BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge on Wednesday found a Washington County man guilty of the theft of Social Security disability benefits following a two-day jury-waived trial.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock found Anthony Dinsmore, 50, of Columbia Falls had falsely claimed that he was living alone when he actually resided with his wife, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.
Over a 15-year period, Dinsmore received more than $90,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His wife’s income disqualified him from receiving benefits.
On Monday, Dinsmore pleaded guilty to knowingly making a false statement to the Social Security Administration.
Dinsmore remains free on bail, according to the press release.
His sentencing date has not been set.
Dinsmore faces up to 10 years in prison on the conviction of theft of Social Security benefits. He faces up to five years in prison on the making a false statement charge.
On each count, Dinsmore could be fined up to $250,000. He also could be ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration.
Is it just me or do I not remember ever seeing articles on people getting nailed for welfare fraud 2, 3, 10 years ago?
If there were they were few and far between. I guess we all owe a great deal of gratitude to the administration who finally caught and prosecuted this thief. I’m sure you will all join me in saying, “Good Job to the Obama Administration” for bringing this person to justice.
That administration is, of course, the Obama administyration as this is a federal offense and a federal prosecution.
Isn’t that what I said?
So we can expect prosecution of Auntie Zeituni and Uncle Omar soon. Right?
I doubt Obama had anything to do with this but if you need something to show that he was sucessful at something, then go for it.
You are funny.
It was bening discovered and dealt with, just not broadcasted to help a political cause. I know OHI in Bangor had to pay back millions for billing 99 hours a day on people, not to get more money, but to get around the system that took about six months to pay corrected bills. (the accountant assumed that it was settled in aggragate and as long as he only billed hours of actual support, it would not matter if he billed more units a day.) Never made the paper, I don’t believe.
It’s not you. If noone ever looks for social benefits fraud, it’s never going to be found, is it? Now, the State AG is actively looking for it. 5 or 10 years ago noone looked, and the political party in the majority said there was no fraud[so why bother looking for something that doesn’t exist?].
There is no Welfare fraud in Maine! Yeah right.
Its not limited to Maine and It goes all the way to the top!http://www.politicususa.com/cl…
Well, this was fraud for sure, but not “Welfare” fraud because social security benefits do not fall under the category of welfare. We have social security taxes taken out of our paychecks for years. So when we start drawing social security benefits – whether it’s because we’ve reached retirement age or because we have become disabled – it’s because we have paid into the system for those benefits and we have earned them.
WOW….have you been hoodwinked!!
So let me ask you, when a 23 year old person becomes disabled and has only put $10,000 in the SS system, where do you get the 60+ years of ~1,000 dollar per month disability benefit? I’ll tell you where you get the funds, you steal it from the deposits into the system by those who will supposedly be future ‘beneficiaries’
No matter how you change the nominal value of inputs and outputs, the rules of the game dictate that it is rigged, it’s a ponzi scheme by defnition as it relies on the current deposits of investors to pay out dividends to an ever expanding pool of individuals. The part that really upsets the apple cart to Bernie Madoff proportions is the fact that many are cashing in on an ‘investment’ when they have never actully invested any money in the first place.
I agree social security is the largest legal ponzi scheme ever invented. I can’t believe the governement gets away with that crap. You die at 67 never collect a dime after you pay for life and if your not married or your wife past with you, your adult children can’t inherit a dime. How social security is broke when I read the obituaries daily I can’t understand. I know, they fund every other department out of it!!!! Stealing social securities funds. That is why social security is broke, not because they never collected all our money, then never made interest on our money. Worse savings account ever invented. I can put my money in the worst savings account and it would earn more interest then it does with them theives.
Two easy fixes that will never happen.
1-No cap on earnings.
2-Cap on benefits.Most people collect FAR more than they ever pay in.My aunt lived to 93 and was one of the ORIGINAL people to pay in in 1935.The last three years of her life alone cost way over $250K-closer to $400K.Think she paid that in as a secretary?
