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LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A mother who had been denied welfare benefits killed herself and shot her two children after a seven-hour standoff at a government social services office, police said. The children, a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, were in critical condition Tuesday, Laredo police investigator Joe Baeza said. The standoff began around 5 p.m. Monday afternoon. Baeza said the woman was speaking with two employees when she pulled out a gun and said she wanted to speak to a supervisor. When the supervisor arrived, he convinced her to let the employees go in exchange for keeping him....

A Seattle woman who is receiving welfare assistance from Washington state also happens to live in a waterfront house on Lake Washington worth more than a million dollars. Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband's name because they have not officially been charged with a crime. However, federal documents obtained by KING 5 News show the couple currently receives more than $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, plus state and government disability checks and food stamps. They have been receiving the benefits since 2003. A federal official told KING 5...

Vice President Joe Biden, now best known for being the man who relies primarily on Jon Corzine for financial advice, continued his recent roll of epic linguistic blunders this morning. As Reuters reports, the VP, "joked during a visit to debt-choked Athens on Monday about bringing money to help Greece out of its deepest financial crisis in decades. Introducing a member of his delegation during a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, Biden said: "This man represents the Treasury department. He's brought hundreds of millions of dollars." His comments drew laughs from both the Greek and U.S. delegations." It...

While the capital markets may be cheering that in the past month 120,000 people supposedly found jobs, even if these were largely temporary or part-time just in time for the year end shopping sprees, we wonder how they will react when learning that according to the latest update from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), some 423,000 Americans found their way to minimum way subsistence, courtesy of Food Stamp handouts from Uncle Sam. Since the start of the Second Great Depression, food stamp participation has increased by 18.7 million, and is now at an all time higher 46.3 million. All...

Residents of a wealthy lakefront community near Seattle are surprised to learn that one of their neighbors, who has lived in a $1.2 million home for the last 8 years, is the recipient of more that $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, federal and state disability, and food stamps. Video at link

Residents of a wealthy lakefront community near Seattle are surprised to learn that one of their neighbors, who has lived in a $1.2 million home for the last 8 years, is the recipient of more that $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, federal and state disability, and food stamps. King 5 reports on the couple living large on the taxpayer’s dime:

SEATTLE -- She lives in a beautiful waterfront home on Seattle’s Lake Washington. Yet, she's on welfare assistance.   This week federal agents moved in to put a stop to it. They raided her south Lake Washington home armed with a search warrant.   KING 5 News is not naming the woman or her husband because they have not been criminally charged.   Search warrant documents unsealed Friday in federal court reveal that she received more than $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, plus monthly cash from the federal and state government for a disability, as well as food stamps.  ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGDpYTots_M

'Luxury' sugar-filled goods such as $5 Starbucks coffees and cakes are being purchased using food stamps, an investigation has revealed. The tokens which are given to those living in poverty can be used to buy premium drinks and expensive snacks from the premium coffee chain, it has emerged. The revelation has caused outrage across the U.S. from those who said the scheme has become a 'waste of taxpayers' money' as the food stamps system can be abused by those receiving handouts.

"Mr. Truman's St. Paul, Minn., pie for everybody speech last night reminded us that at the tail end of the recent session of Congress, Representative Clarence J. Brown (R-Ohio) jammed into the Congressional Record the following poem describing its author only as a prominent Democrat of the State of Georgia."

Angel Buechner of Minneapolis, a member of the Welfare Rights and Minnesota Coalition for the Peoples Bail Out, was one of about a half-dozen picketers outside the hearing. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

Despite not being a member of the European Union, Switzerland is under intense pressure from Brussels to raise taxes as companies flee high-tax EU welfare states in favor of more business-friendly Swiss cantons. And if the nation refuses to bow down soon, so-called “eurocrats” are threatening retaliation. The Swiss government has been in discussions with EU bosses for over a year regarding Switzerland’s non-compliance with the “EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.” The EU’s goal, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, is to eliminate what the supranational regime in Brussels calls “harmful tax practices” — low taxes which attract...

DODGE CITY — Advocates for children and the poor say a new state welfare policy is denying or reducing federal food aid to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Kansas children. “This is making an already difficult situation even more difficult,” said Debbie Snapp, who runs the Catholic Social Services office in Dodge City...But officials with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services say the new policy, enacted in October, is fairer than the one it replaced because it equalizes benefits for children of illegal immigrants with those for children whose parents are confirmed U.S. citizens. “We’re not hurting anybody and...

In the run-up to the recent budget compromise, an assemblage of liberal Christians calling themselves the Circle of Protection huddled with President Obama to express concern for the poor. The group implored Congress to resist cutting social spending lest struggling Americans be burned by the fiery budget debates. That particular round has ended, but the debate over biblical injunctions for the size and scope of government persists. Receive news alerts Sign Up William Flax RealClearReligion Religious Left economy [+] More These modern manifestations of the social gospel incorporate elements of socialism and an unwarranted adoration of government programs. The Religious...

We have all heard lately about the "supercommittee," its charge, and, if it isn't successful, pulling the spending "trigger." Defense has the most to lose from triggered cuts, as this source illustrates. Leon Panetta, head of the Department of Defense (DOD) and no bastion of conservatism, called the trigger "draconian" and "devastating" and said that it will "hollow out" the military. The worst thing, Panetta said, is that the cuts "invite aggression." But supercommittee cuts exempt Social Security, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), veterans' benefits, civilian and military retirement programs, and other programs serving low-income families. Cuts to hospitals,...

A group of Republican senators has proposed a plan to reform welfare — not so much because they expect it to succeed, but to make an important point: that the deficit supercommittee can meet its $1.2 trillion goal without raising taxes. “I think there’s kind of an acceptance that as long as there’s Democratic control of the Senate, we’re not going to pass anything good,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), one of the bill’s cosponsors. “Our point here is to show that there is a lot of money that we could save and deal with our deficit in a...

Ever since I moved to the inner city one thing has puzzled me more than any other, and that is how my low-income neighbors get by. Assuming they aren't doing anything illegal, how do they afford their homes, their meals, their gadgets, their cars? Few seem to work, even part time, for they are home in the morning when I leave for work, home if I stop by for lunch, and home when I return in the evening. They can't work the graveyard shift, for they keep me up half the night with their raucous music. I am left to...

Government is not the enemy. Not always. Don’t believe that right-wing malarkey. In fact, for millions of Americans down on their luck and at the end of their rope, they can quickly find that government is their last friend left. Governmental assistance can prevent the certainty of a hungry night and a homeless tomorrow. It can mean the difference between the comfort of stability and the ravages of poverty. This function is now more important than ever, even as it is under more pressure than ever. We learned this week that not only are there more poor people in America...

Headline....Dancing at his own wedding 'paralysed' Moroccan who claimed £400,000 in benefits... and can't be kicked out because of human rights An illegal immigrant who claimed to be paralysed from the neck down but was filmed dancing at his wedding cheated more than £400,000 in benefits, a court heard yesterday. But even though Mohamed Bouzalim, 37, has admitted dishonestly entering the country and fraudulently exploiting the welfare system, legal sources said they will face an ‘uphill battle’ to deport him. There is a strong likelihood the Moroccan will be able to remain in the UK by claiming he has a...