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Food Stamps and the $41 Cake (1 Viewer)

Joe T

Footballguy
WSJ

Food Stamps and the $41 Cake

How did this great nation travel from the common sense of our grandparents to where we are today?

By WARREN KOZAK

Beware of little expenses.

A small leak will sink a great ship.

—Benjamin Franklin

There is a large chain grocery store in my neighborhood that I rarely frequent because the prices are too high. Instead, I will travel an extra 30 blocks to another store where the costs per item are 20%-30% lower.

I arrange my travel around this activity. It takes a little extra effort, but within a year the savings are substantial. As it turns out, I am not alone. The average income of Costco discount shoppers, it was reported recently, is $96,000—so perhaps they're not the millionaires and billionaires the president talks about, yet not the folks one might immediately expect to be watching their pennies either.

But every so often I will need one item late at night—a quart of milk, a missing part of a school lunch—and I run over to the high-price store nearby. There, I've noticed something happening with increased regularity: The person ahead of me in line or at the next checkout counter is using a benefits card. Since we are now in the third year of our national recession and unemployment remains depressingly high, I understand this.

Recently I had to run into that store and, sizing up the three lines, chose to stand behind a woman with one item in her cart. It was one of those large ice-cream cakes. When the checkout person said "Forty-one dollars," I wasn't the only one who blanched. The shopper's son, around 12, repeated it as a question: "Forty-one dollars?"

I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays. The mother ignored her son's question.

She took out her benefits card, swiped it through the machine, and they were off. My turn.

I stood there, wondering what lesson the young boy takes away from this transaction. Does he grow up with the faintest understanding of delayed gratification—that you have to earn your money before you can buy candy—or, in this case, an ice-cream treat? I wondered how we arrived at this point as a nation. I also felt like a chump.

The vast majority of Americans—Democrat, Republican or independent—will readily help someone who cannot make ends meet in a bad economy. Americans want a hungry child to be fed. I know this because in no other country do people donate more to charities. Americans will go far beyond what our taxes already pay for to help the less fortunate. We have been blessed with overabundance in this land, and we are a very generous people.

But over the last four decades, our government has quietly done away with almost all of the restrictions once placed on food assistance. SNAP cards (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) can be used to purchase practically anything with the exception of liquor and cigarettes. These cards are also openly and illegally sold for cash, which allows the recipient to buy anything they want, including cigarettes and liquor.

Food assistance is helping many families keep their heads above water when they would otherwise not get by, and many of these families watch every dime. But the system also allows people to flagrantly disregard the program's original purpose.

Of course there are instances of fraud in every corner of the government, from Congress to defense spending. Why single out food stamps? Because, with over 48 million Americans now using some form of food assistance and few restrictions, the possibilities of waste are unlimited.

My grandmother did not serve on the president's Council of Economic Advisers. She did not have an M.B.A. from Harvard. She never went to high school because she had to go to work to support her family. But she gave me an astute piece of financial advice when I was about to enter the world. "Never," she told me, "spend more than you earn" and "always try and save a little something."

When we wonder how this great nation traveled from our grandparents' common sense to where we are today, it might be easier to understand with this question: How did the country that created the strongest middle class in history, the country that offered everyone the chance to succeed, the country that built and paid for the transcontinental railroad and the Hoover Dam, won World War II and put Neil Armstrong on the moon—how did that country rack up trillions in debt?

One $41 cake at a time.
 
I am a Little Debbie distributor and EBT fraud is rampant. I was in a store today and a woman purchased Twisted Tea with her card. The store just rang the alcoholic beverages as something else.

 
When you factor in the cost per calorie, this woman is wise beyond her years. We should all take heed to learn from her astute use of resources. A person could live off of the energy held in that cake for a month.

 
"I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays."

I saw a guy eat a $25 piece of steak at a restaurant, what a sucker my bologna sandwich I had for lunch cost me $1. :rolleyes:

 
I notice this at our local CVS which is just down the road from a big apartment complex that is about half low-income housing. Food items are at least 20% higher than even the grocery store that's about a 1/2 mile down the road. They don't have any fruits, vegetables, non-processes meats, etc. either. Yet, I always see people from the complex buying quite a lot of groceries there. Some walk which could make it a transportation issue, but others drive.

