A man walks into a bank, hands the teller a stick-up note and demands a grand total of one dollar. Then the man sits on the sofa inside the bank lobby and waits for the police to arrive, who promptly arrest him.
No, this is not the lead-in to an old joke. But it is what actually happened recently at a North Carolina bank.
59-year-old James Verone has never committed a crime in his life. But after losing his job of 17 years, depleting his unemployment eligibility, depleting his life savings, losing his health coverage and discovering a life-threatening growth on his chest, as well as 2 ruptured disks in his back, Verone had run out of options. So he concocted a plan to rob a bank, a felony, which would get him arrested — but would also put him in a prison system that would provide free room and board, free meals, and most importantly, free health coverage. He only took $1 dollar from the bank, but it was enough to earn him the living accommodations and medical attention he was desperate for.
Verone was promptly arrested when police arrived, and gladly went into custody with a smile on his face. He is hoping for a 3 year prison sentence, which could provide him with the surgery he needs as well as a few very needed years of medical support and attention. If Verone serves a 3 year sentence, he’d be eligible for Social Security and Medicare shortly after his release.
So this is what America has come to — otherwise honest citizens being forced to resort to a fake bank robbery in the hopes of being arrested, just so they can receive medical care. Hmmm…
The Republican controlled congress has been extremely critical of President Obama’s plan of health care for all (which would have prevented this sort of fiasco), yet they’ve been extremely supportive of the penal system and putting criminals behind bars. But if the homeless, the unemployed and the under-insured were all to commit crimes just so they could receive food, shelter and medical coverage in response to the government turning their backs on them, we as a nation are in a heap of trouble!
