The official Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) webpage proudly proclaims that, “SNAP provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food…”
To that admirable end, the program formerly known as food stamps distributed $79 billion to 40 million people last year. Yet this desire to provide wholesome food to needy families conflicts with clear evidence that wholesome food is not what they think they need. Whether they play by the rules or not, people receiving SNAP benefits currently spend between 70-100 percent of that benefit on things other than healthy food.
End the program. Bring back "government cheese" and other low cost foods that can be used to cook meals with instead of TV dinners, chips and crap. You get a box of real food every week....not a credit card. If you start it's because you're a moron....and need to starve.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%
DeleteAnd as for housing, I say military style tents and cots. We'd see a whole lot less of both if we did.
I second Dan's comment.
ReplyDeleteAlmost 50 mil under Nobama, Trump cut 10 mil???
ReplyDelete"people receiving SNAP benefits currently spend between 70-100 percent of that benefit on things other than healthy food"
ReplyDeleteAll lies! I gets me steaks, skrimps, an' summa dem decorated cakes. Dat's healthy.
- Big Mama
The most recent time I saw this was in Ashland, Massholia, and Big Mama was either white or very light-skinned Brazilian mestizo. The cart -- full of more red meat (prime cuts mind you) than I see in a year, plus lobstah and skrimps -- was unloaded into a late model SUV in front of the store.
If you're not smart enough to steal from us, you're not smart enough to steal for us.
Delete- The Government
My wife works at a convenience store in town. One day a woman used her EBT card to make a purchase and it had a balance of over $30,000. Yes, you read that right, over $30,000. Ohio Guy
DeleteIt doesn't matter what they NEED, it does not matter what they WANT, it doesn't matter what they BUY.
ReplyDeleteWhat matters is that they VOTE, and we know for WHOM.
Like every other government program it was created by idiots that have no real life experiences. A simple solution to a lot of the problem is to remove the crap from the approved list ie; chips, softdrinks, candy and shit foods that are nothing but fats,salt and sugar laden. It's not a perfect solution but it would help clean up the system
ReplyDeleteJD
But...that's discrimination!!!
DeletePersonally, the old commodities programs from when I was a youngin' is what ought to be going on. That way I can see what my tax dollars are buying. I was involved back in the early 80's in a commodities program.(Yah, I've been that poor.) There were people not much interested in the rice and I wasn't interested in the boat-loads of oatmeal. So the people running it would give me extra rice and I didn't get oatmeal I wasn't going to eat. And government cheese is fabulous!
Judy, they still do a commodity program for senior citizens here where I live.
DeleteThat said when the government pays $100 for a $5 screwdriver I don't have any faith in them getting a good deal with suppliers for food stuffs. Look at what the subsidies have done with the whole ethanol scam, corn which could be feeding livestock and driving our food prices down is blended with gasoline to create a product that causes engine damage, lowers fuel efficiency and has no real benefits except to big Farma.
Our government has wasted our time, money and resources to no benefit of it's citizens for a very long time
JD
I lost my job after 35 years, and ended up on unemployment, for about a year. My wife and I got I think a little over 200$ of food stamps, on a card, each month. We used coupons, and went to our areas Sav a Lot store, in order to stretch that money. We also went to the food trucks that were out to help the needy.
ReplyDeleteAny food we got from the food trucks that we could not or didn't use, we got together with several other families, and traded with or just gave it to them.
There are a bunch of generational families who abuse the system, and we saw them. But there are also a few of us who actually paid into the system for years, and when needed, didn't abuse it, but actually depended on it, and it made a difference. And no, we didn't buy steaks or expensive foods. We actually lowered our food budget as much as we could, with no prepared foods, instead cooking as much as possible as we could ourselves. When you budget things out, you learn what actual costs of convenience foods are, compared to making your own. Unless you can buy hamburger helper for a dollar, you can make it yourself just as cheap, and it is better for you, and tastes better.
I remember when my grandparents would get a monthly delivery of food, from the FDA, I think it was. Cheese, of course, but also powdered eggs, apple juice, powdered milk, grains, oatmeal, peanut butter, not the sugary kind like Jif, but actual peanut butter, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. But it was stuff that was designed to help the farmers get their product to people instead of having it either have no market, or go for less on the open market. I would much rather see that again, instead of the SNAP program. At least you are assured that the kids have food in their homes, instead of the parent selling the cards for drug money. I have not seen it, but I had heard of people buying 12 packs of pop and then dumping it out, to return for the bottle deposit of 1.20$, to buy a quart of beer. I have no doubt that it is possible.
