St. Ronnie’s Welfare Queen Was a Homicidal Maniac
Linda Taylor, one of the many known aliases of Ronald Reagan’s welfare queen.
You remember Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queen?” It was a politically charged term that he used almost daily as he ran for president, telling the story of a woman in Chicago who abused the welfare system to incredible heights.
Over the years, the tale of a Cadillac-driving government cheat has all but entered the realm of urban legend, but a lengthy Slatepiece written by Josh Levin digs into the true story of this woman, Linda Taylor, and it turns out that Reagan wasn’t exaggerating. In fact, the real story of Linda Taylor goes far beyond welfare fraud.
“What I found was a woman who destroyed lives, someone far more depraved than even Ronald Reagan could have imagined,” writes Levin. “In the 1970s alone, Taylor was investigated for homicide, kidnapping, and baby trafficking. … Welfare fraud was likely the least of the welfare queen’s offenses.”
One of the more tantalizing bits is that many think Taylor is responsible for the notorious (and still unsolved) kidnapping of a baby named Paul Joseph Fronczak in Chicago in 1964. And a woman nannied by Taylor in the 1970s alleges that Taylor killed her mother with barbiturates. Taylor, who used countless aliases over the years and was a master of disguise, died in 2002.
Click to read the full, fascinating story.
kperk
January 28, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Are you people in such ridiculous denial as to not see anything wrong with taxpayers having to pay for millions of scumbags to be scumbags? Or are you just morally and fiscally retarded?
Michael John Scott
January 28, 2014 at 7:02 pm
Scumbags? People and their families diagnosed with cancer and other devastating illnesses bankrupted by a corrupt health care system. These are scumbags? Get the fuck outta here!
Bill Formby
December 22, 2013 at 4:12 pm
I remember him talking about her but it would seem that nothing was done about her so I assumed it was simply more Republican propaganda.
Joe Hagstrom
December 22, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Our policy is to only mention race or religion if those we’re using in propaganda are black or Muslim. When they’re black and Muslim it’s like Manna from heaven for us. We call it a double header.
E.A. Blair
December 22, 2013 at 1:07 pm
According to records, “Taylor” was white, and, as I recall from ’76 (it was the first presidential year I was able to vote, so I was paying attention), most people were “sure” that the Welfare Queen was black.
Rachael
December 22, 2013 at 12:55 pm
I remember Ronnie talking about the welfare queen and the other republicans parroting it while attacking entitlements. What an interesting story.