Is It Fair For People On Food Stamps To Buy Prime Rib While Working Families Barely Survive?

TEC ^ | 02/16/2013 | Michael Snyder

[berdie]

I think the theme I see in this thread is the extravagant groceries being purchased with EBT cards. It gives me pause as well.

About a million years ago when I was a kid, we fell on some serious hard times. We grew up on beans and rice, potatoes and hamburger based dishes (it was cheap back then...and is still cheaper than lobster is today)...oh yeah, and oatmeal. I still loath oatmeal.

I totally understand being nicely dressed or having a decent car that might be a hold over from better times. Everyone has a different situation. Like you said, not every EBT user is a deadbeat. But there is a lot of abuse in the program.

[PA Engineer]

You haven't walked a mile in my shoes either, moron.

Ditto. I grew up in poverty because my Father suffered a major stroke that left him a hemiplegic. My Mother went to work to raise the four of us and take care of my bedridden Father from the time I was six.

I started working when I was 15 and ultimately put myself through college during the inflationary Carter years. We did not qualify for financial aid because we did not fit the aid demographics. Reverse and overt anti-white racism was a live, well and institutionalized in the mid 70's. I literally went hungry during those years.

Both my Wife and I worked very hard to get to where we are today. We fit the model of the millionaire next door. We both drive cars that are over 9 years old. We are putting our Daughter through school and we have zero debt.

We try to save as much as possible for our retirement while at the same time watching our taxes increase and savings devalue with money printing. Every tax day we are furious. Our taxes exceed all our saving and expenses combined. We realized decades ago that taxes are meant to destroy wealth creation and not the rich. Even if one can save and invest, quantitative easing destroys that through stealth taxation.

Yes I watch our direct taxes paid and realize We are supporting three plus families. It is very much my business when I see frivolous purchases at the check out counter. We didn't get to where we are today because of a irresponsible lifestyle and yet we are struggling to maintain our savings because of a totalitarian socialist system.

So Catrus, how about you go screw you self-rightous socialist self.

[freekitty]

I agree. I was referring to everyone becoming slaves.

[Ezekiel]

This mealy-mouthed politically correct excuse for stating unpleasant facts made reading the remainder an exercise increasing blood presure and little else.

Especially the part with the unverifiable Facebook rant about the Mickey D's worker, girlfriend and new baby who "are the type that SHOULD get help." No mention by grandma of teaching her son about life's priorities.

The scammers enjoy delicacies stolen from someone else's table, but they are getting away with nothing. By their actions they witness against themselves.

Psalms 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap.

Not too bright. Let them eat that lobster. With every swipe of the hand the EBT card generously "gives". The mark of the beast marks a certain type of character. Maybe the beast (animal) metaphor is useful for understanding the mark on one level as a type of scar/injury from a trap.

The one who makes a habit of sticking his fingers in the cookie jar (or lobsta trap as it were) will eventually end up with the lid smashed down on his hands. Busted. (Hear that, Obama?).

Should we all quit working and jump on board the Obama gravy train? Of course I am being facetious, but when you are barely surviving does there come a point when it just becomes easier to give up and totally rely on the government?

Here is the patience and faith of the saints.

[cynwoody]

The article author is a moron, but he does have a valid point about food stamps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

[cynwoody]

Remember, food stamps is based on income. Stay out of debt, get paid in bursts, and some years you are “poor” despite wealth.

These days you could be worth five or ten million and, if you go to cash, still meet the income standard for food stamps, thanks to the Bernank and his idiot Board of Governors.

[CitizenUSA]

The people who are paying the bills have every right to be concerned about how their money is spent, and believe me, it's not being spent well. Plus, no one has a moral right to another person's property. No one! Need is relative, but even truly needy people have no moral right to reach in their neighbors’ pockets. It's called theft. It's immoral--a sin. However, it's like another poster wrote. The conquerors decide on terms for the conquered, not the other way around. The conquerors in this case are the people demanding benefits and the politicians who serve them.

[CitizenUSA]

BTW, anyone who has ever dealt with government should know that it’s inherently bureaucratic, inefficient, and rife with fraud. That’s the nature of the beast, and it’s why the best government is that government that governs least.

I’m really in the same boat as you. My wife and I have never asked for anything from anyone. We’ve always scrimped and saved and tried to be responsible Americans. Now we’re on the verge of seeing everything we’ve worked so many long years to obtain go up in smoke. The government is inflating or taxing away our wealth nearly as fast as we can build it.

The system is designed to protect the rich while keeping the riff raff down. The rich are in little danger of losing their wealth, the poor are given just enough to survive without ever becoming independent, and those of us in the middle are treading water as fast as we can just to try and stay ahead of joining the poor.

[left that other site]

Excellent analogy.

When we start hearing about executive orders that prohibit the purchase of food WITHOUT an EBT Card, then we will know for sure.