That’s why it has been suggested that workers should be allowed to deposit @ one/ sixth of their Social Security contributions into a private account with several investment options similar to IRA or 401K accounts. Those funds would be available to draw on under the identical guidelines as current SS retirement rules. the biggest diffence is that the private account would be available to a living relative in the evnt of death prior and after retirement. This called a “Pro Choice” approach to retirement planning and control of our private property; a notion that is rapidly disappearing ,with one exception: choosing to have or have not an abortion!
It basically is “Welfare” fraud. This guy was obviously receiving an SSI payment, meaning he did not work and have enough quarters to qualify for a SSD payment. If he was receiving a SSD payment his wife’s income would not have mattered at all, all that would have mattered it that he was disabled. If you receive an SSI payment your spouse’s income does count. SSI is basically Social Security Welfare for those that have never worked but are disabled.
SSI most certainly is welfare. It’s a welfare program for those who haven’t paid into the system. It’s coveted by every punk, addict and alcoholic on the streets. And many a lawyer is making a ham sandwich getting it for them…
Not to mention those highly paid psychologists,Big Pharma,drug chains and assorted other hangers on who convince all of their”clients” they have a mental disability.Investigate every one of those cases and save a ton.
SSI certainly is NOT welfare. My husband has been on it for two years after a botched back surgery. He didn’t ask to be in the shape he is in. He would much rather go to work everyday like he use to. He has paid into the system for 25+ years. Get you facts right before running your mouth…..
If he has paid into the system for 25+ years he would be on SSD as he would clearly have enough work quarters. SSI is for people who do not have enough work quarters. If he is on SSI he did not pay into the system for 25 years!
Yes you are correct, we have earned the benefits that we are legally entitled to.
And if one receives additional “supplemental” funds by deception and false statements then that is Fraud and will be prosecuted as such.
Wouldn’t a divorce have fixed all this? I know many people who have gotten divorced and still live together, isn’t this why they do that? So they don’t face prosecution? A piece of paper keeps them from bars? I don’t know if living with another person as a roomate makes a difference in your social security or not. Can anyone prove if you share a bed? I know a couple that divorced and she actually has another residence she works in taking care of an elderly lady days and 2 overnights a week and has her mail go there. Then she stays with her ex husband the other 5 days a week. They both collect. Can anyone prove they are married? She has her own home according to her. I believe with all the crack downs people will get wiser.
You know ‘many’ who have divorced and still live together? I doubt it.
I worked for an agency that provided home health care.Here’s one case-elderly man w/FT live in caregiver.They had to have a two BR subsidized apt(BEAUTIFUL)which would’ve rented on the open market for $1500/mo.He was paying less than $200/mo and his caregiver was paid for by Medicare PLUS our agency provided him housekeeping.His old job?Hospital admin.You think he knew how to con the system?
If you divorce and are living with your ex, the Social Security Administration still counts that persons income for SSI purposes. They don’t allow divorces of convenience. However, the Food Stamp/Medicaid program does, if you have no mutual children residing with you.
To the gallows.
Don’t know about the gallows but they do have a perfectly good set of stocks in front of the Jail entrance in Machias.
We’ll save the stocks for the state employee who let him get away with it for 15-years.
To the Stocks!
It took 15 years to nail him. I’m sure some people knew about it but didn’t report it. Some people think it’s better to let them cheat than to have them asking for money all the time. Both the cheaters and the people who look the other way are our enemies.
I reported someone a few years ago, and they did NOTHING!
Why would they prosecute someone on welfare when people in the administration at the time were stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars?
What was his name. The politician in Chicago that tried to sell Obama’s senate seat. Or whatever it was he was trying to sell, lol! I didn’t follow it much. I remember it was Christmas time when finally his trial came to an end. They stated he had small children so they would wait until after Christmas and the holidays before they had him report to prison for his prison time. I think he recieved a year or two for all that bologna. I can’t remember. How many of us get to pick our day we report to jail? Really???? What a joke. Like anyone would care about us or our children.
All you can do is report it and tell them what you know. Sometimes the most they can do is call or visit the cheaters and their “enablers”. They might not get proof but it still can put a scare into people and that can reduce the fraud.
I don’t think it’s that they do NOTHING.. they just have to investigate and build a case that can uphold in the court. Unfortunately, that can take years longer than we would like.
