A discussion On Food stamps:

[gimpy117]

okay, so as a grocery store worker this has been eating me up: The fact that you can get big ticket items on food stamps such items as:

-Beef tenderloins -20.99/lb
-snow crab legs -10.00/lb
-King crab legs - 19.99/lb
-New your Strip, t-bone, ribeye 10-12.99/lb

honestly this grinds my gears. I think these items should be prohibited. Lets face it, food stamps are there because you cannot afford to eat supposedly...not because you cannot afford to eat like a king! I'm all for people being able to get normal, less expensive products like chicken, pork and less expensive beef cuts...but King Crab legs??? really?! we once even had a lady buy $200.000 worth on food stamps because she just got her benefits. Honestly unless these people start sharing this crab with me in a little fed up. I can't afford that stuff, and as a college student i'll get like 50 a month if i got EBT.

[CCIP]

To play devil's advocate on the other hand - spending food stamps on these big ticket items helps subsidize expensive and risky or inefficient fishing and farming industries that otherwise wouldn't turn a profit and would probably end up losing quite a few jobs. So while it's unfair, from the regulators' perspective it's just another way to drive up demand for products most people otherwise wouldn't buy.

[GoldenRivet]

I LOVE IT when im in line behind the family with two shopping carts.

One full of food the other full of liquor and beer

food stuff was paid in food stamps

the other in cash

Yay America! :yeah:

happens all the time and its damn near impossible by now to do anything about it.

[gimpy117]

To play devil's advocate on the other hand - spending food stamps on these big ticket items helps subsidize expensive and risky or inefficient fishing and farming industries that otherwise wouldn't turn a profit and would probably end up losing quite a few jobs. So while it's unfair, from the regulators' perspective it's just another way to drive up demand for products most people otherwise wouldn't buy.

see the problem is, it's artificially inflating a market again, something that IMO isn't really healthy for the economy.


I LOVE IT when im in line behind the family with two shopping carts.

One full of food the other full of liquor and beer

food stuff was paid in food stamps

the other in cash

Yay America! :yeah:

happens all the time and its damn near impossible by now to do anything about it.

oh yes, I remember a person who would get milk that had a $1.00 deposit on the bottles. They would dump out the milk in the bathroom or outside the store, return the 5 bottles for $5.00 and buy beer with it

[Skybird]

I wish in Germany part of the social wellfare payments would be made not in money, but food stamps, and value stamps for school material, and stamps for other vital, essential purposes. So that payments would not get wasted for cigarettes, chips and soft drinks, and money meant to pay for school stuff for children does not get used to buy stuff for the adults. Stamps are a way to bind aid money to a certain purpose - the purpose it is dedicated for. And that in principle is a good thing.

But food stamps in Germany? It has been mentioned in past discussions here. The outcry always was about "social discrimination" and "right of self-determination".

Well, as long as you take other people's money for free, you live by their rules. Even more true when these rules are anything but "inhumane" or "excessive", but simply make sense and are reasonable.

[JU_88]

Same in the uk, welfare is simply money, so it can be spent on anything, no matter anyway, if we have this financial collapses that is supposedly coming, that will spell the end of the welfare state in most developed countries I expect.
We got unsustainable ponzi capitalsim (Banks lending money they created out of thin air) fueling these unsustainable socialist government scemes. Its a bad system and its not going work for much longer, since we cant print our way out of all this debt.
Germany tried this in the 1930s. didnt work out too well for them did it?
The sad part is, after 2008 we actually had a chance to start putting things right and we blew it, we bailed out the trouble makers and just carried on with business as usual.... a terrible mistake for which we have not yet seen the consequences.

If we actually had responsible capitalism in place, we would not be in this mess.

[mookiemookie]

So if Pennsylvania and North Carolina can have state-run liquor stores, why not a state run grocery store? Welfare benefits would only be good at state stores that only carry basic necessities (hamburger meat instead of snow crab legs, fruit juice instead of beer and wine).

[Skybird]

(hamburger meat instead of snow crab legs, fruit juice instead of beer and wine).

