Living it up on food stamps....

[Freeper]

ejpoeta  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Thu Feb-24-11 11:50 PM
Original message
Living it up on food stamps....
   
Was I living it up on food stamps? You'd think so to hear all the talk about buying candy and marshmallow peeps with them. But when I had them, along with cash assistance, several years ago.... it was no picnic.

First you had to go sit for hours in the social services. Fill out the application form and provide proof of income, residency, citizenship. We also were required to prove we were looking for work. Bob and myself. IT didn't matter if it would cost me more to work because of daycare. I had to find a job too. So we started looking. And we went in to use our food stamps to get food.

Now, these weren't the EBT cards you see today. These were actual food stamps. I was very diligent in my purchases. Making sure we had things we needed to get us through the month. As i waited to have my items rung up I pulled out my book of food stamps. You could see the stares. You could see the judging of every item I had on the belt. I am not being paranoid here, people were judging everything I purchased. Right down to if it was generic or a name brand.

Having to apply for assistance is humiliating. But you bite the bullet and do it because you have to take care of your kids. We had one kid at the time. Then each time you go in to use your food stamps you get to see the ire in others eyes as you count out paper bill by paper bill. Because people will judge you. No matter what they will judge you. It didn't matter that there was nothing fancy on the belt. It didn't matter. Somehow I was taking something from them.

Now I hear people saying how people on food stamps are just buying candy and pop. Well, beyond the occasional ice cream on sale, there was no living it up on food stamps. For some reason though it seems to be something open to everyone's input. But you only get so much and it has to last a whole month. Somehow people on food stamps are too stupid to be able to decide what food they need to last through the month. OH!! but they might buy JUNK FOOD!!! so damned what. what they get has to last them a whole month. This idea that folks with food stamps are out there stocking up on chips and candy and pop is just a creation so some can feel better about treating them like they are nothing.

No I am not on food stamps today. We have a house and pay our taxes just like everyone else. But we are $300 over the limit for food stamps. And I say, I am a person. Just like everyone else. And people with food stamps are no different than everyone else. And they buy the same groceries as everyone else. So what if they buy some chips. Just like you and I do. They are not out there just buying crap. They may have a bag of chips, but they have the same groceries as everyone else. Why don't you quit worrying about what someone else is buying. They pay taxes too. Just because it isn't property taxes doesn't mean they don't pay taxes. It costs more to be poor than to not be poor. Through taxes, and just the cost of living.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x503937


My heart bleeds that you had to fill out forms and wait in line to get food stamps. 

[Boudicca]

Somehow I was taking something from them

It's a simple fact that whenever a person is on some sort of public assistance, such as food stamps, he or she IS indeed taking taxpayer money from, well, taxpayers.  That's why good and decent folks endeavor, if they must have this assistance and IF at all possible, to wean themselves off of it posthaste.
Welfare is meant to provide a hand up, not a lifelong hand job.

[BEG]

We basically lived paycheck to paycheck when I was little. My dad was laid off for a few months back in the early 70's (he was a truck driver for a meat packing plant (Wilsons). My mom got food stamps once during that time.  She drove about 45 minutes way to a grocery store she had never been to and never would go to again to get our food.   

[BEG]

But you only get so much and it has to last a whole month. Somehow people on food stamps are too stupid to be able to decide what food they need to last through the month. OH!! but they might buy JUNK FOOD!!! so damned what.

Funny, your queen Michelle thinks she has a say if I buy junk food, why shouldn't we have a say what you spend our money on?

[Duke Nukum]

Once again I have to source Rush Limbaugh: Being happy is out of the ordinary, that is why people pay big money to other people who promise to teach us how to be happy.  Happy people=productive people=less people on food stamps.

[seahorse513]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x503937


My heart bleeds that you had to fill out forms and wait in line to get food stamps. 

Alot of people do buy junk food with their EBT cards. Unfortunately, you can't tell people what to buy. It is a lose-lose situation. The only way to solve this is to have  UPC's of certain items omitted by computer. I would do away with EBT cards all together and tell people to submit their reciept and they will be reimbursed accordingly. I just thought of something.... What if every grocery store had about 5 kiosks, in which it would be programmed with certain UPC's. When a customer cashed out they would go up to the kiosk and scan their reciept that would have a special barcode. it would refund you the tender in which you paid for example if you paid with a debit card, the money would refund back to your debit card. The nice thing is, anybody could use it....just a thought....