I report at least monthly. I get so sick of doing paperwork. I feel like I waste ink pens…. UGH!!
These morons sit on a wood stool around a fire and laugh while smoking a “boge” and having a cold one. Like the state will ever get 90,000.00 out of this guy. Restitution? What’s he gonna sell? A corncob pipe? Whoever was in charge of the welfare division needs to go to jail for not doing their job properly.
He can keep selling that illegal crap, as he was! Never got nailed for that at all. Guess he found out Federal court was a lot different that County Court! about time!
I believe he was collecting SSI not welfare. He probably got ratted out by someone who was tired of him ripping us all off.
I’ve seen trailer parks, apartment complexes and inbred country neighborhoods where plenty of people knew about the fraud and nobody reported it. In this case they might not get the money back but at least they put a stop to it. Instead of blaming the person in charge maybe we can blame the politicians for not creating and funding a better anti-fraud unit. At least they’re talking about it these days. Maybe they will actually make it happen.
It goes all the way to the top!
http://www.politicususa.com/clarence-thomas-investigate/
I don’t get it….why is it fraud when this man lies to avoid losing money, but it’s OK for Paul LePage to lie about home ownership to avoid paying taxes ? This is a prime example of what is wrong with society. BOTH these men should be facing charges….NOT just the poor one.
So file a police report tonight and let us know tomorrow how it all worked out for ya, okay?
If you dont know why it is fraud to LIE to get benefits you would not otherwise be eligible for, then our society has a greater problem. Some people get away with fraud, doesn’t make it right.
Not very interested in comprehensive reading? It sounds like ‘Dude’ knows exactly what fraud is.
You have LePage Derangement Syndrome. Seek help. You can get better.
Good luck with that.I wish it would happen.
Sadly the people with the money get away with robbery and have convinced many people they are entitled to steal. And the amount of money they steal is huge compared to what the poor try to get away with.
But it is true that many people who collect welfare have another person living with them and bringing in money. They don’t tell the state. I think this should be a huge warning that people are going to be prosecuted for fraud.
About time. Irony is while in jail he will now live for free on our tax dollars. His sentence should come with a requirement to work with the proceeds offsetting cost of his incarceration. Then on his release half his wages should be garnished until the 90k plus interest is repayed. However fat chance of a welfare freeloader having much of any work ethic. Took 15 years to find this guy out? Whats that say for DHHS’s enforcement and fact checking of the elgibility of it’s benefit recepients?
It’s called ‘Job Security’ there are almost an equal amount of welfare recipients and DHHS employees. They do very little checking as some of them are also getting benefits.
It wasnt DHHS that needed to be checking up on him in this case. It was the Social Security Administration. However, Im willing to be that if he was defrauding the federal government then he might have been defrauding the State of Maine for benefits too.
We really on people to tell the truth when they apply for these types of funds. If Social Security or any other organization said they needed to come to the house to be 100% sure this man lived alone then there would be a public uproar about government intrusion in our lives.
Everytime our State Government tries to do anything to limit the ability to commit fraud against social programs it brings people out of the woodwork screaming about injustice. It is thought of as a war against poor people, mean spirited, and the beginnings of a facist government.
The government has a better chance of getting money back in this case if they ask you and me to pay it back. They probably wont get much back from this guy. When he gets out of jail he will likely soon be eligible for all sorts of social benefits again.
90,000 holy cow!!!!!! then there are people that really need it gets crap! glad they got this person! I have seen plenty of people that lies cheats and everything else to get benefits, I even reported someone about 5 years ago and they never did anything about it! bout time things have changed.
$90,000 holy cow??? over a period of 15 years? that’s $6,000/year or $500 month. I’m not saying that the person is not wrong. I’m just saying that it is a pitiful amount of monthly income we are talking about here, and I can understand why a person would consider deception to stay afloat.
a pitiful amount that he was NOT ENTITLED TO!!
I agree with you; it is fraud. I’m just saying that I understand what desperation feels like, and so I understand why desperate people may stoop to deception for survival.
That was Supplemental, (for rent) in addition to his regular SSI payment.
I didn’t know that – actually, I find the article a bit confusing and weak on details. I’m sure the Courts will have the fuller story.