Hamburgers are anything but healthy, and fruit juice usually is refined with plenty of sugar and can be classified to be as unhealthy as usual soft drinks. There is an extremly strong statistical link between education level/social class, and food-induced health problems and obesity. The poor and uneducated tend to eat that bad stuff by greater ammounts than the more educated or people with higher income in general, since it is cheaper, tastes good, and knoweldge on its bad quality is not present in the individual's mind, even more it often is part of the "way of life". Since treating food-induced health problems also is at the cost of the tax and insurrance payer (health insurrance and social wellfare), all this bad stuff (too much bad fats, too much salt, too much sugar, too much alcohol, tobacco in general) should not be sold in state-run shops at all, I think - and should not be available for food stamps.

No need to exaggerate it. But some healthy sanity should be applied, I think. Bad food habits probably produce the biggest share of the health system costs alltogether. And others have to pay for it - me as a netto-payer says "thank you for your egoist stupidity, Sir." If somebody gets hit by fate withoiut it beign his fault, then I support the idea of insurrances. But if insurrances get abused to finance the egoism or the self-induced stupidity of somebody, then I have a problem with that - and no, I refuse to be "solidaric" in such a scenario. I am not solidaric with the egoist or the stupid.

[Sailor Steve]

I can't even get food stamps. Apparently my small pension is too much money for me to qualify. Fortunately we also have food banks. That's probably where the people in question get their "real" food.

[gimpy117]

Hamburgers are anything but healthy, and fruit juice usually is refined with plenty of sugar and can be classified to be as unhealthy as usual soft drinks. There is an extremly strong statistical link between education level/social class, and food-induced health problems and obesity. The poor and uneducated tend to eat that bad stuff by greater ammounts than the more educated or people with higher income in general, since it is cheaper, tastes good, and knoweldge on its bad quality is not present in the individual's mind, even more it often is part of the "way of life". Since treating food-induced health problems also is at the cost of the tax and insurrance payer (health insurrance and social wellfare), all this bad stuff (too much bad fats, too much salt, too much sugar, too much alcohol, tobacco in general) should not be sold in state-run shops at all, I think - and should not be available for food stamps.

No need to exaggerate it. But some healthy sanity should be applied, I think. Bad food habits probably produce the biggest share of the health system costs alltogether. And others have to pay for it - me as a netto-payer says "thank you for your egoist stupidity, Sir." If somebody gets hit by fate withoiut it beign his fault, then I support the idea of insurrances. But if insurrances get abused to finance the egoism or the self-induced stupidity of somebody, then I have a problem with that - and no, I refuse to be "solidaric" in such a scenario. I am not solidaric with the egoist or the stupid.

Oh yes, healthy foods should be included, but not Luxury foods like this. A t-bone is more more "healthy" than a normal cut of meat because of all the fat it has in it...and you can get 96% lean hamburger if you want. But I just can't see a nutritional reason for people on food stamps being able to get crab and hamburger. Plenty of other healthy alternatives out there that don't cost over 10.00 a pound if you know that to look for (which honestly probably isn't beef at all, rather chicken, pork, or fish). I'd have no problem a family picking up a salmon fillet for 6.99 or so. it's a fine healthy cut of meat, not the cheapest but good for you.

I'm just saying. Crab and Fine steak does not really make sense at all, it's not more healthy or anything. It's just well, Luxury food that has no other warrant to it other than being tasty and very, very expensive per pound.


So if Pennsylvania and North Carolina can have state-run liquor stores, why not a state run grocery store? Welfare benefits would only be good at state stores that only carry basic necessities (hamburger meat instead of snow crab legs, fruit juice instead of beer and wine).

Overhead. Plain ad simple. It's expensive to run a store. I probably can't say who, but the place I work for has an overhead from stock loss alone that equals the total profit of 8 stores alone per year (and it really pisses management off as well ;)). And that does not include other costs. It would cost a huge amount of money per year for enough "state" stores for people to have reasonable access...lets remember not all welfare takers have good transportation. It would just be prohibitively expensive to build or buy a government store that fills these needs.

However, the easiest thing to do would be to just make these items not accepted through the food stamp system.

[Skybird]

Oh yes, healthy foods should be included, but not Luxury foods like this. A t-bone is more more "healthy" than a normal cut of meat because of all the fat it has in it...and you can get 96% lean hamburger if you want. But I just can't see a nutritional reason for people on food stamps being able to get crab and hamburger. Plenty of other healthy alternatives out there that don't cost over 10.00 a pound if you know that to look for (which honestly probably isn't beef at all, rather chicken, pork, or fish). I'd have no problem a family picking up a salmon fillet for 6.99 or so. it's a fine healthy cut of meat, not the cheapest but good for you.

