Arkansans react to governor’s call to remove junk food from SNAP benefits
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders says those receiving supplemental food benefits, also known as SNAP benefits, should not be able to use those funds to purchase snacks, candy, and desserts.
In a letter to the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, Sanders called for reforms to the SNAP program.
SHit, in some places you can buy fast food with SNAP benefit cards.
It oughta be meat, veggies, cheese, dairy and starches that YOU have to cook... No snacks, no chips, no candy, no ice cream. Just food. Real nutritious food. Nothing pre -prepared, prepackaged.
The idea of having them buy food products that they have to prepare a meal from is great in theory, but doesn't work well in real life. Many of them do not have the pots, pans, utensils, etc. needed to prepare meals, much less the knowledge of how to do so. I do however support returning to the use of actual food stamps instead of an EBT card. The EBT card partially came about as a way to remove the stigma of those having to use food stamps. My thought is that if you have to use food stamps, you either live with the stigma or do something to get off of them.
The stigma wasn't the issue as much as abuse, people would buy a small amount then present a 20 and receive cash change in some stores. That was then spent on cigarettes and booze.
Here in Texas "...most grocery staples are exempt from sales tax... These include essential items like milk, bread, eggs, and canned goods..." "...prepared foods sold for immediate consumption, such as restaurant meals or hot foods, are subject to sales tax. Additionally, certain snack items, like chips or candies, might also be taxable.
So a simple solution, at least in Texas, would be to disallow using an EBT card to purchase any food item that can be taxed. That or go back to the days of government cheese.
Well, we have studies showing that it works better to just give people cash and let them do whatever with it. It's up to them if they want to buy booze or guns or drugs or a bike or a better car or whatever, as they know what they need better than some bureaucrat or goody-two-shoes politician.
Or whether they need to subsist on rice and beans until they can afford to start their business.
It's the free market principles at work. The buyer knows what they buyer wants and needs better than anyone else can. And they're the one that will suffer for making poor decisions too.
But try getting that through any parliament. People will never go for it. Which is yet another reason that private charities are so much more effective than public "charity." (i.e. vote buying)
No, it wouldn't be better to give them cash. Who do you think they're going to rob and steal from when they blow through their taxpayer supplied cash by the 3rd of the month and still don't have any food? Maybe the taxpayers AGAIN?
That should be nation wide. I see fat slobs, many in electric carts with the tribe to push the carts. I've seen them with two heaping carts of nothing but junk food. Not one nutritious meal. No exaggeration. It pisses me off to no end. Then of course we get to pay for their medical bills too.
Nothing is more galling than to get in line behind a SNAP consumer and notice the premium meats, brand name soft drinks, and other luxury or pure junk food items that are being paid for out of the tax coffers. Or at seeing the practiced expertise being put into play to game the system to their advantage. SNAP consumers should be relegated to buying generic, nutritious products, but not luxury name brands. There should be a program that teaches kitchen economics and food preparation. They should have to demonstrate understanding with these skills. Saying they 'don't have the cookware or utensils' is nonsense and government's permission to stay in these conditions forever.
SHit, in some places you can buy fast food with SNAP benefit cards.
ReplyDeleteIt oughta be meat, veggies, cheese, dairy and starches that YOU have to cook...
No snacks, no chips, no candy, no ice cream. Just food. Real nutritious food. Nothing pre -prepared, prepackaged.
The idea of having them buy food products that they have to prepare a meal from is great in theory, but doesn't work well in real life. Many of them do not have the pots, pans, utensils, etc. needed to prepare meals, much less the knowledge of how to do so.
DeleteI do however support returning to the use of actual food stamps instead of an EBT card. The EBT card partially came about as a way to remove the stigma of those having to use food stamps. My thought is that if you have to use food stamps, you either live with the stigma or do something to get off of them.
The stigma wasn't the issue as much as abuse, people would buy a small amount then present a 20 and receive cash change in some stores. That was then spent on cigarettes and booze.
DeleteI completely agree with B (above).
ReplyDeleteHere in Texas "...most grocery staples are exempt from sales tax... These include essential items like milk, bread, eggs, and canned goods..." "...prepared foods sold for immediate consumption, such as restaurant meals or hot foods, are subject to sales tax. Additionally, certain snack items, like chips or candies, might also be taxable.
So a simple solution, at least in Texas, would be to disallow using an EBT card to purchase any food item that can be taxed. That or go back to the days of government cheese.
This should be the law of the land - everywhere!
ReplyDeleteWell, we have studies showing that it works better to just give people cash and let them do whatever with it. It's up to them if they want to buy booze or guns or drugs or a bike or a better car or whatever, as they know what they need better than some bureaucrat or goody-two-shoes politician.
ReplyDeleteOr whether they need to subsist on rice and beans until they can afford to start their business.
It's the free market principles at work. The buyer knows what they buyer wants and needs better than anyone else can. And they're the one that will suffer for making poor decisions too.
But try getting that through any parliament. People will never go for it. Which is yet another reason that private charities are so much more effective than public "charity." (i.e. vote buying)
John G.
No, it wouldn't be better to give them cash. Who do you think they're going to rob and steal from when they blow through their taxpayer supplied cash by the 3rd of the month and still don't have any food? Maybe the taxpayers AGAIN?
DeleteThat should be nation wide. I see fat slobs, many in electric carts with the tribe to push the carts. I've seen them with two heaping carts of nothing but junk food. Not one nutritious meal. No exaggeration. It pisses me off to no end. Then of course we get to pay for their medical bills too.
ReplyDeleteNothing is more galling than to get in line behind a SNAP consumer and notice the premium meats, brand name soft drinks, and other luxury or pure junk food items that are being paid for out of the tax coffers. Or at seeing the practiced expertise being put into play to game the system to their advantage. SNAP consumers should be relegated to buying generic, nutritious products, but not luxury name brands. There should be a program that teaches kitchen economics and food preparation. They should have to demonstrate understanding with these skills. Saying they 'don't have the cookware or utensils' is nonsense and government's permission to stay in these conditions forever.
ReplyDeleteI have a solution: don't give them anything. They can find a way or the highway.
ReplyDeleteI fully support your plan.
DeleteTMF Bert