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CLT UPDATE
Monday, January 16, 2017
Pay Raises for Pols, Instant
Welfare for Convicts
|
Lawmakers returning to Beacon Hill will see
bigger paychecks, with a pay raise that gives them the
sixth-highest salary among full-time state legislators....
The pay hikes keep Bay State lawmakers among
the country's highest paid. California pays its legislators
$100,000 a year, Pennsylvania pays $85,339 a year, and New
York pays $79,500, according to the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
In New Hampshire, part-time legislators get
stipends of $200 a year. Connecticut pays part-time
legislators $28,000 a year, Rhode Island $15,414 and Maine
up to $14,074.
Massachusetts has one of the 10 full-time
legislatures in the country, according to the group....
Tax watchdogs say the voter-approved
constitutional amendment that requires legislative pay
adjustments in fact allows lawmakers to duck a politically
sensitive vote to give themselves a raise.
“We’re the only state in the country where
lawmakers get a constitutionally mandated pay raise,” said
Chip Ford, executive director of the Marblehead-based
Citizens for Limited Taxation. “If you want a raise,
you should at least be required to vote publicly for it."
The Salem News
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Lawmakers get 4 percent pay boost
The 200 members of the Massachusetts
Legislature — 40 state senators and 160 House members — are
starting 2017 with a pay raise that will make them the sixth
highest paid full-time lawmakers in the nation....
But several things about it stick in our
craw.
First of all, the raise was approved under
the provisions of an amendment to the Massachusetts
Constitution. It requires the governor to adjust lawmakers’
pay every two years based on changes in median household
income. Median household income in Massachusetts increased
from $67,789 in 2013 to $70,628 in 2015, according to the
state Department of Revenue, hence the raise.
Wouldn’t it be sweet to have the state
constitution require your boss to raise your pay, or at
least consider raising it, every two years based on the cost
of living?
“We’re the only state in the country where
lawmakers get a constitutionally mandated pay raise,”
Chip Ford, executive director of the Marblehead-based
Citizens for Limited Taxation, told our Statehouse
reporter, Christian M. Wade. “If you want a raise, you
should at least be required to vote publicly for it.”
Voters have themselves to blame for not
paying closer attention when the proposed pay raise
amendment to the state constitution was placed on the ballot
in 1998 and they approved it in a landslide.
They should have realized that the usual
Beacon Hill flimflammery was at work. The measure was sold
as a way to prevent legislators from raising their own pay.
Pay no attention to that governor behind the screen who will
raise it for them without their having to stand up and be
counted.
A Salem News editorial
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Legislators' special status separates them from the people
Francis "Chip" Faulkner of Attleboro,
best known as an activist for Citizens for Limited
Taxation, said he's not going to Washington, but many
Trump supporters are going to a party at the Venus de Milo
restaurant in Swansea to celebrate.
Faulkner said he's excited about the changes
Trump will bring, typified by his cabinet appointments.
"I'm pleased with Trump's appointments since
most of these individuals seemed to have achieved
accomplishments in their own right," he said. "They are not
career bureaucrats simply moving from one government agency
to another. They buy the American dream characterized by
less government, fewer regulations, lower taxes and a strong
belief in the free enterprise system.
"I really think Trump will drive those
around him to work relentlessly on finding ways to get the
country moving again. Almost like FDR in 1932 - only from a
conservative viewpoint."
The Attleboro Sun-Chronicle
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Some local Republicans packing their bags for Trump
inauguration
Bay State prison officials are alerting
inmates just before they are sprung on how to apply for
welfare in a new pilot program that includes making the cons
“aware of how to self-identify as disabled,” according to a
department memo obtained by the Herald.
The Department of Correction policy is
intended to ensure eligible inmates don’t face a gap in
assistance after finishing their sentences, according to
prisoner advocates. But it’s already riling a welfare
benefits watchdog, who fears the program could open the door
to unqualified applicants trying to get on the rolls.
