Arguably, the cruelest thing that the Left does to the poor is to make them comfortable in their poverty. That should change immediately.
Food stamps should be immediately restricted to staple items only, and only the least expensive ones on the store's shelves, usually generics, and quantities of each item should be limited: you can have store-brand mac-and-cheese, but you get no more than five servings per month per person in the household; the rest of what you will buy is broccoli and spinach and the like. No soda and no fruit punch: you will buy only whole juice, and that will be limited to a quantity of 16 oz. per person per day in the month. You may buy meat, but it won't be T-bones: you'll get a limited portion of lean ground beef, a limited portion of lean chicken, a limited portion of lean pork. No potato chips, no Ho-Hos, no ice cream, no cookies. It's hardly like we don't already have the technology to limit this stuff via the SNAP card. No more SNAP at convenience stores, either: it's inexcusable that people go and use SNAP at a TigerMarket across the street from a Kroger.
If the Obamas were actually serious about combating obesity, they would have started with the most obese bunch in the country, which are people who suck down junk food on SNAP. Of course, that would have alienated much of their core voting base: urban Blacks (though there are plenty of white folks who are in the same boat).
If I were king for a day, I would immediately restrict SNAP as above and end all cash benefits. No more going to the convenience market and buying Doritos on SNAP and then using the ATM to withdraw cash to buy beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets. Section 8 gets paid by voucher, a limited amount of electricity gets paid by voucher, absolutely no TV of any sort, cable or otherwise, in any Section 8 or public housing, no internet allowed in public housing or Section 8 housing, and that includes smartphones. If you have a car and are on public assistance, that car must have a blue book value under $5000 or it will be auctioned off. No aftermarket stereos in cars, no fancy rims, no fancy paintjobs; you may have a car for basic transportation to and from a job search and the grocery store and church as needed, no more. And if you're not employed and of sound mind and body, then you will spend at least four hours each weekday searching for a job, and another four hours each day doing community service work: picking up trash on the highway, mowing grass or shoveling snow at the public housing complex, city parks, etc., painting swingsets at the park, etc. And finally, you will be mandated to take part in those myriad federal job-training programs: you will learn a marketable skill and improve you lot in life whether you like it or not. And every single person receiving any sort of public assistance whatsoever will be subject to bi-weekly drug testing, to include tobacco. Anyone found possessing or under the influence of alcohol will immediately and summarily lose all public benefits forever.
Short version: there will be no more sitting around the stoop all day sucking on 40s and Newports. If you fall on hard times, then we, as a compassionate society, will help you get back on your feet and hopefully you will be stronger and better off than you ever were before. But you have to meet us more than halfway on this: we'll make sure that you're clothed, fed, sheltered, and don't shiver in the cold, but it's up to you to come to us to address what got you in this situation in the first place and fix it.
I guarantee that probably 70% of the people on public assistance will flee said assistance in weeks, leaving those who genuinely are on hard times and want to improve themselves and stand on their own two feet.