I understand the convenience. I go there occasionally for milk or non-food items, but the expense and quality of food for that added bit of convenience is pretty high.

 
"I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays."I saw a guy eat a $25 piece of steak at a restaurant, what a sucker my bologna sandwich I had for lunch cost me $1. :rolleyes:
Did he pay with his SNAP card?
 
with $41 I can get 2 cases of cheap beer and still have enough $$ leftover to make it rain on the 99 cent menu at Wendy's..

poor people are stupid

 
"I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays."I saw a guy eat a $25 piece of steak at a restaurant, what a sucker my bologna sandwich I had for lunch cost me $1. :rolleyes:
Did he pay with his SNAP card?
YesBy the way not being a big buyer of ice cream cakes isn't $41 ridiculously overpriced?
 
WSJ

Food Stamps and the $41 Cake

How did this great nation travel from the common sense of our grandparents to where we are today?

By WARREN KOZAK

Beware of little expenses.

A small leak will sink a great ship.

—Benjamin Franklin

There is a large chain grocery store in my neighborhood that I rarely frequent because the prices are too high. Instead, I will travel an extra 30 blocks to another store where the costs per item are 20%-30% lower.

I arrange my travel around this activity. It takes a little extra effort, but within a year the savings are substantial. As it turns out, I am not alone. The average income of Costco discount shoppers, it was reported recently, is $96,000—so perhaps they're not the millionaires and billionaires the president talks about, yet not the folks one might immediately expect to be watching their pennies either.

But every so often I will need one item late at night—a quart of milk, a missing part of a school lunch—and I run over to the high-price store nearby. There, I've noticed something happening with increased regularity: The person ahead of me in line or at the next checkout counter is using a benefits card. Since we are now in the third year of our national recession and unemployment remains depressingly high, I understand this.

Recently I had to run into that store and, sizing up the three lines, chose to stand behind a woman with one item in her cart. It was one of those large ice-cream cakes. When the checkout person said "Forty-one dollars," I wasn't the only one who blanched. The shopper's son, around 12, repeated it as a question: "Forty-one dollars?"

I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays. The mother ignored her son's question.

She took out her benefits card, swiped it through the machine, and they were off. My turn.

I stood there, wondering what lesson the young boy takes away from this transaction. Does he grow up with the faintest understanding of delayed gratification—that you have to earn your money before you can buy candy—or, in this case, an ice-cream treat? I wondered how we arrived at this point as a nation. I also felt like a chump.

The vast majority of Americans—Democrat, Republican or independent—will readily help someone who cannot make ends meet in a bad economy. Americans want a hungry child to be fed. I know this because in no other country do people donate more to charities. Americans will go far beyond what our taxes already pay for to help the less fortunate. We have been blessed with overabundance in this land, and we are a very generous people.

But over the last four decades, our government has quietly done away with almost all of the restrictions once placed on food assistance. SNAP cards (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) can be used to purchase practically anything with the exception of liquor and cigarettes. These cards are also openly and illegally sold for cash, which allows the recipient to buy anything they want, including cigarettes and liquor.

Food assistance is helping many families keep their heads above water when they would otherwise not get by, and many of these families watch every dime. But the system also allows people to flagrantly disregard the program's original purpose.

Of course there are instances of fraud in every corner of the government, from Congress to defense spending. Why single out food stamps? Because, with over 48 million Americans now using some form of food assistance and few restrictions, the possibilities of waste are unlimited.

My grandmother did not serve on the president's Council of Economic Advisers. She did not have an M.B.A. from Harvard. She never went to high school because she had to go to work to support her family. But she gave me an astute piece of financial advice when I was about to enter the world. "Never," she told me, "spend more than you earn" and "always try and save a little something."

When we wonder how this great nation traveled from our grandparents' common sense to where we are today, it might be easier to understand with this question: How did the country that created the strongest middle class in history, the country that offered everyone the chance to succeed, the country that built and paid for the transcontinental railroad and the Hoover Dam, won World War II and put Neil Armstrong on the moon—how did that country rack up trillions in debt?

One $41 cake at a time.
Pics or it didn't happen.
 
