"Too fat to work"

Almost two thousand people who are too fat to work have been paid a total of £4.4 million in benefit, it emerged last night. Other payments went to fifty sufferers of acne and ten incapacitated by leprosy.

Billions of pounds is being paid in benefits to people claiming to be unable to work because they suffer from depression, stress, fatigue and unknown or unspecified diseases.

The full list of ailments of the 2.7 million people claiming £7.4 billion in incapacity benefits, obtained by using Freedom of Information laws, will fuel suspicion that it is being used to keep them off the official jobless total. It will also fuel the debate over whether British workers could have been hired for more of the one million new jobs taken by migrants since 1997.

Frank Field, a former Social Security Minister, said last night that too many people were working the incapacity benefit system to avoid work. “It is a racket, which governments have allowed to exist for far too long. I do not blame people for working the system, it is the job of politicians to stop them doing it.”

more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article2896819.ece?fark

Decent health care might do a lot to ameliorate many cases, but I do not presume to say all.

:popcorn:

:popcorn:

:popcorn:

My date'll be here in a moment.
:popcorn:

I'm too fat to work!!:rofl:

but you'll have to pay for them both.

And quit eating all that popcorn--that's why you're too fat to work! :rofl:

:popcorn:

:popcorn:

I'm fat. I work. I wonder in which camp I should pitch my tent. ;)

call in "too fat to work!" :rofl:

:eyes:

cat blooper movies I posted earlier? Good for a smile or two.)

:hug:

Here are the movies: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7158831

And here are two lolcat threads:

1) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7148993

2) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7124894

Because a benefits system is part of a larger economic structure, solving the problem of supporting the disabled while encouraging the able-bodied to work is an excruciatingly difficult problem to solve.

A benefits system also requires a sense of social cohesion and trust as well as a work ethic. I don't believe that a work ethic and strong social benefits are mutually exclusive; there are other components to encouraging work besides a simple cost-benefit calculation.

On edit: I didn't get in first.

:popcorn:

really depends on the situation.

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the President his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, three Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

:evilgrin:

:D

I think I may have discovered the problem.

I guess maybe it's everywhere, that kind of conservative propagandizing, drumming up resentment by telling people who is 'getting over' on them and suggesting 'vote for me' or 'elect my political party' and 'we'll stop these (insert villain of the week) from screwing you over'. What they don't say is '...while we're screwing YOU over as well.' And people fall for it.

About the immigrants, what nobody ever seems to realise is, the problem is not that the immigrants are coming and working here; the problem is that they are being paid peanuts for it! The fact that they are prepared to work for nothing whereas British workers are not is irrelevant. If they are working in Britain they should be paid British wages. For the most part we are not talking about illegal immigrants, but rather people from EU countries, who have the legal right to live and work here.

The right has comprehensively won, in that people have no concept of solidarity any more: the notion that an injustice done to one is an injustice done to all. The blame the immigrants game even works on people who vote Labour (or Democratic). The so-called left. The left is dead, get over it. Thatcher and Reagan buried it. The fights need to be fought all over again.

of realizing just how much damage was done to this country starting with Reagan. Great post. :hi:

Doubtless there are many illegal immigrants in this area and people around here thus hate all "Mexicans". It makes no different that Europeans depopulated their ancestors (from 100 million to 10 million on both Americas through introduced diseases and genocide) several hundred years ago...it cracks me up that people say they 'don't have a right to be here'. There are quite a few businesses around here that fly Mexican flags or have the flag colors painted on their businesses (I'm sure as a sign to their customers that they will be welcome)...yesterday I actually passed a business that was flying about 20 American flags, and the name of the business was "Arian Enterprises", which really freaked me out. That 'hate these folks because I said so' sloganeering is so transparent to me I can't believe people still fall for it, but they do.

I agree about the solidarity thing. Unionization united people around a common cause, and the right here wants to drive home to everyone how different we all are. Divide and conquer, that is why they focus us on our differences and then tell us "I'm on *your kind's* side. They are on the side of money, and winning, and that's it.

the genuinely disabled, but the truth is that I'm not sure how much I want either one to be working for me.

I'll take the disabled first, of course, depending on what the job is, but I'd pay the lazy wanker to go away.

(but not much and not for long)

I think the only proper place to dispose of a used Republican is a biohazard waste receptacle!