“Look, if someone is truly disabled we want
to get them the help they need. But we should not be
encouraging people to find ways to qualify for Social
Security Disability,” said state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, a
Taunton Republican. “What we should be doing is job training
and education and encouraging people to get work when
they’re released from prison.” ...
State Rep. Paul Heroux, an Attleboro Democrat who worked
both for DOC and the Philadelphia Prison System, said the
program is one re-entry experts have long pushed.
“It’s absolutely critical that the
Department of Correction help assist inmates with anything
they are allowed under the law,” he said in an email. “If
someone is eligible for SSDI or SSI, that is something they
should receive. It is completely independent of whether or
not they did a crime because they already served a sentence
for that crime.”
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 13, 2017
Prisons giving inmates pointers about seeking disability
benefits
Massachusetts State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell
said a new pilot program designed to help
soon-to-be-released inmates apply for welfare benefits is
frustrating constituents who are having trouble acquiring
disability benefits of their own, and argued the state
should put resources into other means of reducing
recidivism....
“I think it would be good to find out the
numbers of inmates released who are getting social security
disability and how long they are on it,” she said. “Are we
following up to make sure they are not committing more
crimes and getting the education and training and doing what
they need to do to make sure they don’t end up back in
prison?”
The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 14, 2017
O'Connell says there are 'better ways we could be helping
inmates'
The state Department of Correction (DOC) is
assisting about-to-be-released jailbirds in filing welfare
applications so that they can go on the dole immediately
upon finishing their sentences.
Isn’t that special?
According to a November memo, under the
pilot program the DOC is assuming responsibility “for
ensuring all inmates are informed of the SSI/SSDI benefits
... and are aware on how to self-identify as disabled.”
Can you believe it? Of course you can....
Whatever happened to giving the ex-con a
suit of clothes and a crisp, new $10 bill? Now the
“Republican” administration wants to put them on welfare for
the rest of their drug-dealing, drive-by-shooting lives. It
used to be a criminal paid his debt to society. Now society
is supposed to owe them a debt.
The DOC confirms this is their policy:
“During re-entry planning, inmates are made
aware of the benefits potentially available to them upon
release but whether and how to apply is entirely up to the
inmate.”
Like any of these “disabled” bums are going
to pass up a chance to get free money — not to mention the
free health care and all the other gimmes that come with
SSI. There’s a reason why once somebody goes on either SSI
or SSDI, there’s less than a 1 percent chance they’ll ever
raise their snout out of the trough.
It sure beats working!
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 13, 2017
State is helping cons make out like bandits
By Howie Carr
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
On the recent pay raise for "The Best Legislature Money Can Buy," I was quoted
in The Salem News as saying
“We’re the only state in the country where lawmakers get a
constitutionally mandated pay raise.” Actually, as I've been saying since
our unsuccessful campaign to defeat the pols' 1998 constitutional amendment
ballot question, I said “We’re the only state in the history of the world
where lawmakers get a constitutionally mandated pay raise.” But I won't
quibble. Massachusetts is the one-and-only no matter how you measure it.
"Isn’t that special?" Howie Carr asked in his recent column. What more can
anyone add to our state officials signing up convicts for Social Security
Disability benefits before they're released from prison?
I've stopped using the term "outrageous" because it's worn out, has lost any
meaning here in The People's Republic of Taxachusetts. When so much is
"outrageous" then little if anything can truly be. "Outrageous" has simply
become a daily fact of life to most of us. I'd substitute "scandalous" but
in Massachusetts that term has little meaning or impact as well. The same
can be said for "shocking," "shameful" and
so many
synonyms. When it comes to Bay State political malpractices we need an
entirely new vocabulary or language
— or government.
State Rep. Paul Heroux (D-Attleboro) is a big advocate of this convict welfare
policy. Reportedly he's worked for the state Department of Corrections and
the Philadelphia Prison System. He's also now considering a run for mayor
of Attleboro. In a recent letter to the editor in the Attleboro
Sun-Chronicle, CLT communications director Chip Faulkner
wrote:
"The only thing Rep. Heroux could run is the city into the ground, if he ever
got his hands on a municipal budget." Maybe Heroux is seeking the
felon vote?
