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Texas has worst-ranked food stamp program (see photo)
Houston Chronicle ^ | 01/13/2010 | GARY SCHARRER

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: cellphones; foodstamps; texas; waste
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To: CTOCS
Food Stamp shoppers pay the exact same price as everyone else.

The cost of an item is the same for food stamp or pay-your-own shoppers, it's true, but I was told by a retailer several years ago that the government only reimbursed a percentage of every food stamp 'dollar' spent.

Was I told wrongly?

61 posted on 01/13/2010 7:31:14 AM PST by MamaTexan (All men were Created equal, but government has no mandate to KEEP everyone that way!)
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To: cbkaty

They look like they are starving! /s


62 posted on 01/13/2010 7:36:04 AM PST by kcvl
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To: MamaTexan

When you buy with a food card (no state uses the ‘food stamp’ any more) you cannot be charged local or state tax on the groceries.


63 posted on 01/13/2010 7:37:24 AM PST by ozark hilljilly (Google "Cloward-Piven")
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To: kcvl

IMHO, foodstamps should not be able to be used on “luxury food”, like steaks, shrimp, pre-prepared packaged food, etc,

and should only be valid for hamburger, whole uncooked chickens, vegetables, eggs, dairy, and fruit.


64 posted on 01/13/2010 7:43:03 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: ozark hilljilly
you cannot be charged local or state tax on the groceries.

No one pays a state tax for groceries in Texas. In fact, only 15 states tax groceries.

And they can put it on a 'card' if they like, but it'll always be food stamps to me. :-)

65 posted on 01/13/2010 7:46:06 AM PST by MamaTexan (All men were Created equal, but government has no mandate to KEEP everyone that way!)
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To: cbkaty

I’m a native son and I consider this GOOD NEWS! KEEP IT UP TEXAS! WE CAN DO WORSE IF WE TRY!


66 posted on 01/13/2010 7:47:50 AM PST by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: Republic of Texas

CHANGE THE TITLE TO READ: “TEXAS SAVES GOVERNMENT $1B WITH EFFECTIVE FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES”


67 posted on 01/13/2010 7:50:45 AM PST by Hillary'sMoralVoid
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To: cbkaty
It's them inner cities. They gonna come git us.



68 posted on 01/13/2010 7:54:54 AM PST by MARTIAL MONK (I'm waiting for the POP!)
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To: cbkaty
Texas has the worst performing food stamp program in the nation...

Looks like we are getting quite a bang for our buck.
The poorest of the poor are well dressed AND healthy-looking.
Texas should be right proud.

69 posted on 01/13/2010 8:02:00 AM PST by Slyfox
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To: wombtotomb

this sucks, but you know what, we are ok.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

God bless you for taking care of your family in the face of misfortune. And for your resourceful self-sufficiency.


70 posted on 01/13/2010 8:03:46 AM PST by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: cbkaty

The States are missing out by not taking more charge of their food stamp programs.

To start out, food stamps are a real “Twilight Zone” support program, and nothing is as it appears. It should never be compared with any other form of public support.

In the US, since before the Great Depression, we have had the problem that our farmers are over productive. Even when the Dust Bowl wiped out much of the agriculture on the Great Plains, those farmers outside of the Dust Bowl region produced so much food that it was almost worthless.

And today things are such that every year we have thousands of tons of food that rots in warehouses. And it is very expensive to keep in warehouses. As such, giving it away actually *saves* money.

But, as the reasonable argument goes, if you give it away, won’t it depress prices? Ironically, no. This is because the overproduction food is in its basic form. Most people who buy their own food, buy only small quantities of “basic” food items, like raw vegetables or flour, at a time. The bulk of purchased food has been processed in many ways.

Yet people on food stamps are, and should be encouraged to buy food in bulk. 20 pounds of potatoes, 20 pounds of dry beans, 20 pounds of rice, and importantly, food that is on seasonal sale.

And this is critical. Crops all come in at once, of a particular crop. This causes a glut in the market, with much of the crop put in storage, either to be sold during the off season, or just as excess that will probably spoil.

So retailers have huge sales, trying to unload the excess, the sooner, the better.

And this is where food stamps can come in handy. Food stamps are issued in fixed amounts every month. But the States should intervene, to help their farmers at low cost, by buying a lot of their excess crop that would otherwise rot. At very low prices. Then they could turn around and give “bonuses” of one particular food item that month, to their food stamp recipients.