Ice cream cake is delicious.
Exactly. Did they even have ice cream cake back in the old days? If anything this story shows how far we've come as a nation.
They really need to come down on the price though.
Do you have any idea how much it costs to have two strippers stop at a store to buy cake, then another store to buy ice cream separately, on the way to a bachelor party? Paying for the convenience of the ice cream and cake already pre-assembled is well worth it.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's time to cull the herd. A lot of the world's problems could be solved simply by making it legal to eat the poor.

 
I always avoid food shopping in the ghetto. Not because I'm afraid to shop there, but #### is twice as expensive and you get half the portion size. That may or may not be because of transfer payments.

 
My mentally ill mother and brother are on food stamps. They don't have a car, but there are outreach programs which will help them with basic errands like shopping once a week for an hour or two. Outside that, if they want anything in their relatively rural locatioh, they have to walk a mile to the store, or two or more miles to a discount store or grocery store. My mother doesnt use the internet, but my brother goes to the library when the weather is ok and uses their connection for the short time allowed. The amount of energy required to perform the very basic tasks that we take for granted is enormous.

My brother, before the mental illness made him functionally incapable of working, developed a smoking habit, gets takeout, and drinks beer whenever he can sneak away. He spends his money as fast as it comes in. My mother is the opposite - she doesn't eat meat, wont order food at a restaurant unless she's dragged there, has never drank or smoked, stashes cheap foodstuffs in her fridge and cupboards with an intricate collection of leftovers that she shares with friends when they run out of money at the end of the month, and is as generous as they come.

When I hear people complaing about people on welfare, and look at the scraps my family lives on because they had the same genes I do but just didn't have the good fortune I've had in my life, it makes my stomach turn. Ive lived in low income, urban neighborhoods and seen people abuse the system, and those who dont. I've seen more affluent people lose their job and need unemployment to avoid losing their homes, and I've seen wealthy owners of small seasonal businesses claim unemployment during the months they choose to close up shop. If you create a system to help people, some undeserving people will always abuse it. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.

 
"I quickly calculated that the woman's cake was eight times more expensive than the kind I make at home to celebrate birthdays."I saw a guy eat a $25 piece of steak at a restaurant, what a sucker my bologna sandwich I had for lunch cost me $1. :rolleyes:
Did that guy pay for it with public assistance?
 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
 
clinton

So, she was statistically more likely to be black or hispanic. Purely based on the evidence, of course.

/clinton

 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
You dont sound like someone who has walked a mile in those shoes. I hope for your sake you don't have to.
 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
You dont sound like someone who has walked a mile in those shoes. I hope for your sake you don't have to.
Whether I have or haven't is not relevant. Paying that sort of price for a cake when you're on food stamps is ridiculous. To tell the truth, t's ridiculous if you're not.I learned this lesson when I was young. If you don't work for it, you don't care about it.
 
My mentally ill mother and brother are on food stamps. They don't have a car, but there are outreach programs which will help them with basic errands like shopping once a week for an hour or two. Outside that, if they want anything in their relatively rural locatioh, they have to walk a mile to the store, or two or more miles to a discount store or grocery store. My mother doesnt use the internet, but my brother goes to the library when the weather is ok and uses their connection for the short time allowed. The amount of energy required to perform the very basic tasks that we take for granted is enormous. My brother, before the mental illness made him functionally incapable of working, developed a smoking habit, gets takeout, and drinks beer whenever he can sneak away. He spends his money as fast as it comes in. My mother is the opposite - she doesn't eat meat, wont order food at a restaurant unless she's dragged there, has never drank or smoked, stashes cheap foodstuffs in her fridge and cupboards with an intricate collection of leftovers that she shares with friends when they run out of money at the end of the month, and is as generous as they come. When I hear people complaing about people on welfare, and look at the scraps my family lives on because they had the same genes I do but just didn't have the good fortune I've had in my life, it makes my stomach turn. Ive lived in low income, urban neighborhoods and seen people abuse the system, and those who dont. I've seen more affluent people lose their job and need unemployment to avoid losing their homes, and I've seen wealthy owners of small seasonal businesses claim unemployment during the months they choose to close up shop. If you create a system to help people, some undeserving people will always abuse it. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
Sorry about your family, but this isn't an isolated case. One of the reasons we are in the mess we are in is because of people(dirtbags) who pull crap like this. I spent 10 years working in retail grocery and believe me, this is not an isolated case. People will buy shrimp trays, nice cuts of meat, and other 'luxuries' that even most of the employees of the store (most of whom bust their ### for $8.00 an hour) cannot afford. Whatever though, from the sound of most of the jokers on this thread, nobody gives a rip about this, which is why these parasites are able to get away with such graft. Only an idiot would suggest that we get rid of welfare, it is however high time to take a close look at what people are able to purchase with their 'free' money. I don't think it would be a bad idea to make them all go to government warehouses to pick up the staples that are needed to survive. In the end, that is most likely what is going to happen anyways once the dollar is no longer the standard currency and the libs run out of other peoples' money to borrow and spend.
 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
But if it feels good....It's not her fault shes on welfare....those evil Koch brothers did it!!!!!!!!!
 
