Food stamps=lobster & steak

If only I could live this type of lifestyle. Lobster & Steak Article

Quote: coilman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF1o4Nx712o

And she OD'ed.

Quote: coilman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF1o4Nx712o

I like the justification "no, I won $1mm, but after I took the lump sum and paid tax it was a little more than half." Oh, so ONLY $500k then?

The guy that bought the lobster & steak bought it for resale purposes. He's now being prosecuted for it. :D

My younger brother worked in a liquor store in
the ghetto in the mid 80's. On the food stamp days,
it was the wild west. They would offer twice as
many dollars in FS for liquor and cigs. They would
trade FS with other customers for cash to buy
liquor. They would buy all kinds of expensive junk
food with the FS. Some liquor stores would take
twice as much for a bottle of booze, but they were
in danger of losing their license if caught. I would
always take FS for cab fare, $15 in stamps for a
$10 ride. I used them in the grocery store and was never
asked for ID.

I don't know if you would have gotten away with that at our store. Before they converted to the Food Stamp Card, the only Stamps that we would take (without them coming directly from the book, and the cashier being the one to physically take them out of the book) were Singles. We also had to have ID to match the name on the book with.

Quote: Mission146

I don't know if you would have gotten away with that at our store. Before they converted to the Food Stamp Card, the only Stamps that we would take (without them coming directly from the book, and the cashier being the one to physically take them out of the book) were Singles. We also had to have ID to match the name on the book with.

This was 25 years ago, I carried them in my wallet
like money. Never had a problem.

Quote: Mission146

I don't know if you would have gotten away with that at our store. Before they converted to the Food Stamp Card, the only Stamps that we would take (without them coming directly from the book, and the cashier being the one to physically take them out of the book) were Singles. We also had to have ID to match the name on the book with.

We never IDed, but the book was a requirement for stamps over $1. Sure saw a lot of $40 orders paid for with $1 stamps...

"We should make the poor uncomfortable and kick them out of poverty." - Benjamin Franklin

“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

― Benjamin Franklin

As "wrongway" quoted in a previous post, Ben Franklin was aware that if you give people too many things without them doing anything for them, they will more easily settle into a lifestyle of accepting those things and will be less likely to work towards moving forward to better things. When people on assistance all have cell phones, decent cars, and all the comforts their working poor but hard-working neighbors have, it is hard for them to decide to become one of the hard workers and try to move ahead.

What do we have to show for it? Story after story of people in an uncomfortable poverty working 2-3 or more jobs and pushing their kids to get an education so they could get ahead--sacrificing within one generation for the betterment of the next--used to be commonplace. The poor in my "neighborhood" lived just about squalor (tar paper shack with a wood stove and the smallest of TVs, etc, and an outhouse) and you can bet every one of those kids--and their parents--were pushing for the next generation to do better.

I realize poor people are still poor and they aren't living like millionaires...but, if all of their needs are provided for them and many of their wants are also given to them, what is the incentive to do ANYTHING? Needs = food, shelter, basics. Wants = iPhones, cable/satellite TV, huge flat screens, etc. There is a whole group of Americans--white, black, whatever--who are content to live on YOUR tax dollars.

Other than the most severely disabled, we need to make people work at something in order to earn their keep. There does always need to be a "safety net" but it should not be a net that entraps people but one that makes them want to do better for themselves while still taking care of them at their lowest moment.

Quote: EvenBob

This was 25 years ago, I carried them in my wallet
like money. Never had a problem.

You had food stamps!?

I can attest that I have seen people not just use them for liquor, but trade them for cash at 50 cents on the dollar.

RonC,

I agree, I support 40/hrs/wk of Community Service for anyone who lives entirely on Welfare that is not phsyically disabled. I also support, if you have an hourly employee on welfare, then whatever hours he/she falls short of 40/wk, that must be made up in CS.