Fox News Stossel poses as homeless man: ‘You shouldn’t give to these street people’

reply to post by PW229


Yeah it's true. There are plenty of receptive homeless people out there that are trying to get their life back on track. Who are willing to work if someone gives them a chance. Heck some of them used to do better than a lot of us. Who if given the option would take a good meal over booze.

Besides part of what makes humanity is our ability to help our communities. We all rely on each other in some way. Give a person a chance to belong to make good for themselves and they will reciprocate if possible and contribute back to what made them...their community. In the end the only things humans have is our sense of community.

To me it's pathological to be completely self centered and inwardly focused. If it were about pure survival then yes I understand. But to let another human being starve to death because one is too selfish to take 25 cents out of their pocket or extend a helping hand because it interferes with their texting time or intrudes/ incoveniences their little zeitgeist is pathological and downright against what made humans so great to begin with.

Yeah like we didn't build all of the amazing things in the world without asking the next guy over for help.

Wow. Being rich and famous, then going out disguised as a homeless person in order to elicit sympathy from passers-by, conning them into giving money to you, all so that you can discredit the genuinely destitute as lazy slobs. This sounds like something the Prince of Hell would do for kicks. Just sickening.

Sadly, I have to agree in some cases. If someone is asking for money for food, I'd rather give them food than money.



This was a picture a friend took of this homeless man from the local area. There was an article written up on him entitled "Faking the Funk" in the Portsmouth OH Times. There was also a local news reporter who found him and his house. Someone who knows him personally worked with him at a local factory. He used to beg during his lunch break and eventually found that begging was making him more money than working.

I also remember in NYC when a "homeless" guy from the neighborhood came in the store I worked and asked for change. I thought he was going to give me a dollar or two, maybe needing change for the bus. He pulled out a HUGE wad of cash, and was actually asking for hundreds and 20s. We gave him as much as we could, but after at least $1500 in "change" we could not give him any more. My friend and I were walking behind him one day to find that he lived 3 or 4 apartments down from us.That apartment ran us $2400 a month, so we could only imagine his was the same, more or less.


Edit: Let me add, I hate Fox News. I have also helped out another homeless person who lives/lived where I grew up and could not be more heartfelt when I say some people are not out for themselves. I gave this guy a bag of old clothes and a big bubble-coat. He wore it the entire winter and I even smiled as sometimes I'd see him wearing my old FUBU/SouthPole/Roca Wear Jeans and shirts.

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


Stossel is a loser, for that matter everyone on Fox News is a loser. Fox news is propaganda for the weak minded. Those who are very shallow thinkers. Don't get caught up in their BS they try to pit lower classes against each other so the elite can plunder the country.
His big story is a few beggars scamming the system. What an absolute joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be a pawn to Fox news. Research what they say.

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


I'm happy you feel compassion, for the veterans and mentally ill, but you are aware of the hordes of american families that lost their homes due to forclosure, losing their jobs in a market where there aren't any good jobs, or obscene medical bills. I agree the homeless are a big problem in the US, however I do not for one instance believe it is there fault. Many of them are there because they are ill, and could not afford to keep up with cost of treatment, loss of jobs, followed by homes. It's really sad, when we all were on board with bombing the hell out of the only country in the world to make housing a human right, then killing the man who was responsible for housing them.

* Uncle Sam* " No, you will obey the american democratic system" *smacks in face with 1000lb J-damn* " That's a bad humanitarian leader."

Originally posted by yourmaker
Why does it bother me that good-willed people minding their own, walking down the street gave their money to some fake posing as a person in need.

It just doesn't fly with me.

I'm not saying there aren't people in real need, but every time someone bums money from me I feel used. One guy (with no legs) in a wheelchair and dressed in military fatigues asked me for spare change. I felt so bad I threw him a $20. Then a friend told me the guy was a vet and was deemed 100% disabled. That means he gets a total of $4,000 a month from the government.

A young teen bummed a dollar from me for a bus ride home, a nearby city. So, the bus ride only cost that dollar. This was at a grocery store. When I came out, the teen was still bumming money for that bus ride. I watched from my car for a while. In less than 15 minutes he had bummed $7.00. This doesn't include how much he got before I arrived.