I'm just saying. Crab and Fine steak does not really make sense at all, it's not more healthy or anything. It's just well, Luxury food that has no other warrant to it other than being tasty and very, very expensive per pound.




Overhead. Plain ad simple. It's expensive to run a store. I probably can't say who, but the place I work for has an overhead from stock loss alone that equals the total profit of 8 stores alone per year (and it really pisses management off as well ;)). And that does not include other costs. It would cost a huge amount of money per year for enough "state" stores for people to have reasonable access...lets remember not all welfare takers have good transportation. It would just be prohibitively expensive to build or buy a government store that fills these needs.

However, the easiest thing to do would be to just make these items not accepted through the food stamp system.

You misunderstood me, or me intention.I just wanted to say that food stamps should not allow for unhealthy products - like Hamburgers or softdrinks. That they also should not allow for royal dinners three times the price than necessary for a reasonable healthy meal, is clear.

[TLAM Strike]

I just wanted to say that food stamps should not allow for unhealthy products - like Hamburgers or softdrinks. That they also should not allow for royal dinners three times the price than necessary for a reasonable healthy meal, is clear.
The problem is implementing it. We would need a system to monitor all the food items available for sale, determine their nutritional value, and certify that you can purchase them with EBT.

Then we have to determine if someone using EBT can buy some unhealthy products. Are the allotted one bag of chips a week or two.

Now we can't expect people with EBT benefits to know what items are on this list so manufactures would need to mark their products as EBT certified. Like it Kosher.

Any system that limits what food one can buy with EBT would require a huge effort to implement and maintain. Do we really need more government at the department of health and human services?

If they buy a shopping cart of fancy food with EBT I say fine. If they have enough money for another one full of booze then someone needs to turn them in for unreported income so their benefits would be reduced or denied.

[Skybird]

Yes, and after the regime being established here in Europe I am certainly not for blowing up the bureaucratic moloch even more.

But as I said: stamps for the essential needs of life, food, school items for the kids and education for them, and so on. These are attached to a certain purpose, that'S why they are stamps.

Social wellfare can additionally include a - much smaller - ammount of money - the aid that it is right now, but minus the vlaue of the food stamps, and then some. That gives a person or parents the ablity to jhave a small financial reserve that can be sdpend on chips and chocolate per week, theatre per month, cinema per month for the kids, soft drinks cigarettes or whatever it is. What I am about is to limit the access to thes ethings as long as the general community has to come up for it.

I also think, as I said, that the state should not sell unhealthy products in its own shops, like it should not raise taxes on tobacco, make a profit from that, but having rising health costs due to smoking-induced diseases. Or alcohol - the same issue. You cannot make a believable policy against alcohol or nicoteine especially for protecting the young ones if you have a profitable income from selling it, while the general community has to pay for the follow-up costs.

[AVGWarhawk]

okay, so as a grocery store worker this has been eating me up: The fact that you can get big ticket items on food stamps such items as:

-Beef tenderloins -20.99/lb
-snow crab legs -10.00/lb
-King crab legs - 19.99/lb
-New your Strip, t-bone, ribeye 10-12.99/lb

honestly this grinds my gears. I think these items should be prohibited. Lets face it, food stamps are there because you cannot afford to eat supposedly...not because you cannot afford to eat like a king! I'm all for people being able to get normal, less expensive products like chicken, pork and less expensive beef cuts...but King Crab legs??? really?! we once even had a lady buy $200.000 worth on food stamps because she just got her benefits. Honestly unless these people start sharing this crab with me in a little fed up. I can't afford that stuff, and as a college student i'll get like 50 a month if i got EBT.


Years ago I was strapped for money for the week. So I make due with what I have to work with. Peanut butter and jelly go a long way. So do eggs. I went to the grocery store to get my lunch supplies for the week. It was peanut butter, jelly and loaf of bread. Cheap, fills the belly and generally full of protein from the peanut butter. Five or six buck and done. As I'm waiting to check out a food stamp recipient loads onto the conveyor two lobster tails, two steaks and a bunch of flowers. :o The guy was not only eating great but providing for a date planned and probably getting laid after eating. All on the tax payers living in the state of Maryland. :shifty:

[gimpy117]

Years ago I was strapped for money for the week. So I make due with what I have to work with. Peanut butter and jelly go a long way. So do eggs. I went to the grocery store to get my lunch supplies for the week. It was peanut butter, jelly and loaf of bread. Cheap, fills the belly and generally full of protein from the peanut butter. Five or six buck and done. As I'm waiting to check out a food stamp recipient loads onto the conveyor two lobster tails, two steaks and a bunch of flowers. :o The guy was not only eating great but providing for a date planned and probably getting laid after eating. All on the tax payers living in the state of Maryland. :shifty:

i know. eats me up. I eat on the cheap as well. I'd be okay with a food stamper getting PBJ, or at least something a little more...but that? ugh.

