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She had like $200 to use up, and she is a single person. She had plenty of staples and still had lots of money to use up after getting the staples. So she moved on to more expensive stuff. Of course, here you assumed she didn't buy "sensible" stuff. $100 buys easily 3-4 months worth of staples for a single person.
Help me understand something. You keep indicating she had to use up thr EBT balance the month she received it. Generally Snap users have a year to use the money.
Was she told she did have use it all before the next month?
This isn't a major point but I was curious.
Last edited by Wild Flower; 07-27-2015 at 07:08 PM..
I'd like to know a little more, too, beyond the Yes, I have a cell phone because..... Already defensive, she's anticipating questions about what she does have. Locally, reporters doing the regular "people struggling on assistance" stories have learned to blur the backgrounds/stick to closeups lest readers/viewers spot the huge flat-screen TVs, Play Stations, and techno-toys cluttering the scene, and write their angry letters to the editor.
"Christine" isn't the one that should be angry; taxpayers should, as it's their largesse that supports ungrateful people like her when that's the job of her baby daddy. BTW, I would EXPECT that Christine pass up "pre-cut foods," as they're overpriced and an abuse of taxpayer money.
That's a good part of the problem today--no shame. Christine can take her anger...and shove it.
Expect? How I expect that you (or anyone using the roads) to take the shortest route to work if you drive on govenment roads? After all, we don't want the roads to be more heavly used than need be.
(And do not say you're paying. Not ALL the cost.)
I think people shame others out of a need to control.
It also has always struck me odd that taxpayer funds can be applied towards Red Bull and Krispy Kremes but not Zest and Colgate.
I'll agree with that. I also think it's odd that you can buy Red Bull and Krispy Kremes, but not a hot, whole chicken from the grocery store deli. Applying heat to food renders it unavailable via SNAP.
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In any case, many items that are purchasable (but probably shouldn't be) are left unregulated at the behest of powerful corporate interests. I often wonder whether or not people actually understand what food stamps really are, because they have very little to do with helping the poor.
Another good point - weren't food stamps initially a program of the Department of Agriculture?
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Originally Posted by indy_317
So I went with her to the office and of the 20 or so people in line, I count no less than seven or so designer handbags.
I tell people that story and of course the pro-state welfare crowd always chimes in with how they were all likely knock-off bags. It is possible, but unlikely. It would actually be more likely that some were stolen and given as gifts or purchased for cheap (the person likely having a good idea the bag was stolen) than for them to be fake.
You're confusing unemployment benefits and public assistance. The people you saw in line at the unemployment office purchased their designer handbags with the money they earned while they were employed. But for that matter, people receiving public benefits could have purchased their designer handbags when they were employed as well. Same with their cars, their cell phones, their fancy nails, and all the other meaningless barometers of wealth that you've mentioned.
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Originally Posted by ncole1
Or maybe it's a disgrace that people have kids they can't afford.
You know what's really a disgrace? When a couple has goes ahead and has children when they're both employed and solvent, when the future looks rosy ... but, damn! They didn't forsee that traffic accident that prevents one of them from ever working again. They couldn't predict that the industry they work in would go belly up, or that their house would burn down. They didn't know that one of them would become ill and die.
Good read. Anyone who wants to stand in judgment of those who take public assistance ought to read it. My dad had to resort to help when I was growing up, and he worked himself to the bone. If you haven't been there, you don't know what it's like.
You know who abuses the food-stamp system? Big corporations that refuse to pay their workers enough to live on. They don't bother because they know the government will pick up the slack, yet they're raking in record profits for themselves. That's where people's anger should be directed. Stop sending our jobs overseas, stop hoarding profits, and start paying people a fair living wage. Corporate leaders used to understand the benefit of doing that. It makes your workers happy and loyal. Now workers are viewed as a cost to be minimized, not human beings with families to support and bills to pay.
Any particular reason folks can't pay for their own BC?
What exactly is the need for sex ed? Are you saying no one is aware of how babies come to be without the public school system clueing them in?
Exactly as I expected.
You don't support abortion or food stamps, but you're okay with the government picking up the tab for the whole pregnancy and birth. Not to mention if the child isn't adopted it goes into the system and you're still paying for.
Yes, some people don't have the money for birth control, for whatever reason. It is still cheaper to give a woman free birth control than to pay for ANY of the options of an unintended pregnancy/birth.