I tell you what. You send me a pitiful amount of $500 per month. Its no big deal right?
If you become disabled I will certainly send you $500 per month. I won’t send it directly. I have my Government to do that for me by virtue of the fact that I am a (non-complaining) tax paying citizen who believes that disabled Americans should have food, clothing and shelter. Be careful what you wish for Cheesecake55 – life has a way of taking people down when they least expect it. None of us know what tomorrow will bring; that is why I am a firm believer in safety nets.
If he had lied like all the young people today, just shacked up, no charges. All they had to do was get a divorce. Live together. All the young people today have kids, shack up and collect like crazy. I report that he is there, they do nothing. If they do visit, she says, yep, he left his stuff and threatened to beat me up if I throw it out. He will pick it up someday! End of story. There is suppose to be a 5 year limit or something, I think that is per a child? Just saying….
“All the young people today have kids, shack up and collect like crazy.” Exaggerate much?
Those young people are often misrepresented by all of the old impotent commentators who have nothing better to do than draw their social security checks while spending all day bragging about their firearms and keeping the kids off their lawns. As my daughter always says, “be careful what you say old man. I’m going to be the one spooning cereal into your mouth someday”
I think there is also too many “other” off the grid benefits.
We had an entry level employee who never wanted a raise, in fact said no. Why, because he would lose a bunch of benefits. Paid minimal rent on a pretty good size apt, 2 BR, I think, his girlfriend didn’t and couldn’t work because she was pregnant, full health coverage. He wouldn’t work a special event one time because he had to be home when the LaMaz instructor came to his house !! OMG – How much does that cost? I not only had to pay for LaMaz myself but also travel a ways to get to the group, but poor Mainers get special training in a one on one setting !! .. I’d forgotten other examples.
Gosh, that’s how people live in Maine. Duh? Throw in that computer error….no wonder we’re broke.
Nothing to see here folks…move along.
What about Robert Nutting the speaker of the Maine House who as a pharmacist bilked DHS out of over a million dollars and was never prosecuted?
Public Service Announcement
Please prepare for a sworn deposition, send copies of your evidence along with a
sworn and notarized statement to:
Office of the Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
For Additional Fraud, Attempted or Suspected,
Contact the Office of the Attorney General
Phone: 207-626-8800
http://www.maine.gov/ag/contac…
Thank you for your involvement in our legal process.
Call the liars out. I just love it.
State Guardians need to be watching over people’s payee’s. The payee system is horrible. I have never seen such an abused system. Social security once a year should randomly check reciepts and books of the payee with the dependent. I have men in the homeless shelter recieving $20 a month their entire check is being kept by their payee and spent by the payee. Staff of shelter told the Guardian and he basically said his hands were tied. In this case the guardian isn’t the payee. I wanted to pull my hair out. I just became yet another persons payee, because he changed his payee to me. He was telling the woman at the office that his sister for years kept him in the shelter and gave him $100 a month. Then another man put him a low income apartment, then told him that his check was locked in a post office box and couldn’t get it out for 3 months. Now facing eviction, he is changing his payee again. I could go on and on how payees are keeping their dependents money. The lady at social security told me that its a fact, it happens daily and you sign a paper that you will be accountable, but it seems they don’t really check up on you. There needs to be checks and balances. I witnessed him calling social security; I helped him make them calls telling them that he was not recieving any money from his payee. They didn’t find his payee to make his payee account for the money, proving the rent was being paid. I always thought payee’s had to prove they were paying the bills. It appears they do not. Sad. All that social security money wasted, very pathetic.
BRAVO!I know of a similar case.The guy getting the payments is already a millionaire and VERY well connected.He has no right to that money but the signatures are there.
He’s connected.He’ll never serve a day despite the fact that he should.Must be nice.
Classic diversionary tactic… next it will be “the
crooks on wall street” rant. Run your populist flag up the pole all you want
people aren’t buying it anymore. The problem isn’t a handful of Wall Street
tycoons killing our country….its 300 million of us getting “something” (others
MUCH more)from the State and Federal Government that’s doing us in. Them’s the facts!
What do you mean “people aren’t buying it?” It’s the facts. Do you even research the things you say?
