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Lottery Winner : Collecting Food Stamps

Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
edited March 2012 in All Encompassing Trip
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mi ... 51693.html


Michigan woman still collecting food stamps after winning $1 million lottery



People love stories about someone winning the lottery and then giving the money away. They're less likely to feel fondly about Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million in the Michigan State Lottery but is still collecting food stamps.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton, 24, told Local 4 news in Detroit.

Back in December, a woman in Washington State fell under scrutiny when it was revealed she was receiving state economic benefits even though she lives in a $1 million waterfront home on Lake Washington.

Clayton, who says she owns two homes and a new car, receives $200 a month in food assistance from the state-issued Michigan Bridge Card, which is meant to benefit lower-income residents in the nation's eigth most economically depressed state.

Twenty-five percent of Michigan's residents receive some form of food assistance from the state. The state's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, more than a full point above the national average, but has dropped from a 10.4 percent peak in August.

And Clayton isn't embarrassed about living off the state even though she now finds herself in the nation's top tax bracket. "I mean I kinda do," Clayton told Local 4 when asked if she had a "right" to the government welfare.



.People love stories about someone winning the lottery and then giving the money away. They're less likely to feel fondly about Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million in the Michigan State Lottery but is still collecting food stamps.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton, 24, told Local 4 news in Detroit.

Back in December, a woman in Washington State fell under scrutiny when it was revealed she was receiving state economic benefits even though she lives in a $1 million waterfront home on Lake Washington.

Clayton, who says she owns two homes and a new car, receives $200 a month in food assistance from the state-issued Michigan Bridge Card, which is meant to benefit lower-income residents in the nation's eigth most economically depressed state.

Twenty-five percent of Michigan's residents receive some form of food assistance from the state. The state's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, more than a full point above the national average, but has dropped from a 10.4 percent peak in August.

And Clayton isn't embarrassed about living off the state even though she now finds herself in the nation's top tax bracket. "I mean I kinda do," Clayton told Local 4 when asked if she had a "right" to the government welfare.


She certainly doesn't the fit the mold of other lottery winners we have told you about here at the Sideshow, including the number of repeat winners of the Georgia State Lottery, many of whom chose to donate their initial winnings to charity or family members in need.

Clayton downplayed her wealth, saying she took the $1 million in a lump sump, which meant about half immediately went to taxes. "I feel that it's OK because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay," she said. "I have two houses."


Her story has already caught attention locally, where state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has sponsored a bill preventing individuals like Clayton from taking state financial assistance.

"Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches," Zorn told Local 4. The bill, which has already passed the state House and has a sister bill in the Senate, would require the state to cross check the names of lottery winners over $1,000 to see if they are also receiving state financial benefits.
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    Wow...
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    Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    DS1119 wrote:
    Wow...

    I wish I had (2) houses

    :roll:
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
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    peacefrompaulpeacefrompaul Posts: 25,293
    "I mean I kinda do"

    No, you kinda don't. Save it for the people that actually need it.
  • Options
    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.
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    peacefrompaulpeacefrompaul Posts: 25,293
    DS1119 wrote:
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.

    I'm not going to tell people what to do with their extra money. I just wish they would spend it on something else.
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    DS1119 wrote:
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.

    I'm not going to tell people what to do with their extra money. I just wish they would spend it on something else.


    I agree with you 100% but this is what I mean. If you're collecting public assistance (which by the way I support fully) there is no "extra income". That person's income is from the state. The dollars you are getting are to help keep you and your family afloat...not to spend on a "dollar and a dream". If people have money to spend on lotteries they should be forced instead to take that money and reimburse the state it's money.

    I just have visions in my head of this person in the grocery line paying for the food with state money and then pulling out her five bucks or whatever to play the lottery. :? Not right and zero accountablity.
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    I'm a TruckI'm a Truck Milwaukee Posts: 3,508
    DS1119 wrote:
    Wow...

    I wish I had (2) houses

    :roll:
    I don't! One makes me wanna pull my hair out :?
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    8181 Needing a ride to Forest Hills and a ounce of weed. Please inquire within. Thanks. Or not. Posts: 58,276
    If you search her name on wayne county site, you can get her address....
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    Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    81 wrote:
    If you search her name on wayne county site, you can get her address....

    maybe she's single you can move in on that money

    :lol:
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
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    RKCNDYRKCNDY Seattle, WA Posts: 31,013
    we had a few issues here...

    *people were allowed to withdraw money using their public assistance card at casinos and strip clubs up to $300 per transaction-this has now been stopped

    *people were selling their food stamp debit cards for $0.50 on the dollar to certain mini marts. The mini marts then turned around and cashed out the cards and pocketed the remaining balance. The people who sold the cards would then call the public assistance office and claim they 'lost' their card, and get a new one...and then sell the new re-filled card again. Think they finally figured out how to stop this.

    *some lady claimed she was single and collected food stamps. The DSHS officer would make their visits to her $1.2M on Lake Washington and didn't question the fact that she lived in a MILLION DOLLAR house. Turns out, she was married to a chiropractor, and she wasn't 'renting' the house as she claimed, she owned it. This case is still pending litigation.

