Interesting situation regarding food stamps.... (minimum wage, illegal aliens, how much, dollar)

[brainwrek]

Came upon an interesting situation with a good friend of mine from work and thought I would get some opinions....

The meat and potatoes of it: I (and my friend) are bartenders in an upper scale tourist area in the midwest. As such, we make a fairly good living and admittedly most of it is tax free. (No, I sure as hell do not report every cent I make ).

That being said, my friend who is somewhat of a "preparedness type" recently got approved for food stamps since his provable income is very low. He and his family are set to receive somewhere around $400 +/- a month. He told me he plans on using that solely for the purpose of stocking his cellar and pantry with a doomsday stockpile of food.

On one hand, I despise anyone receiving food stamps since they are completely unconstitutional IMO, but on the other, I applaud his willingness to use the system for his own benefit and prepare for a scenario which would most likely be caused by the government itself.

We got into a friendly debate over the merits of going on the public dime versus using the already broken system to prepare for its eventual catastrophic ending.

Thoughts?

[noexcuseforignorance]

Well that's what he says he's going to do. Whether that's true or not is another thing.

What do you expect the government to do? Hire hundreds of thousands of people to go around and make sure people aren't stock piling food?

By the way, your friend sounds like a real winner. You might want to find some friends who are educated, have jobs and aren't looking for a free ride.

[waterboy7375]

And thats the biggest problem with social safty nets, the abuse. Your friend is stealing your and my tx $. Plain and simple.

[brainwrek]

Originally Posted by noexcuseforignorance

Well that's what he says he's going to do. Whether that's true or not is another thing.

What do you expect the government to do? Hire hundreds of thousands of people to go around and make sure people aren't stock piling food?

By the way, your friend sounds like a real winner. You might want to find some friends who are educated, have jobs and aren't looking for a free ride.

Well reading comprehension would go a long way.

Notice I said a friend from WORK.

We are both educated, and have jobs

[brainwrek]

Originally Posted by waterboy7375

And thats the biggest problem with social safty nets, the abuse. Your friend is stealing your and my tx $. Plain and simple.

Given that I have never paid any form of federal income tax, my money isn't being stolen, but I see your point.

That being said, after the millions of deadbeats and illegal aliens get their checks, would some people tweaking the system really be an issue?

[ChristineVA]

While the friend is abusing the food stamp system, the real abuse is occurring due to receiving money for work and not reporting it. If there was a better way to compensate the food service industry (i.e., paying them a wage and not accepting tips like many other countries do as a culture) then they wouldn't be able to abuse the food stamp system.

[brainwrek]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

While the friend is abusing the food stamp system, the real abuse is occurring due to receiving money for work and not reporting it. If there was a better way to compensate the food service industry (i.e., paying them a wage and not accepting tips like many other countries do as a culture) then they wouldn't be able to abuse the food stamp system.

Or, on the flip side, the government could stop acting like my money is their money.

The government does not have a right to the fruits of my labor, that is the sole reason I do not report every dollar I make. It causes some problems, such as getting financed for a loan, but on the whole, I would rather keep all of my money.

[jackmccullough]

So your friend is committing food stamp fraud, you admit that you and your friend are probably both committing tax fraud, and your biggest question is what your friend is doing with his fraudulently obtained benefits?

That's one for the books.

[brainwrek]

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

So your friend is committing food stamp fraud, you admit that you and your friend are probably both committing tax fraud, and your biggest question is what your friend is doing with his fraudulently obtained benefits?

That's one for the books.

Tax fraud?

Hardly. I only report the absolute bare minimum that is required by my employer, which typically equates to 8% of sales.

The burden of proof would be on them, and since I make below minimum wage hourly and live on tips, they would be hard pressed to determine how much I make every night.

Who is to say we don't have a bad month and would end up hardly making anything?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by brainwrek

Tax fraud?

Hardly. I only report the absolute bare minimum that is required by my employer, which typically equates to 8% of sales.

The burden of proof would be on them, and since I make below minimum wage hourly and live on tips, they would be hard pressed to determine how much I make every night.

Who is to say we don't have a bad month and would end up hardly making anything?

True. But as the law stands now, whether you agree with it or not, is that you should report everything thing you earn. You are not. You are committing tax fraud. Hey, my daughter was a waitress making $2.31 per hour. We feel your pain. Most of her tips were reported because most tips left for her were on the credit card. Even after that, the restaurant made her "clock in" and estimate of cash tips every hour or something. Her wage ended up averaging about $10 per hour once that was all added in.