Tits on the taxpayer

[Andrew D]

Maybe the real real story -- you know, the one that actually matters -- is that people who are working their asses off just to make ends meet are being taxed to pay for this woman's boob job and holiday excursions.

[Scooter]

Maybe the real real real story -- you know, the one that actually matters -- is that people with an agenda to slash welfare benefits will do anything they can to manufacture outrage by making stories like this (whether true or not) appear to be the norm, or, at least, frequent enough to be worth hurting who knows how many other families to do something about it.

[Andrew D]

Why leap from the outrageous facts (assuming that they are facts, and I have seen no reason to conclude otherwise about the essential facts) of this particular case to a wild generalization about slashing welfare benefits? I do not recall having asserted that thousands of people about whom I know nothing should be thrown off the dole because of the antics of this particular person.

The proper authorities should simply determine what portion of her welfare checks have gone toward cosmetic surgery and holiday excursions and reduce her welfare payments by that amount. (They might also consider investigating the condition of her children. They may be just fine, but whatever portion of her welfare checks went into her pseudo-breasts self-evidently did not go toward caring for her kids.)

That would not involve any across-the-board reduction in welfare benefits. It would involve only the application of the entirely salutary precept that people who depend for their livelihoods on money taken from people who work for their livelihoods are not entitled to spend those other people's tax money on frivolities.

[Sean]

Don't thank me too soon Scoot...

The term 'job seeker's allowance' in the UK is used (not by the DSS obviously...) to refer to all unemployment benefits much like the term 'dole'. A small matter of semantics really...

I have not proven anyone right here. In fact, you claimed she was not on any benefits other than the ones listed so I actually proved you wrong.

So there!

And she hasn't admitted to fraud regarding her housing benefits. I used the word 'probably' as it would not surprise me if that were the case. Housing benefit is calculated using the median rental values of appropriate properties in the area and paid directly to the claimant. The council do not wish to be the tenant (and possibly be faced with extra bills) so it remains a private tenancy agreement between the landlord and the claimant. If she could find a cheaper appropriate property she'd be laughing all the way to the plastic surgeon!

[Gob]

They're sending in the hit squads..

Spending Review: Benefit cheat 'hit squads' planned

Hit squads of inspectors are to be sent to areas where problems with benefit cheats are rife, the chancellor George Osborne has said.

In an interview with the News of the World, Mr Osborne compared welfare cheats to muggers robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money.

He also warned that repeat offenders could have their benefits cut off for up to four years.

Benefit and tax credit fraud costs the taxpayer an estimated £1.5bn a year.

The government is planning to reduce the annual welfare bill by a further £4bn, on top of an £11bn cut made in June.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11559463

[Jarlaxle]

It's a start, I suppose...