There are certain people in my neighborhood that bum cigarettes all day, every day. It's one thing to bum a smoke when someone's a day away from payday, but to have everyone totally support their habit is disgusting.

I still give here and there, but I am bitter about it.

I see more homeless people all the time, and they are in need of help. The government should be helping them.

If it was on Fox it was made up anyway. They probably didn't even leave the studio to do the piece of %&$# story.

Wanna guess who I hear this same negative reaction from all the time about the lazy homeless slugs? Christians! They don't say it publicly, no, they share it in private just like their nigg&$ jokes. In public they talk about their church feeding the homeless on Sunday afternoon.

There are some losers who use people to get their drugs scamming them on roads and in front of stores. There are plenty of lazy pos's that rely on hard-working people to support their habits who could just as easily go get a job. I will admit there are a lot of people who place themselves in their bad positions, but the majority have just been screwed one way or another.

I help them out when I feel they really need it. I offer them work if I can and if they want to work. I don't judge them and I always listen to their story without judging. I don't pretend to be a good person and talk about them behind their back like so many hypocrites do. I will share a story to show just how KARMA works.

I recently went into a local bar for lunch while doing a job. I noticed a guy to my left drinking a pitcher and talking pretty loud about a few things that seemed to be upsetting the other patrons. I picked up on their discomfort and asked the guy what was going on. We started talking about our military experience and he told me he had been in Submarines. I said I was surprised because he was so tall and he said that was the reason he freaked out and got kicked off his first sub and ended up on a carrier. The carrier Commanding Officer listened to his story and agreed that he was not suited for subs and asked him if he would like a transfer to his carrier (Kennedy). He accepted.

When he mentioned the Kennedy I said that was funny because my brother had been on the carrier around the time he was stationed onboard. I told him the story my brother told me 30 years earlier verbatim about how he was on deck early in the morning taking another guy's duty and a plane had come in before the cable was set and it broke the cable and killed everyone on deck except for my brother who lost both legs. He began to cry and told me he thought about that accident every day. He said he was on the bridge with the captain when it happened and the captain was unable to give any orders so he took over rescue ops until he could regain his composure.

His story was nothing like the story my brother told me so I thought he might just be lying to me for some reason even though he seemed to know every detail about the boat, date, incident and other facts I knew about so I called my brother and asked him some questions. I relayed the story to my brother and asked him what questions could prove this guy was not lying and he answered them all flawlessly. He was there. His story was a lot different though and my brother didn't want to hear it or talk to the guy and made up an excuse to get off the phone.

I told him my brother was not ready to hear anything else or talk to him further. He was visibly upset by this because he had carried that day around with him his whole life and always wanted to tell the guy what really happened that day. I told him the message had gotten through but he was just not ready to hear it yet. We shared some more drinks and he said he needed to go because he had to work in the morning. I knew he rode a bicycle up there so I offered to throw it in my trunk because it was raining and take him home. When I asked where he was staying he told me a tent in a local homeless area in the woods.

There was more to the story, but I think you get the point. He had served his country for more than a decade and got nothing in return. He had risked his life and witnessed his friends and co-workers killed and injured in the line of duty. He was troubled by what he saw coupled with a lot of other things that had happened to him since. He was unable to find a good job so he settled for day work which was enough to feed him and buy beer, but not pay rent. This guy did not ask for handouts, but if he had I would gladly give him every penny I had.

who cares what they use the money for. maybe they'll buy dope and see god lol or buy a giant hamburger and die from high cholesterol

This is probably a stupid story, but when I lived in Philly there was a tv news story focused on folks who scammed for change and made enough that wintered in Florida. I'd actually given change to one of these guys (hung out at the interchanges coming off the interstate into downtown and off the bridges).

I did the thing for a while where I would offer food instead of money. And it was *never* taken. (Actually had a guy once throw an orange back at my car; yelled that he wanted a couple of bucks, not an orange.)

It kind of made me realize that I wasn't helping them (nor my sense of community) by just giving these guys change.

Rather, I started donating to shelters, because those are the institutions and the folks they serve who need the most help.

This is going to sound callous, but the guy on the street with a cup in his hand is far less in need of help than the homeless mother with children in a shelter. The guy on the corner is usually just looking for his next fix or cheap bottle. And if you give your change to him, you're really not helping him at all. Whereas, the contribution (monetarily or physically) to a reputable shelter goes far beyond what you can imagine.

