Posted on 02/19/2016 10:38:02 AM PST by nickcarraway
The concept of the food-stamp queen was first proffered by Ronald Reagan during a 1976 campaign speech. "In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record," he told the assembled crowd. "She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans' benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well as welfare. Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year." Reagan's story turned out to be a gross exaggeration of a minor case of welfare fraud, but since their patron saint conjured her up, conservatives have been unable to rid themselves of the image of the food-stamp queen. And despite her nonexistence, they've tried over and over again to stamp her out.
Their latest attempt takes the form of a bill introduced by New York senator Patty Ritchie designed to keep people from using New York's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy things like expensive steaks, lobster, decorated cakes, or energy drinks. "The goal of this legislation is to improve dietary quality and reduce obesity," as well as to "restrict the abuse of the program," reads the bill's memo.
Even if it passes the Democratic-controlled senate, the bill is unlikely to accomplish either goal. According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "no evidence exists which indicates that food stamp benefits directly contribute to poor food choices and negative dietary outcomes, such as obesity." The majority of food-stamp recipients still buy a portion of their food with their own money, with which they can make as many unrestricted choices as they want.
The Republican fear of "abuse" of food stamps to purchase "luxury items" is founded on a decades-old and highly unrealistic stigma. Last April, when Missouri politicians introduced a similar bill, Representative Rick Brattin told the Washington Post, "I have seen people purchasing filet mignons and crab legs with their EBT [Electronic Benefit Transfer] cards. When I can't afford it on my pay, I don't want people on the taxpayer's dime to." Similar outrage flared up in Kansas when a bill was introduced to limit "a long list of items, including alcohol, cigarettes, concert tickets, theme park tickets, or cruises," and in Wisconsin, where another aimed to strike "crab, lobster, shrimp, and any other shell fish" from the list of available foods. Yet in studies of the diets of people on food stamps, they're shown to eat less seafood than the rest of us, and about the same amount of beef. (How they would buy cruise tickets with their benefits is unclear.)
"It's seeking to legislate urban myths in our society," Milwaukee representative Evan Goyke told WSAU when Wisconsin's bill was in the spotlight. "Forty-one percent of the people who receive food stamps are under the age of 18, and the next largest chunk are the elderly. And they're not eating lobster; they're struggling to get by."
As an aside... this is also why Donald Trump can't fund "the wonderful things Planned Parenthood does" without also supporting abortion.
And has the latest smart phone
The food stamps are now all done via an EBT debit card. Data gets transmitted. It would be a very simple matter to just compile the data from all purchases made on EBT cards and analyze it.
If the Dept. of Agriculture has not done this, it’s because they don’t WANT to do it.
And those embossed finger nail thingys.
Food stamps should be restricted to rice, beans, flour, etc.
It's not about what they EAT but about what they BUY.
I know you are a liberal Claire so I will use small words.
They buy expensive and easily resalable items using their EBT card. They then sell those items for cash. They then use the cash for whatever they please. For example, cruise tickets.
When I worked in a grocery store, we loaded the meat case with premium steaks on the first week of the month.
It was cheap grind and hamburger helper in the case on the last week of the month.
Every month for years....
This article tries to dispel what it labels as myths using statistical averages.
” (How they would buy cruise tickets with their benefits is unclear.) “
Even I ,an old lady who has never been on food stamps,knows how this could be done.
Libs lie.
.
.
The author needs to come shop with me at wal-mart supercenter. I guess EBT cards aren’t used at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or wherever Claire shops and she’d be shocked at what EBT cards are used for where us commoners shop.
It wasn’t a minor case of welfare fraud either, the woman was an absolute nightmare, the welfare fraud was the least of it.
I was approached by a black woman in Wal-Mart one day and she wanted to pay for my groceries with her food stamp card, so i would give her the $$ in cash..................
In America, we pay stupid people to breed, feed and vote Democrat....
The Uniparty doesn’t want people to remember that money is fungible.
So they buy steaks with other money that is now available for discretionary purchases because they don’t have to spend it on necessities covered by welfare.
Notice that the article does not say it is impossible to buy filet mignon and lobster with food stamps the way it is impossible to buy cigarettes with food stamps.
Ed
“no evidence exists which indicates that food stamp benefits directly contribute to poor food choices and negative dietary outcomes, such as obesit
Conversely...
“no evidence exists which indicates that food stamp benefits directly contribute to good food choices and positive dietary outcomes.”
Normally a liberal would want to manipulate the social norms
to bring about that “positive” benefit.
Why the silence?
Not a myth, just willfully blind
What’s NOT a myth is the violations of taxpayers 5th and 13th Rights
And a bunch of tats
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