My mentally ill mother and brother are on food stamps. They don't have a car, but there are outreach programs which will help them with basic errands like shopping once a week for an hour or two. Outside that, if they want anything in their relatively rural locatioh, they have to walk a mile to the store, or two or more miles to a discount store or grocery store. My mother doesnt use the internet, but my brother goes to the library when the weather is ok and uses their connection for the short time allowed. The amount of energy required to perform the very basic tasks that we take for granted is enormous. My brother, before the mental illness made him functionally incapable of working, developed a smoking habit, gets takeout, and drinks beer whenever he can sneak away. He spends his money as fast as it comes in. My mother is the opposite - she doesn't eat meat, wont order food at a restaurant unless she's dragged there, has never drank or smoked, stashes cheap foodstuffs in her fridge and cupboards with an intricate collection of leftovers that she shares with friends when they run out of money at the end of the month, and is as generous as they come. When I hear people complaing about people on welfare, and look at the scraps my family lives on because they had the same genes I do but just didn't have the good fortune I've had in my life, it makes my stomach turn. Ive lived in low income, urban neighborhoods and seen people abuse the system, and those who dont. I've seen more affluent people lose their job and need unemployment to avoid losing their homes, and I've seen wealthy owners of small seasonal businesses claim unemployment during the months they choose to close up shop. If you create a system to help people, some undeserving people will always abuse it. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
People will buy shrimp trays, nice cuts of meat,
HOW DARE THEY!!!!!
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/mario-batali-food-stamp-challenge_n_1517572.html

To much of the world, it was Monday. To Mario Batali, it was Day Four.

The chef, his wife and their two teenage sons are eating for a week on the equivalent of a food stamp budget in protest of potential cuts pending in Congress to the benefit program used by more than 46 million Americans.

That's $31 per person for the week, or about $1.48 per meal each.

Goodbye restaurants, free nibbles on his talk show "The Chew" and all the luxe offerings at Eataly, the high-end New York City market he co-owns. Hello Trader Joe's, Jack's Dollar Store, Gristedes and Western Beef, a low-cost supermarket chain.

"I'm (expletive deleted) starving," said Batali, who's on the board of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City, which issued the challenge to celeb pals like Batali and anybody else who wants to know what it's like.
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/mario-batali-food-stamp-challenge_n_1517572.html

To much of the world, it was Monday. To Mario Batali, it was Day Four.The chef, his wife and their two teenage sons are eating for a week on the equivalent of a food stamp budget in protest of potential cuts pending in Congress to the benefit program used by more than 46 million Americans.That's $31 per person for the week, or about $1.48 per meal each.Goodbye restaurants, free nibbles on his talk show "The Chew" and all the luxe offerings at Eataly, the high-end New York City market he co-owns. Hello Trader Joe's, Jack's Dollar Store, Gristedes and Western Beef, a low-cost supermarket chain."I'm (expletive deleted) starving," said Batali, who's on the board of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City, which issued the challenge to celeb pals like Batali and anybody else who wants to know what it's like.
You can get a lot more than $120 a month in food stamps.
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/mario-batali-food-stamp-challenge_n_1517572.html

To much of the world, it was Monday. To Mario Batali, it was Day Four.The chef, his wife and their two teenage sons are eating for a week on the equivalent of a food stamp budget in protest of potential cuts pending in Congress to the benefit program used by more than 46 million Americans.That's $31 per person for the week, or about $1.48 per meal each.Goodbye restaurants, free nibbles on his talk show "The Chew" and all the luxe offerings at Eataly, the high-end New York City market he co-owns. Hello Trader Joe's, Jack's Dollar Store, Gristedes and Western Beef, a low-cost supermarket chain."I'm (expletive deleted) starving," said Batali, who's on the board of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City, which issued the challenge to celeb pals like Batali and anybody else who wants to know what it's like.
Yeah, it's gotta be hard to eat like that when you weigh 450.
 