[Respenus]

The following idea is similar to food stamps, or any type of stamps, in purpose, for what about a rationing book (which wouldn't be a bad idea in general, but let's try to limit the outcry)? This way you would be given money to spend rather freely and on necessities, without the necessary control of what type of food stuff stamps are being used for. The first major problem I see with this idea, is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to equip only a certain number of people with the cards and others not and how stores would control it. Perhaps people with rationing cards would get basic goods at a discount price?

[soopaman2]

My old lady is in the business as well. She is an assistant manager at a very large supermarket company here.

One of my favorite stories is the ones who wait at the store for the stroke of midnight (when they were 24/7 in operation, as they are not anymore), (sometimes with their dealers accompanying, or a cab waiting outside) to buy a pack of gum, get 100$ back (the limit), then repeat until the cash (welfare portion, not stamps) is ran out. So much for paying bills, this dance repeated itself 2 days later on the 3rd of the month as well.

The store used to bring in security as most would usually stop by the HABA (health and beauty aids, like razors, and medicine) to shoplift razors and expensive medicine to return later (the store has a no reciept police. aka give them the pickle)

It is disgusting. We (working class) have to budget, and go without sometimes to pay our obligations, while the fraud is rampant.

This takes away from the unfortionate souls who really need stamps and welfare. And makes the genuine down on their luck people look bad.

And when the right kills these programs due to these abusers, their will be more good people suffering than fraudsters.

We should require drug tests for all government benefits. All adults being claimed, mother and father (if there is a father).

Community service, at least 15 hours a week for the township, which can cut service costs for the community. These people would actually be forced to be helpful to society, rather than just taking.

Also some of these poor impoverished people show up in Lexus', Benzes, with rims and 20 inch wheels. As well as huge speakers, and a radio system that makes my gaming rig look like an Atari 2600.

That includes unemployment too.

I sound so conservative...

I am still lefty, but abuse is abuse.
This program is helpful, but the costs could be trimmed with actual regulating. You should want to help yourself, first. And prove it.

I am sick of paying taxes, so miss nubian queen, and trailor park Royalty can drive around in a benz and not work.

[Skybird]

The following idea is similar to food stamps, or any type of stamps, in purpose, for what about a rationing book (which wouldn't be a bad idea in general, but let's try to limit the outcry)? This way you would be given money to spend rather freely and on necessities, without the necessary control of what type of food stuff stamps are being used for. The first major problem I see with this idea, is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to equip only a certain number of people with the cards and others not and how stores would control it. Perhaps people with rationing cards would get basic goods at a discount price?


The priority for me is to make sure that other people'S moeny gets not wasted on luxury goods and luxurious details in ways of life. The aid given thereforew should be linkied as close as possible to the purposes it is meant for: essential food to prevent hunger and disease, shelter, education options and school material for children in a household. People should not make a living by such aid, nor should they sack money for buying cigarettes, the latest MP3 player, filet steaks, and Boss Bottled, expensive style.

I see no advantage in your idea, therefore. I even see it as inferior to a stamping system. I would prefer to supply only a very very small ammount of cash, and give instead purpose-bound values: stamps, in other words.

Oh, and I think there should be a law that makes stamps non-tradable, so that they cannot be exchanged/sold for money. They should be personalised in any way, like a monthly pass for the Bus, for example. Same ID on stamps and in a receiver pass - by that you prevent trading stamps. Irresponsible parents thus cannot trade the stamps for school material for their kids for money - money that then goes into buying alcohol or cigarettes. What is meant to help the kids, should remain theirs, beyond doubt. A black market trading for stamps should be battled against from beginning on.

It must not be a big bureaucratic effort, I think. In these days, with chip cards and all that digiatl data processing capacity, so much is possible so easily and so quickly, assuming the job of establishing such a system is not left to lobbyists or political dilettants.