All eyes are on Washington, DC this week with the inauguration of the 45th
President of the United States of America occurring on Friday. While the
world is focused on President-Elect Donald J. Trump and his incoming
administration we'll also be keeping a weather eye on Beacon Hill. When
nobody's watching is when mischief sneaks in.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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The
Salem News
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Lawmakers get 4 percent pay boost
Base salary rises to $62,547 while those in
leadership positions earn up to $35K extra
By Christian M. Wade, Statehouse Reporter
Lawmakers returning to Beacon Hill will see
bigger paychecks, with a pay raise that gives
them the sixth-highest salary among full-time
state legislators.
The state Constitution requires the governor to
adjust lawmakers' pay every two years based on
changes in median household income. Base pay for
the 200 representatives and senators will
increase 4.2 percent, or $2,515, to $62,547 a
year for the session that got underway last
week.
Median household income in Massachusetts
increased from $67,789 in 2013 to $70,628 in
2015, according to the state Department of
Revenue.
The pay hikes keep Bay State lawmakers among the
country's highest paid. California pays its
legislators $100,000 a year, Pennsylvania pays
$85,339 a year, and New York pays $79,500,
according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures.
In New Hampshire, part-time legislators get
stipends of $200 a year. Connecticut pays
part-time legislators $28,000 a year, Rhode
Island $15,414 and Maine up to $14,074.
Massachusetts has one of the 10 full-time
legislatures in the country, according to the
group.
Other officials' raises
Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who approved
the raises, could have claimed a $6,300 bump to
his $151,000 salary but decided against it,
citing budget shortfalls.
Other top elected officials — including
Secretary of State William Galvin, Attorney
General Maura Healey and Treasurer Deb Goldberg
— are also in line for raises, but it’s unclear
if they will accept the extra money.
A spokeswoman for Goldberg, who is now paid
$127,917 a year, said Monday that the Democrat
would be accepting the raise.
Galvin's spokesman said the Democrat hasn't yet
decided if he will accept the boost to his
$130,916 yearly salary.
For legislators, it's the first bump in eight
years. Lawmakers received $60,032 in the most
recent, two-year session, after being cut by
$1,100 in the previous one.
Political observers say Baker’s rejection of a
raise for himself is more political than
practical. Maurice Cunningham, professor of
political science at the University of
Massachusetts at Boston, called it
"grandstanding."
“He’s leaving the people who take it out to
dry," he said.
Lawmakers deserve a raise, Cunningham said,
since they’ve gone so many years without one.
“Nobody likes to see politicians get a pay
raise, but it’s entirely appropriate,” he said.
"Eight years without a raise is a long time."
Tax watchdogs say the voter-approved
constitutional amendment that requires
legislative pay adjustments in fact allows
lawmakers to duck a politically sensitive vote
to give themselves a raise.
“We’re the only state in the country where
lawmakers get a constitutionally mandated pay
raise,” said Chip Ford, executive director of
the Marblehead-based Citizens for Limited
Taxation. “If you want a raise, you should at
least be required to vote publicly for it."
Bonuses for leaders
Dozens of lawmakers will see their pay boosted
even higher as they get bonuses, ranging from
$7,500 to $35,000 per year, for leadership
posts.
Lawmakers also get stipends for travel and
office costs.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst,
and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, will
boost their salaries by $35,000 with leadership
pay.
Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, gets $22,500 per year
in addition to his base pay for his job as
Senate minority leader. As does Brad Jones,
R-North Reading, for serving as minority leader
in the House.
Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill, chairman of the
powerful House Ways and Means Committee,
receives another $34,500 on top of his base
salary.
Additionally, assistant floor leaders of both
parties, speakers pro tem of House and Senate,
and leaders of several committees including
financial services and economic development
receive another $15,000 per year under a state
law last updated in 2005.
