My daughter is switching political party after she ..

[Dancing Fire]

witness a food stamp recipient buying (2) $75 can of abalone at an Asian grocery store.

DD said...there is something wrong with the system when a food stamp recipient can afford to buy expensive sea foods when she as a taxpayer can't afford. I told her that's been going on for many years now nothing new.

btw; she registered as an (I) then found out that she can't vote (R) in the primary here in Ca...

 

[telephone89]

a) http://www.patheos.com/blogs/simchafisher/2015/04/17/the-day-i-bought-steak-with-my-food-stamps/?repeat=w3tc
b) if she wants to spend her monthly budget on 1 item, who the f are you to say what she can or can't spend it on? Maybe she'll starve or eat rice for the rest of the month. Not really your business.

You = general you.

 

[kenny]

 

[ForteKitty]

My friend's dad went out and bought a lot of expensive foods after his Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Maybe the person she saw is dying... you don't know. All I've ever witnessed are people buying regular food for themselves and their babies.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

a) http://www.patheos.com/blogs/simchafisher/2015/04/17/the-day-i-bought-steak-with-my-food-stamps/?repeat=w3tc
b) if she wants to spend her monthly budget on 1 item, who the f are you to say what she can or can't spend it on? Maybe she'll starve or eat rice for the rest of the month. Not really your business.

You = general you.

100% agree.

 

[kenny]

My friend's dad went out and bought a lot of expensive foods after his Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Maybe the person she saw is dying... you don't know. All I've ever witnessed are people buying regular food for themselves and their babies.

Well that death of any liberal is a good thing.
Right DF?

 

[nala]

I'm a liberal . but I don't support welfare. The system is flawed. It creates a cycle of oppression and is clearly susceptible to fraud. I can see why so many are perturbed by werlfare abuse and feel entitled to make it their business BC at the end of the day, it is. Whether it's the taxes we pay to support failing systems or whether we are affected by parents who make bad decisions and have kids irresponsibly bc they can always fall back on the system to support them financially, we are all affected. I read this link and the irony is that the narrator won't send her kids to public school BC they are so "wretched." Kind of hypocritical that those of you who posted the link are so condescending to people who criticize one flawed system while posting a link of someone whose excuse for not working is that she has to homeschool the 5 kids she chose to have BC she deems another public system so wretched. So only certain people can make it their business to criticize flawed systems? Seriously?

 

[lulu]

I think DF is entitled to ask about the abalone. He's paying for it.I also think it's safe to say that someone spending that kind of money on abalone does not need food stamps.

 

[hay joe]

It's just proof that if you take money from responsible people and give it to the irresponsible it will be wasted. Obviously that person has no respect for the people the money was taken from. There are people who are truly in need and there are people who will work a system that feeds fraud.

 

[Dancing Fire]

My friend's dad went out and bought a lot of expensive foods after his Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Maybe the person she saw is dying... you don't know. All I've ever witnessed are people buying regular food for themselves and their babies.

Well that death of any liberal is a good thing.
Right DF?

Wrong! ...we need food stamp to help the poor, but to spent it on a can of $75 abalone ?... I have also seen people buying live giant prawns for $25 per lb.

 

[Niel]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

 

[stracci2000]

For many years I worked in the grocery business, and I have some first-hand observations.

I once waited on a lady who was telling me about her recent trip to Hawaii, while buying caviar, and asking me how to eat the caviar.
I told her it was eaten on crackers, and then she wanted to know where the crackers were. She pulled her food stamp card out of a Dooney & Burke handbag. True story.

Once I was approached by a shady guy who wanted to sell me his food stamp card for 1/2 value, cash.

On the other hand, most people do use their food stamps to feed their families, and they try to shop wisely.
It's just too bad that for $5, you can get either one bag of apples or 15 packages of ramen noodles. What would you do?

The thing is, you cannot tell someone how to spend the food stamp funds. Anything edible is allowable for purchase. Gum, candy, soda, etc. Convenience stores must now carry dairy, cheese, meats, fruits and vegetables, because low income people might not be able to get to a real grocery store.

By comparison, the WIC (Women,Infants,Children) Program is much better, in my opinion. This program specifies what the mother/father is able to purchase. Example: 2 gal. 2% lowfat milk(whole fat milk not allowed), 32 oz. low sugar cereal(Cheerios, Kix, etc), 32 oz. dry legumes, 16 oz. block cheese, etc. Nursing mothers can get peanut butter, tuna, etc. Fresh fruits and vegs are also allowed.
I've often wondered why food stamps don't function this way.