    Welfare girl should pay back all the public assistance money she received since she cashed in the winning ticket, and be banned from collecting public assistance for at least 10 years. My $0.02
    The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

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    The JugglerThe Juggler Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,315
    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/michigan-woman-still-collecting-food-stamps-winning-1-201751693.html


    Michigan woman still collecting food stamps after winning $1 million lottery

    Clayton downplayed her wealth, saying she took the $1 million in a lump sump, which meant about half immediately went to taxes. "I feel that it's OK because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay," she said. "I have two houses."
    .

    you live in michigan lady. should have paid cash for 90k house. that's like a 500k house around here. :lol:

    people are stupid.
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    rick1zoo2rick1zoo2 between a rock and a dumb place Posts: 12,632
    is she hot?
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    8181 Needing a ride to Forest Hills and a ounce of weed. Please inquire within. Thanks. Or not. Posts: 58,276
    rick1zoo2 wrote:
    is she hot?
    trailer park hot
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
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    mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,765
    $500,000 - house - house + no job = back to needing food stamps in 3 years.

    Just read the article and saw she took the %50 lump sum.
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
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    catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    DS1119 wrote:
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.


    so should wasting your money on cigarettes. :roll:
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    DS1119 wrote:
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.


    so should wasting your money on cigarettes. :roll:


    Agreed.
  • Options
    catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    DS1119 wrote:
    DS1119 wrote:
    Playing the lottery while on public assistance should be illegal IMHO.


    so should wasting your money on cigarettes. :roll:


    Agreed.

    you do realise i was being facetious, right?
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    you do realise i was being facetious, right?


    I guess I did miss the rolling eyes. :lol: Just my contention is if public funds have to be used to buy someone their food (which again I will say I support programs like this 100%) why should that person be allowed to spend their own money on non essential items? Of course there is zero way to regualate this aside from the fact that food stamps can't be used to buy cigarettes, beer, etc. I guess it's just my feeling that's all.
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    catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    DS1119 wrote:
    you do realise i was being facetious, right?


    I guess I did miss the rolling eyes. :lol: Just my contention is if public funds have to be used to buy someone their food (which again I will say I support programs like this 100%) why should that person be allowed to spend their own money on non essential items? Of course there is zero way to regualate this aside from the fact that food stamps can't be used to buy cigarettes, beer, etc. I guess it's just my feeling that's all.

    did you read what you wrote??? you said:


    why should that person be allowed to spend their own money on non essential items?




    and what do we consdier non essential items???
    flavoured milk? cookies? air freshener? ice cream?

    defining something as non essential is a bit of a slippery slope. in my country tampons attract a sales tax cause theyre considered a luxury item. basically what is being said here, is that tampons are non essential. i can assure the bureaucrats that tampons are very essential to millions of women.
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    DS1119 wrote:
    you do realise i was being facetious, right?


    I guess I did miss the rolling eyes. :lol: Just my contention is if public funds have to be used to buy someone their food (which again I will say I support programs like this 100%) why should that person be allowed to spend their own money on non essential items? Of course there is zero way to regualate this aside from the fact that food stamps can't be used to buy cigarettes, beer, etc. I guess it's just my feeling that's all.

    did you read what you wrote??? you said:


    why should that person be allowed to spend their own money on non essential items?




    and what do we consdier non essential items???
    flavoured milk? cookies? air freshener? ice cream?

    defining something as non essential is a bit of a slippery slope. in my country tampons attract a sales tax cause theyre considered a luxury item. basically what is being said here, is that tampons are non essential. i can assure the bureaucrats that tampons are very essential to millions of women.


    I actually wrote it like that on purpose to stress my point of thinking. If they have THEIR own money to spend on items like that...why do they deserve OUR money to buy food. This is just my respectful opinion. If money is coming out of my check every week to help people eat...why should their money be going towards lottery tickets?
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    catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    DS1119 wrote:
    I actually wrote it like that on purpose to stress my point of thinking. If they have THEIR own money to spend on items like that...why do they deserve OUR money to buy food. This is just my respectful opinion. If money is coming out of my check every week to help people eat...why should their money be going towards lottery tickets?


    cause along with life and liberty, the pursuit of happiness is enshrined in the declaration of independence as an unalienable righs of all americans??? :think:
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    DS1119DS1119 Posts: 33,497
    DS1119 wrote:
    I actually wrote it like that on purpose to stress my point of thinking. If they have THEIR own money to spend on items like that...why do they deserve OUR money to buy food. This is just my respectful opinion. If money is coming out of my check every week to help people eat...why should their money be going towards lottery tickets?


    cause along with life and liberty, the pursuit of happiness is enshrined in the declaration of independence as an unalienable righs of all americans??? :think:


    Of course the pursuit of happiness...but not on my dime. :lol: If it were played that way that I would prefer to keep my weekly donations for these programs. That would definately make me happier. :lol:
  • Options
    RKCNDYRKCNDY Seattle, WA Posts: 31,013
    Saw on the news last night she got cut off from state benefits.,,,and the state is trying to create a law to prevent this from happening again.

    She still needs to be forced to pay back all the money she fraudulently collected.
    The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

    - Christopher McCandless
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