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Posted on 01/16/2012 7:02:07 AM PST by Sopater
My recent excursion into the welfare system has left me scratching my head. Prior to writing and researching this project, my only impression of food stamps and similar welfare programs was that the credit only worked for certain items at certain stores and that an individual had to be in a particularly dire financial situation to receive such aid. I was wrong.
An EBT card works and looks like a debit card, but instead of the user withdrawing money from a checking account, the government prepays an amount of money it deems necessary for the user’s food expenditures. Several of my classmates have recently implemented the use of an EBT card for their groceries, and their involvement in the program immediately piqued my interest. To be honest, my natural first thought was: “I wonder if I qualify for free grocery money.” My immediate second thought was: “How do they qualify for free grocery money?” These students come from similar financial backgrounds as me, live in similar situations, and take the same amount of college credit hours that I do. Thus, my investigation began with a food stamp application, an interview request, and a trip to a place no one really wants to visit: the Department of Human Services.
I was informed by a very kind woman from the DHS that I would have to complete an interview to be considered for the program. The next morning, I was surprised to see the long line of people that trailed outside. When I reached the front of the line, I was informed that all of the interview spots were filled for the morning and that I’d have to call back later and complete my interview over the phone, which I did later that day. To be considered, I needed to submit my last four paychecks, one rent receipt, one utility bill from the previous month, and verification that I was a student worker on campus.
About a week later, I received a notice in the mail that the Department of Human Services had not received my employment verification and therefore could not review my case until I produced another pay receipt (which I could not produce, due to the fact that I’d only worked three weeks at my new job). I had essentially given up at this point. I didn’t need an EBT card; my investigation was merely an exercise in civic welfare accountability.
Approximately one month after I had received the first letter, another letter found its way to my mailbox from the Department of Human Services. I opened it up to find an EBT card with my name on it, instructions on how to activate and use the card, and the amount I could access on it per month — 200 dollars. Nothing followed-up my interview, other than the evidently pointless letter I received during the previous month. No one ever asked for a copy of my birth certificate or Social Security card, nor for my student identification card. I answered all of their questions truthfully, but how were they to know that I was who I said I was? Is it really this simple to obtain welfare benefits here in the United States?
It’s not hard to qualify for the program as a student and some universities even publicize food stamps to their students. For example, in Oregon, if you fall into any of the following categories, you automatically qualify for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) program: full-time student who works at least 20 hours per week, full-time single student who is caring for children younger than the age of 12, full-time married student who is caring for children younger than the age of 6, or at least a half-time student who is actively working any hours in a work-study program (institutional or federal) can receive a certain amount of money per month from the government. While some of these requirements are certainly understandable, the last one leaves the door open for massive amounts of unnecessary welfare spending and fraud. Every average lazy Joe College and his dog are eligible for the SNAP program.
Welfare in America was intended to provide a temporary means of survival for those at rock bottom. However, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people using food stamps over the past 40 years. Over that same time period, an estimated $753 million per year has been spent fraudulently by welfare recipients. Moreover, the government’s own accounting has cost taxpayers billions of dollars per year as food stamp programs routinely overpay their recipients; last year, that figure alone totaled $2.5 billion.
That being said, the students I know who use food stamps are hard-working, productive individuals whose parents won’t compensate them for the costs of college. Mine generally don’t either, so I get that. By using the program, students are able to save hundreds of dollars on food so they can pay for school instead of taking out an extra loan. I’m not discrediting that logic; I totally sympathize.
But when government starts to act as the hand that feeds its people and makes personal decisions for them, citizens lose their identities and freedoms. Not only is the innovative, hardworking, passionate American lost because the government promotes the idea that individuals can’t do it themselves, but the individuals come to expect the handouts and riot when they are revoked.
Yes, I apparently qualify for and possess an EBT card in the state of Tennessee, but I will not activate it. Participating in a government welfare program simply because I can would amount to an endorsement of the growing entitlement society in America. We should always advocate smaller government. The decision to use food stamps for my food supply would directly contradict that principle, and our government’s purpose as it was described in the Federalist Papers and U.S. Constitution would be further distorted.
Given my own personal experience, it is clear that food stamps are too easy to obtain, student or not. I realize that the food stamp program is different in all states, and some are more thorough with background checks than others, but much greater reform is needed. It concerns me that 15% of the population, or 46 million people, rely on others’ tax dollars to pay for their food. And that doesn’t sound like freedom to me.