In one fell swoop, by doing this the States would help their local farmers, retailers, and food stamp recipients, while normalizing the cost of seasonal foods. And with low costs to taxpayers, which they would probably get back with more stable food prices.

Food stamps are a strange thing. As a final note, cutting food stamps does not work as a motivator to find employment, and it certainly doesn’t help poor children to do better in school.


71 posted on 01/13/2010 8:05:18 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: cbkaty
This photo accompanied the story in the print addition...note the bluetooth, cellular phone, & obvious hair treatments, etc.......and they are complaining about standing in line for food stamps for 3 hours...

Not only that, but I'll bet many of them have internet and cable or satellite TV at home, too.

The United States has the richest poor in the world. Spoiled brat poor.


72 posted on 01/13/2010 8:08:44 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Bush at his worst was still better than Obama at his best.)
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To: MamaTexan
but it'll always be food stamps to me. :-)

LOL, yeah, me, too. Our state has a tax on food but it's half of the state sales tax. I get charged .18 for each FS card transaction we do here at the store. (I could use the states "swiper" gizmo and not be charged, but I use my c/c processors machine because it's one less contraption cluttering up the counterspace.)

73 posted on 01/13/2010 8:14:11 AM PST by ozark hilljilly (Google "Cloward-Piven")
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To: MamaTexan

Maybe reimbursed from the Fed to the State Govt. but the individual grocery retailer gets full price from the State. There is no downside for the retailer.


74 posted on 01/13/2010 8:29:11 AM PST by CTOCS (I live in my own little world. But, it's okay. They know me there....)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

“Yet people on food stamps are, and should be encouraged to buy food in bulk. 20 pounds of potatoes, 20 pounds of dry beans, 20 pounds of rice, and importantly, food that is on seasonal sale.”

60 lbs of potatoes, beans, and rice takes up the entire back seat of the average car. You are thereby displacing no less than 2 people from their living quarters!!

While the above was in jest, these people do have storage problems, especially refrigerated storage. There are often multiple families living in one small dwelling. Most of my career food stamp queens don’t think that far ahead anyway.


75 posted on 01/13/2010 8:38:21 AM PST by CTOCS (I live in my own little world. But, it's okay. They know me there....)
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To: NativeNewYorker

“If I were a native son sitting down here, I would be very upset...” Concannon said.”

Did he say NATIVE?

RACIST!

You missed the best idea out of it, that means we’re NATIVE AMERICANS (or in this case, I’m a NATIVE TEXAN) - so, that’s what I check if they ask me my ‘race’.


76 posted on 01/13/2010 8:46:56 AM PST by Ro_Thunder ("Other than ending SLAVERY, FASCISM, NAZISM and COMMUNISM, war has never solved anything")
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To: Chickensoup
Stop calling it assistance, call it charity.

Right...that's why I had it in quotations....because it "assists" about as well as a "correctional facility" corrects.
Charity's charity,and prison is prison...you can avoid either one by living right,and being strong and self-sufficient.
77 posted on 01/13/2010 8:56:09 AM PST by gimme1ibertee ("In a time of universal deceit,telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"-George Orwell)
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To: cbkaty

I saw an article on Fox the other day that says all of those “universal service fees” on phone and mobile service are being used to provide cell phones to the “poor”. Thus far it has burned thru $1B. Terrific. On a related note, my brother had apartments that had subsidized housing tenants in one of them. They had two big screen plasma TVs and all kinds of new appliances. Moral is: there are many fewer truly “poor” in this country. Mostly we have lazy minorities and white trash who are conditioned to perpetual reparations for nothing we did or living off the dole.


78 posted on 01/13/2010 9:00:00 AM PST by dumpthelibs (dumpthelibs)
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To: Chickensoup
I include SS, SSDI, Medicare and the like as charity.

Why Social Security? Since you pay into it,why aren't you entitled to it? You should be able to draw on that to help out after your wage-earning years have run out.
There's a big difference between welfare and SS.
The bad thing about SS is that it was put into the general fund so it could be sucked out by every politician with a special-interest group to appease.
79 posted on 01/13/2010 9:02:18 AM PST by gimme1ibertee ("In a time of universal deceit,telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"-George Orwell)
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To: cbkaty

Clearly the two young ladies in the photo are starving. They’ve started eating their own fingers. It’s a travesty.


80 posted on 01/13/2010 9:02:58 AM PST by Hoffer Rand (There ARE two Americas: "God's children" and the tax payers)
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