Today’s entitlement mentality of the day comes courtesy of The Other McCain. If you ever need an example to show to someone of just how entrenched we are into a welfare state, just show them this article. It features an unemployed single mother of a whopping fifteen children, from three different men. One baby-daddy is a crack dealer in prison. She’s upset because she’s homeless, and as she says… someone has to pay!!
The din of Room 168 at the Economy Inn on East Busch Boulevard occasionally drowned out conversation.
Twelve children ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years old spent the past week there, scrambling across the floor, bouncing on beds. Their eyes filled with resignation Wednesday morning; they were hungry and dirty – wearing the same clothes as the day before and the day before that.
Angel Adams, the mom, was asking for help as the children rambled about the room. She was homeless and hopeless, she said. A relative paid for the motel room for a week, and after that, who knows. Her fiance is in prison.
With measured indignation, Adams said somebody owes her.
… The lifelong Tampa resident said she wants justice from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office child protection team that took her kids away from her two years ago and from Hillsborough Kids Inc., which got her kids back six months ago.
“What do I do?” she said earlier in the day. “I have no answers. My family has been railroaded. Someone needs to pay.
“Nobody’s helping me.”
She doesn’t trust the system, she said. It was a system that despite all the good intentions landed her in the motel, in this fix, in the first place, she said.
Wednesday morning, in the dingy motel room, Adams handed out a list of her children’s names and ages. Across the top: “Three fathers. One Mother. Fifteen Children.”
One of them, a 1-year-old, is named John the Baptist Brown.
Ten of the children, she said, were fathered by Garry Brown, currently serving a five-year prison term for dealing cocaine. A sampling of his kids’ names: Garry Nesha, Garry Brown Jr., Garry Lethia, Garryiell and Garry Rick.
… The 12 kids are the youngest of 15, she said. Three have “aged out,” meaning they have turned 18 and are on their own, no longer a part of the child welfare system.
“I can have as many as I want to,” she said. All her kids, she added, “are gifts from God.”
The 37-year-old mother doesn’t work. “This is my work,” she said, gesturing toward the bunch. “I do this all by myself. I don’t know what I’m going to do. This is a revolving door going nowhere.”
She said her problems began two years ago when Brown was arrested and the money dried up. Right after that her children were taken away and put in foster care over allegations of neglect, she said.
Hillsborough Kids stepped in and took the case, eventually returning the children to her and Brown. Before Christmas, the couple took a two-bedroom apartment off North Boulevard near Columbus Drive.
Hillsborough Kids agreed to pay the $800 a month rent after caseworkers inspected the apartment and, although finding it a bit cramped, said it was OK.
The landlord, who evicted Adams in March, thought differently.
Sandy Chiellini said Adams showed up to sign the lease with Brown and one child. She didn’t learn until later that there were 11 other children. There were problems with plumbing; downstairs tenants were flooded. There was noise. Occasional visits from police. Other tenants were complaining. Some left.
She said Adams’ apartment was trashed. Clothes and food were scattered everywhere. Screens were broken out. Chiellini began eviction proceedings. Adams failed to show up for two eviction hearings.
As per usual with welfare rats, Adams doesn’t think any of this is her fault. As she said herself, she can have as many kids as she wants, and it’s someone else’s responsibility to pay. She’s owed something, simply for being an irresponsible bottom-feeder.
What makes me angry is that her kids were given back to her and that she’s practically being encouraged to keep on living irresponsibly. And meanwhile, her poor children are being punished for her bad choices. There’s no reason for an unemployed single mother to have fifteen children. None! Despite what eco-moonbats and feminists may have us believe, we actually are smarter than animals, and are capable of self-restraint when it comes to sex. If you don’t have a job or a husband and you’ve already got kids, then don’t. have. sex.
Oh, but wait. She said everything was just fine until her baby-daddy was sent to prison. I guess dealing cocaine was pretty lucrative. And now that authorities took away her meal ticket, she wants them to step in and take care of her — on our dime, of course. It’s simultaneously sad and scary.
Here we see the results of the government taking over the daddy role in American families. If there was ever a case for forced sterilization, this would be it.
Cross-posted at The Green Room.
Amy says: How can you say something like that and still be pro-life? Yes, there is Natural Family Planning, but not everyone knows how to do that. There’s abstinence, but who’s to say that either her husband didn’t force her into sex, or that they weren’t professing their love for one another and the pregnancy just happened? Plus, there’s a possibility that she didn’t know that her fiance was a drug dealer. By saying that she’s irresponsible, you’re basically saying that she should have aborted these children! Even if they were still in the foster system, we would still be paying for them through that. Children don’t get adopted through the foster system unless they’re babies. So we would still be footing the bill for this family.
