Why Do EBT Card Holders Get To Eat Better Than Me And My Family? (supporters, votes)
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It seems that every time I witness someone purchasing food items with an EBT card, their "sustenance" always consists of some combination of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Hot Pockets, Snickers bars, frozen Pizzas, Lucky Charms, Hostess Cupcakes, Pretzels, Doritos and Wonder Bread.
Upon completing their "food" purchase, the EBT customer promptly drops a 30-rack of cheap bear onto the checkout counter and requests a carton of off-brand cigarettes, which together subtotals at about $65-$70 out of their own pocket.
So, not only does the seemingly average EBT card-holder "eat better" than those of us who budget groceries out of our own paychecks, they also have a larger personal budget for beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets (but then again, it could just be Federal Cash Assistance ensuring a "fair shake").
Ebt does not cover beer or cigarrettes unless it's ebt cash in that case then it is covered, BUT once that money is used up it's gone for the month. And btw bush came up with EBT CARDS before that it was actually just regular food stamps. Also you can't just base your opinions on a few people you may have seen using the ebt card for that. And another thing how do you know they were using an EBT card in the first place ?
they can get more "junk" than healthy food because it is cheaper.
Altough I do find that somewhat hard to believe, I'm not exactly sure how much more expensive nutritionally valuable food items (yes, I'm sort of ignoring the presence of GMO in mainstream food products here) are relative to the crap-items often preferred by EBT card-holders, especially if the shopper frequents their local Wal Mart.
Nevertheless, if someone is receiving a monthly sum of, say, $400 on their EBT card, I refuse to believe that this money (thank you, taxpayers) must be spent (or is allowed to be spent, rather) on nutritionally unsustainable junk in order to ration their government-issued allowance for 30 days. I personally theorize that, if their choices of sustenance were required to offer nutritional value (and thus a normalized appetite/metabolic rate), then EBT funds could, perhaps, be managed more conservatively in the long run.
My instincts tell me that the person who spends $100 of EBT funds on pizza, soda, chips and candy could easily stretch this same amount of money to include, I don't know, frozen fish? Frozen chicken? Frozen vegetables? Fruit? Whole/Multi-grain breads? Bottled water?
It boils down to the fact that this particular social welfare system effectively subsidizes obesity and physical destruction. Taxpayers should find this to be repulsive, no?
Ebt does not cover beer or cigarrettes unless it's ebt cash in that case then it is covered, BUT once that money is used up it's gone for the month. And btw bush came up with EBT CARDS before that it was actually just regular food stamps. Also you can't just base your opinions on a few people you may have seen using the ebt card for that. And another thing how do you know they were using an EBT card in the first place ?
i'm pretty sure bush wasn't president in the late 90s..
Quote:
In the late 1990s, the food-stamp program was revamped and actual stamps were phased out in favor of a specialized debit-card system known as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) provided by private contractors. Electronic Benefit Transfer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ebt does not cover beer or cigarrettes unless it's ebt cash in that case then it is covered, BUT once that money is used up it's gone for the month. And btw bush came up with EBT CARDS before that it was actually just regular food stamps. Also you can't just base your opinions on a few people you may have seen using the ebt card for that. And another thing how do you know they were using an EBT card in the first place ?
I never claimed that EBT funds covered alcohol and tobacco--read my comment again.
The card system is way better than the paper food stamps that, as I recall, were redeemed in cash for change after a purchase was made.
As for what I've personally witnessed of EBT card holders, I'm not highlighting a few specific times here and there--it's a pattern I've personally observed many times over several years (at least since these cards started being issued).
And a purchase being made with an EBT card is quite noticeable, actually; in many stores (especially gas stations/convenience stores), there's generally a special device by which the customer has to enter their EBT pin #, or the cashier asks the customer to specify credit, debit or EBT. Why would I bother to make this up?
It seems that every time I witness someone purchasing food items with an EBT card, their "sustenance" always consists of some combination of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Hot Pockets, Snickers bars, frozen Pizzas, Lucky Charms, Hostess Cupcakes, Pretzels, Doritos and Wonder Bread.
Upon completing their "food" purchase, the EBT customer promptly drops a 30-rack of cheap bear onto the checkout counter and requests a carton of off-brand cigarettes, which together subtotals at about $65-$70 out of their own pocket.
So, not only does the seemingly average EBT card-holder "eat better" than those of us who budget groceries out of our own paychecks, they also have a larger personal budget for beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets (but then again, it could just be Federal Cash Assistance ensuring a "fair shake").
So you're basing your opinion that EBT card users just buy junk food on your personal observations? How MANY people have you seen doing this buying junk food and then spending cash to buy beer and cigarettes? Got a number? Just a ballpark number is fine. HOW MANY people have you personally seen doing these kinds of things? 10, 20, 50, 8, 100, 500, 1000? How many?
You do realize you're basing your negative opinion of how EBT card holders shop for food on your anecdotal evidence, don't you? Out of the millions of people who use food stamp card, what percentage do you think the few you have seen represent?
I never claimed that EBT funds covered alcohol and tobacco--read my comment again.
The card system is way better than the paper food stamps that, as I recall, were redeemed in cash for change after a purchase was made.
As for what I've personally witnessed of EBT card holders, I'm not highlighting a few specific times here and there--it's a pattern I've personally observed many times over several years (at least since these cards started being issued).
And a purchase being made with an EBT card is quite noticeable, actually; in many stores (especially gas stations/convenience stores), there's generally a special device by which the customer has to enter their EBT pin #, or the cashier asks the customer to specify credit, debit or EBT. Why would I bother to make this up?
How many people "over the years" have you "watched" use EBT cards to buy mostly junk food? And WHERE have you observed these people? Surely, since you have convinced yourself that your observations represent a "pattern" of buying practices of EBT card holders, you must be able to give a ballpark figure. What do you do, hang out in grocery stores and other food stores to watch these people? Amazing that you think EBT cards are quite noticeable; I can honestly say I've never noticed anyone using an EBT card, nor can I tell what kind of credit card other people are using to make purchases.
No one is saying anybody is "guaranteed privacy" at the grocery store. What we're saying is that apparently MOST grocery stores, especially the large, national ones, like Walmart do NOT have their monitors place in a position so that everyone in line can see the purchases and/or the total amount spent, which does allow for some privacy. Is HEB a national chain? I don't see Brookshires stores in Florida; are they a large chain type grocery store?
The more I hear about Texas, the more I am amazed!
No, HEB is a Texas chain that has the absolute worst layout of any stores I've been in. Shoprite here in Delaware is a close second. I don't remember the monitor setup there, to be honest. It has been a few years since I've been to Butts' Grocery. (I think the founder's name was Howard? Harold? E. Butts - HEB.)
No, HEB is a Texas chain that has the absolute worst layout of any stores I've been in. Shoprite here in Delaware is a close second. I don't remember the monitor setup there, to be honest. It has been a few years since I've been to Butts' Grocery. (I think the founder's name was Howard? Harold? E. Butts - HEB.)
If that were my name, I'd call the store "HEB" too.
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(I think the founder's name was Howard? Harold? E. Butts - HEB.)
