February 1, 2008
Re: Well, Maybe if the Doctor's Office Was in the Mall....
A small but annoying point. This is a link to a Rhode Island craigslist posting which reads:
I wonder how many people go and get the free monthly bus passes with their medical assistance card and turn around and sell them???? In the past few days I've noticed people selling them on here....kinda makes you wonder.
He or she is correct. While browsing through craigslist postings under the "General" category a couple of weeks ago, I was a little surprised to come across someone who had posted a "January bus pass" for sale.
And here is a posting for four February bus passes. The location is Providence, RI. It is not clear if the $25 price is each or takes all four.
Do bus passes have pictures of the pass holder? If not, perhaps it is time. Selling tax payer funded bus passes is in the same category as selling food stamps. These services are available for people who really need them. They are not intended as a round-about way to provide casual spending money.
And if they are, we can just dispense with a good deal of effort and harrumph, cut out the middle man - the Division of Taxation - and leave those dollars in the pockets of tax payers to casually spend.
My wife works near Kennedy Plaza and before her office offered discounted cards she would routinely go to the Plaza the day the cards are handed out and pay between $20-25 for a bus pass from someone who got it for free. She did this every month for almost two years.
Posted by: Greg at February 2, 2008 7:06 AMAn underground economy exists in Providence. Take away the bus passes, the EBT cards and the illegal drug trade and the increase in B&E's, hold-ups and robberies would be dramatic. I sometimes think we are paying ransom for our own safety with all of these handouts.
Anybody needing a bag or two of heroin can get it in Kennedy Plaza, right under the watchful eyes of shiny badge. Take the drugs away and chaos will reign.
Bus passes for drugs? You bet.
Posted by: michael at February 2, 2008 9:44 AMSmall time cheats get pounded. Steal a large fortune and you get elected to congress.
Monique, again you complain about the spec in your neighbor's eye and ignore the board in your own. Not one word about Exxon's exhorbitant profits while gas prices climb and poor working people get hammered.
I'd like to see you do some hand wringing about the bloated profits that go on while the country moves into a deeper recession. But no, you gripe about $25.00 sales of bus passes and wink at hugh profits which go to private jets and Mediterranean villas while 47 million of our citizens don't have health coverage.
Get real. Face up to the real problems before you rail against the penny-ante stuff.
OldTimeLefty
So, Richard, how many A.R. shirts can we put you down for?
Posted by: Monique at February 2, 2008 2:09 PMSarcasm, from two Greek words meaning to tear the flesh. If patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels then sarcasm is next in line. I gather you have no retort so the best you can do is stick your tongue out. What's next? Nyah, nyah, nyah?
OldTimeLefty
Exxon makes 10% profit, approximately, according to something I read once. They refine and distribute the oil that runs the world.
Small time cheats produce nothing.
I'll put my money on Exxon. And Monique.
Thanks, Michael!
Richard, sorry to see your comments have fallen victim to the writers' strike. You made exactly the same objection to another of my posts.
My response to you at that time stands. I did not cut and paste it here because I fear our exchanges might be headed towards an uninteresting pattern.
Posted by: Monique at February 3, 2008 12:08 PM