Peterson: Congress should 'look at' banning caloric pop from food stamp purchases

www.minnpost.com ^ | 05/14/10 | Derek Wallbank

[MrB]

Government handouts breed resentment of our fellow human beings... as I believe they are intended to do at some level.

[Arrowhead1952]

Hey, I have a better idea.

Congress should 'look at' banning all food stamp purchases

[sniper63]

Cigarettes, beer, and ice cream too.

[concerned about politics]

I honestly didn't know they can buy soda with food stamps.

Working families who are paying for it all can't feed their families anywhere near that well. Next time you're in a grocery store, hang out a while and watch for a food stamp recipient (they'll use a government debit card), and take a look at the bounty they have in their cart. You'll be shocked. I don't remember the last time I could afford a standing rib roast, prepared pies, top of the line frozen vegetables, and cases of Pepsi like that.
While you're at it, notice their professionally manicured nails, designer clothing, and salon hair styles.
The tax payers are getting fleeced - big time.

[metesky]

When you eat goobermint chit, you eat the chit they give ya.

Try explaining that to one of the "i'm gettin' over" class and you get a less than blank look.

[Spudx7]

There have been a few times when my mom has purchased food for some of the low-income families she works with. She only does it if they are out of all types of funding for the month and she knows they are trying to be good parents. She usually brings them a cut up fryer chicken, bag of potatoes and some canned vegetables, things that will last for a few meals. It never fails, the mother will look at the chicken and potatoes and ask, “What do I do with these?”

[kittymyrib]

Ban Food Stamps. They are illegally traded for booze, prostitutes, and cash.
Open commodity stores where nutritious foods would be given to the poor to be cooked at home...no Sara Lee cakes, Cokes, chips etc. Obesity would be halted in its tracks.
If the government is telling us what to eat, it should only pay for caloric necessities, not fattening frills, in their feeding programs.

[babyfreep]

If people are going to insist on having other people support them, they should accept whatever guidelines are imposed upon them. Might make welfare and other gov’t programs less attractive.

Bears repeating.
Here's a take -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMnIY7NADvk

[GailA]

Add cookies, chips, and candy to the list, and go back to the old food stamp coupons with NO CASH BACK! They swipe their cards when they purchase food and get $20 in cash, then turn around and buy cigs, beer, and lottery tickets with the money.

[TexasFreeper2009]

you should only be able to buy the staples with food stamps, just enought to keep you alive.

[freekitty]

This Congress should seriously look at employment elsewhere.

[Spudx7]

I’d better get off this thread, I’m starting to get angry!

[GailA]

They still do that with the seniors. Powered milk, cheese, canned veggies and fruit.

[TexasFreeper2009]

why do you think the single common denominator of the American poor is that they are obese?

[TexasFreeper2009]

I would add milk to that and be in complete agreement.

[concerned about politics]

It’s a great illustration to my kids on the “wonders” of hand outs! The complex is called “Optimist Apartments” too! Right next to “Optimist Field” which is always empty. Sitting on the porch wears a fellow out.

My husband is an accountant for subsidized housing. Doctors, lawyers, etc., come into the offices looking for one of the apartments. They don't know it's welfare housing. If you don't actually open the door to one of the occupied apartments, they look very expensive.
One of the complexes was sold to a private buyer. She turned the apartments into expensive town houses. All she did was have the bio hazard teams clean them up, and called in the exterminator. Then she had them painted.
Before the welfare people move in, these apartments are fantastic. They always trash them, though. House work is just too much for them to bare.

[GailA]

YES! I went grocery shopping Tuesday, lady in front of me had a cart full 75% was junk food. Paid for with food stamps, $120, both her kids were chunky. They can buy any people food you can, and get cash back off their food stamp credit card, to go buy cigs, beer, dog food, and lottery tickets.

[Sudetenland]

Hey, you take largess from the government, they have every right to constrain how you use it.

You don't like it, don't take welfare or food stamps. Simple and logical.

I think they should restrict it to balogna, processed cheese, the cheapest bread, and milk-if you have a baby. Make it bad enough and maybe people will work instead of lying on the couch at home making more welfare babies.

Governmental "charity" should be subsistance level only; the bare minimum to preserve life and health . . . 1500-2000 calories/day. If they want more, they would have to work for it.

further, if you have a large screen TV, cable-or some variation-pay TV, or cell phones, you should lose all public assistanc . . .you ain't poor enough.

[kingu]

Soda pop bans? Better to ban public schools, since each family who joins the food stamp program also gets free lunches at school. Go take a look at the offerings - it is a horror fest including that yummy strawberry milk with twice the sugars as the sodas they've banned from school grounds. Breakfast will be syrup soaked pancakes wrapped around sausage links and served with butter. Lunch is PIZZA DAY with a side of french fries.

I'm a teach a man to fish kinda guy. Offer real cooking classes for food stamp participants, show people how to make reasonable cooking decisions, so they don't have to rely upon those red box Banquet obesity meals, processed lunchables, and hamburger fatso helper. Many of our young families have no clue how to roast a chicken, steam vegetables, or even how to turn a head of lettuce into a salad.

[o_zarkman44]

Don’t government pretty much control what we eat already?

Not so much the choices now, but the sources. If the “Food Safety Act” passes home garden agriculture will disappear and all of our food will come from foreign sources.

I think if people are getting government food handouts, the government does have the right to tell them what they can eat.

My food budget is limited choice because of mortgage and car payments. People living in rent free government housing, subsidized utility bills, and driving old uninsured cars get to live pretty high on the hog when it comes to groceries.

My dollar, my choice. Government dollar, government choice. As a taxpayer, we enable government to make life too easy for freeloaders. Anything we can do to convince government to encourage frugality, and personal responsibility, I’m game.