Why Illinois Can't Afford its Poor Dead

[chefdennis]

Ahh gee...well the poor no longer get a free burial in Ill. about time...well they can still get it, if they are left in the morgue and then they get a plot and a number in a "potters field"....again at the taxpayers expense....

Why Illinois Can't Afford its Poor Dead
BY Mary Ann Ahern
Thursday, Aug 11, 2011 at 02:22 CDT
Why Illinois Can't Afford its Poor Dead | NBC Chicago

The state of Illinois has reached a new level of broke. Come Monday, it won't have enough cash to bury its indigent dead.

Illinois officials sent a letter to more than 600 funeral directors around the state to let them know there's no money for funerals for individuals on public assistance.

"We got that letter," said Jonathon Szykowny, owner and director of Szykowny Funeral Home. "I'm extremely upset by it. ... I would be very concerned that during extreme economic times that some families can't provide the necessary funds to bury their loved ones. Sometimes God doesn't call during the best economic times and families can't afford to pay for a funeral and need help"

In the past, the state has reserved about $13 million to help pay for an estimated 12,000 funerals for individuals who relied on public aid. Participating funeral homes were alloted $1,100 for funerals and $552 for the burial.

The 2011 budget, however, accounts for just $1.9 million.
The Illinois Department of Human Services letter said it can only guarantee payments for pauper funerals through August 15.

Funeral directors have been advised to look for money from city or county governments, and to advise families in morgues until funding can be secured.

"Now the only viable option --- I don't mean to make light of it -- is to leave the body at the medical examiner office," Szykowny said. "After 60 to 90 days they'll take the body to what's called a potter's field and bury it in a numbered grave."

 

[paullud]

What is wrong with being buried in a potter's field? Apparently the great state of Illinois had considered a funeral a right.

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[layoutshooter]

I bet a lot of dead people are going to be REALLY angry when they don't get planted where they want too. The shame of getting planted in "Potters Field" will surely ruin eternity for them. I bet it makes them SO angry that they just go and decompose just to spite everyone!!

 

[chefdennis]

Comon!! They were poor and then dead...where is the compassion for the poor? They are OWED at least a decent burial...even at the taxpayers expence, since no one cared to help them when they were poor...i mean we the people have a responsibility to provide for those less fortunate then those that have...they are owed...its their right...just because they were born...

 

[EnglishLady]

Well I am pleased to see that Christian compassion is still alive and kicking .... (if I may Turtle) ....<snort>

 

[paullud]

Well I am pleased to see that Christian compassion is still alive and kicking .... (if I may Turtle) ....<snort>

As Christians we believe that the human body is weak and has little value. I want to be cremated when it is my time, there is no point in having a dead useless body hanging around. I respect other people's option to be buried if they chose but why should others pay for a professional funeral to be held, if the family wants to have a gathering they can do so in their home or at the grave site.

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[scottm4211]

Paul that's a very reasonable point of view :hi5:

 

[wimpy007]

You have it all wrong, poor people who are buried in Potters Field are NOT removed from the voters roll, how do you think Democrats have soooo many voters.

 

[Turtle]

As Christians we believe that the human body is weak and has little value.

Hey, cut Him some slack! God made man at the end of a very long six-day work week, when he was tired. All things considered He did a pretty good job, I think.

I mean, have you ever seen Jennifer Aniston?

 

[greg334]

I bet a lot of dead people are going to be REALLY angry when they don't get planted where they want too. The shame of getting planted in "Potters Field" will surely ruin eternity for them. I bet it makes them SO angry that they just go and decompose just to spite everyone!!

um... right ... let's see ... should yank some chains? (thinking to myself) ... yep...

Look if you have the nerve not to respect any person in death, don't complain when people refuse to respect people in the military and their deaths. A person who was a citizen of this country deserves the same respect as one who has died during their service for the country.

SO I am thinking that if any of you don't want to respect those in the morgue of say Chicago or Detroit, some who may be military, then we need to remove those who did not die in combat during a war that was caused by a country DIRECTLY attacking us from all military grave yards.

 

[paullud]

um... right ... let's see ... should yank some chains? (thinking to myself) ... yep...

Look if you have the nerve not to respect any person in death, don't complain when people refuse to respect people in the military and their deaths. A person who was a citizen of this country deserves the same respect as one who has died during their service for the country.