---

On forcing wellgfare reciever to work in communal services, I am aware of the fact that this opens doors and gates for abuse by employers as well. We have this very very big problem with socalled 1-Euro-jobs here in Germany, that's why. It led to the establishing of economic business models that from all beginning on depend on paying employees only 1 Euro per hpour, and the remaining needs of the employee being taken care of by the tax payer. As a consequence such jobs destroy regular jobs, again at the cost of the general public. Plus it makes you feel like dirt knowing that your emplyoer only emplys you because you are worth to him just one Euro per hour - that is abuse, and in principle modern slavery, unvoluntarily subsidised by the tax payers, while some profiteer collects the cream. That'S why I tend to think on a design that accepts to give the basic wellfare help for free, an essential basis of help without much luxury, and then with an option to increase slightly over that aid level - by signing in to community service jobs like soopaman mentioned - this then earny the wellfare receiver additional stamps or special stamps or maybe even a little money. - But again, children's aid should be unaffected by this.

[Aramike]

okay, so as a grocery store worker this has been eating me up: The fact that you can get big ticket items on food stamps such items as:

-Beef tenderloins -20.99/lb
-snow crab legs -10.00/lb
-King crab legs - 19.99/lb
-New your Strip, t-bone, ribeye 10-12.99/lb

honestly this grinds my gears. I think these items should be prohibited. Lets face it, food stamps are there because you cannot afford to eat supposedly...not because you cannot afford to eat like a king! I'm all for people being able to get normal, less expensive products like chicken, pork and less expensive beef cuts...but King Crab legs??? really?! we once even had a lady buy $200.000 worth on food stamps because she just got her benefits. Honestly unless these people start sharing this crab with me in a little fed up. I can't afford that stuff, and as a college student i'll get like 50 a month if i got EBT.This may be a first, but I agree with you 100%.

I personally think that people who are completely on the dole should, after a certain period of time, be issued ration packs rather than the ability to make their own purchases on the taxpayer dime.

If fact, I think that this is indicative of what is the problem with our welfare system as a whole - instead of helping people simply get by, we've gone so far as to take the misery out of poverty. Let's be honest: in the US if you're on welfare and food stamps, odds are you still have clean, running water, taxpayer funded utilities, a nice flat screen TV, etc.

[Skybird]

Ready-packs indeed are another possibility. One pack per week, for an adult for example so and so much milk, butter, tea-bags, apples, bananas, citrons, eggs, bread, some ordinary cheese, potatoes, and so on.

Again, no cigarettes, no soft drinks, no whisky etc.

On cloathes and school material, you probably still are better off with a stamp system. The needs are too diverse and cannot be systematically predicted.

Social aid, wellfare, is about the essentials of life, and staying healthy. It's not about luxury. The system we have in Germany now, called Hartz-IV, in itself again is not perfect, since it is too theoretically founded, and not pragmatically oriented towards reality. It was thought out by some disconnected egghead in the locked ivory tower, I think. As a result some parasites - singles for the most - live relatively comfortable by it, while others, especially hard-trying families with kids, who are good-willed to get out of fate's pit indeed, get too little.

Oh, and one thing. Getting pregnant while on wellfare should get rewarded by punishing sanctions. Protect the new baby, if you think that is a moral imperative, but let the parents feel the penalty for sure. Only bread and water, so to speak.

[soopaman2]

Here in America getting knocked up with another sprog is rewarded with more welfare and stamps.

Yeah that is another issue.:down:

It should be a safety net, not a way of life.

[Aramike]

Ready-packs indeed are another possibility. One pack per week, for an adult for example so and so much milk, butter, tea-bags, apples, bananas, citrons, eggs, bread, some ordinary cheese, potatoes, and so on.

Again, no cigarettes, no soft drinks, no whisky etc.

On cloathes and school material, you probably still are better off with a stamp system. The needs are too diverse and cannot be systematically predicted.

Social aid, wellfare, is about the essentials of life, and staying healthy. It's not about luxury. The system we have in Germany now, called Hartz-IV, in itself again is not perfect, since it is too theoretically founded, and not pragmatically oriented towards reality. It was thought out by some disconnected egghead in the locked ivory tower, I think. As a result some parasites - singles for the most - live relatively comfortable by it, while others, especially hard-trying families with kids, who are good-willed to get out of fate's pit indeed, get too little.