This is what large families go through. My dad is the youngest of 14. My grandparents weren’t irresponsible either. Just as this lady said, my grandparents, too, used to say, “Every child is a gift from God.” Both of my grandparents worked (while they left the kids alone to fend for themselves), but that wasn’t enough to get by. By the grace of God they got through because family members and people from the Church stepped in and helped, and the streets were safe enough then to leave kids by themselves.
However, this isn’t the 60s. You can’t leave kids by themselves these days while parents go off to work. You could be turned in to CPS for leaving a teenager unattended now. This mother obviously doesn’t have the money to pay a babysitter for these kids, so how is she supposed to hold down a job?
I wish there were some way that we could help her get back on her feet. My question is where is the family? Why aren’t they helping out so that she can get a job? They’ll pay for the kids to stay in a motel, but they won’t help watch them and feed them so their mother can get a job and start caring for them herself? That’s irresponsible of THEM! It’s not the mother’s fault that she’s in this situation.
I’m sorry, but to me, this article doesn’t sound like a pro-lifer wrote it. It sounds like a pro-abort’s argument.
Thomas says: If she wasn’t on welfare, she’d be prostituting herself out, selling drugs, or would simply abandon her family. Either way, the kids lose.
Whining about “welfare rats” isn’t going to solve the problem. It’s sad that you waste your many God-given talents on this tripe.
Mike says: This woman absolutely disgusts me! “Somebody has to pay”????!!?? If anyone has to pay it’s her!! I say take the kids away and hopefully they can have a chance at a decent life, instead of leaving them with this parasite! This woman deserves NOTHING!
Tom Grey says: Hillsborough Kids agreed to pay the $800 a month rent
I think this org is the right place to be the ones to pay, since they gave the kids back to this irresponsible mother.
If they can’t take the responsibility over, they should accept that the gov’t takes the kids away, again, and makes it much tougher for the lazy mother to get them back.
There’s no excuse for having the apartment be such a dirty mess that the mother and kids get kicked out — the mother’s laziness, her choices, are the problem.
The gov’t was right to take the kids away the first time, Hillsborough Kids was probably not fully aware of how incompetent the mother was. Now they are more so.
In all cases, the kids will have problems. The solution, taking the kids away, should be oriented at finding the most stable solution for the kids.
Chloe says: Wow, Amy, so basically it comes down to that this is all the fault of her family, not her. Great. It’s the responsibility of someone else to keep this woman from spreading her legs when she can’t afford the results.
Your willingness to excuse this woman from ANY responsibility for her own situation is simply astounding. In addition to providing her with an apartment, were other people supposed to let the rental company know there were 11 other children when she lied by omission? (You are aware, aren’t you, that tenants are required to list on the lease how many other people will be living in the apartment?) Were other people shirking their duty by not coming in to show her how to responsibly use a water tap? Maybe her family or the taxpayers should have come to her place to pick the laundry and food up off the floor, keep her children from running through the screen door and generally keep them from creating the havoc that 15 children will? Maybe your almighty approval would be bestowed more easily if we the people had provided her with enough adults in the household to satisfy the ratio of grown ups to children that any child care center is required to maintain?
Did it ever occur to this woman to compare the cost of items such as diapers to the money required to keep purchasing them, and then wonder how it is the man acquires that kind of funding?Did she ever notise that five or six children can be challenging to control? Or is it OK by you that she didn’t seem to are because teaching the children (developmentally appropriate) responsible behavior is someone else’s job? Maybe in between your productive wage-earning job activities YOU should have been in there doing it all for her while she is busy creating more offspring. Why weren’t you?
I really hope you answer this because I’m so curious to hear what your justification is for your lack of responsibility.
“…but who’s to say that either her husband didn’t force her into sex, or that they weren’t professing their love for one another and the pregnancy just happened?”
Gee, Women Is Victims. Why didn’t I ever think of that.
Pathetic.
Chris Mallory says: Forced sterilization? You are no Christian. Your brother dying in some motorcycle accident doesn’t justify your hatred towards people you despise.
Mat says: Amy,
“How can you say something like that and still be pro-life?”
Maybe because some pro-lifers are pretty big on the personal responsibility thing? I don’t see Cassy’s comments as being a problem.
“Yes, there is Natural Family Planning, but not everyone knows how to do that.”
Well, then they need to learn how to do that, don’t they? Again, personal responsibility.
“There’s abstinence, but who’s to say that either her husband didn’t force her into sex, or that they weren’t professing their love for one another and the pregnancy just happened?”
Ah, the “it’s the man’s fault” argument. Of course. Why didn’t I see this one coming? While I do agree that many men do need to keep their pants zipped, I think three guys forcing 15 kids on her is a bit of a stretch for your argument, don’t you think? And I can see making one mistake, but 15? Please! If that’s the case, then this woman needs to stay away from men as much as possible.
“Plus, there’s a possibility that she didn’t know that her fiance was a drug dealer.”
Yeah, and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
“By saying that she’s irresponsible, you’re basically saying that she should have aborted these children!”
