Poverty in the USA is a scandal

[Autumnlicious]

It has always struck me as vindictive and petty to withhold living resources and basic human services for the poor and homeless. There should be a track out of that situation.

The term "welfare queen" is most often associated with Ronald Reagan who brought the idea to a national audience. During his 1976 presidential campaign, Reagan would tell the story of a woman from Chicago's South Side who was arrested for welfare fraud:

"She has eighty names, thirty addresses, twelve Social Security cards and is collecting veteran's benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. And she is collecting Social Security on her cards. She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income is over $150,000."[4]

Since Reagan never named a particular woman, the description can be viewed as an example of dramatic hyperbole. Critics have pointed out that the woman described never existed,[5] and the story appears to have been drawn from newspaper reports at the time. In 1976, the New York Times reported that a woman from Chicago, Linda Taylor,[6] was charged with using four aliases and of cheating the government out of $8,000. She appeared again in the newspaper while the Illinois Attorney General continued investigating her case.[7] The woman was ultimately found guilty of "welfare fraud and perjury" in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.[8]

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_queen

I love hyperbole that justifies ideology. 8$k is a far cry from 150$k.