REMINDER FOR
LAID-OFF & UNEMPLOYED
AMERICANS
there is no shame in using all the social services you have paid with your taxes, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A WHITE, MID/HIGH INCOME EARNER.
welfare is racialized in this country to deprive all Americans of the social services WE PAY for.
it’s imperative y’all flood social services offices because if you don't, that's why the griftocracy keeps cutting local, state & federal budgets.
so here’s what you can do after losing your job:
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1. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
go to the Labor Dept nearest you & fill out a request for payouts. it is imperative you do so because if your employer didn't pay for the insurance, they get to have the DOL fine their asses.
2. #MEDICAID BEFORE #COBRA
Medicaid is like Medicare for all but the money & benefits are controlled by the state, not the federal government. NY has one of the best. Mississippi, one of worse. either way, get to the nearest office before you cut a check for #COBRA.
why?
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2b. why not pay for #COBRA before applying for #MEDICAID? unless you are rich, you will need that money for rent/mortgage and food.
unfortunately, a generation of white people looking down on social services is why working class Americans, INCLUDING HIGH EARNERS, do not have safety nets.
you would have to be well below the poverty line to qualify for food stamps or temporary rent/mortgage support.
THIS IS WHY WE NEED YOU DEMANDING THESE SERVICES. and yes, go now before Christmas.
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3. REGISTER AT A PUBLIC HOSPITAL/CLINIC
even if you have an MD, use this as a reason to register at your city or state run hospital. and make sure they assign you to a social worker, besides a health advocate.
the easiest way to do so? go get vaccinated. they will create a medical chart for you. make sure you bring the whole family.
once in the system it will be a bit easier to ask help in navigating the bureaucracy of social services.
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4. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, MAKE USE OF ALL THE WELFARE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO THEM
this is, for good or bad, how the Democratic Party has staunched the starving of money for social services: the think of the starving children strategy.
you may not get food stamps as a family but each of your children may get a weekly pittance.
TAKE THE PAYOUT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL.
remember, it is because middle income white folks have declined to use social services that they've been cut to the bone.
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6. LAST BUT NOT LEAST
this is not a comprehensive list; but reckon this: decades of convincing middle class whites to NOT use social services or join unions got us in this inequality mess.
fascists use racism to keep millions away from demanding the services they pay for; then claim lack of demand is why they cut funding for welfare benefits. and where does the money go? “pork” or the military.
it’s not only your duty to find what is available to you; it’s POLITICAL PRAXIS.
/fin
PS FOR NYC RESIDENTS:
do you know why Bill DeBlasio was relentlessly lambasted by the fascistocracy and their bootlicking democrats?
because his administration tried to salvage & prop-up social services in the city; especially public health care.
it is thanks to Bill de Blasio we have a revival of public health clinics after 20 years of Giuliani & Bloomberg decimating them.
here’s a short thread on how to get into the NYC public hospitals & clinics system:
I always tell people how dramatically the Canadian social-welfare system was crucial in getting me started early in my career
My father died when I was 16 -- government "survivor's benefits" paid my $300-a-month rent up to age 21, when they ended
Public college was inexpensive enough I could make enough in my summer jobs to graduate without debt
Oh, and: Summer job (selling classifieds for the Toronto Star) was unionized; amazing pay
When I got laid off: Unemployment insurance
Also, apply immediately for LIHEAP. Global warming won't stop your house from getting cold, and utility bills are a killer in the Winter.
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/programs/liheap
And it may be tempting to not apply for a student loan deferment so soon after payments and interest have resumed, but if you need to, you bloody NEED to.
your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦
Clive Thompson
Anna Miriamsdochter
Rachel Rawlings
Kirill Osenkov