Uh, no, I’m pretty sure that Cassy said that the woman should not have had sex. That is an option, you know? But nice try with the trap thing.
“Even if they were still in the foster system, we would still be paying for them through that. Children don’t get adopted through the foster system unless they’re babies. So we would still be footing the bill for this family.”
I think you’re missing the point. If people exercised personal responsibility, then they would understand that any action has consequences. Every action. If one uses the brain and says “well, I could have sex, but then I could also get pregnant,” then hopefully they’ll be rational enough to put two and two together and think carefully before rutting away. Do that and you don’t have to worry about foster homes.
“This is what large families go through.”
What, foster homes? Huh?
“My dad is the youngest of 14. My grandparents weren’t irresponsible either. Just as this lady said, my grandparents, too, used to say, “Every child is a gift from God.”
That may have been true 70-80 years ago, when we were still an agrarian country and there needed to be large families to work on farms. And no, I’m not Christian, so I don’t believe in that comment either.
“Both of my grandparents worked (while they left the kids alone to fend for themselves), but that wasn’t enough to get by.”
Well, your grandparents should have been smarter than that, regarding the kids. But again, totally different situation today. Personally, I think families should have no more than 2-3 kids today. Have as many as you can personally support.
“By the grace of God they got through because family members and people from the Church stepped in and helped, and the streets were safe enough then to leave kids by themselves.”
Again, different time. This kind of sounds like a “it takes a village” argument now. I think it takes two responsible parents. And the fact is that those people chose to help out. That’s a far cry from the federal government compelling me to pay for someone’s total lack of responsibility.
“However, this isn’t the 60s. You can’t leave kids by themselves these days while parents go off to work.”
No kidding.
“You could be turned in to CPS for leaving a teenager unattended now. This mother obviously doesn’t have the money to pay a babysitter for these kids, so how is she supposed to hold down a job?”
Well, that’s kinda her problem, isn’t it? Again, this might sound cold as hell to you, but why should I (being very responsible) be beholden to care for the kids of someone who’s chronically irresponsible? And yes, I think CPS should probably take those kids because they’re screwed otherwise. In this case, it’s a moot point about personal responsibility, because it’s like locking the barn door after the horses are out. But as a society, where does all this shit end? What is the tipping point where someone says “enough is enough?” ?
“I wish there were some way that we could help her get back on her feet.”
Personally, I don’t think that’s really my problem. You can’t help someone who isn’t willing to help themselves.
“My question is where is the family?”
It would be my guess that there is no family. Like I said, when liberals run around and hammer the family and say “hey, it takes a village,” then that’s the mentality you’ll get.
“Why aren’t they helping out so that she can get a job?”
Read above.
“They’ll pay for the kids to stay in a motel, but they won’t help watch them and feed them so their mother can get a job and start caring for them herself?”
It’s not their kids. Why should they?
“That’s irresponsible of THEM!”
Really? Let me get this straight. This woman, a paragon of total personal irresponsibility, gets knocked up (at least) 15 times by three different guys, keeps making the same mistake over and over and over again and then demands that someone else step in and bail her out (so presumably she can go through the same thing again…hey, why stop at 15?). And someone else is irresponsible? Wow, whatever you’re smoking, I’d love to get in on that. Talk about irrationality…
“It’s not the mother’s fault that she’s in this situation.”
Of course not. She’s female, after all, and the feminist “sisterhood” must stick together. Women can never be at fault for anything. Hey, I’m only going by what you’re saying here.
” I’m sorry, but to me, this article doesn’t sound like a pro-lifer wrote it. It sounds like a pro-abort’s argument.”
Like OMG, like, I know! I mean, how dare Cassy say that people should exercise some, like, personal responsibility, for their actions. Like totally radical.
It clearly must have been written by someone from Feministing…
Mat says: Wow Chris Mallory,
Have anger issues much? What does Cassy’s brother’s accident have anything to do with this topic? Way to keep your argument on target. I’m not Christian, and I think there are tons of people who should be sterilized so that they cannot have kids. It’s obvious that these people want to rut away like animals, so if that’s the case, then get them spayed or neutered. They can’t be trusted to be mothers (or fathers for that matter).
Chris in NC says: Chris Mallory, you are an idiot. Get some prozac. Oh, and I’m a Christian and I think that this lady should be given a choice. Tubes tied or jail for taxpayer fraud. One or the other. Believe it or not, you DON’T have a right to kids. Sorry. You don’t. Get over it.
Chris in NC says: Amy, quit trying to make a welfare slut into a victim. 3 different baby daddies. There was no force, there was collusion to get more checks.
Mat says: Chris in NC,
I don’t really see this as being a Christian/non-Christian issue (since there are various reasons why abortion isn’t necessarily a great idea). I just get sick and tired of libtards automatically assuming that all conservatives are Christian (not that I really have a problem with Christians; I don’t). It’s a stupid shaming mechanism for them to use.
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