Many lawmakers have jobs in the private sector
to supplement their incomes.
Two years ago, a special legislative commission
proposed bumping up the governor’s pay to
$185,000 per year — a $33,200 increase — and
adding a $65,000 housing allowance.
The commission also recommended boosting the
House and Senate leaders’ base salary to
$175,000, a raise of $72,721, and raising the
pay of the attorney general, treasurer and other
top constitutional officers.
But the Legislature and then-Gov. Deval Patrick
didn't act on the recommendations.
Travel money, too
There also appears to be little appetite among
lawmakers this session to eliminate a lucrative
perk that pads their take-home pay, and their
pensions.
Lawmakers are entitled to a taxpayer-funded
reimbursement for each day traveled to the
Statehouse on official business. Daily payments
range from $10 to $90, depending upon how far a
legislator lives from the Capitol.
The commission that proposed the raises for top
leaders also recommended ending those payments.
Last year, the state doled out more than
$327,338 to senators and representatives
traveling to Boston for work, according to
records kept by Treasurer Goldberg's office.
The travel allowance, as well as stipends for
leadership posts, also figure into calculations
of lawmakers' pensions once they've retired.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts
Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s
newspapers and websites, including the The Salem
News.
Full-time legislative pay
STATE SALARY
California $100,113
Pennsylvania $85,339
New York $79,500
Michigan $71,685
Illinois $67,836
Massachusetts $62,547
Ohio $60,584
Wisconsin $50,950
Alaska $50,400
Florida $29,697
New England (part-time)
STATE PAY
Connecticut $28,000
Rhode Island $15,414
Maine $14,074
New Hampshire $200 per 2-year term
Vermont $693.74 per week
Source: National Conference of
State Legislatures 2016
The Salem News
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
A Salem News editorial
Legislators' special status separates them from
the people
The 200 members of the Massachusetts Legislature
— 40 state senators and 160 House members — are
starting 2017 with a pay raise that will make
them the sixth highest paid full-time lawmakers
in the nation.
Only California, Pennsylvania, New York,
Michigan and Illinois pay more for their solons’
services. In those states, base pay ranges from
$67,836 in Illinois to $100,113 in California.
At first glance, the raise does not seem
completely out of line. It is the Legislature’s
first raise in eight years.
But several things about it stick in our craw.
First of all, the raise was approved under the
provisions of an amendment to the Massachusetts
Constitution. It requires the governor to adjust
lawmakers’ pay every two years based on changes
in median household income. Median household
income in Massachusetts increased from $67,789
in 2013 to $70,628 in 2015, according to the
state Department of Revenue, hence the raise.
Wouldn’t it be sweet to have the state
constitution require your boss to raise your
pay, or at least consider raising it, every two
years based on the cost of living?
“We’re the only state in the country where
lawmakers get a constitutionally mandated pay
raise,” Chip Ford, executive director of
the Marblehead-based Citizens for Limited
Taxation, told our Statehouse reporter,
Christian M. Wade. “If you want a raise, you
should at least be required to vote publicly for
it.”
Voters have themselves to blame for not paying
closer attention when the proposed pay raise
amendment to the state constitution was placed
on the ballot in 1998 and they approved it in a
landslide.
They should have realized that the usual Beacon
Hill flimflammery was at work. The measure was
sold as a way to prevent legislators from
raising their own pay. Pay no attention to that
governor behind the screen who will raise it for
them without their having to stand up and be
counted.
It’s also troubling that the so-called base pay
does not reflect what legislators are actually
paid.
As Wade reported, dozens of lawmakers get
bonuses, ranging from $7,500 to $35,000 per
year, for leadership posts. Lawmakers also get
stipends for travel and office costs.
Leadership pay adds $35,000 to the annual base
pay of Senate President Stanley Rosenberg,
D-Amherst, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo,
D-Winthrop. Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill,
gets a bonus of $34,500 a year as chairman of
the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Even the back-benchers of the relatively
powerless Republican Party cash in.
Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Rep. Brad
Jones, R-North Reading, each get an extra
$22,500 as minority leaders in their respective
chambers. And minorities are what members of the
GOP’s Beacon Hill contingent are — there are
only six in the Senate and 35 in the House.
Legislators are also paid to commute to work —
last year the state paid more than $325,000 for
their travel to Boston.
The travel allowance, as well as stipends for
leadership posts, also figure into calculations
of lawmakers’ pensions once they’ve retired — a
benefit fewer and fewer ordinary citizens enjoy.
Massachusetts is one of only 10 states in the
nation and the only one in New England where
serving as a legislator is considered a
full-time job.
New Hampshire pays its part-time legislators
$200 a year, Maine up to $14,074, Rhode Island
$15,414 and Connecticut $28,000.
The higher pay and added perks have resulted
over time in the creation of a professional
class of politicians in Massachusetts who enjoy
a special status that separates them from those
they are supposed to represent. Their values are
different because their lives are.
Privileged political rulers was not what our
founders envisioned when our republic was
created, yet that’s what we have in the Bay
State.
The Attleboro Sun-Chronicle
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Some local Republicans packing their bags for
Trump inauguration
By Jim Hand
Patricia Saint Aubin of Norfolk said she
suffered her share of hits for being a Donald
Trump supporter during the presidential
campaign, and now she's looking forward to
celebrating his inaugural.
As a Republican State Committee member, Saint
Aubin was one of the few GOP officials in
Massachusetts to openly back Trump. Many were
unhappy with her stand.
"I took it on the chin for a while there," she
said.
Now, she is heading down to Washington to
witness Trump being sworn into office and to
attend the celebratory balls that night.
"I'm hoping for grand and great things to
happen," she said.
Saint Aubin said she attended the inaugural of
Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George H.W. Bush in
1989, but it will still be exciting to attend
her third.
Another local official heading to Washington for
the festivities is state Rep. Shawn Dooley,
R-Norfolk.
Dooley, R-Norfolk, said he was able to get
tickets from a friend who works in the Obama
administration who bought them before the
election, thinking Hillary Clinton would win.
Dooley said he's excited to celebrate America
being a country that enjoys the peaceful
transition of power.
"It truly is special and is one of the things
that makes America so great," he said.
"I'm excited to go and be a part of history and
am thankful that I was able to get tickets. I
tried several times before - including for
President Obama and George W. Bush - but didn't
have any luck.
"This will be my first inaugural since 1989 when
I was working for President Bush 41. It will be
very interesting seeing it from a different
perspective, as opposed to a wide eyed
22-year-old who just moved to DC a few weeks
prior."
But, most local Republican officials are staying
home.
State Reps. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro,
and Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, said they are not
going. Rep. Steven Howitt, R-Seekonk, said he's
still looking into how to get tickets.
Francis "Chip" Faulkner of Attleboro,
best known as an activist for Citizens for
Limited Taxation, said he's not going to
Washington, but many Trump supporters are going
to a party at the Venus de Milo restaurant in
Swansea to celebrate.
Faulkner said he's excited about the changes
Trump will bring, typified by his cabinet
appointments.
"I'm pleased with Trump's appointments since
most of these individuals seemed to have
achieved accomplishments in their own right," he
said. "They are not career bureaucrats simply
moving from one government agency to another.
They buy the American dream characterized by
less government, fewer regulations, lower taxes
and a strong belief in the free enterprise
system.
"I really think Trump will drive those around
him to work relentlessly on finding ways to get
the country moving again. Almost like FDR in
1932 - only from a conservative viewpoint."
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 13, 2017
Prisons giving inmates pointers about seeking
disability benefits
By Matt Stout
Bay State prison officials are alerting inmates
just before they are sprung on how to apply for
welfare in a new pilot program that includes
making the cons “aware of how to self-identify
as disabled,” according to a department memo
obtained by the Herald.
