Why We March June 2012: Welfare Recipients Are Expendable

The foundation on which society rests has been changed forever.

Picture Leonardo DiCaprio perched on the balcony of the Titanic, holding on to Rose's hand as the ship which has broken in half, stands straight up just before it goes into the the icy waters.  He yells out, "THIS IS IT!!"

Today, the State of Michigan shouted out the same thing: Letters went out across the State alerting all Family Independence Program (FIP) recipients that they may have reached the limit of welfare support.  A second letter will go out at a later date to select which families will be culled out of cash assistance forever -- along with a second note informing them where to go for the limited help they still may qualify for.

Governor Rick Snyder has determined that $64m dollars can be saved if MI stops caring for poor families. The death warrant was signed by the Governor on August 9th, 2011, shoving some 14,000 poor families -- all with minor children -- into some kind of "hell" where they will be killed off a little at a time.

These first 14,000 will be followed by more and more until all the poor families who have been on welfare assistance for 4 years are kicked out. They are on a train headed toward the concentration camps of wont:

First stop, Public Shelter Avenue where some get off and seek living arrangements in local shelters.  Girls go to the left, boys go to the right...train keeps moving toward its final destination.

Next stop, Foster Care Junction where some of the children are taken away from mostly mothers too poor to care for them any longer.

Third stop, Suicide Canyon where some moms so stressed, saddened and crushed by the loss of their home, their property, their support, will decide they are "bad" parents and the children would be better off without them. Or, some of the older children in these stressed families -- separated from friends, separated from school activities, can't go to the Prom -- will consider suicide-pacts as a viable option.
 
Fourth Stop, Murderer's Cave where some will resort to inward violence like we are witnessing on Channel 2,4, and 7 daily -- shootings, knifings, clubbings, killing in every shape and form committed by people already on the edge.

Final stop, the Burning Fields where the message is clear: it costs too much money to keep your family alive. Governors across the nation are examining this strategy that saves State dollars. 
 
The ASSEMBLY TO END POVERTY has called for a National MARCH ON WASHINGTON, June 30th 2011. Get involved asap. Email endpoverty2012@gmail.com, or call: (313) 964-0618.  There are 323 days left. Do Something!!! 

Image from State of Michigan

Why We March: Announcing the Workers March On Washington

Beginning today, August 1, 2011,  we will begin the first of many posts about preparation for the national Workers March On Washington, June 30, 2012. As a proud member of the Assembly to End Poverty, MWRO is actively organizing thousands of workers and low-income people to speak out and demand an end to poverty!

For the next several months, we will keep you posted with regular reports, analyses and commentary on why we must march. While we gather momentum toward this great march, we know that the heart of this work lies in the stories, testimonials and experiences of poverty from every person in the U.S. that we meet along the way.

We know that the foundation on which society rests has changed forever. Science has advanced technology very fast, making workers more productive than ever before. Fewer human beings are needed to produce. In Michigan, we live in a State that’s been hit very hard by this new world order. Yet, political operatives have suggested that mothers on welfare with children be separated from their benefits and forced into the work market. The first 12,600 public assistance families will be eliminated effective Oct. 1^st, 2011. 

In the worst job market, in the worst housing market, with family violence spiraling out of control, the answer is to push women and children into deeper poverty? The State will save $64 million by eliminating payments to this group.  What is the worth of a human being?

The Assembly To End Poverty is calling for a Workers March On Washington, June 30, 2012. We march on D.C. because we want to eliminate poverty, and not the poor. We can and we will do this! 

Get involved, contact:  EndPoverty2012@gmail.com.  You have 335 days left.

Image courtesy of Creative Commons (Berd)

Engler's Legacy of Poverty

Across the country, millions of men and women in their mid-40s and older are finding it increasingly difficult to find work and start over. While many workers have lost retirement investments and savings and can't retire as planned, others are unable to find work and start over after company layoffs and downsizing.

In October 1991, Michigan was the first state to eliminate General Assistance (GA)--a state assistance program that provided $160/month, plus medical care, and Food Stamps for unemployed and childless men and women. It was the last safety net that non-elderly, single people had.

