Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I read about a real case of 'benefit abuse ' this weekend.
Did anyone know MPs could claim 20p/mile for riding a bike?
And they are doing!
Claims for £1.60, 80 pence, £2.40 etc trips. I'm astonished that someone on their money can be bothered to claim 80p. Even more astonished they're allowed to.Still if they could be bothered to claim for a Mars bar why not?
MPs from all three main parties are doing it. As has been said- they're all as bad as each other.

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

My reading of it Gordon, only £150 in total claimed, insignificant in comparison to their total transport claims. Shame on the parasitic reporters who ran with this story, I bet their expense claims were more than £150.

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

Labour's compulsory jobs guarantee for the long-term unemployed | The Labour Party

This compulsory jobs guarantee (or BS as I call it) will not work and so it will mean a rehash of the current workfare placements.Work can not be created. There is a demand for labour or there isn't. Demand can only be created by people who have the funds to pay for it. To much greed means no money for anyone else to spread around.
The whole culture of the Job Centre has to change. These days, there is no real help (useless), just lip service and mechanisms to make already downtrodden people even more miserable.
The culture of sanctions for example. Some of the reasons they are imposed for are Ridiculous, pathetic, even laughable.
A Selection Of Especially Stupid Sanctions | Birmingham Against The Cuts
They will not win votes with rehashed lip service as spouted by IDS and his vile tribe.

Poverty leads to more poverty, ill health and increasing isolation. Poverty leads to family breakdown, which leads to homelessness, to addiction, depression, self-harm, poor health, mental illness etc until the individual is shattered beyond repair (that's when folk lose "responsibility for themselves" and in some cases take there own life).

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I know it's not a lot, DtheP, although I read £417.58 over 4 years.
It's the pettiness of these people, determined to squeeze even pennies out of the taxpayer. One guy made 166 claims-average £1.24. Has he nothing more important to do?

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I don t see a problem with MPs claiming or cycling.
If there allowed to in the rules and its genuine, why not?
People should not bash MP's for the sake of it.

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

Something that may interest our members from across the pond.
According to new numbers that were released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of American families do not have a single person that is employed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf

Why does the mainstream media and most of the politicians think that things are better than ever? Hmmm

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

Mainstream media article for your edification AccyX

The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes ? a dream | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | The Observer

I was drawn to the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted in there.

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

It is from the Guardian......and lengthy. Not as lengthy as a book, (it would make a couple of chapters)but I have a feeling that Accyexplorer will not read it through to the end.
And to Accyexplorer, this is not to reflect badly on you.....but in the past you have posted TLDNR.......or TMLW.

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

The pedant in me has to say Margaret, the article is from the Observer 26 April by Michael Cohen.

Thanks for the acronyms, I learned something new today. :)

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I pulled up the link and the first name on the header is the Guardian...with the Observer as the second name.....even though the link said Observer.....I took it to be the Guardian.
It has the Guardian essence to it( I did read it).
And you are most welcome.
It is always good to come on here and learn something.
I have to say I had to look up what they meant

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I didn't need to read it M, I can summarise it:

America's middle class is dying, and if they carry on the way they are going government dependence will grow ...and they will be goosed.
I did read the words of Ralph Emerson though :D

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

The pedant in me has to say they are abbreviations, not acronyms.

If you want to be really pedantic, they are initialisms, which are a subset of abbreviations.

Does that count as an extra two things learned today? :D

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

No No and No Studio25.

Acronyms take the first letter of each word and are pronounced differently from the original expanded form. As per Margaret's post
In my industry we have SPOC's ...Single Points of Contact.

As abbreviation is written differently to the expanded form but are pronounced the same. e.g. Dr and Doctor

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I thought the government was meant to be making it so that folk are better off working than on benefits, no signs of that when you read storys like this!

Gravesend mum of 9 pregnant again - with twin girls (From News Shopper)

Re: BENEFITS hmmmm
 

I didn't need to read it A, I put the claim in!

http://slwakes.files.wordpress.com/2...pg?w=295&h=300