Talk:Welfare fraud

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This should be merged with the welfare queen article.

Well, I don't know that I agree with the unsigned comment above. There is certainly some overlap between "welfare queens" and welfare fraud, but not everyone guilty of welfare fraud is a welfare queen. Where I think the article needs expansion is at the end, in the section describing the legal penalties for welfare fraud. These penalties vary from state to state, but I know that in my state--as the result of several journalistic investigations that have not been shy at all about naming names and dates--welfare fraudsters have not only been given jail time, but have had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines back to the state, often losing their homes in the process. This includes those who have feigned disabilities and major illnesses in order to avoid working and to collect government money that they are not entitled to--yes, this fraud is a major felony.

While this is a very public matter, rather than any kind of "private matter," the government's role in these investigations has not always been the catalyst--as I say, it's investigative journalism, articles appearing in mainstream and alternative newspapers, that has broken many of these specific cases wide open and led to jail terms and life-crippling fines for the fraudsters. And, as a consequence, there has even been some--not a lot--but some reform of an easily abused system. We can find lots of research to buttress this article on these points, and no doubt even more such journalism will be appearing in the near future. Qworty 12:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

The idea of the "welfare queen" is a highly politicized and distinct concept in that use its use is often gendered and racially charged. An entry on welfare fraud should highlight cases of actual abuse. "Welfare queen" has a different social connotation. Njfuller (talk) 05:57, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Merge tag was removed. Njfuller (talk) 01:03, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] News Story Coming

There's a major news story that's going to come out about a major welfare fraud, naming names and dates. It's going to be explosive. But even more importantly in terms of Wikipedia, it's going to help buttress this article.Qworty 18:02, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Example of welfare fraud

This example of fraud, with the 'mother of four or five' is very poor considering all the documented abuses that are available. This example gives the impression that any mother with four or five children is (a)receiving public assistance and (b) committing fraud by doing so. The same could be said of any corporation that takes advantage of tax-loopholes to avoid paying taxes. Using the rules to ones favor, in this example, having a large number of children, is not inherently fraudulent. An argument could be made that it is going against the spirit of the purpose of public assistance, but that's about it.

The myth of the welfare queen and the rampant abuses of the system have been shown to be largely nonexistent with the exception of a very small percentage of abusers. This topic should be related to other entries that reference political hyperbole, especially during election cycles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.15.228.244 (talk) 01:17, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge tag

I've been working on the welfare queen article and noticed that the merge tag was added nearly a year ago by a "Retired user". There's been little discussion since that time, and unless people object, I plan on taking the tag down. I'll give it a couple weeks, so voice any concerns if there are any out there. Njfuller (talk) 22:33, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Merge tag removed. Njfuller (talk) 01:03, 4 April 2008 (UTC)