Again, sex ed works and is yet another far less expensive option than pregnancy and children.
My point is, you want don't want to pay for kids people "shouldn't have", help them to not have children. It's common sense.
To sit their and turn up your nose at those who have kids they "shouldn't", and punish the children by not providing them with social services doesn't help the problem. At all. It just makes you judgmental and acting like you're better than. It doesn't help anyone it even the problem at hand.
And I'll tell you something else. Sometimes I crave shrimp. In order to buy that, I must cut corners somewhere else. It's called budgeting. So I will have peanut butter sandwiches or bean burritos for a week so I can afford the shrimp. I get absolutely fed to the teeth with people saying that I can buy shrimp on food stamps but they can't afford it on a regular job. Horse puckey. If you wanted to eat shrimp and you were willing to eat peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week in order to buy it, you could afford shrimp, too. You just aren't willing to do that. So why should I be penalized because I can do something you could do too, but won't?
If you're on food stamps, you can't afford shrimp. You should be using your food stamps to purchase as much food as possible. If you don't have food stamps next month, then you won't be able to afford food, right? This means that you should be getting the absolute most bang for your buck. This means chicken leg quarters instead of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
When I buy my own shrimp, then I can choose to allocate a large portion of my grocery budget to it. That's because, next week if I'm broke and can't afford food, then I can't whine to others that they didn't give me enough for groceries.
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Originally Posted by WeHa
Just wondering, do you support abortion? Or free birth control? What about sex ed in public schools?
I'm genuinely hoping your answer is yes because while I don't agree with your opinion and find it rather crass, it'd be easier to swallow if you agree with doing everything possible to prevent unwanted pregnancy/children.
Give it a rest. I would be willing to wager that there are very few individuals in this country who are old enough to have sex and make babies but who do not understand exactly where babies come from. People should take responsibility for their own actions, but in the liberal world, we should all be able to screw up as much as we want and then depend on others to pay for it.
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Originally Posted by WaldoKitty
There is nothing to understand. Able bodied working age adults who live on EBT for more than a few weeks are deadbeats. Period.
Well, I'd give them 6 months or less, but pretty much.
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Originally Posted by WeHa
Must be nice to like in paradise where EVERY able bodied working age adult is employeed full time at a living wage.
You do realize that mathematically there are literally not enough jobs in America for "Able bodied working age adults" to all have a job, any kind of job.
What we need is more jobs, more businesses, more industry, more opportunity.
There are jobs. Fast food places, factories, etc. are pretty much hiring all the time. Plus, how can we have more jobs, more businesses, more industry and more opportunity when the liberals do everything that they can to cut businesses down? "Rich people" and "corporations" are bad, but who do you think creates jobs? I guess we're supposed to be all about the poor people, who do absolutely nothing for society other than leach off of it.
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Originally Posted by Rakin
Do Drug dealers take EBT cards ?
No wonder many people can't pay cash for their food.
Sure, but your $20 bag of dope is going to cost the taxpayers $40 in food stamps.
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Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
The people who swear they know someone who drives a brand new caddy SUV and buys lobster every night on food stamps...that is BS. Maybe those people sell drugs or something else criminal, but no one is getting that kind of money in benefits legitimately.
Read some of the accounts online of famous people (like Newark mayor Corey Booker) who tried to live on food stamps for 2 weeks. It is barely enough food to survive.
The thing is that to many of these people, their money is THEIR money and shouldn't be spent on things like taxes, food for themselves or a roof over their own heads. Why should they have to pay for all of that stuff when the government will do it for them? They can go get a nice car with minimal incomes because they have NO expenses. It's like how a teenager can spend every dime that he/she makes at a fast food job because mommy and daddy are paying for the house, the electric bill, the phone bill, the food, etc.
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Originally Posted by MoonBeam33
So because someone has food stamps they're not allowed to get some beer occasionally? Why is that? Why is that your call to make?
Because if they can't afford to feed themselves, then they can't afford to indulge in useless habits like drinking beer.
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Originally Posted by Wild Flower
Help me understand something. You keep indicating she had to use up thr EBT balance the month she received it. Generally Snap users have a year to use the money.
Was she told she did have use it all before the next month?
This isn't a major point but I was curious.
I'm curious about this, too. SNAP usually rolls over from month to month. His/her argument seems to be one of those made-up BS liberal arguments from someone who drives a new SUV, lives in a gated community and is rarely if ever around poor people but who thinks that they know EVERYTHING about how these people act and what they deserve.
