Foodstamps

[dnoblett]

I have no problems with government providing a safety net for those that are needy, however perhaps a little control over how the stamps are being spent would be in order.

 

http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/graphics/foodstamp.jpg

 

Comments?

[natopronto]

I know a lady who works for the food stamp program in my county. She told me that now 1,000s of professional people are now on the dole.

She told me that food stamps are good as cash. You can parlay them for illicit drugs to prostitution.

[tsap seui]

I know a lady who works for the food stamp program in my county. She told me that now 1,000s of professional people are now on the dole.

She told me that food stamps are good as cash. You can parlay them for illicit drugs to prostitution.

 

 

 

Hey baby, how many stamps for a BJ?

 

Say man, how many oxyi's can I score for $100 in stamps?

 

When it comes down to it, stamps is probably much safer tender than dollars....yuk, yuk, yuk....more secure to score bread on stamps than bread (paper money).

 

tsap seui

What a funny life!! Why, I'd post every one of the smilie icons RIGHT NOW if'n I could.

[warpedbored]

It would be kinda hard to trade food stamps for drugs in Oregon. They use the Oregon Trail Card that is like a debit card.It makes sense that Oregon would be one of the highest in the country considering that we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. The official rate is 9.6% but most people think it's higher than that because a lot of people have run out of benefits and given up.

[Beachey]

I thought most municipalities had gone to a debit type card that is refilled monthly in an attempt to stop the fraud mentioned above. What is the percentage of fraud on food stamps? I have no idea, but I don't think it is as widespread as the opponents of social programs would like us to think. Those instances of fraud that are discovered tend to be well publicized.

[knloregon]

The Oregon Trail Card --- (and how ironic is that? --- named after the Oregon pioneers ---the living definition of self reliance!) has been actively marketed by the last four state Democratic administrations----they actively recruit --- and push the envelope ----- even to the point of running ads in local newspapers---sign up! Even faculty at State colleges and universities have been advocating that students take advantage of the system---not sure how they qualify, but perhaps they do. No grocer checks the ID of the Oregon Trail Card holder --- its routine for very young children to swipe the card for groceries. I see a hispanic entrepreneur --- his cart loaded with canned and bottled beverages exclusively, use the Oregon Trail card. --- I have asked the checker--what's that?? ---he told me its been reported to management---and management called the State--but were told it didn't raise red flags for card abuse. (and why would it? if the State's official policy is to push the card??)

 

My ultimate disgusting abuse experience occurred on an indian summer day last fall, when driving in the Hawthorne district --- where nearly all the white, liberal 'creative class' is on food stamps. This hip bicyclist (of which there are plenty) ---cut in front of me as I was driving west on Hawthorne --- gave me the finger, and shouted obscenities through the window--- (girls in the car). He blew the light, I stopped. Then we ended up in checkout line at the Local Safeway---him in front of me. (him holding his ultra-lightweight direct drive bike, and wearing high end designer bike threads... and get this--- he has about $30.00 of fresh sushi in three blister packs --- he's nervous because he begins to realize I'm the guy he cut off --- and my teen daughters are reminding me ---and doing what they do best at this age---agitate for more conflict. ---then he pulls out his Oregon Trail Card!!! I didn't even know you could buy the food court sushi with Oregon trail! ---girls: " Look! he's on food stamps!!" (god bless em") ---and my comment under my breath, right to the back of his head: "you little shit." I could tell the checker, (head down) was suppressing a smile.

[GIS]

My experience in the Land of Lincoln was pretty much the same. I worked as a cashier at a grocery store before I went to college. People would pull up in brand new cars or come through the line wearing thick gold chains buying 10lb bags of jumbo shrimp using a Link card. Not sure if it's still called a Link card today.

[griz326]

How 'bout an allowance of 10 pounds of rice, 10 pounds of beans, and 10 pounds of soup bones a week?

 

Government shouldn't be in the charity business; we have churches and families for that.

[warpedbored]

And if they have no church or family we just let them starve right? Lazy bums could find a job if they really wanted one.

[knloregon]

Carl,

 

the guy I described is about 25, totally buff, totally hip, wearing the highest end lycra biking clothes, carrying on one shoulder what I make as a titanium ultra-light weight bike which is in the class of bikes I've seen advertised for $4000.00 ---- a thousand more than I paid for Mrs. G's car! and he's not buying the basics, Carl ---at least $30.00 worth of sushi---that we can't afford --- and my impression---college educated----

 

And I say this from an extremely selfish point of view-- but America is in very deep trouble now that the young, college educated feel its ok to be unemployed, flip off people in public, and dine on sushi courtesy of working class tax payers.

 

selfish, because THIS is the generation we are relying on to step up for America in our old age ~?!?!

[credzba]

And if they have no church or family we just let them starve right? Lazy bums could find a job if they really wanted one.

 

 

 

Just hypothetically, what if there was a limited amount of resources in the world, and you had to allocate that resource to people.

Would it be better to allocate it all equally based on each person being a human being, and thus deserving of a share, should that resource be allocated based on the contribution to creating the resource?

 

There are (at least) 2 views of the situation, one is called socialism, and one capitalism. Obviously neither works in its black or white ideological form, and thus we live in the gray middle.

Once you accept the two extremes exists, you can begin to discuss where you think the "best" place between those extremes is.

 

 

A few questions come to my mind (purely for the purpose of discussion).

 

1) Why is it wrong to let someone starve if they have done nothing to contribute to the group? Is it a reasonable consequence that if you do nothing, you get nothing. Wont that motivate people to contribute, and thus improve the life of everyone in the group? Certainly we have seen the proof that socialist societies degrade into a world where no one works because they are guaranteed to receive the same return whether they work, or they don't.

