Posted on 06/27/2016 11:36:08 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Maine Gov. Paul LePage may have considered a proposal to prohibit food stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy candy and sodas to be a sweet one, but the Obama administration disagrees.
The friction between the Republican governor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reignited a debate after the Obama administration denied LePage’s request to put restrictions on what can be purchased with food stamps.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, LePage said: “It’s time for the federal government to wake up and smell the energy drinks.”
In an interview with The Daily Signal, LePage’s health and human services chief explained what’s at stake.
“Certainly as a safety net program where the second word of the program’s name is nutrition, it is imperative that we are supporting what constitutes nutritional food and restricting those items that are not nutritional,” Mary Mayhew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said.
“There should be no debate that candy and soda are not nutritional, and we should not be funding with taxpayer dollars the purchase of candy and soda with the SNAP program,” she said.
SNAP is short for the the Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps.
Last week, the Agriculture Department rejected LePage’s plan to prohibit Maine’s food stamp recipients from using them to buy candy and soft drinks.
The rejection letter prompted a fiery response from LePage, who criticized the Obama administration for being hypocritical regarding its commitment to healthy eating in schools.
In a response to Vilsack, the Republican governor wrote:
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
The nutritional paradox... Obama doesn’t care whether nutrition requirements are met with food stamps, yet the first lady wants school children on a strict nutritional diet, both are government programs which are not in alignment.
“just by looking into their carts”
or their at their waistlines.
As I went off to college my well-to-do aunt gave me an All-Clad 1.5 qt. saucepan and an 8” frying pan. Needless to say I was disappointed, expecting a fat wad of cold hard cash. Looking back best gift I ever got. As I lived on peanut butter, ramen, oatmeal, black beans and rice, grilled cheese, etc. My friends knew I could cook so they brought over the ‘gourmet’ stuff. I cooked it and ate it for free.
So my disabled step-daughter, who died two weeks ago, should have been limited to mostly rice and beans for the final four or five years of her life?
100% agree. Life should be tough when you’re on welfare.
I understand your point 100 percent. In a better world people would not only make better choices with their food stamps, but also try to get off the dole ASAP.
In our world there’s rampant fraud, poor choices, and billions of our tax dollars wasted, and generations of people not willing to work a day to feed themselves or their family.
So that is why I would absolutely support food boxes in lieu of debit cards. Even free markets stocked with bare necessities and healthy choices for the food stamp recipients to “shop” at.
Yessiree..... if I was king....
They have convinced themselves that they are "sticking it to the man" by going on welfare. No stigma anymore.
For those too young to remember, there was a time when food stamps could only used to purchase US produced food products.
No imported food at all. Zilch!
Afterall, food stamps are a product of the Department of Agriculture.
I agree with LePage.
If I had to feed my family on Food Stamps for a period of time, I would have so much food stockpiled, I wouldn’t need to spend $ on food for years to come!
People do NOT know how to cook from scratch - which is where the REAL savings come from in any food budget.
But, I’m just a stupid taxpaying turnip. What do I know? ;)
I haven’t worked my whole life and had the gobemit steal half of it some some ignorant lazy sloth can get take out at K.F.C.
Learn or starve. Those of us paying their way did!
#23 isn’t it ironic these same helpless
Gibmedats have 4-800 dollar cell phones,
Manicured and painted nails and the latest hairdos that I assure you they didn’t do themselves?
Wonder why that is. /s
The food you can get on WIC is healthy and boring.
If you are in need you get what you need. But you are motivated to get off it as fast as you can.
Hey, at least you’re a turnip who can cook, me too! ; )
One college kid said that he took a class in Chinese cooking, which turned out to be a Bonanza. Said he could damn near go a week using one pork chop and plenty of stir fry veggies.
Stop writing letters and just state that Maine will no longer accept any federal handouts or programs on anything. It’s time states take a stand.
In BJs it's always two carts or more filled with colorful cardboard boxes of snacks. Then it's a parade of hair extensions off to the Navigators and Escalades in the parking lot.
One big elephant in the room that no one speaks about is the grocery industry profit margins churning with the SNAP program.
With individual product gross margins at anywhere from 15-75% per item at the stores and the distributor and manufacturer also taking their cut of profit, there's a large chunk of the grocery sector profiting directly from SNAP purchases.
It's a ponzi scheme and needs to be changed....but how?...without crashing the system and raising grocery prices for everyone because a large percentage of people couldn't shop in the regular grocery channels anymore.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.