 

[KaeKae]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

This.

Dancing Fire. With all due respect to your daughter, changing her political party after one minor incident seems extreme to me.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

You would be shocked the % of welfare $$$ that are use to purchase drugs.

 

[monarch64]

Just n/m.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

You would be shocked the % of welfare $$$ that are use to purchase drugs.

I would love to see a reliable source for this. Link?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

This.

Dancing Fire. With all due respect to your daughter, changing her political party after one minor incident seems extreme to me.

Minor or not...she said... if the food stamp recipient can afford to buy seafood then there is something wrong with the system. She said they eat higher quality food then she does.

 

[telephone89]

I'm a liberal . but I don't support welfare. The system is flawed. It creates a cycle of oppression and is clearly susceptible to fraud. I can see why so many are perturbed by werlfare abuse and feel entitled to make it their business BC at the end of the day, it is. Whether it's the taxes we pay to support failing systems or whether we are affected by parents who make bad decisions and have kids irresponsibly bc they can always fall back on the system to support them financially, we are all affected. I read this link and the irony is that the narrator won't send her kids to public school BC they are so "wretched." Kind of hypocritical that those of you who posted the link are so condescending to people who criticize one flawed system while posting a link of someone whose excuse for not working is that she has to homeschool the 5 kids she chose to have BC she deems another public system so wretched. So only certain people can make it their business to criticize flawed systems? Seriously?

It's incredibly judgmental of you to say that she had 5 kids and falls back on the system to support them. They were paying taxes and supporting themselves just fine for a while. Shit happens. It wasn't like they were living on the street and had 5 kids (which does happen, but that is not this situation).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Just n/m.

I have already read your post!...

 

[packrat]

Eh-the system is flawed, no doubt about that. People-not all of course-will always find a way to take advantage. JD's come home I don't know how many times now, shaking his head and describing another way being used to circumvent any restrictions. And we always have the same conversation. He explains it, which at times seems convoluted and I wonder why they aren't working for NASA or some shit w/the extent some people go to, and I say "what the..how in the world did they come up w/that??" "I dunno..I guess while we're working, they're working on their own "projects" too." "if we were on welfare, I'd never in a million years come up w/that" "b/c it's not in you to plot and scheme and cheat. some people that's all they do"

I shudder to think what this country is going to look like in the future. We start out w/the best of intentions for things, I'll give us that..but we just end up as the enabler. We are that one on My 600 Pound Life that continues to bring crappy food to the overweight person.

 

[Niel]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

This.

Dancing Fire. With all due respect to your daughter, changing her political party after one minor incident seems extreme to me.

Minor or not...she said... if the food stamp recipient can afford to buy seafood then there is something wrong with the system. She said they eat higher quality food then she does.

This particular item aside,what's wrong with welfare recipients in general buying seafood? You'd prefer they buy cheap unhealthy food for themselves or their children?

I'm not going to balk at a womay buying tuna with her food stamps of she can use the food to feed her children a home made healthy meal.

 

[AGBF]

It's just proof that if you take money from responsible people and give it to the irresponsible it will be wasted. Obviously that person has no respect for the people the money was taken from. There are people who are truly in need and there are people who will work a system that feeds fraud.

Who said the poor are irresponsible?

You have professed to being a Catholic. Tune in and listen to the Pope. He has been travelling the globe in support of the poor. Or listen to The Bible. God gave food to the poor many times in stories in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments.

"After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ..."

John 6:1-71 ESV

 

[Niel]

Same reason we should drug test welfare recipients and set up voting restrictions right? If a minute % of the population abuses it, its a shit system.

(Rolling my eyes back from hell)

You would be shocked the % of welfare $$$ that are use to purchase drugs.

I'm sure I would be shocked to hear the number you think it is.

How did that work for the states that tried to drug test welfare recipients?

 

[Niel]

Millenials who feel the crushing burden of mounting student debt and a disconnect between the Constitution and modern society who choose to support Sanders are f*ing morons.

But one idiot at a grocery store is a good reason to be a GOP

 

[yssie]

burden of mounting student debt and a disconnect between the Constitution and modern society who choose to support Sanders are f*ing morons.

But one idiot at a grocery store is a good reason to be a GOP

That. In a nutshell.

I do, however, find it ludicrous that welfare benefits are not taxed.
Everyone and everything else is taxed, so why on earth not tax public assistance benefits as well?

