Two weeks of groceries on food stamps

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: Tangerine

I find the corporate welfare just as odious, thank you.

When you are living on someone else's dime, one should have certain rules to abide by, shouldn't they?

I have no issue with EBT users buying pork chops. Or other foods that are, in moderation, good for you. None.

The fraud I was referencing was people who use the "cash" aspect of EBT which is intended for bills, to buy beer or cigs, etc...

If you don't know, EBT comes with two portions. One is food only. Two is "cash", that can be used for anything. It's original intent was to help people pay their bills, but many use it to buy things that the EBT "food" side won't pay for. Many use it to buy more food, in fact, it's probably most of them. But many don't...

There are loopholes in the EBT program that should be closed. If that's Big Brother, so be it.

But you're not talking about what corporations should buy with the millions in welfare the taxpayers give them. You're deciding what foods, in what amounts, are acceptable for food stamp recipients to buy and what they should be allowed to spend their meager cash on. I see a whopping double standard. I agree that some people make bad choices but those bad choices have very little effect on you compared to the amount of your tax dollars that go to corporations that make equally bad but much bigger choices on how to spend it.

I knew a girl that qualified for food stamps because she didn't have a job. She was pretty, and had boyfriends most of the time and they took care of her and fed her. She used her food stamps to buy things like shrimp cocktail and junk food.

She also carried a Coach purse and drove her man's brand new truck. She didn't "live" with him officially, as she had her mailing address at a local homeless shelter. She got a free post office box there. She did, however, spend most nights at his place.

The requirements are pretty easy to qualify for if your income is under a certain amount.

a reply to: Tangerine

That's not the topic of this particular thread.

You want to start one on that topic, I'll be happy to air my ideas.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
I knew a girl that qualified for food stamps because she didn't have a job. She was pretty, and had boyfriends most of the time and they took care of her and fed her. She used her food stamps to buy things like shrimp cocktail and junk food.

I think we all have stories like this and it's part of the perception problem with food stamps. I can point to a former friend of mine who rents a bedroom out in his apartment but doesn't report it. It makes it look like 70% of his income goes to rent which qualifies him for all sorts of utility assistance in addition to food stamps.

The problem is that catching this type of fraud is difficult. How do you catch off the books fraud? It's like catching people that work under the table (and the two often go hand in hand). We just don't have a way to do it. At the same time though the estimates on losses to this type of fraud is fairly low. Between this abuse and drugs it's still estimated to amount to less than 3% of the total costs of the program, which means only 1 in 33 people are abusing the system.

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

It's a hard world out there and not everyone on food stamps is lazy. Many people in my town are seeking assistance. HHS was packed to the max.

The normal family is what ... husband, wife, two kids? That was me in the Army. 60 hour weeks (minimum). I was 'qualified' for food stamps far more than 10 years of that period. I didn't take them ... and that was simply a choice ... not unlike many others I made in my life. Being older and wiser, I know the choices I make are not always the best, nor are they necessarily suitable for others.

There was a picture earlier in the thread of a pair of refrigerators side-by-side. My first thought was, "They both have a refrigerator." Kid you not. The second thought was, "The guy who owns the refrigerator on the right eats out a lot."

I try to eat every meal at home. Mostly, it's just because the wife is capable of preparing a better meal than you can buy anywhere. That takes talent and practice. I've seen threads like this before ... and it's easy to pick out the folks who know their way around a kitchen. We only go out for meals when my wife needs a break from the kitchen (she's in there cooking for me right now ... LOL ... and I should go keep her company).

Bottom Line: Don't let people judge you. If you need assistance ... take it. That's what it's there for.

-Cheers

Cut out all wheat and bad carbs, eat real foods dense with protein, when you get your body used to a wheat free low carb diet, you arnt as hungry and eat less.