SO I am thinking that if any of you don't want to respect those in the morgue of say Chicago or Detroit, some who may be military, then we need to remove those who did not die in combat during a war that was caused by a country DIRECTLY attacking us from all military grave yards.

That really makes no sense, you are trying to compare someone getting killed serving our country with one that is taking from others. Military burials are an option given to those serving as a benefit, there is no guarantee of a funeral for everyone. What is wrong with being buried in a potter's field? It is respecting the person by others paying to bury those that could not afford it otherwise, they aren't just tossing the body in the garbage.

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[OntarioVanMan]

man what a toodo over a bag of water....it is not the body that gets respected it is the person that was within that bag of water...they are gone now..it is the person that should be respected....the memories and such....not the body...

There was a scene in the Green Mile....they executed a killer...Hanks corrected another guard who was being disrespectful of the body and he corrected him saying the person that was in the body is gone and punished, he paid the price for his crime and the body should be treated fairly now...

 

[EnglishLady]

man what a toodo over a bag of water....it is not the body that gets respected it is the person that was within that bag of water...they are gone now..it is the person that should be respected....the memories and such....not the body...

There was a scene in the Green Mile....they executed a killer...Hanks corrected another guard who was being disrespectful of the body and he corrected him saying the person that was in the body is gone and punished, he paid the price for his crime and the body should be treated fairly now...

So which is it in your opinion?

To disrespect a dead body IMO is abhorrent.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

So which is it in your opinion?

To disrespect a dead body IMO is abhorrent.

Well..of course a body should be treated respectfully as a stand alone issue...but all the pomp and ceremony should be about the person not the body....the body is just a representation like a picture of the true person...

 

[scottm4211]

That was a good movie.

 

[greg334]

That really makes no sense, you are trying to compare someone getting killed serving our country with one that is taking from others. Military burials are an option given to those serving as a benefit, there is no guarantee of a funeral for everyone. What is wrong with being buried in a potter's field? It is respecting the person by others paying to bury those that could not afford it otherwise, they aren't just tossing the body in the garbage.

OK it does make a lot of sense because those who don't serve in combat are not the ones who need to be honored if we as a society make asinine statements about people who died and can't or are not afforded a proper/respectful burial. Those who served are two different types of people, one is those who do a job and those who actually are in combat.

We as citizens grant that benefit to those who died if they served but it is not a right. It is done out of respect to those who served but again there is a separation of those who actually fought in combat and those who just served.

If you want a good example of the difference, Lisa Nowak comes to mind. She "served" without honors, just retired out of the Navy and will get benefits, including being buried among those who actually did something in their lives other than drive across country in diapers to kidnap and possibly kill someone who she was jealous of.

AND as it is a sticking point for me, I am sooooo surprised that more of an issue was made over pictures of Obama and some ceremony while not much of an issue has been made by the debacle at Arlington and other places where vets are laid to rest. Arlington shows the contempt of every combat vet who fought against an enemy of our country by our entire country while Obama's move was just stupid and reflects his staffs stupidity.

Proper burial when done with respect is alright but knowing what has happened with those left in the morgue around here, it isn't just being buried but seems to be more like being dumped.

 

[BillChaffey]

Cremate them for a couple of hundred bucks. Let the family have a service in their church, home or anywhere they like.

 

[layoutshooter]

I was making fun of the idea of an expensive funeral, NOT the dead. An inexpensive cremation is a much better option.

Military funerals were part of the contract with everyone who served. Anyone who wants a free funeral is more than welcome to join the military. Having combat experience was NOT a requirement in the contract for a funeral.

 

[AMonger]

Funerals aren't for the dead, who in reality aren't even present; funerals are for the living left behind, to deal with their grief. That can be done every bit as well with a very basic funeral, without the frills.

As was pointed out in another thread, if you have to subsist off society (steal), you get the basics. Want something better? Get a job.

 

[layoutshooter]

The poor can always donate their bodies to science. Then they would be performing a needed service. From what I understand the medical school cremate the remains and return the ashes to the families, at no charge, after they have finished with them.

Keep this old saying in mind, "Beggars can't be choosers". In other words, you are owed NOTHING, take what is offered or go without.