[douche]

Yup (ex-pat Mainer that had to leave to find real work). The really perverse thing is where some of these benefits have income cliffs, where you lose the benefit if you make too much money working. For instance, let's say that you get to work some overtime and earn a little extra money. Then you realize that you've gone over the line to get your heat assistance, and you've got to come up with the $600/mo to fill the oil tank out of your own pocket. You'd be better off not working any harder, unless you can make the jump to get out of the band where losing benefits offsets the increased income.