Posted on 01/13/2010 6:26:24 AM PST by cbkaty
AUSTIN — Texas has the worst performing food stamp program in the nation, the federal director for food assistance told state officials here Tuesday.
It ranks last among the 50 states and U.S. territories in processing food stamp applications and also does a poor job getting eligible low-income people to apply, said Kevin Concannon, a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary, in an earlier meeting with reporters.
And because Texas does not even come close to the national average in enrolling those eligible, grocery retailers like H-E-B and Randalls are missing out on nearly $1 billion a year in food sales, he said.
“If I were a native son sitting down here, I would be very upset that my state was not the leader that it is capable of being,” Concannon said.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
yup. Since I lost my job we have cut:
Cable-we watch very little “free” tv now (I miss fox news)
Cell phones ( I have a pay as you go so my kids can get me in case of emergency)
switched from broadband to a 19.95 per month internet-need to stay in touch with news somehow (thank God for FR)
started ordering Angel Food Ministry boxes of food to supplement meat
Making everything from scratch-haven’t eaten even takeout in almost a year
non necessities all but gone
Couponing out the wazoo to fill my emergency supplies
planted large garden, but with the recent cold in FL, alot has been lost. Getting ready to raise rabbits for meat.
Son is getting married next weekend-can’t even afford to pay for his honeymoon, so he is delaying it for now (just wants to take his new bride on a couple day cruise to the bahamas or such but I can’t swing it right now)
middle son is graduating from high school in June-lettered in band, can’t afford his jacket or ring because every penny is going toward getting us dressed for other sons wedding. Youngest looks like a ragbag cause he is wearing t shirts and gym short hand me downs til I get a job again. My current wardrobe consists of clothes I got from a family member who passed 2 years ago cause every penny I do get goes to dress my kids for school (fortunately hubby gets uniforms).
Yeah, all this sucks, but you know what, we are ok. Many have it much worse than we do. We have a very strong marriage and deep faith. God has met every need we have and I could not be more thankful. It does burn me that welfare has become a way of life instead of a safety net. I think it should only be used when there is nothing left to sell or give up and the fridge is empty. It should also be uncomfortable and people should be expected to trade dollars for hours, just like the rest of us. I also think they should attach some things to the receipt of government assistance like; your kids have to get good grades, you cant have any more children while on assistance or they don’t qualify anymore, the people on assistance have to go for job training at least 20 hours a week or do some sort of public works for their check (let them empty the garbage cans or maintain parking lots of govt buildings etc).
Sorry for the rant.
Really? Go look at post 25.
I think Texas has a model we all should follow. Getting food stamps shouldn’t be something you go out and drag people off the streets for, they are for emergencies, not a way of life. The idea is to get people OFF food stamps and into a good paying job.
Either that or it comes from future generations or out of thin air.
Texas is setting an example needed by the other 49 plus DC. Perhaps after having such a hard time getting food stamps, these loafers and breeding machines will move on with their lives or selves elsewhere.
I apologize. I thought that you were referring to the photo connected to this story. IMO the photo at post 25 is making a racial statement that has no bearing on the story at hand.
Again, sorry for the mix up.
>> It ranks last among the 50 states and U.S. territories in processing food stamp applications and also does a poor job getting eligible low-income people to apply, said Kevin Concannon, a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary, in an earlier meeting with reporters.
So — Texas is ranked first at encouraging ne’er-do-wells to find a way to not need foodstamps. Sounds like a win-win.
SnakeDoc
It should be hard to get food stamps unless you are infirm.
I’d be interested in seeing the state rankings alluded to in this article. I’d be especially interested in seeing who the top 5 are: I have a hunch that they will correlate pretty closely to the top 5 most insolvent states.
Other than the guy in the white t-shirt, I don’t see a thin one in the bunch. Must not be hurting on the food front.
So, which states give out the best food stamp service? Which states does this guy think we (Texas) should emulate? Now, that could be important information for “professional” food stamp recipients.
No biggie. I have read, and it makes sense, that numbers wise, there are more whites on welfare than blacks. I don’t know about the percentages, however.
I used to live in a heavily populated white trash area. I have no use for the vast majority welfare recipients.
Here in PA they are all too aggressive in trying to sign-up new recipients to the food stamp program (working college campuses, churches, billboard advertising, etc.). I guess Texas’ problem is that they aren’t stupid enough to do that.
(oh....my bad....the whole goal is to boost sales at grocery store chains, making this a prime example of Capitalism at Work! /sarc)
Texas also has one of the lowest welfare payments in the US too. Discourages the parasites from moving there.
“Grocery stores are only compensated.....”
Not So. Food Stamp shoppers pay the exact same price as everyone else. They just use someone elses money. The government (state, fed, or local) is not involved in any way with my wholesale purchasing.
“I’m not against a helping hand...”
Well, I am against any government helping hand. None of the women in the picture need a helping hand. What they do need a swift kick in the ....
The US has the world’s fattest “poor people”. In fact, “poor people” have epidemic rates of obesity.
Conservatives need to stop being intimidated by name-calling (”mean-spirited”, “no compassion”, “greedy”, etc.). Government transfer payments - all of them, including the “sacred” medicare and socialist insecurity programs - are nothing more than theft.
Just think about the effect if a state, such as Texas, were to fully assert its sovereignty and remove all these handout programs within the state, and subsequently drop the taxes on the working people that subsidize these programs.
Parasites out, productive people in, prosperity abounds.
Yes, I’m calling for “separatism” - separation of liberal policies from productive people.
It is, but 'hard' is a relative term here, I guess.
You have to cough up tax returns, bank statements, proof of income (or lack thereof), produce some form of ID, list all your assets and/or property owned, how many cars you have, how many people live in your home, how many of same work or do not, list child care providers, if any and on and on and on...it's a financial rectal exam.
However, if you have no problem with turning over your life to the govt. like that, it's a piece of cake. My family more than qualifies, but we refuse that kind of intrusive "help".
From "He ain't heavy Mister - he's m' brother!" to "Of course she's heavy, she's on welfare!" in less than a century. Sad.
There is a difference between short term and long term help. Some people just need help for a few weeks because of some situation. They don’t need to enroll in a job program or anything like that because they are not chronically needy or lacking in skills.
I would add a condition that they have to write a thank you note to their fellow citizens and that they understand that the money is NOT coming from the “Government” but is coming from the people all around them, from individuals. If they can’t read or write then this note might be a good place to start!
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