“Octomom” Nadya Suleman, single mom of 14 including octuplets, is back on welfare. TMZ reports that the money she earned from masturbation porn and stripping is gone. Last year, Suleman declared bankruptcy and entered rehab. Those drained her funds, too. The State of California awarded her $2,800 a month in food stamps and emergency cash. She’s getting Med-Cali (Medicaid) for dental and mental health help, too.
To say that this is welfare fraud doesn’t begin to cover the issue. Obviously, it would be a struggle to raise so many children alone. But Suleman’s dysfunctional choices are to blame, not the large family. It’s been a series of unhealthy decisions for “Octomom” from the get-go. She chose to have invitro fertilization while already caring for six children alone. New York Daily News says Suleman lied about being on welfare. According to Fox News, Suleman paid for IVF treatment from private funds. But when you’re accepting state aid, there’s no such thing as private income.
The fact that Suleman is “back on welfare” is a moot point. She’s never gotten off the welfare mentality. The whole point of receiving welfare is to achieve financial stability. You can’t do that if you continue to spend foolishly. It’s supposed to be a leg up, not a hand out. Suleman says she’s on welfare to get “back on her feet.” Based on past practices, I don’t foresee that happening. She’s only going to spiral further until we stop enabling her behavior.
There was debate over whether Suleman had cosmetic surgery while on welfare. Suleman claims no, but it was obvious that she had. And given her self-delusional, self-serving attitude, I’m convinced she did. Repeatedly, we’ve been asked to believe that she was doing what was best for the kids. But her actions have spoken louder than her words.
Octomom’s mental health rehab visits are another issue and all I can say is it must be nice. She claims to feel stressed, exhausted and burned out. So do I. So do lots of people. Life is hectic enough when you’re actually paying your bills and trying to make good choices. But even with insurance, we can’t afford psychological services. Between weekly payroll deductions, deductibles and copays for medical care for my family of six, there isn’t enough left. And that’s on “good health” years–years when we don’t have surgeries, braces or major health issues to pay for. It becomes a luxury at that point, and one the budget won’t cover. Do I begrudge her mental health care? When I pay for insurance and Medicaid tax and can’t afford it, yes.
I can’t imagine how many doctor visits Suleman’s 14 kids go through each year. How does mom have money or Medicaid funds left to pay for mental health rehabilitation? If anyone needs it, her kids do. It’s just another case of Suleman’ putting her own needs first.
We need social safety networks like welfare, but not the way they’re administered. When a single mom repeatedly abuses the system, when her kids regularly get shafted, and still she gets $3,000 a month free, unregulated income, something is wrong. Welfare money, in Suleman’s hands, is hurting, not helping, her kids. It’s another example of how the welfare system is creating, rather than meeting, needs.
How about instead of handing her money, Suleman is made to work for it? How about she be forced to stop crazy spending and start budgeting? Why don’t we start holding her and other abusers like her accountable for how our taxpayer dollars are spent? It’s not rocket science. Until we stop funding this chaos, it’s going to continue and accelerate.