“...Is it really this simple to obtain welfare benefits here in the United States?...”
Yes, it is.
“That being said, the students I know who use food stamps are hard-working, productive individuals whose parents won’t compensate them for the costs of college....”
“Parents won’t compensate”? Wow. And, this from a college conservative.
Yes, and retired people living on Social Security are not eligible (at least in DE). But then again, isn’t it government’s goal to kill off all the old people by the time they’re 70 years old? No benefits, but plenty of stealing money from workers’ wallets. Plus a steady base of political support for RATs.
Just wait until DeathCare kicks in; they’ll have 2 for 1 sales at funeral homes. Soylent Green factories shoot up.
The fact that the author got what he got with NO IDENTIFICATION was very telling as well. The legal requirement that only US Citizens (or even legal residents) can get this aid is being blatently ignored. Every person who gets this aid is a vote for the Welfare State—something the bureaucrats and politicians understand very well. They have no problem building an army of parasites as long as they pull the right lever (legally or not) on Election day.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Most welfare benefits are handled by each state. Which means there are at least 50 different data processing systems doling out the goodies. The last time I checked the federal governemnt does not do a very simple thing. Something that could be done for a few thousand dollars. Here it is:
1) Dump every SS# for every recipient in every state in to a data file.
2) Take the data files and find SS# duplicates.
3) Suspend benefits on all duplicate SS#’s until the recipient comes to the state in person and verifies their personal information.
The best thing they could do would be to simply connect all the various computers that run in every state and red flag SS# duplicates.
The states could do some other very simple things. For example, they could take the SS# and run it against credit data. If there is a loan on a vehicle or other things where the person has the income for paying for such stuff kick them off the dole.
The amount of fraud and theft is staggering. The states know it and the federal government knows it. But the people involved don’t care about that. It is not their money. In fact, they don’t even see it as money. Their mindset is so bizarre you would think they live on another planet. Believe me, I have been in countless DHS offices* and know this for a fact. There are hardly any controls in place to watch the money. And if you suggest ways to implement controls they fall on deaf ears. Why? Because a lot of people have government jobs who give out all this free stuff.
* Usually I was the minority in the building.
I’ve always said that I would teach my children the value of a dollar and the value of an education by letting them earn money for college and then paying for it.
My oldest son worked for 2 years after highschool as a laborer in a factory and saved all his money and now he’s in college studying engineering. My second son is currently working in the same factory saving money to go to college in a year or so himself... Such good boys. :-)
For most people going to college means they have made the decision they want a traditional job working for someone else. They might as well get used to the idea of working. A college degree for someone allergic to work is a pointless waste of time and resources.
They don’t even care about the stigma any more. So many of them use them that it is now a status symbol among the slothful.
And, such a great parent!
With UPC codes it would be very simple to set up the EBT cards to authorize ONLY “appropriate” food/goods for the users....rice, beans, fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken, tuna, diapers...etc.
If you wanted to cut them by 90% add the requirement of "volunteering" for working on public works improvements a certain number of hours per week - as little as 5 hours a week would probably be enough to make the majority quit.
The Safety Net has become a Hammock.
In other news, Water is Wet.
Give out "commodities."
Dried beans and peas, rice, canned tuna, peanut butter, flour, corn meal, powdered milk, raisins, cheese, maybe some other canned foods. I suppose these were purchased from farmers or food processors by the government and given out monthly. This was subsistence food. You might not eat royally, but you would eat well enough to keep body and soul together. That is what was done back in the 1960's.
I remember it well because I had relatives on "welfare" who got these government commodities. Some of the items they "wouldn't eat." These items were given to my mother by the relative and we ate them. (Our menu choices at home were "take it or leave it.")
If anyone is truly in need of the food and assistance, they will take the commodities. If they refuse this type of assistance, then they aren't in that much need. It's pretty hard to trade your dried beans or rice for drugs, too.
I suspect that going back to the commodities would decrease the amount of $$ spent on "food assistance" dramatically.
Yep, I’ve mentioned on related threads before that the food stamp program should only be good for basic staples.
Of course, I’d feel kinda bad taking away Swordfish and caviar from the little people. Wait, no I wouldn’t.
People with children in their households, such as grandparents taking care of grandchildren, usually qualify for more than older adults living alone or older couples.
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