 

2) Why should the government force me to donate to people I don'y know? Certainly the group is not so selfish that they will stand by and watch a family starve to death. With the government intervening, isn't that taking away my ability to decide what I do with the resources I have? Whether it is Robin Hood, or Uncle Sam, stealing from the rich to give to the poor is stealing all the same. The forced redistribution of wealth has failed in any country in which it was done. I still here many stories from family and friends who lost everything to Mao's communist party. Again it is in looking at the extreme that you can discover the issues in the less vivid situation that is the gray area.

 

3) It has been said that we have charity organizations, and these exist not because the government mandates it, but because people willingly contribute to an organization that supports values they find desirable. If "starving" people were force to go to a charity that was funded with specific values in mind, then the organizations that represented the most popular values would the the organizations with the most food available. Thus the most widely supported values of the group would naturally be spread to all the people, and the values with no support would disappear. A "survival of the fit-est" if you will for national values.

If the needy people have to, at least, pretend to support the values of their benefactor (unlike a government dole) doesn't that help to produce a more homogenous society, and as such a more peaceful society. It a core set of agreed upon values that bring people together (note CFL). By utilizing charitable organizations that by founding are dedicated to specific values you naturally distribute those

 

It appears (to me) from these thought that for the good of society in these 3 attributes (economic growth, ownership of property, common values) getting the government out of the process would be a good thing. Perhaps there are arguments to be made that government intervention into this area is benefitial in some way?

[steveandrong]

Ain't never had a free ride myself, but, I for one can't see passing out free money and free food to able bodied individuals.....what's wrong with requiring a little civil service on the recipients end for the care they are applying for...some people just take the slogan "Land of the Free" just a little too literally....free food, free money, free health care, free housing...BS....I ain't denying those who really need it, but just as you see some people pull into a handicap stall in their Mazda RX8 and hop out and run into wally world (and yes, the handicap card is a hanging off the mirror)....just makes me wanna puke...America...Land of the Checks and no Balances...especially no Balance in their bank account, but it sure doesn't stop em from writin Checks!

[chilton747]

Ain't never had a free ride myself, but, I for one can't see passing out free money and free food to able bodied individuals.....what's wrong with requiring a little civil service on the recipients end for the care they are applying for...some people just take the slogan "Land of the Free" just a little too literally....free food, free money, free health care, free housing...BS....I ain't denying those who really need it, but just as you see some people pull into a handicap stall in their Mazda RX8 and hop out and run into wally world (and yes, the handicap card is a hanging off the mirror)....just makes me wanna puke...America...Land of the Checks and no Balances...especially no Balance in their bank account, but it sure doesn't stop em from writin Checks!

 

 

This is the land of opportunity man. The opportunity for our government to take care of us.

[steveandrong]

Ain't never had a free ride myself, but, I for one can't see passing out free money and free food to able bodied individuals.....what's wrong with requiring a little civil service on the recipients end for the care they are applying for...some people just take the slogan "Land of the Free" just a little too literally....free food, free money, free health care, free housing...BS....I ain't denying those who really need it, but just as you see some people pull into a handicap stall in their Mazda RX8 and hop out and run into wally world (and yes, the handicap card is a hanging off the mirror)....just makes me wanna puke...America...Land of the Checks and no Balances...especially no Balance in their bank account, but it sure doesn't stop em from writin Checks!

 

 

This is the land of opportunity man. The opportunity for our government to take care of us.

 

the only thing the govmint seems to want to take care of for me is how little i can do with in my take home pay.

[SheLikesME?]

No we don't just let them starve. Heck 20 million fed during the depression. We have some fundamental problems where folks expect too much now days.

 

We have cards in TX now too. I see people getting things that used to be excluded. Of course right behind the food stamps is the beer and cigaretts that is paid for with CASH. Sorry Carl and others but it makes my blood boil if I think about it too much.

 

I have posted this before but will repeat.

Teddy & Bobby Kennedy made a little film in the Mississippi Delta back in the 60s talking to the poor and how little food they had & etc. They said they are going to do something about it.

 

I went to Mississippi every summer as a kid to stay with relatives. My cousin and I had fun as good as anyting striat out of a Mark Twain book. No one was rich, but I saw how the poor lived. One house had a bunch of kids of various ages running around bald naked. We put pennies on the RR track next to their house.

 

Now you see all the poor in town had jobs. They had money. It was all paid in cash and unreported to the Govt. No one starved. Then food stamps hit.

 

Accelerate years later. My cousin and I are married with one child in diapers each. I go to MS with wife to visit. We take our wives around to show them all the places where our summer adventures took us as kids. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. I was beyond words when I saw all of this. Some have called me a liar about it. All the poor homes had large antenas on the roof and you could see the colored TV in the house. (We had a very small B&W at that early marriage time and an old Ford) All the little houses had a Buick or Cadillac in the drive way and usually an older one all wore out from the last time they bought a new car. And the house where we put pennies on the track, there was a Buick Electra on blocks off to the side and a new Cadillac in the driveway with colored TV in the house, and a new set of kids running around bald ass naked, I KID YOU NOT! Our ladies were astonished about this house.

 

SO, perhaps we need more Govt red tape to investigate how they spend the money they have? Maybe parents allow their kids to go hungry while they spend it on other things? Churches are no longer the social center of many communities anymore, so where are morals and responsibility taught? Any ideas guys?

 

I bet our Chinese counterparts get a bit appauled at how lazy and spoiled some folks really are and dislike their tax follars going to these folks after they work so hard, no???