Governor Engler eliminated GA as part of a political quest to make a national name for himself. He made other huge social service cuts to fix the state's budget, such as pushing people onto federal aid (like SSI) and contracting with charity agencies to set up homeless shelters in attempts to privatize welfare.

A University of Michigan study (pdf) also found that half of those cut from GA were people primarily in Detroit and who had extensive barriers to employment. Only one-third of them were able to find work two years after being cut from GA. These cuts also occurred during another one of Michigan's severe economic recessions.

Today, Michigan and Detroit lead the country in the highest unemployment with some of the worst safety net benefits. Many MWRO members are poor and low-income single men and women who lack the education and skills to compete for the same measly job offerings alongside college-educated people.

What are any of us to do when we can't find work, can't get hired, can't get an education yet need a safe, warm place to sleep with some food on the table? In 1991, the public didn't care that GA was being cut to low-income individuals. Today, millions more are in need of such benefits but there is nearly nowhere to turn.

We have a right to live, a right to a decent quality of life. How will we make that happen?

(Image courtesy of MLive Blog)

State Emergency Relief for Low Income Michigan Residents

In the state of Michigan, low-income people may apply for State Emergency Relief (SER) through the Department of Human Services (DHS). The SER application allows for persons who have utility bill shut-off notices, or home foreclosure or eviction notices to receive assistance from the State.

As announced on Tuesday's 4/14/09 WHPR "Ask Welfare Rights" Show, go to a Michigan Dept of Human Services (DHS) office by Thurs, 4/16/09 to receive DTE matching funds for SER! If you have received a shut-off notice for your DTE bill, you can receive matching funds with a State Emergency Relief (SER) application that may help you pay off your entire electric bill. SER funds are also available for water shut-off bills, foreclosure and eviction notice, or home disaster relief. Don't let your DHS worker tell you funds are not available--that's not true!

DTE, the Detroit-based electric and natural gas company, is currently matching funds paid by DHS until April 16, 2009. Eligible residents must go to their nearest DHS office by the end of this date for these matching funds.

After April 16, 2009, you may continue to apply for SER assistance (including home disaster relief and burial service). Many of these current funds have been provided to the states through federal economic stimulus funds to assist low-income, unemployed, and homeless families.

The Michigan Assistance and Referral Service (MARS) website can also help you determine which programs you may be eligible for to receive cash assistance, food stamps, medical care, emergency services, child care, and more. MARS is available in English, Spanish, and Arabic.

Check out the Michigan DHS and SER websites for more information.

Image courtesy of the Michigan's Poverty in Michigan website.

America, Women, and Babies!

By Maureen D. Taylor
MWRO State Chairperson

A surprising segue has developed over recent weeks, after the birth of octuplets to a mother who already has six children. The good news I thought was that all the children are still alive after these few weeks, even though it is suspected that several will have developmental issues.

The "flap" one would guess, would be over the wisdom of implanting so many embryos that bring with this procedure potential for birth defects. In Vitro Fertilization has risks that multiply with multiple births--we all get that--but this is not what is being spoken of.

Hate mail and hatred is being directed toward this mother because she is not married and the government may have to take financial responsibility for these eight, along with the other six. This mother seems obsessed with having babies, all fathered by the same partner--a fact known by the clinic who performed this procedure every time.

Bitter statements have suggested that Ms. Suleman has created this scenario to gain income for herself and her children. Her planned pregnancy has unleashed the wrath of many orthodox thinkers who are ultra critical without offering the sympathy this challenged mother needs.

Somehow, she feels herself to be little more than a "baby-machine" who because she lacks affection in her own life, needs babies to cherish who will categorically love her back. We say nothing about the $1,000 hammers purchased by the Defense Dept., or the $10b per month price tag for our involvement in Iraq.

The gov't benefits she receives is not enough to care for this family. The mother needs counseling and care, as do these babies who have been born into a world that loves them not. Women of America, don't join in this assault against this troubled soul that we should, instead, demand services for, along with all children and depressed moms.

(Image from Washington Post/AP/KTLA)