Crazy Checks

One of the most wasteful programs we have in the U.S. is a federal one that gives social security and other payments to parents of children who have been diagnoses as disabled mentally. Yep! If one's child is deficient or mentally disturb they pay the parent money as long as the child is school. The principle behind such payments is that the money can be used to assist the parent in the special needs of such a child.
But just as often the payments are abused by recipients. When I taught I was aware of the so called "crazy check" that poor parents received because of their kid's alleged affliction ( in order to receive the payments the recipient must be poor) because applying for them was often a scam. I can remember many such kids saying that their parents coached them to pretend to be "crazy" ( Hehe In case you are thinking of asking, I am not getting a crazy check even though I probably qualify for one). The kids would act in a bizarre fashion when tested or observed during the application process, even though they were not suffering from the affliction.
What this meant was that the schools had to create more special education classes to accommodate the "crazies', hire more teachers, expand and receive more money from the federal government to pay for it all. The result was that local schools rarely contested whether little Johnny was crazy or just acting crazy. They were happy to have the new funds and winked at the fact that there really couldn't be as many crazies in their schools as showed up.
It is one example of government spending wastefully and apathy at stopping it. But I read today that one Crazy checker was caught! Police have a Seattle woman in jail after she admitted she coached her two children to fake retardation so she could collect welfare payments. Rosie Costello, 46, admitted in court Monday she collected more than $280,000 in benefits, beginning in the mid-1980s. Most was social security, but the state social services agency also paid $53,000.
Rosie the Liar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and social security fraud. Her allegedly retarded but really simply dishonest son, Pete, now 26, pleaded guilty earlier this month. Prosecutors in Seattle said Monday authorities had not yet located Rosie's faking daughter, Marie. Rosie said she began coaching her daughter to cheat taxpayers out of their money when her daughter was just 4, and later used the same ruse with her son from the age of 8. He feigned retardation into his mid-20s - picking at his face, slouching and appearing uncommunicative in meetings with welfare officials. Haha You know, the things that George Bush does regularly.
They became suspicious and uncovered a video of Pete contesting without difficulty and acting very normal, a traffic ticket in a courtroom. Pete is scheduled to be sentenced soon and faces from six months to a year in prison, as well as $59,000 in restitution.
Rosie Costello is scheduled for sentencing too. Hehe Rosie should have fought the charges on the basis that she is really the retarded one in the family.