This is much less than the “Tip of the Iceberg”!
That will teach him to get married.
If he has been doing this for 15 years, it looks like the “SYSTEM” must have “TRIPPED” of the error and decided to look into it!!
I’ll believe that there is Justice in Maine when I read,
Poliquin faces up to 10 years in prison on the conviction of theft of Tax benefits. He faces up to five years in prison on the making a false statement charge.
SSI Disability payments/amounts should be based on the medical situation and the work history of those that are receiving it. If somebody is disabled and can’t contribute, they deserve what they’ve earned from paying into the system regardless of what their spouse makes.
I make that statement based on the presumption of a true disability that renders a person unable to work. I am well aware that there are plenty of scammers out there.
SSD payments are based on work history/disability and you can receive SSD benefits even if your spouse has income. SSI payments are issued to those individuals that have NO work history or very little and do not have enough work quarters to qualify for SSD. For SSI your spouse’s income is taken into consideration for this payment. SSI is basically Social Security Welfare. This guy was obviously receiving SSI and not eligible because of his wife’s income. Glad he got caught!
I should have said SSD, I guess. Based on the article, it was called Social Security Disability. When I hear, “SSI,” I think of children who have lost parents, retired people who lose a spouse, etc.
Kids that have lost parents and retired people who lose spouses receive Social Security Survivors/Dependent Benefits. Disabled children can also receive SSI since they have no work quarters, however their parents income is taken into consideration.
So if he’s 50 years old now, he started getting benefits at 35 years old. What he received in benefits was far more than he could have ever paid in for taxes. That’s why the social security funds are drying up. We all know people that are on SSI “claiming” to be disabled and can’t work, but they make $$ on the side with odd jobs or have a business in their relatives name….. blame them for sucking the system dry.
theres alot more out there if they have time to look. I know resources are limited.
Get him!! and Get him good!!!
BUT THE BABY BEATER GETS 90 DAYS!!!???? REALLY??
My soul will not rest until they stop those tools that use their EBT cart for red bull (to mix with alcoholic drinks)
Can you get them to make it impossible to buy steaks and Ben and Jerrys?!?! I see that all the frikkin time! I’m am “disabled” too (diabetes) I work an 82 hour work week for three weeks straight (and pay LOTS of taxes).
Relax, it’s Woodcock: he’ll get six months max.
Another Woodcock special!!
I did not know disability payments were based on family income. There is more to this story than what is printed here I think.
They do take household income into consideration when the recipient is married.
Yes, if married.
But the 5 to 80k a year made growing pot is usually not disclosed.
I lived on SSI (Supplemental Security Income) from the
age of 35 to 49, when I finally started winning my case against the Department
of Veterans Affairs for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from two tours in
Vietnam, at the end of the war, when the Army and the nation was slightly
demoralized and angry about the war. I lost my ability to get along with others,
and mostly did not trust those in authority, suffering from severe depression
and anxiety.
It is hard to live on $500 a month. I think I was
allowed to have several thousand dollars in the bank, and an old car (which I
did not own and could not afford to operate, anyway), and I think that if I
lived in a house that I owned (which I did not), I would be allowed to keep it.
There are rules that go along with SSI, and the money DOES NOT come out of the
Social Security fund, but comes out of general revenue funds of the US
government, but the Social Security Administration does administer the program.
At the time I applied and won my SSI case, I had not
worked enough quarters in the past ten years, which is why I was not eligible
for SSDI. As soon as I got my first check from the Department of Veterans
Affairs, which was $600 a month at that time, I reported it to the Social
Security Administration, and my $450 SSI check was cut off, because any extra
income reduces or stops the SSI income.
If I had worked enough quarters in the previous ten
years before applying for Social Security disability, I would have had SSDI
payments, coming out of the Social Security funds, and I would have been allowed
to keep my check, as that is how the program and rules are set up, although it
may have changed in recent years?
