The Honest Man
Posted on 11/11/2013 2:38:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
Police gave James Brady the $850 he’d turned in last spring, since nobody claimed it. But now, his government benefits like Medicaid have been cut through December because he didn’t report receiving the cash.
A formerly homeless New Jersey man's government benefits, including Medicaid, were axed because of a good deed. James Brady found $850 on a sidewalk and turned it over to cops last April, but was penalized because he didn't report the cash when cops returned it to him in October – proving yet again that no good deed goes unpunished, The Record reported.
"This is stupid," Brady told the Bergen County newspaper. "I had already proven my honesty by turning in the $850. They were treating me like I was a dishonest individual, like I was trying to cheat them out of the money."
Agatha Toomey,director of human services for the city of Hackensack, says she needed to deny Brady's services because of the rules: someone must report any lump sum payment as income.
"I'm sorry but we had to — I had to — follow regulations," she said to the paper.
Brady was homeless Apr. 16 when he found the cash in a bank envelope outside a homeless shelter. He could have used the money himself but didn't want to steal from anyone who may have been worse off than he was. This simple act of selflessness turned him into a hometown hero.
The money bounced back into his possession six months after he turned it in because no one stepped forward to claim it.
He says he used the money to buy toilet paper, napkins, a sandwich and a bath mat the day he received the money. "I'm not trying to hide anything," he said.
Brady's problems started shortly after Sept. 11. He was supposed to be at the World Trade Center for a business event the day of the attack. The thought that he would have been killed if he had showed up traumatized him and led to a crippling depression, he said.
He lost his job, spent his life savings and wound up on the streets.
Psychiatric counseling and medication have helped Brady get his life back on course. In July, he moved into an apartment with a county housing voucher.
But the new address meant he needed to apply for his Medicaid from the city's Human Services Department instead of the county. That's when the good deed came back to haunt him and his benefits were axed.
Brady's story garnered nationwide sympathy after it appeared in The Record.
The United Way of Bergan County set up a fund to raise money for Brady.
is he white??
Might as well be just another 1%er to the leftist shrills.
NEXT.....
PS- or some ‘evil, sabotaging’ conservatives will step up and help this poor man out.
Reid: “It’s the law, get over it”.
"I'm sorry but we had to — I had to — follow regulations," she [the local official] said to the paper.
Just following orders. Nobody can ask about something, take initiative, try to help?
I guess in the new improved Obama bureaucratic dictatorship, humanity is forbidden.
There but for the grace of God go I. Govt. bureaucrats and the bloated, ineffective organizations they “serve” are heartless, mindless things.
So the prevailing opinion seems to be that this “honest” man should be allowed to continue to fleece the taxpayer for “his” benefits while keeping his windfall.
The man is another whiny welfare recipient. So he lives off his own money for a month or two? What has changed? He didn’t have to work for it, and he’s got money to spend.
What’s wrong with people when they look at getting off welfare as a ‘loss’ and a ‘burden’?
A formerly homeless New Jersey man's government benefits, including Medicaid, were axed because of a good deed.
False. He was rewarded for his good deed. He got $850.
Sorry, if the guy is living on the dole and has a windfall, he should report it.
Unfortunately, ours has metastasized.
Yep and guess what....that $850 does not disqualify him for good. It is just counted as income for a couple of months and then he will qualify for Medicaid again.
“Government is the most greedy, corrupt and murderous force on Earth,”
Maybe, but a-holes like Mr. $850 run a close second in greed and corruption.
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