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| Home Front: Politix |
| File under WTF: Free towing for those "hard working" welfare recipients-- |
| 2008-03-18 |
| You just can't make this up The house DFL was concerned about the gas tax increases effect on the poor--so much so that that they offered an amendment on the transportation policy bill that would have given free towing to anyone already on welfare--at taxpayer expense. It got cut from the bill during the conference report stage, when the Senate and House versions are blended together but it still shows you where these guys are going. Welcome to Minnesota's DFL During the debate, Rep. Kalin said on the House Floor that "welfare recipients are the real working people of Minnesota, because they are trying to get to the top of the economic heap." Rep. Marty Seifert disagreed. Shooting fish in a... What the amendment really did was waive towing and impoundment fees (above the value of the vehicle) for anyone who could prove that they were merely eligible for the nine programs: Food Stamps (EBT); Emergency Assistance (EA); Minnesota Family Investment Program(MFIP); Diversionary Work Program (DWP); Medical Assistance (MA); General Assistance (GA); General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC); Emergency General Assistance (EGA); Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA); MSA-Emergency Assistance (MSA-EA); or Energy Assistance (LI-HEAP). And alien abducties Note: When Rep. Seifert said "if you are on some type of public relief program, and you don't scoop your vehicle out and it gets towed, you kind of get treated differently than if you are someone who works," Rep. Kalin shook his head. Surprisingly it didn't fall off |
| Posted by:Icerigger Redux |
| #7 Nothing |
| Posted by: Icerigger Redux 2008-03-18 22:37 |
| #6 "free towing to anyone already on welfare--at taxpayer expense" If they're on welfare, they're already "at taxpayer expense." What's that got to do with the working poor? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-03-18 21:10 |
| #5 Cool....so it won't just be the rock stars parking wherever the hell they want. Now, if they meant that working poor people *upon driving to or from work* got a flat or had a radiator blow or some such and got a free or discounted triple-a type service - I could be more amenable to that. Not free towing for someone too lazy to shovel out their wheels. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2008-03-18 20:26 |
| #4 in GA if you and your spouse make more than $10 an hour combined you can't get welfare. so where do these ppl have too go. hell i can barely afford the neccesities and they wouldn't piss on me if i was on fire but they going too tow the Escalade for free. tell them tyoo walk if they don't have money for gas i have done it plenty of times. goddamn mooches is the problem with this country starting in new orleans and all the other minority based metropolises , or use public transportation. |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-03-18 16:14 |
| #3 Well, folks, it was either this or free valet parking in the projects... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-18 15:49 |
| #2 True. Though it might also occur to the working poor who are totally dependent on their vehicles to make a living - unlike middle class people who can always cycle or take a hot air balloon to work - they they might, like, not park their cars illegally. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-03-18 11:40 |
| #1 Actually they may have a point here. For the working poor, a car is often as essential to their livelihood as a house is to the middle class. Much like laws preventing the seizure of "workman's tools", the idea is that, by waiving a fine, they are keeping them from losing what work they have and needing even more welfare. This amounts to tax relief for the poor, not having to shell out maybe $300 they don't have, because their car got towed and impounded. And arguing that the poor should have to pay the same tax as the middle class or wealthy avoids the obvious "getting blood out of a turnip" problem. What is just an annoyance to the middle class can be ruinous to people who are just getting by. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-03-18 11:38 |