 

[nala]

I'm a liberal . but I don't support welfare. The system is flawed. It creates a cycle of oppression and is clearly susceptible to fraud. I can see why so many are perturbed by werlfare abuse and feel entitled to make it their business BC at the end of the day, it is. Whether it's the taxes we pay to support failing systems or whether we are affected by parents who make bad decisions and have kids irresponsibly bc they can always fall back on the system to support them financially, we are all affected. I read this link and the irony is that the narrator won't send her kids to public school BC they are so "wretched." Kind of hypocritical that those of you who posted the link are so condescending to people who criticize one flawed system while posting a link of someone whose excuse for not working is that she has to homeschool the 5 kids she chose to have BC she deems another public system so wretched. So only certain people can make it their business to criticize flawed systems? Seriously?

It's incredibly judgmental of you to say that she had 5 kids and falls back on the system to support them. They were paying taxes and supporting themselves just fine for a while. Shit happens. It wasn't like they were living on the street and had 5 kids (which does happen, but that is not this situation).

I have no problem being judgemental. I have more of a problem being hypocritical or dismissing every argument with the: "it's none of your business"response
BC that line of thinking always tries to prevent the exchange of ideas, for one.

 

[AGBF]

Everyone and everything else is taxed, so why on earth not tax public assistance benefits as well?

Not so! People with very low incomes do not have their incomes taxed by the federal government. Some states do not tax essentials, like groceries. Some states, like New Hampshire, don't tax much of anything (including income and real estate). And homeowners actually get federal tax credit on their income taxes for having mortgages!!!

I bet those welfare recipients would like to own homes so that they could get tax credits the way that rich homeowners do! But they don't have the clout to buy off the Senators and Congressmen to get bills passed giving them cushy benefits like tax credits for homeowners.

You want to know why we are subsidizing the poor who need to eat? I want to know why we are subsidizing the rich so that they can own their homes while we do nothing to help RENTERS!!!

 

[yssie]

Everyone and everything else is taxed, so why on earth not tax public assistance benefits as well?

Not so! People with very low incomes do not have their incomes taxed by the federal government. Some states do not tax essentials, like groceries. Some states, like New Hampshire, don't tax much of anything (including income and real estate). And homeowners actually get federal tax credit on their income taxes for having mortgages!!!

I bet those welfare recipients would like to own homes so that they could get tax credits the way that rich homeowners do! But they don't have the clout to buy off the Senators and Congressmen to get bills passed giving them cushy benefits like tax credits for homeowners.

You want to know why we are subsidizing the poor who need to eat? I want to know why we are subsidizing the rich so that they can own their homes while we do nothing to help RENTERS!!!

Not once did I question why we are subsidizing the poor who need to eat, kindly don't misattribute wildly incorrect assertions.

Public assistance is not taxed at a sliding scale like wages from employment. Low-income earners pay far less in taxes than higher-income earners; this is how it should be.
Public assistance, unlike earned wages, is not taxed *at all*, low or high dollar/benefit value, and I most certainly question why. Other countries (with far more successful programmes than we can boast of) see reason in taxing public assistance in similar ways with similar sliding scales, etc., as earned income.


Whilst we're on the topic of political corruption... Here's my radical idea: publicly-funded campaigns. Yes, take campaign money out of taxpayer pockets... and remove all possibility of wealthy individuals and corporations buying off politicians to further their agendas at everyone else's expense! Yet another philosophy that other countries with healthier and more stable economies have adopted... Not so radical after all!

 

[yssie]

Welfare corruption doesn't make my list of things to worry about, if we're talking about reforming the various ways in which we hemorrhage money. Make it impossible for the top 1% of the top 1% to fund political agendas via campaign donations, take half the vehemence and indignation hurled at "welfare"and channel it into actually closing the tax evasion loopholes that top 1% of the top 1% routinely take advantage of, and it *might* actually see return.

 

[monarch64]

Just n/m.

I have already read your post!...

I know. I left it up for a few minutes because I know people who start threads much like myself like to see the comments that roll in and then get edited. I'm ok with that! I did not want it left out there for people to pick apart, because unlike many people here, I am not great at political arguments and can't hold my own without taking things personally or getting emotional. Call it a flaw in my personality, or whatever you will, but I at least know my weaknesses. And honestly at this point in my life I'm not about hurting others to feel better about where I stand on issues. That's all. I'm glad you read my post, DF. I really do like and respect you. This time I just disagreed.