[CanuckCourage]

Ralph Klein is an embarrassment to this province and the human race, I dislike this man with a passion. A few days ago at a Tory Rally here in Calgary, Klein decided to relate a story to the crowd about two female AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped ) recipients who approached him during a sod turning explaining that they felt the AISH payments were not enough. Klein exclaimed they were "yipping about AISH payments." and "They didn't look severely handicapped to me. I'll tell you that for sure. Both had cigarettes dangling from their mouths, and cowboy hats." As we all know, no disabled people smoke or wear cowboy hats, especially in a province like Alberta. :roll: According to Peter Portlock, who runs the Alberta division of the Canadian Mental Health Association, more than half of the people in AISH have disabilities that are not recognizable to the eye. So in Ralphs infinite wisdom(ignorance), the next night in Grand Prairie he refused to clarify to reporters his statement from the night before and added to fuel to the fire by saying to the crowd "I'm not going to get into the game of reacting to the CBC. I'm sure none of you want to talk to me about AISH, do you? No, because you're normal, Severely normal people." Nothing like having an alcoholic premier. :thumb:

Here's a few facts about AISH

Number of clients: 1979 - 3,200 2004 - 32,000
Maximum Rate Per Month: 1979 - $370 2004 - $850
Budget: 1979 - $2.2 million 2004 - $394 million

From Sept 2003 to Sept 2004, 370 cases were investigated for fraud, of those 123 were substantiated , or .4% of all cases.

[direwolf74]

I couldn't agree more. Ralph is a freakin' jackass.

[Number Four Bobby Orr]

I read an article in the paper about it. If someone can quote a politician saying something even more outrageously dumb than that, I'd like to hear it. What at asshole.

[skippy the wonder dog]

I wouldn't be surprised to discover that Klein is asinine on purpose. He knows it plays well with the people who will vote for him.

That same old politics of division.

[CanuckCourage]

I wouldn't be surprised to discover that Klein is asinine on purpose. He knows it plays well with the people who will vote for him.

That same old politics of division.

I agree, he plays on the same old rhetoric, it wouldn't surprise me as well, I thought about that many times, he plays it up for the media, and the general throngs suck it up. "Good old Ralph is sticking it to the East , standing up for us" Sad but true, it's just good to see it backfire on him. I think the Aish comments were a slip up, I think he thought it would be taken a different way. The "I'm getting rid of Fraud way". What ever way you slice it, he is a lousy premier, with the surplus we have in this province, we have brutal insurance, power and health care, but that's all Ottawa's fault. :roll:

[cferneyh]

From Sept 2003 to Sept 2004, 370 cases were investigated for fraud, of those 123 were substantiated , or .4% of all cases.

Not trying to be a prick here - but are you sure you've got these numbers correct? 123 of 370 is 33%, not .4%.

[CanuckCourage]

From Sept 2003 to Sept 2004, 370 cases were investigated for fraud, of those 123 were substantiated , or .4% of all cases.

Not trying to be a prick here - but are you sure you've got these numbers correct? 123 of 370 is 33%, not .4%.

No worries, I just worded it badly. The .4% is meant to represent the 123 people found to be abusing the system out of the total number of users from that year, which was roughly 32,000.

Here's some other AISH stats and a couple links.

AISH Support Rates & Benefits

*The financial benefit has risen from $500 in 1978 to the current maximum of $850 per month. The rate is the same for every recipient, regardless of family circumstance.

*The rate is not indexed. The current rate has increased by only 0.6% in the past 10 years. The rate of inflation during that same period is more than 20%.

*Full medical benefits are provided until an AISH recipient earns more than the allowed maximum ($1,335 per month for a single person) for a period of more than 10 months.

AISH Eligibility

*Recipient must have a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits ability to earn a livelihood and is likely to continue to affect that individual permanently.”

* Recipient must have assets of less than $100,000 (recipient and spouse/co-habitant).

*The total annual income of a prospective recipient from employment, trust, interest and other sources must be less than $15,966 per year (for a single person).

AISH Statistics

*Approximately 30,300 people received AISH benefits in 2002

*15% reported employment income in November 2002

*37% are 50 or older; 38% are 35-54; 25% are under 35

*The fastest growing group of AISH recipients are over 35

*47% have a physical disability; 22% have a developmental disability; 31% have a chronic mental illness


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[grooveless touque]

Ralph Klein reminds me of what Pierre Trudeau's mouth would sound like if it was seperated from Pierre Trudeau's brain. The guy tries to be frank and darkly witty but always comes off like a dickhead. Even George Bush's verbal buffoonery doesn't offend me, it amuses me. His POLICIES offend me. I don't even get that far with Klein. I can't get past his quivering jowls...when they start shaking, you know something ugly is working its way towards his mouth.