[Alpha Mare]

Dummy, you conveniently forgot about the single moms who receive food stamps while living with their baby daddies/boyfriends. His income isn't considered for stamps because she doesn't admit he lives there.  Those are the ones you see filling their carts on 'stamp day'. They don't have to make them stretch all month, lover boy will cover it.  How do you think they get those new SUVs?

[GOBUCKS]

Dummy, you conveniently forgot about the single moms who receive food stamps while living with their baby daddies/boyfriends. His income isn't considered for stamps because she doesn't admit he lives there.  Those are the ones you see filling their carts on 'stamp day'. They don't have to make them stretch all month, lover boy will cover it.  How do you think they get those new SUVs?

On stamp day, they sell  the stamps at a huge discount, then use the cash for Colt45 and weed.

[Freeper]

On stamp day, they sell  the stamps at a huge discount, then use the cash for Colt45 and weed.

There is a grocery store in Athens, GA where at any time you can find 3 or 4 people trying to "sell" their foodstamps for cash, so they can go buy drugs. I figure if they can afford to sell the stamps they don't need them in the first place. If they were truly starving they would buy Ramen noodles and store brand soup.

[thundley4]

We've got a couple of liquor store/ convenience stores that accept link cards here.  Two are within a few blocks of each other.  I've wondered if they sell food then allow the people to return it for cash.

[Evil_Conservative]

Tell you what, DUmmie-random letters, I will go to Walmart on March 1 with a camcorder.  I can get into almost any line and see families with two or three carts worth of SHIT.  I'm not even going to say junk.  It's pure shit in their cart.  I've been behind many families who had one cart full of chips, soda, cookies, ho-ho's, ding-dongs, and candy.  Their other cart might have a few things like milk, eggs, cereal, and fruits/vegetables, etc.  Maybe some diapers and wipes if they had little ones.  I have NO problem with people who need help.  But don't buy junk food, cigarettes, and alcohol with CASH and then pull out your EBT card for all the WIC approved items.  Of course it disgusts people. 

[GOBUCKS]

First, ho-hos and ding-dongs are excellent. I could easily live on them, and have in the past. It's crap like brussels sprouts, okra, and anything organic that should be outlawed. Brussels sprouts taste like crap, okra is gross, and organic junk is just a double-priced Algorish scam on moonbats. But the issue of food stamps brings out some wino economics:

bobbolink  (1000+ posts)        Fri Feb-25-11 03:05 PM
Response to Reply #5
109. Food stamps are also excellent stimulus money. For every federal dollar spent on Food stamps, $1.84
is returned to the local economy.

Yet, even Dems want to make big cuts.

I can understand how the hobo figures this. She sells her stamps to the 7-11 store, so the economy has now increased by the original face value of the stamps. Then she takes the cash and spends it on MD20/20. Net effect on the economy is increased again, by the price of the bum wine. Bobo the hobo economics in action. And she's still due beer and travel money.

[Evil_Conservative]

First, ho-hos and ding-dongs are excellent. I could easily live on them, and have in the past. It's crap like brussels sprouts, okra, and anything organic that should be outlawed. Brussels sprouts taste like crap, okra is gross, and organic junk is just a double-priced Algorish scam on moonbats. But the issue of food stamps brings out some wino economics:
 

I like me some ho-ho's too.  But if you can afford 10 boxes of ho-ho's with cash, but still need food stamps... then cut the ho-ho's out and start using cash on your OWN food.  If you spend your own money on ho-ho's -- awesome. 

[AllosaursRus]

Alot of people do buy junk food with their EBT cards. Unfortunately, you can't tell people what to buy. It is a lose-lose situation. The only way to solve this is to have  UPC's of certain items omitted by computer. I would do away with EBT cards all together and tell people to submit their reciept and they will be reimbursed accordingly. I just thought of something.... What if every grocery store had about 5 kiosks, in which it would be programmed with certain UPC's. When a customer cashed out they would go up to the kiosk and scan their reciept that would have a special barcode. it would refund you the tender in which you paid for example if you paid with a debit card, the money would refund back to your debit card. The nice thing is, anybody could use it....just a thought....

It cost us billions just to get to EBT cards! Whata ya 'spose the cost would be for your idea? Maybe if they turned it over to private contractors, otherwise, it would just be another money pit! The gubmint wastes enough of my money already!