Oh, and one thing. Getting pregnant while on wellfare should get rewarded by punishing sanctions. Protect the new baby, if you think that is a moral imperative, but let the parents feel the penalty for sure. Only bread and water, so to speak.Perhaps for items like clothing and school supplies, there should be an audit system requiring welfare users to justify and account for every bit of currency spent?

[mookiemookie]

Here in America getting knocked up with another sprog is rewarded with more welfare and stamps.

Yeah that is another issue.:down:

It should be a safety net, not a way of life.

I think most would agree, but how do you specifically ensure it's the former and not the latter?

[Skybird]

Perhaps for items like clothing and school supplies, there should be an audit system requiring welfare users to justify and account for every bit of currency spent?
Sounds like even more bureaucracy. Stamps seem to be simplier to me.

Or a distribution of needed pencils and paper and books to children directly at school, after showing a pass.

Every little detail in every single case is probably impossible to be dealt with anyway, and we therefore should not seek for it - the bureaucratic price could get too high. What it is about is to get the bigger picture, the greater scheme right, and to link the value of aid given to the purposes it is meant for. The systems we have in place now, are too unbalanced, and too open for intentional abuse as well as erratic functioning by flawed design.

Children should qualify for education not due to the social class and income of their parents, but by their abilities and skills. Those having potential should be able to make it through a good education, so that they do not needlessly get turned into the next generation of social wellfare receivers. However, today poltiicians seem to think that achievement in learning and education is something that can be given, can be distributed, and must not be earned. That is a big mispercpetion, imo. It should not be about giving everybody the same educaiton grade and level - this only leads to the general skill levels of all kids declining, and the potzentially better kids with better potewntials getting mistreated by calling them back to mediocre performance levels and hindering them to achieve more and to do better. Damn socialist ideology it is here in Germany. In our schools, the general skill levels of the pupils are delcining - while their school notes go up. What happened is that the authoprities tried to cosmetically correct the bad performance results by lowering the standards. And necessarily this causes a terrible backfiring.

Children, and peope, are not all of the same skill and potential. Everybody, but especially left-leaning people have to finally understand this. Collective mediocrity is not the answer, but to let those being able to perform better performing better indeed instead of ordering them back and demotivating them so that they should fall back into line with the inferior performers, compared to them. Each and everybody to his abilities, not everybody according to a general level of low mediocrity. Nobody ha sht right to demand to be seen as a big number just because that is what he wants to be. Everbody should have the right to prove that he is, and if he is not, than he should find his place at a lower ranking. Those places below the top are needed, too.

Husband of a good friend of mine is school teacher. He is ordered to give class exames with three mistake still an A-grade! If the kid is at risk to not make it to the next class, he is ordered to give notes in such a way that transfer to naxt class becomes possible nevertheless! If the general note-score of the school is falkling beyond a mean level demanded by the ministry, then all teachers are unofficially told and pressed to reduce the standards and to give better notes, in order to raise the general school performance level that way!

Sorry, I'm straying off, but this is issue is dear to me, and the conspirarcy in German education system is shocking, imo. Not only do we sell the next egneration into misery that way, we also ruin our nation's own future. And the reform of the university grades and titles, from German engineer diploma to these isiotic bachelors and masters - don'T even get me sdtarted. The Bologna process, as the EU euphemistically calls it, is a crime, and a textbook example of utmost bureaucratic dillentism. The cynical gangster having initiated it should be lined up at the wall and shot, in all seriousness. I'm so tired, so very very tired of seeing this sick breed of retards ruining our nations and our whole cultural sphere and running parties in celebrating themselves for it.

Thread successfully hijacked, I assume?! :DL

[krashkart]

Was in a bad run of unemployment, had to apply for the card. I tried to hide it, but the monitor over the cash register would print it out below the balance:

FOOD STAMPS

:damn::damn::damn::damn:

I think the store changed the policy on that at some point -- much to my relief. But I always made sure that the card disappeared back into my pocket as soon as it left the slot. It was a pride thing I had going on then.

If I ate anything at all in a day it was food I could afford within my means. If I wanted a fancy, expensive meal I'd have to wait until one of my better-off friends or family invited me out to dinner.

At the time it would have been better if I had died in my sleep or been run over by a semi. But looking back on the experience I'm glad I had the help.

