NFL
By: Zachary Draves
The story of the classic children’s tale Robin Hood is that of a man who took from the rich and gave it to the poor against the backdrop of King Richard’s England. If there was ever a real life version that could be recreated, it would be set in present day Mississippi and it would feature former NFL quarterback and hall of famer Brett Favre as Robin Hood, but with the rolls reversed and a new plot twist. He took from the poor and kept it for himself.
On September 12, court documents revealed a series of text messages in 2017 between Favre, former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and nonprofit director Nancy New in which they discussed allocating millions of dollars in welfare funds to construct a start of the art volleyball facility at the University of Mississippi. The same school where Favre played and where his daughter played volleyball. In the texts, Favre hints at not wanting the media to pick up on this to cover his tracks.
(Courtesy: Mississipi Today)
The alleged total is around $8 million in stolen funds with $1.1 million set aside for speeches that Favre was supposed to give in 2017 and 2019, but never did. To make matters even worse for Favre, John Davis, the director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into a total of $70 million in welfare being allegedly stolen from the state. This week he entered into a plea agreement with state and federal prosecutors which can open the door to seeing Favre and others being questioned and potentially charged.
This scandal is damming for a myriad of obvious reasons not the least of which are the priorities of the leadership class in Mississippi. This revelation comes at a time when the state capital of Jackson has been hit with a toxic water crisis, plaguing an 80% percent black population due to decades of government negligence. It is also worth mentioning that Mississippi is the poorest state in the nation and the fact that the former governor and the head of a nonprofit, a supposed Good Samaritan, conspired with a man that is worth around $100 million to rob Mississippians of needed relief is simply cruel and inhumane.
If there is any silver lining in this dark cloud, it is that Favre actually helps us in combating some longstanding myths surrounding welfare. For over 50 years, government assistance programs designed to help poor individuals and families such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid have been under constant assault by politicians and commentators for supposedly creating “dependency” and making people less self-sufficient.
The name commonly associated with this alleged laziness is the “Welfare Queen”, a racist trope about a promiscuous black woman having multiple children so that she can take in as much welfare money as possible. Not only did she not exist, but that is not how welfare works. Welfare funds are generally very minuscule to begin with and in order to receive such benefits, there are certain requirements that have to be met in order to be a recipient.
For example, in order to be eligible for TANF, you have to be pregnant, have children under the age of 19 that live with the recipient, and if a child is 18 they have to be a full time student. You have to live in the state that is your place of residency even if you are homeless. You have to be a US citizen or fulfil immigration requirements that is in consultation with a caseworker. Finally, a recipient works with their caseworker on developing a plan for self-sufficiency (e.g. employment, education, and housing) and they have to fulfill that plan in order to continue receiving benefits.
Furthermore, nearly two-third of recipients of programs like SNAP are senior citizens, people with disabilities, and children. Most of those who are able to work actually have jobs. So this idea that people who receive welfare are somehow lazy is completely inaccurate.
The lazy one here is Brett Favre. He simply could have used his own money to help construct a volleyball facility at his alma mater but he chose not to. So whenever there are any future rumblings about alleged welfare fraud, just remember Favre will go down in history as the the literal Welfare King.
