tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post197991986959465678..comments2024-03-28T09:16:33.241+00:00Comments on Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: Define FairSue Marshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849801822216267250noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-18803185623047286322011-01-21T10:29:31.822+00:002011-01-21T10:29:31.822+00:00Hi Lisa - Poor Howard is simply a pedant I asked t...Hi Lisa - Poor Howard is simply a pedant I asked to be my fact-checker/grammar coach when I first set up the blog. <br /><br />He challenges me to make me think, but is no troll I assure you. <br /><br />Everything else I agree with totally though, lolSue Marshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14849801822216267250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-13768292494254176362011-01-21T09:11:21.289+00:002011-01-21T09:11:21.289+00:00Can't see the relevance of Howard bringing in ...Can't see the relevance of Howard bringing in the US, also don't know, or even care, which US article he's referring to, as the posts here are clearly in response to the item above which is wholly speaking of UK allowances, which are woefully lacking to start with, & this current Government (despite them being in..as Howard says "5 minutes") has already cut funding for certain drugs...now they have it in for the sick, disabled, & the elderly! It can only get worse under this shower of sh**e that's why people are attacking this *new* government...we're attempting to *live* in this country!<br /><br />I agree with Dino-nurse, Wriggley, Joe90Kane, & Sue...even HellsBells, as all their posts were relevant :o)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384008273056473171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-71756479780039533892011-01-14T15:48:56.192+00:002011-01-14T15:48:56.192+00:00i have a lot of american friends who think we have...i have a lot of american friends who think we have a fantastic "free" system. i remind them that all i dont have to many completes its not free. we do pay for it just not in the same way as they do and i did have to wait 6 years to see an orthopaedic surgeon. Both system have there benefits but both are being hiddeously bulked out by buerocracy.Wriggleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05094269789998864810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-45862014989625367012011-01-14T13:30:44.900+00:002011-01-14T13:30:44.900+00:00You are correct Howard, social security in the US ...You are correct Howard, social security in the US is all about state pensions. Most US workers also have what is called a 401K, its a way of allowing employees and employers to have a retirement fund that is similar to a superannuation style pension. The equivalent to DLA and ESA is the SSI (supplemental security income)and that comes from a different pot. From what I can remember, lots of forms to fill out and next to impossible to qualify for. The average rate is around $700 a month, barely enough to buy food and a tent. However, not everyone who qualified would also be able to get Medicare (free healthcare). You have to remember the many things in the UK that are paid for out of general taxation that are not the case in other countries-even Canada, oft quoted as the only other country with a state funded "free" system. Not quite true however- it probably has more similarities with the Swiss system than the UK.<br />You also have to factor in the NHS. None of the other countries provide free-at-the-point-of-entry healthcare, free medicines for the retired, children etc and vastly reduced costs for everybody else. During a recent seminar about future health policy, it was pointed out that although the average person who is fit and healthy takes very little out of the health budget, there would be no limit on how much care they would receive if they became ill. Postcode lottery aside, having worked in other parts of the EU I reckon that when you include this fact, the figures would look very different. Having worked in the US, I have seen patients refused liver transplants because insurance would not cover the costs...that would not be the case here. In the EU I saw patients who could "top up" and patients who couldn't. Those who could often got to jump the queue for say, an MRI.<br />Like Howard, I am trying to be unemotional and measured. It would be nice to see comments by those who work as social workers, for example to get an idea how they feel. They are the real frontline workers in this case, I feel.Dino-nursehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032700219601293612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-51783758894421884012011-01-14T01:22:02.245+00:002011-01-14T01:22:02.245+00:00I know someone who is currently having to live on ...I know someone who is currently having to live on £52 a week, and has been since the end of November 2010.<br /><br />They're waiting on a date for an appeal tribunal after an Atos 'examination' deemed them fit to work after 10 years of illness which continues unabated.<br /><br />I am sure I don't need to tell anyone that the medical staff employed by DWP/Atos should be the subject of an investigation by the General Medical Council or the police. Solicitors wouldn't be allowed to get away with such professional malpractice and incompetence for a day even. <br /><br />Imagine what would happen to civil or aeronautical engineers claiming bridges and aeroplanes were safe to fly when they obviously weren't?joe90 kanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15925893894108250518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-78380559908444213902011-01-13T22:22:45.976+00:002011-01-13T22:22:45.976+00:00I try to contribute challenging posts as i feel th...I try to contribute challenging posts as i feel the board could go to sleep if it gets too luvvy.<br /><br />Over the past few weeks i have read a lot here about how lousy the NHS is organised. I don't see how one automatically berates the present government as it has only been in 5 minutes and the problems listed are deep-seated.<br /><br />The same applies to the benefit system.<br /><br />One way to look at it is to predict that indeed it will get much worse, but I think some thought needs to be given as to why it is the way it is after 13 years of Labour misrule (yawn).<br /><br />If say the coalition falls apart and we get a Labour government on the rebound, I have no confidence whatever that matters will improve greatly. This is a non-partisan thought but just my feeling about behemoths and juggernauts, no matter who owns them.SWruralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08194385100414263357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-6759975711118934662011-01-13T22:14:28.783+00:002011-01-13T22:14:28.783+00:00Sue, my understanding is that the American article...Sue, my understanding is that the American article refers to state pensions and that's what they call social security over there.<br /><br />If true, it still takes nothing away from the point you are making.SWruralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08194385100414263357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-80520210002702555812011-01-13T17:05:05.348+00:002011-01-13T17:05:05.348+00:00Isn't it?
still. got to keep the rich rich so...Isn't it? <br />still. got to keep the rich rich somehow eh?Sue Marshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14849801822216267250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568034298343558962.post-19574449550022974202011-01-13T16:45:11.817+00:002011-01-13T16:45:11.817+00:00We're at the bottom! That is really shockingWe're at the bottom! That is really shockingHellsbellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055258492729583498noreply@blogger.com