There must have been some severe fraud for this person
to collect for fifteen years? Actually, it is the same kind of fraud Bernie
Madoff perpetrated for 15 years…LOL Sorry, but my sense of humor kicked
in….LOL
Meaning, that I think that if this man was living with
his girlfriend, he could have claimed to be a boarder, and that she was charging
him rent. And believe me, I know of another Vietnam Vet in Maine who has lived
with his good lady friend for 20 years, and he is still a boarder, which he was
when he moved in over 20 years ago, and he has a separate room in her house, and
they have never had sex. He is so ashamed of this that he swore me to secrecy,
as he was ashamed that the other Vietnam Veterans in treatment with us would
look down upon him because he was not having sex, and never had sex, with his
good friend and life partner.
So I’m assuming that because this convicted felon was
married, and not just living with a lover or good friend, he broke the law, and
I’m also assuming that his wife must have made a very good
income.
As we all know, nobody agrees with the law, or how
government money is spent, so the arguments and anger will go on in to infinity,
as people will always be jealous of each other, who is getting what, and who gets what. IT’S ALL PART OF HUMAN
NATURE.
I hope you have success and good health in the future.I lost my brother as a result of Vietnam.Thank you and all for your service and your story.
Thank you, G.P. I wish your brother were here with you, especially,
and the rest of us, as I’m sure he would add significantly to your
life.
I am alone, as my close family all died, and I moved to a
remote corner of Maine after I got my disability check from the VA, and
surprisingly, am more alone than if I’d stayed in New Jersey. But I will say
that the wilds of Maine have their own charm, and good Internet service connects
me with the rest of the world, and since I take more than ten heart, psychiatric
and diabetes medications, and live alone, the VA has loaned me a little touch
screen, “Turtle,” which allows me to input my daily glucose, blood pressure,
weight and SpO2 readings in to it everyday, and they are sent immediately to
Texas, and then to Togus VAMC in Augusta a few moments later, where they are
reviewed by a special nurse who forwards the results to my VA primary care
provider in Lincoln before my regular checkups.
I am lucky to have such good care. It is hard to find a
doctor that will work in remote Lincoln, and our current Doctor Melrose is a
veteran himself, who is almost 79 years old and a wonderful, caring man. I kind
of wish I were him, but I got stuck being me, if you know what I mean.
I am told that (and this may be misinformation, as I am not
sure) one of the reasons they have a nurse in Togus look at the numbers is they
ran out of money in the VA funding program to put the computer software on the
various Primary Care clinic computers, so Doctor Melrose could look at them on
his screen. But then again, the VA is very stretched, with several new wars and
many vets to take care of, so almost as if this were a political commercial, I
would like to thank Congressman Michaud, who sits on the Veterans committee, in
Congress, for helping us veterans in Maine. And let me say
that I generally vote Democratic, but if Congressman Michaud were a right wing,
conservative Republican, I’d still thank him for what he has done for us
veterans up here in remote, rural areas.
And I say that because, as usual, wars (and their
rehabilitation at the Department of VA) is a testing ground for new medical
techniques. I’m quite sure that it won’t be a matter of years before this new
technology is available to the country as a whole, at a much reduced price, for
elderly people, living alone. In fact, I’ve had a test done at a local
hospital, and although Maine hospitals are all hooked up on the same system,
allowing a medical test to be e mailed or forwarded to the VA, the local
hospital had to make a CD to mail to the VA for the X ray chest scan I had done,
because they and the VA are not yet on the same system. Which means that as
time progresses, medical advances will make it much easier for us all to get
medical care, at least those who are eligible for it, or who can afford it,
which is another kettle of political fish, if you know what I mean?
The University of Maine has gotten federal funding to make a
MIDDLE MILE, one thousand mile loop of internet wire up the coast of
impoverished Washington County to Calais, and then up to Houlton and Presque
Isle/Fort Kent, and then down to Dover Foxcroft, so computer services at the
hospitals, University campuses, and residential customers who live in these
small communities can get faster broadband, which will improve medical services
up here, and this area will not be as remote as it used to be, as with gas
prices as they are, it is very expensive to get down to hospitals and other
centers of commerce. It will be open to any company who wants to bid on private
services to DSL customers in our areas. It is truly not the Maine your
grandparents were raised in, which must have been one tough place to survive
back in the 1930s. I just talked to technicians from the Maine Fiber
Company as they were stringing the new wire through Danforth. http://www.mainefiberco.com/
I do think that our civilian population is particularly hard
on war veterans, expecting all of us to rehab or reinvigorate ourselves like the
actor John Wayne did in his various movies. And there certainly are many
stories where veterans go on to do very heroic, and wonderful things, or just
average activities, after any war. But at times, there are problems that are
covered up and not acknowledged by the family, and it only seems as if
everything is fine.