My mentally ill mother and brother are on food stamps. They don't have a car, but there are outreach programs which will help them with basic errands like shopping once a week for an hour or two. Outside that, if they want anything in their relatively rural locatioh, they have to walk a mile to the store, or two or more miles to a discount store or grocery store. My mother doesnt use the internet, but my brother goes to the library when the weather is ok and uses their connection for the short time allowed. The amount of energy required to perform the very basic tasks that we take for granted is enormous.

My brother, before the mental illness made him functionally incapable of working, developed a smoking habit, gets takeout, and drinks beer whenever he can sneak away. He spends his money as fast as it comes in. My mother is the opposite - she doesn't eat meat, wont order food at a restaurant unless she's dragged there, has never drank or smoked, stashes cheap foodstuffs in her fridge and cupboards with an intricate collection of leftovers that she shares with friends when they run out of money at the end of the month, and is as generous as they come.

When I hear people complaing about people on welfare, and look at the scraps my family lives on because they had the same genes I do but just didn't have the good fortune I've had in my life, it makes my stomach turn. Ive lived in low income, urban neighborhoods and seen people abuse the system, and those who dont. I've seen more affluent people lose their job and need unemployment to avoid losing their homes, and I've seen wealthy owners of small seasonal businesses claim unemployment during the months they choose to close up shop. If you create a system to help people, some undeserving people will always abuse it. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
Sorry about your family, but this isn't an isolated case. One of the reasons we are in the mess we are in is because of people(dirtbags) who pull crap like this. I spent 10 years working in retail grocery and believe me, this is not an isolated case. People will buy shrimp trays, nice cuts of meat, and other 'luxuries' that even most of the employees of the store (most of whom bust their ### for $8.00 an hour) cannot afford. Whatever though, from the sound of most of the jokers on this thread, nobody gives a rip about this, which is why these parasites are able to get away with such graft.

Only an idiot would suggest that we get rid of welfare, it is however high time to take a close look at what people are able to purchase with their 'free' money. I don't think it would be a bad idea to make them all go to government warehouses to pick up the staples that are needed to survive. In the end, that is most likely what is going to happen anyways once the dollar is no longer the standard currency and the libs run out of other peoples' money to borrow and spend.
I'd guess that the bigger reason that we are in the current mess has a lot more to do with the billions of dollars lost through shady dealings of wealthy hedge fund managers, banks, broakers, and investment types than food stamp recipients. Dirbags on food stamps got us into this mess? Food stamps? Really? Food stamps? Are you effing kidding me? Food stamps? Jesus H. Christ, I feel like Allen Iverson talking about practice. We're talking about Food Stamps, right? Food stamps? That's the cause of the nation's ills? Food stamps?

 
Sorry about your family, but this isn't an isolated case. One of the reasons we are in the mess we are in is because of people(dirtbags) who pull crap like this. I spent 10 years working in retail grocery and believe me, this is not an isolated case. People will buy shrimp trays, nice cuts of meat, and other 'luxuries' that even most of the employees of the store (most of whom bust their ### for $8.00 an hour) cannot afford. Whatever though, from the sound of most of the jokers on this thread, nobody gives a rip about this, which is why these parasites are able to get away with such graft.
Why are you surprised or upset that people who don't have much money to live on occasionally splurge on things you don't agree with? Is the goal of welfare to keep people alive but make sure they aren't happy, even for one meal? what about your 8 dollar an hour stockboy, who qualifies for foodstamps, by the way? Is he allowed to eat shrimp?
 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
You dont sound like someone who has walked a mile in those shoes. I hope for your sake you don't have to.
Who cares if anyone has walked a mile.....if they want a cake they should buy a Pillsbury one and frost it themselves for $15 instead of $40. It is really bothersome that some of you libs lack the intellect to understand that we don't get money from a money tree. What you obviously fail to comprehend is that the money this woman grafted is money that will not be able to go to somebody that actually needs it! So when your brother becomes indignant enough where he finally cannot care for himself, the facility they put him in will be lacking in funds precisely because of GARBAGE LIKE THIS!!!!!! Seriously man, take off the rosie-rose glasses and smell the smellin' salts....if you are telling us that you have a mentally ill brother, you should be smart enough to understand that people like that, unfortunately, are at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to demanding money to live on. When push comes to shove, your brother is going to be rotting away in a filthy, decrepit, understaffed, madhouse while millions of losers (unconcerned with work/society/etc.) are stuffing themselves with $4.00 packs of twinkies, $7.48 Tombstone Pizzas, $50.00 shrimp trays, and $41.00 sheet cakes purchased from the stores who are all too happy to exploit taxpayers like you. If I were you, with your family situation,I would be very concerned about problems such as this. The fact that you could care less is very puzzling, yet also quite telling.
 
