are cheating the system? Maine better get our money back.
Orwellian.
“We have to look into every case because most of these will not be
fraud, but some will and we will seek return of improperly paid funds,”
Boyett said.
Perhaps this computer system could have helped the DHHS in the past few years.
They could staff a hotline so people could call in welfare cheats.
Anyone want to bet that Poor Paul waddles out in front of a mic today and claims it as actual fraud ferreted out by his administration, as opposed to “potential” fraud? Not that he would intentionally lie to us…
Oh, NOW I understand where you have been coming from. It is all MY fault you have lax ethics and a sense of entitlement. Gotcha. And, furthermore, I will discount all of your future posts on the subject of welfare and scammers, since you have revealed your first-hand expertise on the subject.
Is this not the umpteenth time you have put up that link to the masturbating feebie? What’s the deal?
Hey,at least this puts the transportation guy who used the gifts cards and others monies issues in perspective,no? I mean,of course he should get his 350k in back ‘vacation pay’ right? I mean,there are unemployment cheats who just might be getting an extra 2K a YEAR!!!!!! wankers.
” She acknowledged the 350 cases of potential fraud found on the first
computer match is a large number given that only about 1,000 individuals
living outside the state are getting Maine benefits from all of the
various unemployment programs in any week.”
DUH…ya think?
There must be some kind of mistake!! There is no way that there is any type of fraud in a government program. I juts do not believe it. This is likely some right wing nut trying to make these programs look bad.
Yes that is fraud i agree but i said if he or she went to another state to find work and is living with a relative but is not working how is that fraud.. If you would of read the whole thing i wrote, you would of not said that..
Where does the state get their software? It is time to come into the 21st century.
Mal Leary………..Shame on you! Giving this article a bogus title. If you read the article most of these cases don’t even have the “potential” for being fraudulent. Why not give your article a name that is more true to the contents.
I did not justify anything ! Just gave the facts ! Problem with that ? Who are you ? Official Right Wing Government Censor ? when one accuses