I just watched a Netflix free streaming documentary on
my television called THE LONGORIA AFFAIR, about a Mexican American US
G.I., killed in the Philippines during WW II, who was refused burial in a Texas
funeral parlor, because he was Hispanic. His name was Felix Longoria. So if we
skip the issues of racism, and who and who was not segregated in the WW II
American military (apparently, Hispanics could serve in any military unit,
but African Americans and Japanese Americans had to be segregated), we could
come down to the funeral director, a rehabbed veteran, who wouldn’t allow the
service in the funeral parlor, but only in the Longoria house.
The funeral director had recently moved to Texas from
Pennsylvania, after his head had been repaired by the VA. He had been found
with parts of his brain leaking out in Europe, and they had put a metal plate in
his head, trained him to be a funeral director, and expected him to go on like
John Wayne. Nobody really thought about the long term medical consequences
about severe brain trauma, like they do today. So on the documentary, I saw his
children blame the Longoria dispute (which eventually had Felix Longoria buried
at Arlington cemetery in Washington) on the funeral director’s (this man with
the plate in to fix the hole in his head) decline and eventual life lived in a
VA facility on the stress of the Longoria Affair. But, as we now know, anyone
with brains leaking out of their head after a battle during WW II might well
have ended up, living in sheltered care, just for that very reason.
I remember a New Jersey Transit bus driver who used to make
disabled people cry by how nasty he was to them. I would get on the bus and pay
35 cents with my half fare card, lucky to be even able to travel, and he would
make fun of me (and EVERYONE ELSE WHO WAS DISABLED, which usually meant some
psychiatric or other functional disability). Finally, one time, he angrily told
me he had a plate in his head from Korea, inferring that I was no good for
falling apart and not holding a job like he did. But I was also not as mean and
nasty as he was, which probably came from the headaches and other war memories
of his wound in Korea.
So at that time, living on the financial bottom of
the economic bottom of society during the 1990s economic boom, I pounded on the
door of the bus so he would open it again, so I could give him a piece of my
mind (brain….LOL). He called the police, and I walked off to my support group
meeting at the hospital. I am not violent, but he had caused this situation to
occur, and as I’d said, I’d seen him make another disabled man cry like a baby
on his bus a year prior.
Well, I did send in a written complaint, and I got a call of
apology from New Jersey transit, who told me what was obvious; that he was in
the union and had been spoken to repeatedly. And of course, that bus driver was
polite with me afterwards, but it killed him to do so….LOL And my case was
bolstered by the fact that another New Jersey transit worker had been a
passenger and witness to the event on the bus, and the fact that the bus driver
had hit his emergency call button when I had pounded on the door of the bus,
wanting to give him a, “piece of my mind.”
But now, looking back, as an older veteran, I can understand
the situation much more clearly, and even look way back in to this documentary
about racism towards Mexican American war veterans, and realize that everyone
expects war veterans to JUST HEAL and GO ON LIKE THE FAMOUS JOHN WAYNE did in
all of those movies, and that angry Korean War Veteran, NJ Transit bus driver,
may have been able to drive a bus, well in to his sixties, BUT HIS HEAD STILL
HAD A BIG HOLE IN IT.
So I wish your brother was still here with us, and I don’t
know why our society and every other one seems to be so addicted to sending
people off to war, but it seems like it is hardwired in to our genetic makeup.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I have heard some criticism of Afghan/Iraq war vets
getting special treatment by an angry caller on the Jay Thomas Sirius radio
program, actually saying they were responsible because they had, “joined the Army because they couldn’t get a good job, and would have had mental illness anyway,” but these days, there is a certain kindness given to veterans,
especially by other veterans, which has tears coming to my eyes as I write
this. Roger Stavitz in Danforth, Maine.