This guy sees someone buy a ####### cake, decides its too expensive for them, then pats himself on the back for being able to afford a costco membership, a car, the time and gas to go across town 20 extra minutes on the weekend, the space in his home to store huge boxes of bulk goods, and the money to spend on things today that he wont use until tomorrow. But he doesn't take the time to ask if this is a single mom who is trying to help her kid have a cake with his friends so he will have some self confidence and wont feel like the poor kid who can't have a birthday party for reasons that have nothing to do with him, or if this mother is dealing with some other life issues like mental illness, substance abuse, or unemployment, or if this mother has the luxury to go on longer trips to the store or if it means that shed have to bring her youger baby in a car seat she can't afford or leave them with a babysitter who can't be bothered to watch a kid for a couple hours while she gets a two gallon jar of mayonnaise. He just says, this ladys stupid, and we shouldn't give her money anymore. Maybe he can spit on some homeless people on the way home and make himself feel even better.
No one should be buying a $41 cake with public benefits. Sorry.
You dont sound like someone who has walked a mile in those shoes. I hope for your sake you don't have to.
Who cares if anyone has walked a mile.....if they want a cake they should buy a Pillsbury one and frost it themselves for $15 instead of $40. It is really bothersome that some of you libs lack the intellect to understand that we don't get money from a money tree. What you obviously fail to comprehend is that the money this woman grafted is money that will not be able to go to somebody that actually needs it! So when your brother becomes indignant enough where he finally cannot care for himself, the facility they put him in will be lacking in funds precisely because of GARBAGE LIKE THIS!!!!!! Seriously man, take off the rosie-rose glasses and smell the smellin' salts....if you are telling us that you have a mentally ill brother, you should be smart enough to understand that people like that, unfortunately, are at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to demanding money to live on. When push comes to shove, your brother is going to be rotting away in a filthy, decrepit, understaffed, madhouse while millions of losers (unconcerned with work/society/etc.) are stuffing themselves with $4.00 packs of twinkies, $7.48 Tombstone Pizzas, $50.00 shrimp trays, and $41.00 sheet cakes purchased from the stores who are all too happy to exploit taxpayers like you. If I were you, with your family situation,I would be very concerned about problems such as this. The fact that you could care less is very puzzling, yet also quite telling.
I'm pretty sure this is exactly what Jesus would say.
 
http://www.huffingto..._n_1517572.html

To much of the world, it was Monday. To Mario Batali, it was Day Four.

The chef, his wife and their two teenage sons are eating for a week on the equivalent of a food stamp budget in protest of potential cuts pending in Congress to the benefit program used by more than 46 million Americans.

That's $31 per person for the week, or about $1.48 per meal each.

Goodbye restaurants, free nibbles on his talk show "The Chew" and all the luxe offerings at Eataly, the high-end New York City market he co-owns. Hello Trader Joe's, Jack's Dollar Store, Gristedes and Western Beef, a low-cost supermarket chain.

"I'm (expletive deleted) starving," said Batali, who's on the board of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City, which issued the challenge to celeb pals like Batali and anybody else who wants to know what it's like.
You can get a lot more than $120 a month in food stamps.
If you play by the rules, living on food stamps is pretty hard. the problem we have though are that there are many people playing the system and flat out stealing. Of course, not everybody is like this. Limousine liberals like Batali like to close their eyes and pretend that none of this crap ever goes on.
 

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