Some on welfare bet big on Maine lottery in pursuit of life-changing win

Comment #16

myturn — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 09:25:42 GMT

The rules should be tightened to prevent winners of large prizes from getting state assistance.

Comment #15

Get paid — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 19:05:22 GMT

Its a no brainer.Everybody plays the lottery,especially poor an middle income people,it should be the goverments responsibilty when they find out a person on gov.assistant has a huge amount of money,they should automatically be remove from anymore assistant.Reason:You won the lottery.

Comment #14

Todd — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:14:37 GMT

Welfare recipients are oppressed? Seems to me the exact opposite. Welfare recipients are helped out by all the US workers who pay taxes, making welfare recipients among the most helped in our compassionate society.

As far as people who deserve a lottery win, I would say that anyone who pays for a lottery ticket deserves to win.

Comment #13

jjtheprince — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:00:15 GMT

I love to see those on welfare winning the lottery. Welfare receipients are so oppressed and are very deserving of a lottery win.

Comment #12

mikeintexas — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 11:57:41 GMT

I hear ya, man. My situation is a little different, but otherwise close enough to yours. I'm lucky in that I'm the only one I have to worry about and feed. (other than the stray cats who hang around)

At this point in time, my retirement plan consists of a jar full of pennies and a lottery ticket good for three more drawings.

I don't see how they can, with any success, stop people drawing benefits from playing the lottery. If someone was on assistance and won a substantial prize and c... [ More ]

Comment #11

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 01:01:52 GMT

Well, right now, you described me and my wife. We make in the 50's, but for many years we struggled to get by raising the kids, one of us being laid off from work, whatever. So, here we are, her late 50's, me early 60's, making good money. Comfortable. Retirement? What retirement? She has a few investments that may or may not work out. I have nothing. We never made enough to raise a family and put an appreciable amount away to retire on. Our distraction was raising our kids. Imagine that. Oh, an... [ More ]

Comment #10

pick4master — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 23:45:50 GMT

Please don't knock people being on welfare and buying lottery tickets. The lottery is aimed at the poor whether you are working or not. It is the poor working class that buys the bulk of the lottery tickets. How many times do you think that poor people trying to GET RICH missed paying a bill or taken good food out of the mouths of thier children because of buying a lottery ticket???? The people who buy the bulk of the tickets have one foot in the unemployment line or the welfare arena.

Comment #9

HaveABall — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 21:50:03 GMT

Ah, I see the remedy ... All we need is far more mainly distracted, $50K/year, full-time, W-2 paid employee jobs (that's $24/hour at guaranteed 40 hours per week work pay and 51 guaranteed weeks per year work, with round-trip commute to work under 60 minutes) for majority of adults over the age of 24 years old and in all U.S. of A. states.

Sure, even these fortunate folks (in 2 adult, full-time worker households) won't have much of a net worth after 40 years and probably will have to keep a p... [ More ]

Comment #8

hearsetrax — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 20:01:05 GMT

one can only wonder and knowing the answer wouldn't surprise me at all

Comment #7

sully16 — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 18:58:46 GMT

I really wonder how many children went without proper nutrition because their parents decided that lottery tickets, cigarettes, liquor, tattoos, etc, were much more important.

It makes me sad to think a kid went hungry because of the selfish wants and needs of mommy and daddy.

Comment #6

Tialuvslotto — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:07:17 GMT

Part of me cringes to hear this news because those lottery dollars are money that someone on benefits cannot afford to spend. But, another part of me sympathises because the lottery may be the only way out of poverty that these people can see.

However, winners of large prizes should definitely be kicked off benefits.

Comment #5

savagegoose — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 11:51:01 GMT

i dunno, there is tax implications on winning lots of money, maybe there could be some sort of inter departmental notification, of someones sosec number, when they win a snip million bucks? i dunno i would think that sort of thing might be easy to automate,. or is it someone elses job?

This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.

Comment #4

zephbe — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 10:06:28 GMT

This article may shed some light on the subject. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/03/25/maine-gov-paul-lepage-is-on-a-welfare-reform-crusade/

'Maine s tea party governor, reared in poverty, is on a mission to reform the state s welfare system.

Comment #3

Stack47 — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 02:36:59 GMT

It's a tough call because there will be an extra buck or two at the end of the month. And if the win big like Amanda Clayton, they get off welfare by reporting their winnings (unlike Amanda Clayton).

Comment #2

picktowin — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 00:06:11 GMT

I think that is totally wrong for people getting welfare food stamps to be able to play the lottery.

I am a taxpayer. I am supporting them.

Maybe they need to get JOB

They are out there but so many are to lazy to get one when why I can get free stuff.

Maybe they need to feed their kids and put clothes on their backs before pleasure.

Comment #1

music* — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:02:48 GMT

May Amanda Clayton rest in peace in Michigan. On September 11, 2011, she won one million dollars. She did not tell the States' Welfare Department. She was caught and sentenced by a Judge to nine months probation.

She did have the option to remain anonymous since she did not win a Jackpot prize like Mega Millions or Power Ball. She did the grip and grin photo shoot.

The press discovered her collecting state welfare money after her win.

Twenty-five year old Amanda died from a drug ove... [ More ]

Some on welfare bet big on Maine lottery in pursuit of life-changing win

Lottery Post — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:18:44 GMT

Murky state rules mean those who do collect larger prizes may not even lose their public benefits

Maine residents on public assistance have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lottery tickets, according to an estimate based on the $22.4 million in large prizes they collected between 2010 and 2014, including eight jackpots worth at least $500,000 each.

Yet state rules are so murky that the winnings do not necessarily disqualify anyone from continuing to receive food stamps and other be... [ More ]