The hell of it is, the Democrats do not give a shit what the people do with their handouts. They just want to make sure that those people keep voting them into office.
They need to cancel the 50 government subsidy programs and IRS child credit into one program. Get away from the debit card auto-deposit and re-apply every 2 years.
ReplyDeleteMy sister told me about the white trash that bought a couple pallets of cheap soda, then emptied it out in the parking lot so they could redeem the empties for cash in Michigan. Cash buys lotto tickets and cigs.Fucking scum.
ReplyDeleteI will worry about money going to help Americans after we cut every penny going overseas, bring all of our troops home, and end all money to bring refugees here. Better a poor American buy chips and a coke than any foreign nation spend one damn dime of American tax money. And don't pull that "They have to spend that money on American weapons." crap. Money spent at American grocery stores is better spent.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteJD
A million gov employees is the biggest abuser of benefits. Fuck them and Jo.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's partly true but a very large majority of employees working for the big box stores, ie; Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, etc, etc, etc are on social programs like food stamps because of low pay and the part time hiring practices. Now before anyone gets on a tangent about going to school and/or getting a trade I'm not disagreeing with you but the reality is people shop, for better or worse, at those stores so someone has to work there. When local government gives million dollars in tax incentives to these corporations that will bring in their higher paided employees and only hire part time low paid locals who is really to blame for the situation of relying on government subsidies.
DeleteJD
Just like any Gov program that most reasonable people realize needs reforming, both parties play it for votes.
ReplyDeleteWith a debit type card, they could setup the system to limit it to mostly raw foods and cut out most of the crap. I have long advocated for reform and would include a small percentage for toiletries, paper products and even a very small amount for ice cream or other things so the kids can still have a birthday party (would need to use several months of benies for a single purchase for example). This would help cut some of the fraud and any bottle deposit goes back on the card, no cash.
I would also like to see the FDA items brought back, I have eaten some of the items and are among those that thought the cheese was pretty decent.
While working in the foster Care system I dealt with a number of folks who just ate fast food. The, typically young, moms didn't know how to cook and didn't know that they should know, It was outside their experience. Before I retired the kids who were aging out of the system were getting more emphasis on independent living skills including food purchase and prep. In my local community there is a program at the local farmers market that allows folks with "SNAP" to purchase tokens, for less than face value that allowed them to buy good foods at the market.
ReplyDeleteI have a proposal...
ReplyDelete- Jonathan Swift
If I ran the rodeo there would be changes.
ReplyDeleteNo processed foodstuffs
No prime or luxury cuts of meat
Flour, salt, and sugar no premade treats
No candy, or sodas
There would be designated packages and if you don't want them, go earn your own money and buy what you want
No cash back, your subsidized bills go directly to the agency, no money to burn
No additional funding for extra dependents no raise for babies
A special line just for WIC type transactions so you are not slowing down the people who bought your stuff
Get caught abusing system get kicked out
No baby daddy's name no benefits no exceptions
Baby's daddy will be tested (Maury needs the work) and the bill will be coming his way
I'm old enough to remember when it was a pretty negative stigma to be dependent on .gov handouts, and something to be avoided at all costs.
ReplyDeleteEasy to see there's no more honor or integrity in much of the citizenry than there is in their representatives.
CC
People buying soda and dumping it out to get the deposit in cash are lazy and/or stupid. THIS is the proper routine: You find a grocery store that is selling Coke (or Pepsi, depending on what is locally popular) as more of a loss-leader* than usual. You buy up a fuckload of the nasty stuff. Then you go sell your taxpayer subsidized Coke to some mom&pop convenience store (typically run by South Asians, Middle Easterners, maybe East Asians) for somewhere between 25 to 75% of what you "paid" for it. It's still cheaper for the stop&rob than their supplier cost, and you get more cash than just the deposit price.
ReplyDelete*no one makes money legitimately selling Coke or Pepsi. The corporations squeeze every penny out of the retail outlets. But customers want their brand name sugar drinks and won't patronize a store that doesn't carry them, so the stores have to bend over and take it.