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Freeloaders by John Stossel
FOX News ^ | March 25, 2011 | John Stossel

Posted on 03/26/2011 10:12:07 AM PDT by eccentric

Is America becoming a nation of freeloaders?

It’s said that Panhandlers in America can make more than minimum wage. John Stossel tried it in Manhattan, and sure enough, I made over $11 in one hour—that would be $23,000 a year—tax free!

It’s a small example of why some said that the USA is turning into a nation of freeloaders. The Manhattan Institute’s Heather Macdonald says that beggars she’s encountered “have the most deep-seated sense of entitlement that I’ve ever come across.”

From those defaulting on their home mortgages, to those who see lawsuits as a lottery ticket, many Americans live off the hard work of others.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: fox; freeloaders; stossel
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To: for-q-clinton

Me too, but some of this human flotsam are aggressive and/or drunk and the cops refuse to arrest them and enforce the laws against A.) vagrancy, and B.) public intoxication.


21 posted on 03/26/2011 10:55:01 AM PDT by Emperor Palpatine (Tosca, mi fai dimenticare Iddio!!!)
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To: pallis

It supplements the welfare.


22 posted on 03/26/2011 11:03:10 AM PDT by screaminsunshine (Obama Sucks)
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To: eccentric

Back in the 70’s I seem to remember a “school” of sorts that would teach you how to panhandle. You picked what type of scam you wanted to be - wino, war injury, blind man, school fundraiser, etc. - then gave you tips on how to dress, what to say, and so on.


23 posted on 03/26/2011 11:13:46 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: eccentric

It was disgusting to hear the number of people with no moral compass.


24 posted on 03/26/2011 11:38:15 AM PDT by G Larry
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To: G Larry

“It was disgusting to hear the number of people with no moral compass.”

Right on! There ARE too many Democrats in America.


25 posted on 03/26/2011 11:52:00 AM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principles,)
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To: Tax-chick
$11 in one hour does not mean an average $11 per hour over a 40-hour work week over 52 weeks.

He got about $90 in 8 hours. This included when he was holding a sign that said something like, "I won't lie to you, I need a beer".

26 posted on 03/26/2011 11:58:39 AM PDT by Prokopton
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To: for-q-clinton

Re: “I have no problem with beggars...I’m able to say no to them.”

**************

Me either — I either ignore them totally as though I neither hear nor see them, or give them the evil eye. Never been bothered further...


27 posted on 03/26/2011 12:03:48 PM PDT by CaliforniaCon
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To: rovenstinez
John Stossel needed to add some layers of grub, dirty pants, beard that is dirty and teeth that are falling out, he would have gotten more.

If you get to see his special on Fox News, that's what he did (except for the teeth bit).

He had a make-up artist dirty him up a bit and add a beard so he wouldn't be recognized.

28 posted on 03/26/2011 12:07:20 PM PDT by logician2u
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To: eccentric

That was a good show, but I would have recognized Stossel in a New York minute. His disguise didn’t hide the snarky twinkle in his eye!


29 posted on 03/26/2011 12:07:47 PM PDT by Palladin (Obama, Ayers, Dohrn, Trumka: birds of a feather.)
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To: eccentric

Drive through the Indian Reservations and look at where campfires were burned along side the road. And beside the campfire will be a pile of beer cans. Very sad.


30 posted on 03/26/2011 12:09:09 PM PDT by Terry Mross (This is war. Choose sides.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

By the end of the day, I think he had made $80...tax free! Not bad for sitting on the sidewalk shmoozing with generous New Yorkers.


31 posted on 03/26/2011 12:09:16 PM PDT by Palladin (Obama, Ayers, Dohrn, Trumka: birds of a feather.)
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To: eccentric

I worked in the inner city with alcoholics.. most of them panhandled .

I was told by more than one that they could make between $100 and $150 a day pan handling..

This is tax free and did not interfere with the welfare payments many of them got..


32 posted on 03/26/2011 12:18:55 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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To: eccentric
The biggest panhandlers--and the ones that Stossel gets most upset about--are those large corporations that take money from the federal government to make a profit on things that are not economically viable, like windmills and solar panels.

He had clips from some of his earlier shows. There was one with him driving the "free" electric golf cart he bought and then got a federal rebate for, the CEO of GE who buddied up to 0bama and won all kinds of subsidies for wind turbines, and a solar panel company (in the midwest?) where 0bama gave a speech claiming it was going to create thousands of new jobs.

These are the kind of panhandlers we ordinary Americans can't turn down, because they get their handouts straight from the Treasury.

33 posted on 03/26/2011 12:19:29 PM PDT by logician2u
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To: eccentric

He forgot to include Social Security recipients who knew, at the time, that their retirement money was being stolen from them, yet today they still DEMAND it from my kids (and future) grand kids.

But I get point otherwise.


34 posted on 03/26/2011 12:21:06 PM PDT by BobL (PLEASE READ: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2657811/posts)
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To: Grandma Conservative
What if they can’t find a job?

That's what relatives are for, if they pissed them off or are too prideful to get help from them....tough noogies.

35 posted on 03/26/2011 12:23:28 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Terry Mross
Everyone here is so wrapped up in the beggar on the street it took me all the way down to post 30 to find the more interesting part of the show, the Indian Reservation mess.

As an Indian raised around a Reservation, let me say that that portion of the show was right on target. Although there are some who get off their duffs and off the Res and find jobs, the majority are stuck in that rundown, dirty, garbage strewn life they have chosen to stay in. My Res is not quite as bad as the Lakota Rose Bud but still, old cars and beer cans galore. No incentive to work as the next Gov. handout is just around the corner. And, that fat Liberal (commie) chick that he interviewed is pretty typical of some of the leaders of my tribe (most any tribe too). I often stick up for the Indians here on FR but that does not mean I am not aware of the Government tit sucking that is rampant in the "Indian Dilemma".

36 posted on 03/26/2011 12:41:47 PM PDT by fish hawk (R. Emmett Tyrrell: Liberalism is dead. What we see now is "soft Nazis-ism".)
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To: Emperor Palpatine

“Its not my problem and I shouldn’t have to pay for it, (or put up with beggars while walking down the street.).”

What do you propose that we do with them then? Jail them? Deport them? Shoot them?


37 posted on 03/26/2011 12:45:46 PM PDT by Boogieman (")
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To: Prokopton

“This included when he was holding a sign that said something like, “I won’t lie to you, I need a beer”. “

Ha! I actually am more likely to give a buck to the guys who are honest like that than the ones that try to give you a sob story. One time, in Uptown Chicago, a notorious drug neighborhood, some guy actually hit me up at the bus stop and told me “I’m not going to lie to you, man, I need to get some crack”. At least he was honest!


38 posted on 03/26/2011 12:50:10 PM PDT by Boogieman (")
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To: pnh102
I respect a panhandler more than I do a welfare bum.

But more than likely they are both.
39 posted on 03/26/2011 12:51:33 PM PDT by John D
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To: eccentric

Family of middle easterners hit me up at a truckstop in mt. Home idaho last night, wanted me to use my credit card to buy them gas. I told them to get ahold of their relatives who have all the oil.


40 posted on 03/26/2011 2:13:05 PM PDT by Newtoidaho (Liberals: drooling buffoons (politicians/media/ bureaucrats) backed by satanic goons (union thugs).)
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