“A lot of the fraud could be eliminated by greatly limiting what can be bought with food stamps.’
Agreed. 26 yrs ago when my husband and I had our first child I stayed home to care for our daughter and he worked...often 2 jobs...to pay for trailer rent and other bills. We were offered WIC which we did accept for one year. THAT is a MUCH better form of help. It said exactly what you could get which included milk, cheese, beans, bread, healthy cereals, formula (which I didn’t need as I breast fed) not ANYTHING that was junk period.
totally agree EBT/food stamps should also state what can and cannot be purchased. Now...I’m not saying anyone on EBT shouldn’t be able to buy a cake mix for their kid on his or her b’day...but there must be a limitation.
To play Devil's Advocate, I'd say that. :-) No cake mix. BUT, they can buy milk, flour, eggs, sugar, etc etc etc and MAKE a cake. But then again, I'm a big meanie.
And I liked your comments on WIC. My Mom used to work in HHS in several different locations. She says that - in her experience - about 3 out of 4 people are gaming the system to one extent or another. BUT - she also said that WIC was one of the few programs that actually did some good. The money typically got into the hands of the correct people, and was spent on its originally intended purpose.