[AllosaursRus]

Dummy, you conveniently forgot about the single moms who receive food stamps while living with their baby daddies/boyfriends. His income isn't considered for stamps because she doesn't admit he lives there.  Those are the ones you see filling their carts on 'stamp day'. They don't have to make them stretch all month, lover boy will cover it.  How do you think they get those new SUVs?

What chaps my ass is the boyfriends have the gall to go with the single moms in Wally World! You can tell they're workin' men by the cut of their clothes or the calluses on their hands!

What we need instead of more bail outs, is more investigators, investigating this fraud! You get caught, you're off welfare of any kind for life! Well, maybe life is a little harsh, but you get my drift. If ya can't afford to feed your kids after that, we find someone who would be a better parent in the first damn place!

I mean c'mon, just what the hell are ya teachin' your kids besides how to game the system? All they're doin' is makin' the next generation of leeches when they pull this shit!

[catsmtrods]

When I was a kid I remember Govt food. The big cans of powdered milk and eggs and the huge block of Govt cheeze. I think thats the way to go. Your hungry? OK have some food.

[GOBUCKS]

When I was a kid I remember Govt food. The big cans of powdered milk and eggs and the huge block of Govt cheeze. I think thats the way to go. Your hungry? OK have some food.

I wonder what bobo the hobo would think about that.

[Ballygrl]

When my Dad got sick we struggled and basically we loaded up for the month on cheap chicken legs, pasta, sauce and cereal and that was it, a few dollars were kept aside for milk and bread. Was it fun? no, but you did what you had to do and didn't rely on the Government.

[catsmtrods]

I remember bean and catsup samies for dinner, once in while we could afford mayo! We had mac and cheese often cause that Govt cheese was good!

[Ballygrl]

I love chicken, but I can't eat chicken legs, we ate them so darn much for those couple of years that I can't stomach them. I don't want to see anyone hungry and we choose to help keep our town pantry stocked and donate to other food drives, and I can't tell anymore who's on food stamps because they have the debit card, but I never see someone in the store who's disheveled looking, and I have no doubt people receive food stamps even though they're probably working under the table. It's the fraud that ticks me off.

[Ballygrl]

And whatever happened to family helping each other out? my Aunt was unemployed for about 3 months in the 70's and we bought food for her every couple of weeks until she got a job. My Mother had to drop AARP because it was too expensive to pay for her supplement, she switched to a Medicare HMO plan, she has very little coming in from SS and she doesn't have a pension, I pay for her co-pays, I pay for her prescriptions, and when we go food shopping I pay for most of her food.

[AllosaursRus]

When I was a kid I remember Govt food. The big cans of powdered milk and eggs and the huge block of Govt cheeze. I think thats the way to go. Your hungry? OK have some food.

My step dad got laid off when I was around 8 and took up classes in welding so he could get a better job. Man, was money tight!

I remember that stuff too! They had wheat germ, it's what we ate for breakfast! Yeeeeeeuuuck! They also had canned chicken with the bones still in it, another yeeeeeuuuck! The cheese and bread was good stuff though! The peanut butter was ok, but ya had to stir it a bit in order to disperse all the oil on top. Boy was I glad when he went back to work!

[seahorse513]

It cost us billions just to get to EBT cards! Whata ya 'spose the cost would be for your idea? Maybe if they turned it over to private contractors, otherwise, it would just be another money pit! The gubmint wastes enough of my money already!

It was just a thought...We would do away with ebt cards all together!! All income levels could use the kiosks. People would get "rewarded"(if you will) for eating healthy. You can buy your hohos if you want, just don't expect to get reimbursed for it!!

[NHSparky]

It was just a thought...We would do away with ebt cards all together!! All income levels could use the kiosks. People would get "rewarded"(if you will) for eating healthy. You can buy your hohos if you want, just don't expect to get reimbursed for it!!

Again, all you've really done is just add more layers of bureaucracy.

FAIL.

[seahorse513]

Again, all you've really done is just add more layers of bureaucracy.

FAIL.

Well at least i am trying to use my initiative to help all and defraud the scammers!! So no it is not a fail...This was an idea to help those who are really struggling, and doing their very best to provide for their families(including the elderly who rely on ss, the military) rather than those who abuse, and fraud the system. I am sick of paying for those who refuse to help themselves and expect the government to provide everything for them.