You don't support abortion or food stamps, but you're okay with the government picking up the tab for the whole pregnancy and birth. Not to mention if the child isn't adopted it goes into the system and you're still paying for.
Yes, some people don't have the money for birth control, for whatever reason. It is still cheaper to give a woman free birth control than to pay for ANY of the options of an unintended pregnancy/birth.
Again, sex ed works and is yet another far less expensive option than pregnancy and children.
My point is, you want don't want to pay for kids people "shouldn't have", help them to not have children. It's common sense.
To sit their and turn up your nose at those who have kids they "shouldn't", and punish the children by not providing them with social services doesn't help the problem. At all. It just makes you judgmental and acting like you're better than.
If you can't afford birth control, then DON'T HAVE SEX.
It's just that easy.
Most who "can't afford birth control" spend plenty on other things but can't spend $1 on a gas station condom.
You just don't get and probably never will so I'm going stop taking to a wall now.
Oh, I understand perfectly. I understand that I am an adult and that is my responsibility to feed myself. If I find myself in a situation in which I cannot feed myself, then I will be highly appreciative of any crumbs that someone else offers me, since it isn't anyone else's RESPONSIBILITY to take care of me.
I also know that it is MY responsibility not to get pregnant if I don't want to get pregnant or if I cannot afford to feed and care for my potential offspring. Somehow, I've managed to be sexually active for the last 9 years of my life (including six years of a live-in relationship with my now-husband) and have never gotten pregnant.
If you're on food stamps, you can't afford shrimp. You should be using your food stamps to purchase as much food as possible. If you don't have food stamps next month, then you won't be able to afford food, right? This means that you should be getting the absolute most bang for your buck. This means chicken leg quarters instead of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
When I buy my own shrimp, then I can choose to allocate a large portion of my grocery budget to it. That's because, next week if I'm broke and can't afford food, then I can't whine to others that they didn't give me enough for groceries.
Did you not read what I posted? I called it budgeting, not allocating, but it's the same thing. I make sure I have enough food for the whole month and if I want to buy shrimp, which is going to make me short before the end of the month, then I eat something else that's cheaper for a week so I can afford to buy the shrimp. The state made the decision that I was eligible for food stamps, but it's my responsibility to make sure I have enough food for the month and how I do that is neither yours nor anyone else's business, as long as it gets done.
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Originally Posted by Sarahsez
Beer is a luxury. If you can afford to buy beer, you can afford to pay for your own food.
I'd give a lot to be able to buy a can of beer to make beer batter. I can just see the looks now.
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Originally Posted by Petunia 100
I have no problem with taxpayer funded birth control. People who want birth control should have it, whether they can pay for it or not.
Birth control, abortion, or a child till he's 18. Your taxes may end up paying for any one of them, so whichever you prefer. Your choice.
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Originally Posted by WeHa
I agree with you 100%, I just can't rep you anymore.
Thanks, I really do appreciate it!
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Originally Posted by RobynV
Actually there is! I used to work as a grocery checker in a small town. At least 5 or 6 times a day I'd sell cigarettes and/or alcohol to someone who paid cash, then they'd have me separately ring up their expensive grocery choices (name brand cereals, steaks, name brand soda, etc) and they'd use their food stamps or EBT for those. I'd definitely call that abusing the system! Oh and not to mention, most of them drove a much nicer car than I did, and managed to own mud trucks and go camping every other weekend. Hmmmmm........
Here's a newsflash for you. My state disability is put on my EBT card and unlike food stamps, I don't feel as if I have to account to anyone for what I choose to buy with it. More than $150 every month goes to pay bills, but if I want to take a couple dollars and buy something else, I'll do it. So I may be in the store buying food with my EBT card, but I will also have cash (pulled off the disability part) to pay for something like oh, maybe cooking wine.
You see me buying this wine and you think I'm abusing the food stamps. Well, guess what? I'm not. I'm buying that wine with money that is as much mine as social security would be if I were getting that.
And as for camping, well, I can't afford the park fees in this state, but I've lived in my truck and I've lived in my car fairly recently and most of the things I used to survive that is with camping equipment bought when I was working. So yes, I could go camping too with no problem whatsoever.
You think you know what's going on, but without really asking people what their story is, all you have is an impression that verifies what you have already decided you want to see.
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