the 'entitlement' mentality

[Juli H]

I recently took a job working in our local grocery store, a little extra money and a way to help pass the long dark days of winter...LOL...

I have been incredibly disheartened by what the welfare system has done to enable people of lower income to stay that way.

It is disgusting to me that people (of all races, ages) will use food stamps to buy the crappiest, most unhealthy food imaginable. And that the gov't allows it.

I am not talking a small percentage of food either......probably 60% of food stamp sales include:
frozen prepared meals or boxed meals
candy (of all types)
cases of soda
single serving bottled drinks such as sodas, red bull, full throttle, etc...
chips and other unhealthy snacks
cookies of all kinds
cakes
pies
ice cream and ice cream bars
deli items
gum

VERY VERY little food stamp money is spent on
fresh produce, meat, cheese, dairy, etc....the kind of food that people SHOULD buy....

and then of course, people on foodstamps now have a 'debit' card. This allows them to buy food with foodstamps discretely...

I have absolutely NO problem with the foodstamp program as it was intended. When I was a little girl, my mom had to go on food stamps for a short while. It was embarrassing and I will tell you for certain we bought REAL food with it and made each penny count ( I recall peanut butter being a staple at that time, LOL)....Last night I had a guy come in and use his food stamp card only to find out there was no money left...So he pulled a large wad of cash and gave me a $100 bill to pay for the groceries (which consisted of chips, soda, candy, prepared foods)

oh and then to have them ask for cigarettes is another 'good feeling' kind'a moment...

Something needs to be done to stop the insanity.

that's my vent for today!

Juli

[Richard Fuquay]

You can bet that the lobbyists for the unhealthy food industry wouldn't allow the food stamp program to be reformed. If food stamps couldn't buy candy, cookies, chips and other junk food their sales would drop significantly.

[BonMallari]

when I was in high school, I worked a couple of weekends for a former BIL who was a pharmacist, I will always remember this one woman that came in with three children in tow, expecting a fourth, using food stamps for sodas and other junk foods and then going outside and hopping into a brand new Cadillac Eldorado and we were not in the hood. We were in the fashionable part of Westwood Calif. walking distance from UCLA,expensive shopping,restaurants,and movie stars...

Entitlement programs also put BHO in law school as it did for his wife too..coincidence I dont think so..

[ducknwork]

When my wife and I were expecting our first child, I didn't make a ton of money and we decided she was going to stay home and raise our babies. (Best decision we have ever made) We had multiple people tell us to 'just get WIC'. These same people had nice cars, nice clothes. They could have afforded what they need for the kids, but then they would have to have a little less spending money, or eat out less, or drive a different car. They would tell me how much formula they would get and free milk, etc bla, bla, bla...I just smiled and nodded. I would never do it. There is always some way that I can sacrifice to feed my family. Call me stupid, but I just have too much pride to accept handouts that I don't need.

Now we have two kids and one on the way and she still stays at home. I am still not taking any handouts.
________
POT

[JDogger]

I recently took a job working in our local grocery store, a little extra money and a way to help pass the long dark days of winter...LOL...

I have been incredibly disheartened by what the welfare system has done to enable people of lower income to stay that way.

It is disgusting to me that people (of all races, ages) will use food stamps to buy the crappiest, most unhealthy food imaginable. And that the gov't allows it.

I am not talking a small percentage of food either......probably 60% of food stamp sales include:
frozen prepared meals or boxed meals
candy (of all types)
cases of soda
single serving bottled drinks such as sodas, red bull, full throttle, etc...
chips and other unhealthy snacks
cookies of all kinds
cakes
pies
ice cream and ice cream bars
deli items
gum

VERY VERY little food stamp money is spent on
fresh produce, meat, cheese, dairy, etc....the kind of food that people SHOULD buy....

and then of course, people on foodstamps now have a 'debit' card. This allows them to buy food with foodstamps discretely...

I have absolutely NO problem with the foodstamp program as it was intended. When I was a little girl, my mom had to go on food stamps for a short while. It was embarrassing and I will tell you for certain we bought REAL food with it and made each penny count ( I recall peanut butter being a staple at that time, LOL)....Last night I had a guy come in and use his food stamp card only to find out there was no money left...So he pulled a large wad of cash and gave me a $100 bill to pay for the groceries (which consisted of chips, soda, candy, prepared foods)

oh and then to have them ask for cigarettes is another 'good feeling' kind'a moment...

Something needs to be done to stop the insanity.

that's my vent for today!

Juli

From ducknwork in another thead;

"It is not society's job to regulate what children eat and drink."

Can you guys get on the same page?

If not, I fear AirAmerica and MSNBC
will maintain their strangle hold on the MSM.

JD

[Cody Covey]

If I'm paying for it directly that is quite different then me just saying that you can't do something...

[ducknwork]

If I'm paying for it directly that is quite different then me just saying that you can't do something...

Beat me to it. Totally different situation JDog. In this case, people are given food stamps due to the 'need' for assistance.
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HEADSHOPS

[JDogger]

If I'm paying for it directly that is quite different then me just saying that you can't do something...

How would that work with social security recipients?

[Bob Gutermuth]

They keep talking about the waste in medicade on the tube. Wait till someone discovers all the waste and fraud in foodstamps. I used to see it every day when I was a working cop. Foodstamps exchanged for dope hookers and anything else that was for sale at about $1 of food stamps for 50cents worth of whatever. I went to the crab house last summer to get some ice, there were loafers there buying jumbo shrimp and softcrabs with MY TAX MONEY in the form of foodstamps. I am sick of it. Leeches on the dole should not be able to eat stuff that someone who works for a living or has worked and is retired can't afford.

[Gerry Clinchy]

JDogger

How would that work with social security recipients?

SS, if I'm not mistaken, was conceived as a retirement/insurance program in that it would provide retirement benefits, but also provide benefits for children of a recipient that died before retirement (maybe the beneficiary provision was not part of the original plan?)

The difference would be, however, that in order to qualify for an SS benefit, you must have contributed to SS for at least a certain # of payment quarters before you are eligible for benefits.

A lot has changed since the original concept came into existence. Probably not all of the changes or "improvements" are consistent with the original concept.