The Department of Correction policy is intended
to ensure eligible inmates don’t face a gap in
assistance after finishing their sentences,
according to prisoner advocates. But it’s
already riling a welfare benefits watchdog, who
fears the program could open the door to
unqualified applicants trying to get on the
rolls.
“Look, if someone is truly disabled we want to
get them the help they need. But we should not
be encouraging people to find ways to qualify
for Social Security Disability,” said state Rep.
Shaunna O’Connell, a Taunton Republican. “What
we should be doing is job training and education
and encouraging people to get work when they’re
released from prison.”
Entitled “SSI/SSDI Implementation” — a reference
to Social Security Disability benefits — the
undated memo states that a specialist is
“responsible for ensuring all inmates are
informed of the ... benefits program” and that
inmates must declare they are disabled to prison
officials no sooner than 120 days before they’re
scheduled to be released.
Once they do, officials then provide the
applications to the inmate.
Officials must also ensure that inmates are
“aware on how to self-identify as disabled,” the
memo states. “This process may occur via a
re-entry presentation, informational session,
posters or re-entry case management.”
Christopher Fallon, a DOC spokesman, did not
return repeated emails and calls questioning
when the program started or in which facilities
it’s operating. But he said in a statement that
the goal of the policy is cut down on the
inmates’ “risk for homelessness, drug addiction,
and other circumstances that led them to commit
crimes.”
“During re-entry planning, inmates are made
aware of the benefits potentially available to
them upon release,” Fallon said, “but whether
and how to apply is entirely up to the inmate.”
DOC doesn’t determine whether they’re eligible,
Fallon said, and officials help inmates during
the process because they don’t have access to
the internet.
Leslie Walker, executive director of Prisoners’
Legal Services, said the organization has pushed
DOC in recent years to adopt federal Social
Security Administration guidelines that allow
for such pre-release arrangements and inmates to
start the application process before their
sentence is done.
Walker said DOC previously didn’t have an
arrangement and that the policy described in the
memo is part of what officials have called a
pilot.
“This is a common-sense program to help disabled
prisoners re-enter with no additional cost to
taxpayers,” she said.
State Rep. Paul Heroux, an Attleboro
Democrat who worked both for DOC and the
Philadelphia Prison System, said the program is
one re-entry experts have long pushed.
“It’s absolutely critical that the Department of
Correction help assist inmates with anything
they are allowed under the law,” he said in an
email. “If someone is eligible for SSDI or SSI,
that is something they should receive. It is
completely independent of whether or not they
did a crime because they already served a
sentence for that crime.”
The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 14, 2017
O'Connell says there are 'better ways we could
be helping inmates'
By Chris Villani
Massachusetts State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell said
a new pilot program designed to help
soon-to-be-released inmates apply for welfare
benefits is frustrating constituents who are
having trouble acquiring disability benefits of
their own, and argued the state should put
resources into other means of reducing
recidivism.
“Where we should be concentrating our efforts is
education and training and while you're in
prison, what are you going to do to better
yourself so you don't go out into the word and
commit a crime again,” O'Connell said on Boston
Herald Radio's "Morning Meeting" show with
Hillary Chabot. “I think there’s better ways we
could be helping inmates get back into life and
society. I don't think encouraging people to
self-identify to get on social security
disability is the right way.”
The Herald reported today the program is aimed
at making sure inmates who are eligible for
benefits and services do not have to face a
“gap” in assistance after completing their
prison terms. But O’Connell and other watchdogs
fear the program could be exploited.
“I think it would be good to find out the
numbers of inmates released who are getting
social security disability and how long they are
on it,” she said. “Are we following up to make
sure they are not committing more crimes and
getting the education and training and doing
what they need to do to make sure they don’t end
up back in prison?”
O’Connell said the pilot program will be part of
an “ongoing conversation” on Beacon Hill about
how to improve the prison system. She said she
wanted a system that rewards inmates who work
hard once they are released as opposed to “when
you get out, you get SSDI and you are all set.”