Though I am not a hard-core prepper, I always buy a couple of cans of soup or beans when they are on sale. Just in case the mid and post tribbies got it right!
It adds up...but I don’t think I have seven YEARS worth. I guess it is MORE important to “lay up Treasure in Heaven”!

It looks as though the bad guys are getting their mechanisms in place for total control of the food supply.

[Arrowhead1952]

About a million years ago when I was a kid, we fell on some serious hard times. We grew up on beans and rice, potatoes and hamburger based dishes (it was cheap back then...and is still cheaper than lobster is today)...oh yeah, and oatmeal. I still loath oatmeal.

I usually don't visit the blogger portion on FR, but did this morning. That statement sounds like the very thing I grew up on in the 50s and 60s. I cannot stand oatmeal either to this day.

My mother made shredded potatoes with seasoned browned hamburger and gravy. After I moved to Austin for a job, I made the same thing for myself. Just made myself hungry thinking about that.

[Ezekiel]

And it’s not just the EBT cards. It looks more and more like the Obamanation is destroying every facet of the country/economy/culture in order to force everyone to choose up sides. Truth, reality, and separation from that which is false and debased? Or lies, fantasy, and the safety and security within commune of the profane?

What is the regime to do with those not already on the Obamateam? Either beat them down to the point where they become corrupted (so that they will give in and embrace Looterville-Sodom), or beat them down (or worse) for refusing to comply.

Many are still fixated on literal tokens and symbols (e.g. barcodes, SS numbers, RFID) instead of the marks of inner character (or lack thereof) that motivate people to ride the beast.

There are those who value charity (often recognized by their extreme reluctance to take any), and then there are the thieves. How much longer until the ONLY people who are able to function within and benefit from the system *are* the thieves, liars, perverts, murderers, and the like?

The dragon has been spewing lies out of his mouth as waters of a raging flood, yet there are those who thusfar haven’t been enticed to lie, steal, cheat, murder, covet, or bear false witness.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints (holy i.e. separated ones).

[444Flyer]

"...The drones will riot uncontrollably when they’ve missed their third meal..."

Look at what happened on that cruise ship, filled with people that could afford to take that trip. After a few days without food and shelter, still in the safety of the ship and knowing it wouldn't last for longer then a few more days. According to the reports, people were breaking down and freaking out within 48 hours of the mechanical fail. That's human nature.

When the poop hits (as it did metaphorically on that cruise ship), can you imagine how the Obama entitlement crowd is going to respond? Maybe that's what they have in store for us, build the machine and then purposely break it down and watch as America cannibalizes itself.

Satan's having a field day with this administration's willingness to follow along to his marching orders.

Noah's Ark

Obama's Ark

[left that other site]

Interesting illustration.

The difference is, perhaps, that People on the ship PAID GOOD MONEY for that cruise, whereas the recipients of gub’mint largess get their stuff for FREE.

[444Flyer]

Exactly. The metaphor is only in the broken down dilapidated vessel.

[left that other site]

And the illustrations were terrific!

It was a good metaphor though.

And of course, the lawsuits have already begun!

[444Flyer]

Thanks!:)

(Wonder if we can sue Obama? I can dream can’t I?;)

[left that other site]

That might be a good idea!

Sue the pants off him!

[djf]

Cigarettes, ice cream,
cadillacs, moonbeams...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agPcECFLi34

[Smokin' Joe]

Here's a quandry. While it is easy to resent people on 'relief' who seem to be living far better than those who are attempting to pick up the tab and make ends meet, too.

What happens when you give the government the power to determine what one group of people eat?

Why, of course, they will want to regulate the caloric and nutritional intake of everyone.

Don't want to go there.

However, it seems more than a little strange that someone who appears to be so prosperous is on "relief", and perhaps someone should be pursuing fraud charges.

Don't hold your breath, because case files are the life's blood of the entire social services bureaucracy, the more caseload, the more important the case worker, the more important the case worker, the more likely to get a promotion, which means a raise, which means better retirement...et cetera.

That's assuming they aren't signing up their possee for bennies to 'get over on the man'.

So, here's my solution.

You sign up for welfare, the clock starts ticking. Benefits get reduced, by 10% a year, with no penalty against your reduced benefits for making money in gainful employment up to the poverty level. (You can fill the gap, but you have to work).

No COLA type adjustments to benefits. You stay at the level you signed up, minus deductions for time in grade. (yes, inflation might add another effective deduction, but that's the cost of printing more money to pay for relief).

[Smokin' Joe]

It is irritating to be behind someone buying nothing but high dollar meat and paying for it in food stamps.

One, they might have been buying the best cuts, to turn for 50 cents on the dollar (or using the meat to pay a debt).

Two, they might have 'bought' the food stamps for 50 cents on the dollar or less and have been splurging.

Three, they might have been fraudulently obtained otherwise.

Last, not everyone who appears prosperous is, some are just head follicle deep in debt, although there used to be rules about what you could own and still get assistance; it could be in someone's name other than the beneficiary.