PARENTS OF THE YEAR

Meet the "Parents of the Year"! This Long Island couple left their four kids at home with an empty fridge and no heat for nearly a full week while they stayed in a hotel to work on their marital issues. Like I said, "Parents of the Year" right here! 

Tulio and Maria Ayala were busted on Wednesday after school officials in Central Islip called police to say the children, ages 4 through 15, were living at home without any adult supervision. According to police, the Ayalas took off on February 7. There was barely any food in the house and the children were using small space heaters and the kitchen stove to stay warm in those freezing temperatures last week.

The Ayalas were charged with four counts of child endangerment and released the next day. Tulio Ayala said that his mother was supposed to be looking after the children. He says, "We were having marital problems, and so I told my mom, 'I'll be back in a few days, can you watch them?' And you know, she said she was fine with it. I left them with money in my house, and she lives in the basement and everything, so they were NOT unattended." Ayala said he left his mom with $100, food stamps and space heaters. At some point, his mother backed out of the deal. Oh, how convenient! A mother who actually lives in the basement and promises to watch his kids suddenly disappears with his money  and food stamps. Now, we see where he gets it from. He's cut from the same cloth as his mother. 

He says, "She never called or attempted to text me, and said look, 'I don't want to watch them.'" Maybe that's because his mother no longer exists? Just a thought. The good news is that the kids were unharmed and turned over to an unidentified family member. Not for nothing, but if you have four kids, even if your mom agreed to watch them, you don't just go off and leave the kids at home to fix your marriage. Fix that stuff at home! What the hell is going to a hotel for week going to do? Repair your problems? Hell no! It puts it on hold for a week. What a mess this family is! I feel really bad for these kids most of all. 

THE DEFINITION OF APPALLING.....

There was nothing really that newsworthy to write about today, so I'm choosing to blog about an incident that happened to a friend recently because it is absolutely appalling. My bud, Ryan, noticed some strange behavior from a couple of Arab women on a recent trip to BJ's Wholesale. 

I'll let Ryan tell the story: "So I'm in BJ's and there are two Arab ladies in front of me at the checkout counter. They have with them four kids between the ages of 6 months to 3 years. The one lady opens up her wallet to pay, and I noticed she had about $3000 cash in there, all 50s and 100s. I was thinking to myself, "That's a lot of cash to be carrying around!" No sooner that I thought that, the other lady that was with her, slapped her hand and yelled at her in some Arab language. She then pointed to the debit card in her wallet. So the lady put back all the cash back into her wallet and used a credit/debit card. The card caught my eye because it looked different. This one said "Families First" on it. So I thought it was a Credit Union or something, so I decided to Google it. It turns out; it's a Welfare debit card or an EBT card. I then exited the store and spotted the same two women in the parking lot trying to load up the car and wrangle their kids up to get in. The car was a brand new Mercedes SUV with a "temp plate" on it. I was tempted to go over to them and ask where I sign up to get what they have. Gotta love this (completely out of control) country. LOL"

 Ryan had one thing right! This country is out of control! When does it stop? It's bad enough when we see our own people scamming the system, but now these foreigners are scamming the system too? Not to mention, they're probably illegal! I have a friend who is actually struggling through some hard times financially and actually collects welfare himself, but as of recently, they've been making him jump through hoops just to get these benefits. He's a single father with two boys and is actually someone who really needs these benefits, but the state runs him through the ringer and makes him wait for this money. In fact, he just told me that the last time he was in one of their offices to collect; he noticed others there on their iPhones and iPads while they waited. He says that he can't even afford an iPhone and if these people are collecting food stamps, how are they affording these luxurious phones? It makes no sense whatsoever! 

I remember dating a girl who used to do the same thing. She would go sit in line at the Department of Human Services to apply for food stamps and though, she had a decent paying job, she still got the food stamps. I never understood how. Was it because she was Latina? Does that automatically give you the rights to food stamps and welfare? Is my friend having trouble because he's white and not the right ethnicity to receive these benefits. What really is going on with this country? Why do we keep handing out benefits to those who don't really belong here rather than helping those that do belong here? If we figured these answers out, maybe we'll find the answers to our deficit problem! Thank you for the story, Ryan! I found it utterly appalling!

THE DOUBLE DIPPER

Ending the week on weird note, a lottery winner in Michigan continued to receive food stamps after banking her $1 million dollar prize! Is this really double dipping, though? She won money from the state lottery, so she banked it, but she's still unemployed, so she decided to continue collecting food stamps to feed her family. Is that bad? Considering many others are stealing for this country as well? She just happened to get caught!

The story that went viral this week goes like this.....Michigan's Department of Human Services recently cut off benefits for 24-year-old, Amanda Clayton, who banked half a million dollars playing the state's lottery, while continuing to pay for her groceries with food stamps. Clayton was busted by a local television station using her public assistance benefits, which was worth $200 a month for five months after winning it big. A smart person might have invested a portion of that million somehow to make more money rather than just letting it sit in a bank.

Clayton stated that she thought the state would cut would cut her off, but since they didn't, she deemed it okay to continue using it because she's not working. She also claimed that she needed the money because she, just like the rest of America, is unemployed and had bills on two houses to pay, and that she's struggling! You're not alone, sister! I'm sitting here writing a blog for crying out loud!

Clayton won $1 million dollars, but took the $700,000 lump sum and said that she pocketed $500,000 after taxes. Michigan's Department of Human Services say that they depend on people to be honest about their income levels. Yeah, well hello! He income level hasn't changed! She's still unemployed! The girl just got lucky one time and had a one time pay off of $500,000. What happens when that money runs out? She can't apply for food stamps anymore? That's kind of screwed up!

Department of Human Services say that they rely on clients being forthcoming about their actual financial status. If they are not, and continue to accept benefits, they may face criminal investigation and be required to pay those benefits back. Okay, wait! So, the girl won a million, chose the lump sum to only receive $700,000, and then after taxes only received $500,000. She only received half her prized because of the state. Don't you think that the state already took enough from this poor girl? In total, after her winning, she used $1000 in food stamps? Take it as a loss considering the state already took $500,000 in taxed from her. And criminal investigation? Amanda Clayton seems no more a criminal than I am. She was just doing what she thought she needed to do to survive.

A lawmaker in the state is now trying to pass a legislation that would make it illegal for people like Clayton to collect benefits. They stated, "We need to continue to protect our taxpayer's dollars....and taxpayer dollars should be going to those who really need assistance." Hey, ding-dong! If you're going to talk about protecting taxpayers, then protect the girl who just paid half a million dollars in taxes on a million dollar prize she just won. If you're going to complain about her, then just give her back the half a million you took from her to pay taxes on her winning! Uggh! I have a headache! Have a good weekend!