The Taunton Republican also advocated enlisting
the help of the private sector to hire recently
released inmates once they have received the
proper education and training on the inside. She
stressed deserving inmates should receive the
benefits to which they are entitled.
“If someone needs it, I have no problem helping
people in need, we don't want people to have
nothing or commit crimes again because they
don’t get the services they need,” O’Connell
said.
Christopher Fallon, a DOC spokesman, told the
Herald in a statement yesterday the goal of the
policy is cut down on the inmates’ “risk for
homelessness, drug addiction, and other
circumstances that led them to commit crimes.”
“During re-entry planning, inmates are made
aware of the benefits potentially available to
them upon release,” Fallon said, “but whether
and how to apply is entirely up to the inmate.”
DOC doesn’t determine whether they’re eligible,
Fallon said, and officials help inmates during
the process because they don’t have access to
the internet.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 13, 2017
State is helping cons make out like bandits
By Howie Carr
The state Department of Correction (DOC) is
assisting about-to-be-released jailbirds in
filing welfare applications so that they can go
on the dole immediately upon finishing their
sentences.
Isn’t that special?
According to a November memo, under the pilot
program the DOC is assuming responsibility “for
ensuring all inmates are informed of the SSI/SSDI
benefits ... and are aware on how to
self-identify as disabled.”
Can you believe it? Of course you can. Gov.
Charlie Baker, ex-Gov. Deval Patrick — what’s
the difference?
As the person who sent me the memo scrawled on
it: “Tall Deval not better than Small Deval.”
Meet the new hack, same as the old hack.
Whatever happened to giving the ex-con a suit of
clothes and a crisp, new $10 bill? Now the
“Republican” administration wants to put them on
welfare for the rest of their drug-dealing,
drive-by-shooting lives. It used to be a
criminal paid his debt to society. Now society
is supposed to owe them a debt.
The DOC confirms this is their policy:
“During re-entry planning, inmates are made
aware of the benefits potentially available to
them upon release but whether and how to apply
is entirely up to the inmate.”
Like any of these “disabled” bums are going to
pass up a chance to get free money — not to
mention the free health care and all the other
gimmes that come with SSI. There’s a reason why
once somebody goes on either SSI or SSDI,
there’s less than a 1 percent chance they’ll
ever raise their snout out of the trough.
It sure beats working!
I love that phrase “self-identify.” It’s the
same word they use for allowing Level 3 male sex
offenders in the ladies’ room — they’re
self-identifying as women that day, or hour, or
minute, so you can’t stop them until they
actually assault the little girl.
In the case of SSI/SSDI, proper self-identifying
is very important. Physical disability is
provable — or should I say, disprovable, at
least somewhat. So you want to self-identify as
having a mental problem, because as the old song
goes, when it comes down to just two, I ain’t no
crazier than you.
Depression is the No. 1 “disability” in the U.S.
these days, at least in terms of getting a
lifelong fake SSI/SSDI kiss in the mail. I get
depressed just thinking about how many criminals
I’m supporting because they say they’re
depressed.
The DOC has decreed that the con — or is he now
called a “client” — has to be informed of his
options early, “no sooner than 120 days (before)
release.” That way as soon as he’s cut loose the
con has enough cash waiting for him so that he
doesn’t have to run a tab at the crack house.
“At this time, the corresponding applications
will be provided to the inmate for completion in
preparation for the subsequent phone
application.”
A phone application. Not for a job, but for
welfare.
“On the day of release the CPO (correction
program officer) shall email the local SSA Field
Office verifying the inmate’s final release
status and address.”
If you know a cop, ask him sometime what he
finds when he rousts one of these bums. Along
with their probation officer’s business card,
they’re usually carrying a MassHealth (Medicaid)
card and an EBT card (with the PIN written on
the back, because it belongs to either a
girlfriend or one of their drug customers).
Tall Deval is going to D.C. for the inauguration
next week. Maybe he’ll finally meet Donald
Trump. Perhaps Charlie will learn something —
finally.
Listen to Howie from 3-7 p.m. on WRKO AM 680. |
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