Thanks so much.In the Tom Brokaw book about WW2 vets,he devotes chapters to women,Native American,Hispanic and Japanese vets and how horribly they were treated.
To your point about war-war is money for those who could care less about suffering.
BDN should do a story on you.Sounds like you have a lot to say and say it well.Blessings.
Thank you for both your service, and also for clarifying some of the issues about SSI vs. SSDI. Plenty of people who are now on SSI worked for many years and most of those workers, like you, had worked 40 quarters usually before the age of 30. People are not aware that the applicant needs to have worked at least 20 quarters during the 10 years immediately preceding their disability claim. Many people simply stop working, then wait way too long before filing a claim. They try out little jobs and fail, then keep looking for work thinking their disabling condition will get better. When they finally give up, they are shocked to find out that they have lost their “insured status” and are no longer eligible for SSDI and Medicare. These people, if proven disabled, end up on SSI and Medicaid. It is insulting to many SSI recipients (like you once were) for others to assume that these people NEVER worked. Unfortunately, many people would rather rant instead of becoming informed. I appreciate that you took the time to explain your personal history – I hope some of the “know it alls” will take the time to read your informative excerpt. Fare thee well.
Whoever brought charges against this guy should come to South Georgia where every other citizen is collecting disability payments. The tragedy is that most of these people go about their everyday lives, riding motocycles, horses they just can’t work because they have a bad back, sore knee or whatever.
20 entitlement scammers or so down, 36,000 or so to go.
I have a relative- very capable, but the only thing that really works is his mouth- who calls his EBT deposit early every month a “gift from the horn of plenty”.
Is suffocation while asleep detectable by a coroner?
And this is headline news ? This goes on all the time in this welfare state. Every single one of us knows multiple people that abuse the system. Just watch people on welfare shop, what a joke lobstah and ribeye steak, but cash for marb reds and scratch tickets. Dont even get me started on methadone treatment, what a joke that is, pay em to drive under the influence to get the junk they crave. This state is doomed.
Lying always catches up to you sooner or later.
lepage and the rest of the idiots all should be impeached…
Big reason why people don’t marry today is to scam the system. Unmarried women with children… Ca Ching! Similar to the SS scam, claim your alone, unmarried whatever. Heck, take the tool shed out back fix it up and claim it as residence – the old man can live out back. Speak with fuel oil delivery guys about LIHEAP… just take a look around to see the WIC and food stamp scams going on. The solution is to starve the beast. Hack these Federal and State programs in half. The people in my town know who the scammers are… and we know who the needy are. We’ll take care of those in need. Gut DHHS!
Boy are you gonna get it now!!!!
A few things I would like to know are why is this man disabled? This board seems to assume he is some junkie slacker, but what if he has one leg or a heart condition or something that makes it impossible for him to work? I would like to know how much his wife earns. Is she pulling down 150 thousand as a Bank executive, or is she making 20 thousand working 2 jobs at minimum wage? Are they living high on the hog or barely making it? If his SSI payments were essential to their economic survival, then why is it that they must choose between marriage and survival?
he don’t have ANY OF THEM. “OH MY BACK!”
How about arresting & charging Congress with theft & illegal use of Social Security funds. They’ve been stealing from the Social Security fund for years, diverting it to the general fund for their own use. That’s part of the reason that the system is in trouble. Because Congress does it & gets away with it, the states have copied them by borrowing from without paying back, or just not paying into, the retirement funds of it’s employees, creating the same situation. There needs to be a law preventing elected officials from diverting money from it’s intended purpose. Too many politicians feel that they can do whatever they please with money that flows into public coffers.
Another good one, lady in Michigan hit the lottery
for 1M. She took the payoff of 500K. She is on welfare
and continued to take the welfare bennies. She was asked
if she really thought she should. Her response…YES. Why?
Because she has TWO homes and bills to pay. I know this is
not the social security issue but this is the mentality and this
is what the system has created.
Don’t worry DUDE LePage will come up witha grant to help him pay the money back so people won’t dig into his (LePage’s) actions
I think LePage is a big bully cause he was pushed around in school and now he is making up for it.
… the truly sad thing is that if this couple had been “living in sin” there wouldn’t have been a crime ? !