2M Michigan lottery winner still receiving food stamps...

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A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich.

And there's nothing the state can do about it, at least for now.

Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show "Make Me Rich!" last June. But the state's Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps, Fick's attorney, John Wilson of Midland, said Tuesday.

Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don't count as income. As long as Fick's gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.



$2M Michigan lottery winner defends use of food stamps - Yahoo! News
 
I've seen this posted all over facebook today and thought it was interesting.

Something about this story seems a little off to me, but we shall see.

I've known people who've won large amounts of money and it was treated like income and not assets...
 
All I can say is, Fick(en) is the German word for Fuck.

Well, that's the thing with bureaucratic laws. Sometimes they favour you, but most often they seem to screw you.
 
If that is some sort of loophole then they really need to fix that. And he should be ashamed of himself, and pay it all back. Or donate that amount to a food pantry.
 
This is not the only case of food stamp "fraud" in Michigan. There's been lots of news lately about college students abusing the Bridge Cards so they are cracking down on that. It was way too easy to get a card.
 
After 3 years of "free health care is a right," I say who can argue with anyone that feels the same right to free food as well.

It would be mean-spirited, heartless, wealthy-serving, selfish and hateful to say otherwise.
 
There's a difference between food assistance and getting two hundred dollars a month for one person. I have no problems with programs being available to those who need it and I support programs like WIC, kids getting two meals a day at school, etc even though I have never and will never need those services. Yes, I do believe we have a right to be healthy and not starve if we want to call ourselves a developed nation.
 
After 3 years of "free health care is a right," I say who can argue with anyone that feels the same right to free food as well.

It would be mean-spirited, heartless, wealthy-serving, selfish and hateful to say otherwise.
"These things are the same because I say they are the same. If you disagree, you are a liberal hypocrite."
 
After 3 years of "free health care is a right," I say who can argue with anyone that feels the same right to free food as well.

It would be mean-spirited, heartless, wealthy-serving, selfish and hateful to say otherwise.
There are some first-tier countries who think universal access to healthcare is a basic human right akin to free speech or freedom of religion (protected by the government), there are some countries who think it is a privilege for those who work hard enough for it. I don't think either approach is perfect nor a complete solution.

You frame the argument simplistically as freeloaders vs. hard workin', patriotic small business owners. Without healthcare reform, a hard workin' small business owner can still be denied coverage he paid into because he had the gall to acquire cancer (probably from gay sex). :heart:
 
Millionaire lottery winners are probably a significant drain on the welfare system and I can see why I should get upset about this.
 
After 3 years of "free health care is a right," I say who can argue with anyone that feels the same right to free food as well.

It would be mean-spirited, heartless, wealthy-serving, selfish and hateful to say otherwise.

Simpleton comparison logic :yippie:

The Tea Party is proud.
 
Yes there are plenty of examples of people who win the lottery who end up in dire circumstances, or dead. They just aren't equipped to handle having all that money, and they don't go in with the right attitude. Don't get the proper advice. Have preexisting issues that money can never solve.

If I won the lottery I'd buy myself a nice house (somewhere with no winter) and do some traveling. Other than that I don't need or want anything. I would probably still use coupons and try to get the best deal and refuse to pay full price. That's who I am and the money wouldn't change that. I would just have freedom, and that would be priceless to me. I'd be so afraid of losing it that I'd be as careful as possible.
 
DH and I had this conversation recently and I fully admitted if we won the big lottery I'd quit my job, probably never work a day again but travel, volunteer, train more dogs, etc. You bet we'd upgrade the house and car, pay off the student loans, I'd pay off my parent's land contract and my sibs' student loans.... There's a lot we could do that would still keep us in the upper-middle-class bracket and have plenty leftover for future family and investments. I would love to learn more about investing, not just to make piles of money but that kind of stuff intrigues me...something that involves math but also the element of risk. My step-grandpa started an investment club when he was 18, he worked blue-collar day labor jobs all his life but died a millionaire (before I got the chance to learn from him about investing).
 
I'd like to say that if I won the lottery I'd go live on a mountain somewhere with a hundred cats, but for all I know it'd probably just all go up my nose in a blaze of food stamps glory. It's something I can't even comprehend.
 
If I won the lottery I'd get myself a nice little place to live. Nothing fancy, just a nice comfortable little home, or maybe an apartment or something. And I'd get my mom a place, too-she doesn't want much, she's talked about wanting a simple one story house. All she really wants is a place where she can put a washer and dryer in the house (we don't have one in our apartment, so we have to go to the laundromat once a week). And then I'd get my mom a more up to date car, one that doesn't look like it'll fall apart on her in a few months' time, with handles on both doors and everything. Again, she's not looking for a BMW or whatever, a little two door car with a CD player in it as her big luxury is all she's asking for.

I'd go to the doctor and dentist, finally, and would be able to do that on a regular basis, and I'd also support charities and other things of that sort-my mom's talked about how, if she won the lottery, she'd like to start up a thing that helps low-income families with rent and heat and other bills, so that they don't have that burden on their heads. She's also got a friend who works with animals, and she'd like to help that friend start up her own vet clinic if she had that kind of money. I like those ideas, and would like to do similar things like that.

Then for splurges I'd take trips to a couple countries I always wanted to visit, and then I'd probably just spend some money on CDs or movies or books I really wanted. And then I'd put some in the bank and save it away.

I'd also probably still work, because I'd be too paranoid that I'd wake up one day and find out it was all a mistake or a dream or something and the money got taken away for some reason :p. Some people do abuse their lottery wins, yes, that lady being a notable one. But honestly, if my family won that kind of money, it truly would be such a help to us. We're not asking for much, we just want to be able to take care of all our necessities easily first and foremost, whatever we wanted would come later. I do think it's sad people often have to resort to that because other means of making money aren't working out for them, but if it helps them out in good ways, I don't see the problem.

Also, I am sorry to hear of that woman's death.
 
I'd do what I always wanted to do: backpack around the world, buy a cottage in Ireland in County Kerry near the coast, divide the remaining into threes - money for my future children's college tuition, my life savings since Social Security is supposed to go bankrupt when I get older, and the rest to worthy charities like Doctors Without Borders :angel:
 
This is why I'm perfectly willing to give a bum begging for change some money. Yes, I know it's going toward drugs or booze. But maybe it will be the hit that kills him.
 
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