Posted on 02/12/2018 6:45:07 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Trump wants to slash food stamps and replace them with a ‘Blue Apron-type program’
By Caitlin Dewey February 12 at 6:57 PM
The Trump administration wants to slash food aid to low-income families and make up the difference with a box of canned goods — a change that Office of Management and budget director Mick Mulvaney described in a Monday briefing as a “Blue Apron-type program.”
“What we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part — not all, part — of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don't want to steal somebody's copyright, but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash,” Mulvaney said. “It lowers the cost to us because we can buy [at wholesale prices] whereas they have to buy it at retail. It also makes sure they're getting nutritious food. So we're pretty excited about that.”
Mulvaney's remarks drew raised eyebrows from some critics, who accuse the Trump administration official of drawing an unfair comparison between the food stamp program, which delivers an average of $1.37 per meal to America's poorest, and a high-end meal kit that runs $10 per serving.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It’s the issue of ready-to-eat foods not being allowed. Your case shows the absurdity of unintended consequences of well-intentioned restrictions. For people who live on the edge, they may not have refrigeration or access to food preparation. Some have the issue of long bus rides to a supermarket, and food can spoil getting it home. Buying prepared food would reduce spoilage. With some of the fast-food options offering more healthy choices, it’s a shame some FS money can’t be used on the dollar menus at McDs, Arby’s, TacoBell (and some others).
Now our food-stamp recipients have a diabetes epidemic; maybe the government should tell them what to eat.
The right to vote should be suspended for anyone receiving public assistance; if you rob Peter to pay Paul you’ll always have Paul’s vote.
dollar mwnu AND MREs. No public funded soup kitchens.
Round up the severely mentally ill and take care of them.
Three hots and a cot. Locked wards when needed.
Round up the severely developmentally delayed and take care of them, Supervision, food, and clean lodgings.
Start taking care of our responsibilities as a society, the ones that leftists ended in the name of “freedom.”
I understand your concept of ready-to-eat, and I get that restriction is so someone doesn’t go in a restaurant to order a luxury meal and pay by EBT.
I think what really got my goat about it was the concept that, if you get an EBT card, you can use it to buy lobster!
I mean, heck...when you or I have tight money situations, what do we do? We don’t go on vacation. We don’t buy the new TV. We stop subscriptions. We eat hamburger instead of sirloin steak..you know what I mean. We would progressively cut back to the point we can pay the mortgage or rent, pay the heating and water, buy enough food to get by, and pay taxes as needed so our house doesn’t get repossessed.
It is astonishing to me that you can use an EBT card to buy lobster, cooked or uncooked! Darn, I know I am old school on this, but I would think it would be able to cover basic things, not what I see as luxury things.
I would just re-instate the original food stamp requirements, which were eased under the Bush (II) administration.
Why not bring back debtors prison, union workhouses, the treadmill, Poor Laws, and other tools and then allow them to run their useful course?
I agree with you. EBT money is a dollar for a dollar. Trying to sell commodities likely nets 50 cents on the dollar if all goes well and there’s nothing convenient about it.
But they will still be trying to sell the stuff. There is no perfect solution, but this “Blue Apron” idea will save the government (ie the taxpayer) money in the long run.
Establishing distribution centers. Purchasing the food and storing it. Packaging the food. Delivering it and hoping someone does not steal it off the front stoop. The overhead costs alone will eat up any projected savings.
I know...see my post at #144. Like you, the simple concept of it makes me understand the meaning of “wealth redistribution”.
I'm not a fan of food pantries. I'm with you....an inexpensive meal for the truly needy is a better option. If a person gets food stamps and can't feed themselves on that amount, what they need is education on budgeting for food.
What really irritates me is the free program in schools, for breakfast and lunch in many places. If the family needs food, they get food stamps. Why the heck do their children also get free meals? One can't help but hypothesize those families might have money to spend on things like steak and lobster we can't afford. Why the heck if a child can't afford school meals isn't the family given assistance in getting their stamps? It would eliminate the abuse, and probably improve school meals if people had to pay for them.
Yes. LOL
It is one of the fundamental faults with giving people money, like the discussions on Free Republic the last week or two about a "minimum guaranteed income".
It will never, Never, NEVER be enough. We could implement a universal basic income and get rid of all the WIC, EBT, and other welfare things with all the bureaucracy, office buildings, forms to fill out, etc, but...
As soon as people start getting those checks, they will clamor for programs to augment them, and the welfare infrastructure would begin building itself up again.
Heck. You know what I mean, right?
The cycle will never end as long as we allow Democrats to PAY people to breed and vote Democrat.
What isn't being addressed is we need to go back to that concept, where everyone who worked hard at a job they were qualified would make a living and have the opportunity for upward mobility. Debt for a mortgage and not much else was paid ASAP. A family could put money in the bank and get enough interest on it to be able to grow savings for future needs. Jobs were stable enough so that most people could stay in their communities while the children grew up.
It's that middle class environment of security and opportunity that made America great. I can't imagine how the US ever returns to that. The middle class cannot be restored without jobs that pay the bills for almost everyone and without a worthwhile amount of interest on bank savings. (I'd think at least 3% to encourage people to pay off their debts and start saving)
I agree.
It all boils down to having jobs.
Which all boils down to having meaningful industry.
Which means getting rid of environmental, bureaucratic, legislative, and tax-burdening overheads to make industry attractive for those who want to invest and run a business.
People have jobs.
People have income.
Tax coffers rise.
Everyone wins!
THAT is why I think Trump is indeed the man for the job. He understands working in a competitive work-oriented environment.
Not like the last POS we had who never worked a day in his life.
but will they go back to one car, one landline, no Disney vacations, cut price clothing, homemade food, no eating out, three tv channels, using the library, no or one sport for the kids, no after school programs for enrichment unless free.....?
Food selling is very easy. They use EBT to buy the best food then cook and sell it as plate lunches. Very common in N.O. area.$10 a plate is a nice profit.
That's why I'm saying I don't see how the nation we grew up in can be restored. One good thing that could happen is going back to no college debt, and high schools providing vocational education and life skills to prepare for future independence. EVerify and punishing employers who hire invaders would help. So would stopping recreational warfare. So would, and this isn't just for the US, having a handle on who is a citizen and who should be in their homelands instead of invading somewhere else.
Don't know how that all happens without a collapse of empire.
we loved it
My problem is not with opposition to a poverty enabling, family killing, dependency promoting welfare system. I think we have more of a poverty pimp problem in this country than a poverty problem. My problem is with your attitude towards other human beings. Writing that a woman is whelping and calling children bastards is cruel and downright ugly.
One reason I don’t care for Liberalism is that I strongly believe their policies keep people poor. Either by taking away opportunities (raising minimum wage for example) or promoting life choices that do so (government as daddy).
So I believe that Conservative principles (ironically what use to be classic Liberalism) are the best promotion of people bettering their lives. But sometimes people do need temporary assistance. It should be temporary. Ideally this is best done by private charities. But sometimes charity can’t do it all. SNAP needs a lot of overhauling but the basic goal of providing food aid for needy families is a good one.
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