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All righty then, I will follow your lead. I have no problem with food stamps, with regulations to make sure you can only spend it on food. But if you want to change food stamps into just cash, then I say No.
I never understand these food stamp scams where recipients are trading them for cash. To qualify for food stamps you need to be pretty poor, and food stamps aren't enough to pay for all the food you need to eat. So what's the benefit of swapping $100 of food stamps for $70 cash that you still have to spend on food to survive? It's not like you can spend the $70 on a non-approved steak dinner, because then you'll be hungry for a month until the next payment comes in. Are these people who are actually wealthy and inappropriately filing for food stamps (in which case that's the real crime to me, not the swap)? Are they just too stupid to feed themselves? Are the allergic to everything on the approved spending list? What's really going on here?
The problem with food stamps is that all things are not even. The amount of food stamps given takes into consideration the prices in an area but there can be big differences in pricing.
In Chicago there is a big difference between the small corner grocery store and a larger value store. The smaller store tends to have higher prices and smaller sized items but is easier to get to if you don't have a car. The larger store(esp. the big box chains) can give the best value per dollar and if you have access an car easy transport of more and larger goods . Access(and use) of private food pantries run by charities makes a difference. There are also difference in types of cooking(What you cook makes an huge difference in what it costs). As well as an small bump up in food stamp amounts around the holidays(which the person may or may not need/use).
This causes huge differences in the amount needed or left over. Food stamps can only be used for food, cash could be used for anything so cash is more valuable. Also food stamps don't cover all the needed good that you buy in an grocery store, just food.
Recently there was a welfare fraud bust in a nearby rural small town. The entire investigation went on for over a year before the cops rolled up and arrested the store owners and employees who were selling welfare recipients illegal products, and paying 70-cents on the dollar for SNAP cards. I'd like to know what this Big Bust cause the taxpayers, but nobody is admitting anything. I'm sure the bill is much higher than the actual fraud.
The welfare system is too easily scammed. So, why do we continue to use it.
I'd like to hear some ideas on how people would change it. We all complain about it, but never offer solutions.
My idea would be to do away with our current welfare cards. Build a Welfare Store in every neighborhood that needs one. Similar to Sam's Club, only a welfare recipient can enter and shop there. Stock these Welfare Stores with only approved goods (no beer or tobacco products). All Welfare Stores must keep their computers up-to-date with local recipient names and how much welfare money they have in their account. Nobody but the recipient can access those accounts, and yes, proof of identity will be a must every time they shop. A photo ID only. Welfare recipients can only shop in their local Welfare Stores where their names are on file. Any recipient that doesn't like that can go to work and earn the privilege of shopping wherever they want to shop.
What do you all think? Good idea? Bad? Feel free to post your thoughts and solutions. America is not about to let people starve to death, so please let's save the "Cut 'em all off welfare" arguments for another thread.
The welfare system is broken. It is set up to scale handouts based on a maximum wage. What does this mean? Well, it means that if you work over a certain amount of hours or make over a certain amount, obviously you don't need any help. That is a disincentive to work, and an incentive to mooch!
Foodstamps are fine, I have used them. They don't hand out money, just help with grocery costs. The problem is kinda the same, to qualify, you need about 20 hours of work (which is fine) but also is factored against housing costs, and total income. It is a mess. Part-time or biweekly should be the only qualifier. You need to not have to worry about making too much, and have a decent safety net for part-time work. Instead, for my experience, it was a constant worry about making just too much to have apartment costs and disqualify for help (I need about $120 a month living alone, and it hurts when that gets cut). Make entry level jobs easier to come by (through a combination of more public sector jobs, fines for undocumented laborers,and better hiring programs for private sector), so the only unemployed are not working. And do away with this screwy math formula. A single person needs $30 a week for food. A big family needs $15 per person. It isn't rocket science. If they are working part-time, give them this in foodstamps. If they are working fulltime, they probably don't need assistance unless supporting nonworking family.
The welfare system is broken. It is set up to scale handouts based on a maximum wage. What does this mean? Well, it means that if you work over a certain amount of hours or make over a certain amount, obviously you don't need any help. That is a disincentive to work, and an incentive to mooch!
Do you really believe that $383 cash in Nevada, or $185 in Tennessee for a parent and two children creates a disincentive to work?
Do you really believe that $383 cash in Nevada, or $185 in Tennessee for a parent and two children creates a disincentive to work?
When they are against the cliff for those states, YES. Welfare needs to be a hill similar to the health insurance subsidies rather than the cliff it is today. However I am not holding my breath for it to change because too many Republicans want it just done away with completely.
My solution would be to require community service of anyone receiving welfare (except the severely disabled). That should discourage a lot of the deadbeats from requesting welfare.
Not just expensive, ridiculous. So many, like the OP are hysterical about a fraction of welfare fraud among the poor while overlooking the egregious abuses of those with privilege at tax payer expense.
The welfare system is broken. It is set up to scale handouts based on a maximum wage. What does this mean? Well, it means that if you work over a certain amount of hours or make over a certain amount, obviously you don't need any help. That is a disincentive to work, and an incentive to mooch!
Foodstamps are fine, I have used them. They don't hand out money, just help with grocery costs. The problem is kinda the same, to qualify, you need about 20 hours of work (which is fine) but also is factored against housing costs, and total income. It is a mess. Part-time or biweekly should be the only qualifier. You need to not have to worry about making too much, and have a decent safety net for part-time work. Instead, for my experience, it was a constant worry about making just too much to have apartment costs and disqualify for help (I need about $120 a month living alone, and it hurts when that gets cut). Make entry level jobs easier to come by (through a combination of more public sector jobs, fines for undocumented laborers,and better hiring programs for private sector), so the only unemployed are not working. And do away with this screwy math formula. A single person needs $30 a week for food. A big family needs $15 per person. It isn't rocket science. If they are working part-time, give them this in foodstamps. If they are working fulltime, they probably don't need assistance unless supporting nonworking family.
$30 dollars a week for food? That's the SNAP amount?
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