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August 11, 2011
Illinois to Poor: Don't Drop Dead
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.
Posted by Vanderleun at August 11, 2011 6:41 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Illinois may not be able to afford to bury our indigent former citizens, but in Cook County, if the survivors agree the deceased will vote Democratic, a deal can be made.
Posted by: mmack at August 11, 2011 7:30 PM
A few years ago, a friend of ours died while on public assistance. She had no family in Canada, so we "inherited" the job of looking after her funeral. We discovered that only one of the dozen or so funeral parlours in our region would accept the job: the regional government's payment was significantly less than their costs.
As she'd originally come to Canada with her deserter (not draft dodger -- actual deserter from the US Army) husband in the late 60's, I wondered if she'd have been better looked after if she'd died in the States. Based on this story, perhaps not.
Posted by: Nicholas at August 11, 2011 8:35 PM
Here's what Chicago needs to do, it'll be costly at first, but in the long run it would save the city millions
Start practicing sky burials ala the Zorastrians. Build towers around the city the indigent deceased could be laid out in, and wait for the local buzzards and ravens to do their work. Once the bones are picked clean they could be ground up and incorporated into city mulch for spreading on municipal landscaping
Posted by: Alan Kellogg at August 11, 2011 9:42 PM
...if the survivors agree the deceased will vote Democratic, a deal can be made.
That's already a precondition to receiving public assistance in Cook County.
Posted by: BillT at August 12, 2011 4:38 AM
Just stack them up on the city hall steps. If they're going to vote, they're going to need to get to the polls.
Posted by: Peccable at August 12, 2011 6:28 AM
I understand that the Soylent Corporation has made the city a very attractive offer.
Posted by: Casca at August 12, 2011 6:40 AM