I'm sorry, I disagree with the "nice people" on the thread.

I was homeless for 8 years on the streets of NY for six, and then in CA for two years. I spent a lot time with people of my kind-THE HOMELESS. Anyone who thinks that any greater percentage of homeless are there due to some kind misfortune, being a veteran, or mentally ill (exclusively), are sadly deluded!

In most places, not all, but most...there are facilities for getting help. VETERANS CERTAINLY HAVE HELP AS I AM ONE OF THEM TOO!!! There IS help for those that want it AND the ones that can COMPLETE their end of the deal. That requires showing up, providing the completed paperwork, and following the rules and jumping through the hoops, so to speak.

The ones that can't do this usually CAN'T or WON'T do it because they are either drug addicts or alcoholics. 98% of the homeless I had contact with were ADDICTS & ALCOHOLICS or scam artists. Granted there were a few sad cases, usually severely mentally ill types, BUT THEY WERE FEW & FAR BETWEEN.

You DO NOT HELP AN ALCOHOLIC OR ADDICT by giving them money and feeling sorry for them. I know, I am a recovered drug addict, FROM THE STREETS. People like me NEVER GET HELP until the LAST DOOR IS SLAMMED IN OUR FACE and the only option left is the door to recovery, or we are so close to death we finally crawl into a detox.

You bleeding hearts falling for the deception and lies of most of the homeless you encounter in your travels, do only one thing...PROLONG THE AGONY & SUFFERING of a human hopelessly addicted to a substance. I have first hand experience you just can NOT refute...sorry, you can't tell me what I have seen is not true.

Originally posted by odd1out
I'm sorry, I disagree with the "nice people" on the thread.

I was homeless for 8 years on the streets of NY for six, and then in CA for two years. I spent a lot time with people of my kind-THE HOMELESS. Anyone who thinks that any greater percentage of homeless are there due to some kind misfortune, being a veteran, or mentally ill (exclusively), are sadly deluded!

In most places, not all, but most...there are facilities for getting help. VETERANS CERTAINLY HAVE HELP AS I AM ONE OF THEM TOO!!! There IS help for those that want it AND the ones that can COMPLETE their end of the deal. That requires showing up, providing the completed paperwork, and following the rules and jumping through the hoops, so to speak.

The ones that can't do this usually CAN'T or WON'T do it because they are either drug addicts or alcoholics. 98% of the homeless I had contact with were ADDICTS & ALCOHOLICS or scam artists. Granted there were a few sad cases, usually severely mentally ill types, BUT THEY WERE FEW & FAR BETWEEN.

You DO NOT HELP AN ALCOHOLIC OR ADDICT by giving them money and feeling sorry for them. I know, I am a recovered drug addict, FROM THE STREETS. People like me NEVER GET HELP until the LAST DOOR IS SLAMMED IN OUR FACE and the only option left is the door to recovery, or we are so close to death we finally crawl into a detox.

You bleeding hearts falling for the deception and lies of most of the homeless you encounter in your travels, do only one thing...PROLONG THE AGONY & SUFFERING of a human hopelessly addicted to a substance. I have first hand experience you just can NOT refute...sorry, you can't tell me what I have seen is not true.

edit on 7-7-2012 by odd1out because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-7-2012 by odd1out because: spelling and clarity

I have helped lots of homeless or less fortunate who were not any more a drunk than I am. I appreciate your candor and am glad that you finally got your act together, but throwing everyone else under the bus is really not the right answer. You only know the people and places where you were, not every person in a bad situation.

I don't condone giving money to addicts or drunks so they can feed their habit. I do believe in helping out my fellow man though and just because you are positive that all homeless are that way of their own free will I disagree. Having that attitude keeps you from finding compassion for those who really need the help. Giving to shelters is a good thing especially those that help families with children or battered women.

