City of L.A now forcing Farmer's Market vendors to accept EBT (low income, crime)

[North Beach Person]

Farmer's Markets here in Maryland have accepted EBT for years. I'm somewhat surprised yours haven't been doing so.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

I see how so many hungry, starving/emaciated EBT customers in Miami basically used grocery stores as banks. We paid the fees. It's a win-win, and the local economy is stimulated - YAY! But that American taxpayer be damned.

$13M food stamp scheme busted; 22 people charged | Miami Herald

Yes. Big bust. But I'm not sure what your point is? There is fraud. It is aggressively investigated and prosecuted - resulting in a very low percentage of loss. The persons mostly responsible for SNAP fraud are middle class business owners who run scams, such as this one in your linked article, who recruit SNAP recipients to trade for cash at a discount.

The average fraud losses in business runs 5% - 6%. Government runs typically a little higher I think, but would have to check numbers more. I vaguely recall that government programs can run up closer to 10% - except the SNAP is the lowest at 1.3% - 3%.

If you are concerned about the average American taxpayer being "damned", um, you should write your congress person objecting to corporate welfare which costs taxpayers much more than social welfare or fraud.

You should also support programs to aggressively track and prosecute tax fraud, such as underreporting, which costs the Treasury in the range of $300 billion annually. That's $3 Trillion in the last decade.

Makes SNAP fraud look a little silly don't it?

[Cream1]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Also again , politically incorrect warning
Maybe people should not be having kids if they can't afford basic needs like food ..


As Michael Jackson once sang

"If You Cant Feed Your Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
Then Don't Have A Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
And Don't Think Maybe (Yeah, Yeah)
If You Can't Feed Your Baby (Yeah, Yeah)
You'll Be Always Tryin'
To Stop That Child From Cryin'
Hustlin', Stealin', Lyin'"

Because it's easier to blame "mean" conservatives than for people to take accountability for their lives.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Howiester

Because it's easier to blame "mean" conservatives than for people to take accountability for their lives.

How about: Because it's easier to demand money from "mean" conservatives (who pay taxes) than for people to take accountability for their lives.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Also again , politically incorrect warning
Maybe people should not be having kids if they can't afford basic needs like food ..
'"

True. And maybe corporations shouldn't be in business if they can't be profitable without sucking on the taxpayers' teat.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Howiester

Because it's easier to blame "mean" conservatives than for people to take accountability for their lives.

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

How about: Because it's easier to demand money from "mean" conservatives (who pay taxes) than for people to take accountability for their lives.

How about because it's easier for big corporations to demand subsidies from the government than to accept aacountability for their operational responsibilities.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

How about because it's easier for big corporations to demand subsidies from the government than to accept aacountability for their operational responsibilities.

The apparent argument some here are putting forward is that it doesn't matter if benefits are given to those who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves because some corporations may pay insufficient taxes. I am sorry to inform you but the argument does not follow i.e. one does not lead to the other.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

The apparent argument some here are putting forward is that it doesn't matter if benefits are given to those who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves because some corporations may pay insufficient taxes. I am sorry to inform you but the argument does not follow i.e. one does not lead to the other.

No, that's not the argument put forward. The argument put forward is that assigning priorities reflects higher intelligence. Wading through $20 bills to pick up nickels is, well, stupid. If the goal is efficient management and application of taxpayer money, then cut the big fraud and fat first. When that is done, then you can get out your beach metal detector and go looking for coins to feel frugal.

[Kaphawoman]

Well, I give credit to a parent that wants to feed her children fresh fruits and vegetables over fast food or stuff that comes out of a box at Walmart...even if she is using food stamps. As long as the compensation is the same, I'm surprised the farmers market hasn't been accepting them all along. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's already do, depending on the area.

[quixotic59]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

The apparent argument some here are putting forward is that it doesn't matter if benefits are given to those who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves because some corporations may pay insufficient taxes. I am sorry to inform you but the argument does not follow i.e. one does not lead to the other.

Wow, just wow.

Corporate greed is the primary driver of lack of jobs and insufficient wages. This DIRECTLY increases the need for social services. By hoarding cash and increasing profits at the expense of workers, large corporations are actually creating unemployed people who cannot earn enough to support themselves in cities where overpaid executives are contributing to skyrocketing housing costs.

These companies don't pay their share of taxes, literally remove cash from the economy and don't pay their workers enough to afford to pay their share of taxes!!!!!!!!

The LEAST this country can do is allow these people the opportunity to buy a fresh vegetable or fruit once in a while. Since it has repeatedly been shown that in every major city in this country the lower income areas have less supermarkets than other neighborhoods and the product sent to the markets they have is sub-standard.