I don't worry too much about what other people do with their EBT cards. What's important to me is that I keep my nose to the grindstone and do the best I can. That much I can be happy about, and I still have a clear conscience. :yep:

[Aramike]

Sounds like even more bureaucracy. Stamps seem to be simplier to me. Normally I'd agree, except I'm sure we can find some bureaucrats in useless roles to take on the task. :ping:

The way I see it, if you're on welfare you should have plenty of time to properly manage your finances. It's the discipline piece that many recipients have a problem with, and that's partly why they're struggling in the first place.

[CptSimFreak]

I recall my student days......10c per noddle package.....yeah... not good for but still.

[mookiemookie]

Was in a bad run of unemployment, had to apply for the card. I tried to hide it, but the monitor over the cash register would print it out below the balance:

FOOD STAMPS

:damn::damn::damn::damn:

I think the store changed the policy on that at some point -- much to my relief. But I always made sure that the card disappeared back into my pocket as soon as it left the slot. It was a pride thing I had going on then.

If I ate anything at all in a day it was food I could afford within my means. If I wanted a fancy, expensive meal I'd have to wait until one of my better-off friends or family invited me out to dinner.

At the time it would have been better if I had died in my sleep or been run over by a semi. But looking back on the experience I'm glad I had the help.

I don't worry too much about what other people do with their EBT cards. What's important to me is that I keep my nose to the grindstone and do the best I can. That much I can be happy about, and I still have a clear conscience. :yep:

One of my biggest pride swallowing moments in life was when I applied for unemployment.

[CaptainHaplo]

One of my biggest pride swallowing moments in life was when I applied for unemployment.

What's important to me is that I keep my nose to the grindstone and do the best I can. That much I can be happy about, and I still have a clear conscience. :yep:

You see - this is what the programs are supposed to be - sure, my tax money went to pay for "your" benefits. But ya know - I went through a bout of unemployment too. I got help - as hard as it was to admit it was needed. We helped each other out - and each of use wanted to move on with life and make it better.

No one - of any political stripe - has a problem with doing this in ways that allow people to bounce back.

Its those that choose not to - that need addressing.

[gimpy117]

Ready-packs indeed are another possibility. One pack per week, for an adult for example so and so much milk, butter, tea-bags, apples, bananas, citrons, eggs, bread, some ordinary cheese, potatoes, and so on.
.
I might bring up however, there are a multitude of disorders and food allergies that throw a wrench in this idea. Many different dietary needs exist. It's good on paper, but you will also have to pay a person to make and deliver these "ready made packs". No grocery store I know of will stock these, since space is at a premium in even the largest stores. For example. I got 7 skids (whole pallets) of stock today. Don't know how all of those will go into the cooler. Good luck night stock

I recall my student days......10c per noddle package.....yeah... not good for but still.
man, their 30 cents now!

One of my biggest pride swallowing moments in life was when I applied for unemployment.
means you are a normal, good person

[Tribesman]

Oh, and one thing. Getting pregnant while on wellfare should get rewarded by punishing sanctions. Protect the new baby, if you think that is a moral imperative, but let the parents feel the penalty for sure. Only bread and water, so to speak.
I recon sterelisation of the economicly unproductive is the best way forward, it should also be applied to those disabled people as they often are claiming welfare too, and thick people too as they shouldn't be allowed to breed anyway. The baby should be taken and properly cared for by the regime and raised to be a law abiding productive obedient citizen of the state. The irresponsible parents can feel the penalty in a labour establishment where they can work for bread and water until work makes them free.

The cynical gangster having initiated it should be lined up at the wall and shot, in all seriousness. I'm so tired, so very very tired of seeing this sick breed of retards ruining our nations and our whole cultural sphere and running parties in celebrating themselves for it.


Damn degenerates eh, its a global conspiracy.


This broadcast has been brought to you by Skybirds reflections on the benefits of state eugenics and strict social policy as the cure for societies ills from My Struggle the masterpiece :doh:

[Aramike]

One of my biggest pride swallowing moments in life was when I applied for unemployment.Not being facetious here, but good for you! I personally know more than a few people for whom filing for unemployment was a joy as it meant a paycheck without having to work.

People should harbor a natural revulsion to receiving something for nothing, even when we need it and support a society to provide it. Should we make easy living a choice, more and more people will choose to live easy.