Just because there are programs for veterans does not mean they can be utilized without the proper documentation. I have seen these people carry their dd-214 in a baggie in their wallet. They have it because they need it to prove they were in the military. These people also get mugged all the time because of where they reside so getting that paperwork back can take months or years if at all. Hardship piled upon hardship can cause anyone to lose it and not having the proper documentation can keep you homeless regardless of your military service.

reply to post by anonymoz


I saw a kid walking down the highway once while I was on my way to cash my pay check and I was like "f**k it, i'm gonna help that kid out" so I grabbed an extra five bucks out at the bank. I came back through and pulled over, walked up to him and handed him the money, and he started thanking me and then went on some speil about how it was to help some church or charity and I learned he hadn't been out walking in the heat with no shelter, but had a car that picked followed him as he walked to pick him up at the end of his route.

I mean, I guess it was for some kind of cause, but it was complete bull#. I thought the kid could use it and he had used a tramp ruse to get me to approach him. I am not a fan of church so I wouldn't have given them my hard earned had I known. I felt duped. I should've taken the money back, but I just kind of walked back scratching my head.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


That is the type of thing that irks me something awful. I feel horrible because there are people who are genuinely in need, but people like that ruin it for them. I remember a man and his daughter came into a deli my girlfriend worked at while I was eating saying they were homeless. She took money from her own pocket, which we could not afford really, and bought him and his daughter food. The guy walked out and went into a brand new SUV, while we drove off in our 10 yr old Taurus.

Homelesness is a big problem in the UK as well, there has been investigative documentaries done in this area as well, exposing some of the fakes, a .ot of people make a really lucrative living of pretending to be homeless, they have been secretly filmed begging in dirty clothes all day and then seen getting in to top of the range mercedes benz's ust arund the corner, they make a living of doing this, and I know a lot of the homeless people in my home town, they beg for drugs, pure and simple, but there is a problem for the genuine as well,not enough is being done to help them by our government, yet you see charities for save the whale, the tiger, the ethiopians, ad infinitum..... but no charty adverts for the homeless people in the UK!!! what is up with that? various charities in my hmw town stand outside the shopping precinct in the same area as beggars, and there will be quite a number of these charity "canvassers" all spread ut and getting through them is ilike and obstacle course, what normally takes a minute and a half to walk through takes ten minutes instead as the same charity stops you about 5 times walking through there, they are more annoying than the beggars but the beggars get moved on, but for some its a lifestyle choice, I once knew a lady that was qute elderly, she had her own property but she used to sleep in shop doorways and such the like, when I asked her why, she stated that she preffered sleeping with the sky as her blanket!! go figure....

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


Star and flag for brother. We'd all be in better shape if more people shared thought that way. I think the way Stossel went about that was pretty cheap. Thanks for sharing

Originally posted by PW229

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by CoolerAbdullah786
Just another example of the hateful, closed-minded Conservative agenda of Fox "News."

So prove that what Stossel did was 'hateful' or that the information he gathered was wrong.
Prove it. Post how his investigation was in error. Back up your statement with facts if you can.

Or, how about you disprove the ops sentiments? Actually, don't bother, you'll just come out swinging blindly for the rich again...

:shk: pathetic.

1 - I don't need to disprove the OPs sentiments. It's not my job at this point. He made a statement void of facts to back it up. I'm asking him to back it up. Post some facts to go along with his anti-fox rant. It's not that hard to do.

2 - Nothing I said was in favor or against poor people, and nothing I said was in favor or against rich people. Your attack against me is nothing more than DEFLECTION from the issue presented.

2 - Looks like you came out swinging blindly against people who are more successful than you are. Jealous much? Yep.

Originally posted by RealSpoke
What exactly are we supposed to prove wrong?

The writer said that this was just another example of FOXs hateful and closed minded agenda.
The writer deflected from what Stossel had in his report.
And then the writer failed to say why Stossel was wrong.
All he did was pump out typical emotional left wing anti-FOX rhetoric.

If the writer thinks Stossel is wrong .. then post facts to show it.
That's what I asked for ....
Post links to information that show homeless people locked in a cycle.
Post links to information to show how difficult it is to escape from homelessness.
Post links to information showing how homelessness is growing.

Every now and then I've come across a person with a legitimate need. For the most part, the so called homeless are running a lucrative scam. Most of the people slamming Stossel probably walk right on by the so called homeless. They are usually all about someone else helping.

Atlas Shrugged came true

If I donate anything, it's food to a food bank. At least I know some of the people that go there need the food because they really are poor and not just getting free groceries because they spent what they had on their addictions.