Food stamps: More Americans Keep Signing Up

Christian Science Monitor ^ | January 12, 2011 | By SoldAtTheTop

[Son House]

Food stamps went to an additional 290,000 recipients in October, a federal survey shows.
As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn it appears that participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.

In fact, household participation has been climbing so steadily that it has far surpassed the last peak set as a result of the immediate fallout following hurricane Katrina.

The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture shows that in October, an additional 289,737 new recipients were added to the food stamps program, an increase of 14.67% on a year-over-year basis, while household participation increased 16.98%.

Individual participation as a ratio of the overall civilian non-institutional population has increased 13.72% over the same period.

These results confirm that participation is continuing it's explosive climb, likely as a result of the jump in total unemployment, driving the nominal benefit costs up an lofty 13.95% on a year-over-year basis to $5,778,387,682 for the month.

[Son House]

The graph is so telling, thank goodness the TEA party is actually out doing the things that are actually going to improve economic conditions for these folks to get jobs.

[donna]

Does the Food Stamps credit card have a “666” on it?

[Dem Guard]

Instead of money send them Jennie Craig food packages. At least that will not turn in to fat....

[Feline_AIDS]

I might be the only one, but I think there should be lots of negative stigma attached to food stamps. The debit card look alike is too easy.

I know a few college grads who are on food stamps because they refuse to get paying jobs and instead do things like theatre for/with the homeless or some other service for other people on food stamps. It’s absurd.

[Monterrosa-24]

I may qualify for F-stamps someday but I swear my family and I will eat tree-bark soup instead. There is nothing that would get me to accept that stinking program’s help.

[Abathar]

The easier they make it for people to get them the more people will. I think they should print each one out on 8x11 paper in bright hunters orange that has to be signed by the cashier.

Don’t let people hide behind a card swipe, make them announce to the world that the people standing behind them in line with a checkbook or cash they earned are the ones feeding their fat butts.

Many wouldn’t care as along as they get what they want, but a bunch of those who are borderline would probably drop them if their friends knew they were using them.

How about that idea... Make public the names of everyone who is using them with a city by city searchable database. I bet a whole bunch of soccer moms who don’t declare their full income to become eligible will drop them so fast your head will spin.

[Rich21IE]

You live a rich and full fantasy life; what makes you think these people want jobs? My city is so full of deadbeats on welfare/unemployment/food stamps and gov’t housing that it’s gotten difficult to drive around during the day time. The streets are littered with crap mobiles being driven at speeds 5 to 15 miles per hour below the speedlimit by people stonned on pot, driving from HUD apt. complex to HUD apt.complex to score more weed or to sell a stash, then it’s off to the convenience store to buy lotto tickets, cigarettes and beer. And of course, if you’re low on cash, just don the ski mask, grab the shotgun and hit the nearest liquor store or convenience store for cash and goodies. With a ski mask and a shotgun, every small store is your personal ATM!

[sheana]

Don’t let people hide behind a card swipe

They can’t. I can tell just by looking in their full carts they are gonna pay with an ebt card. Noone else shops the way food stamp people do nor are their carts as full.

[from occupied ga]

WHY spend money on food if somone else is going to be forced to buy it for you? If you don’t have to pay for your food, you can then use your money for more important things like beer, pet food, lotto tickets, cable TV, cigarettes, fancy cell phones, nail salons, and dope (to name just a few)

[Son House]

It was a conversation, among young mothers obviously collecting benefits, of how you can get a 3 bedroom apartment but they don’t give you enough money to, that I had overheard, contrasted that State of the Union that inspired me to post a food stamp article.

I just think it’s not hopeless for some of these folks, but they have to be inspired to see how good an opportunity they have to change their lives for the better and go to work for themselves.

[Son House]

Yep,
Minn. bill aims to restrict use of welfare cards
http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=13885872
“The bill from Sen. Doug Magnus and Rep. Kurt Daudt would prohibit withdrawing cash or buying tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets with the cards. It would also ban their use outside Minnesota and require users to show photo ID.

Magnus says he wants to stop abuse of the cards, which contain both federal food stamp benefits and state cash assistance for those on the Minnesota Family Investment Program.

Democratic Rep. Jeff Hayden says the proposal would punish the poor and could make it harder for people to look for work if they couldn’t get cash for bus fare or child care.”

[TheBattman]

Why is the moniker “food stamps” still used? Recipients get a Government debit card...after all, you have to protect their pride and privacy...

But the large numbers signing up for the program just prove that the economy is NOT improving at the fundamental level, and demonstrates what the LEFT desire anyway - and that is to create dependents of everyone.

[donna]

Who knows what’s going on:

Food stamp fraud tied to terror cases?
Brothers Mohamed and Omar Sufi in custody

Friday, 13 Aug 2010

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
“I just remember the SWAT team coming in here - or whatever they were that day - and they took away their food stamp machine and credit card and that was enough to put them out of business.”
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/Feds-alerted-to-food-stamp-scam-in-2008

[TheBattman]

This discussion reminds me of some of my father’s rather blunt rants... before he moved from a minority & financially distressed town to where he is now, he would complain every time he went to the grocery store... when he would be in line near or behind someone paying with the old-style food stamps - proudly buying a cart full of items he didn’t even purchase for himself (high-end meats and all name-brand canned foods), then watch them load their cart(s)-full of expensive groceries into the trunk of their late-model Cadillac or other expensive automobile that was parked out front in the fire lane...

He would be steaming mad. And then I began noticing not only what he did - but those who would go through the checkout line - pay for a cart full of groceries, then whip out a big roll of cash to pay for the 2nd cart full of beer and cartons of cigarettes...

Growing up, I gained an appreciation for generics, and later, store branded products - as a legitimate means of stretching the $. As an adult, and as a father with a modest income, these lessons continue to pay dividends. Yet many public assistance recipients completely lack such reasoning. They fill carts full of the most expensive, brand-name, foods- along with the more “prime” cuts of meat instead of the less expensive varieties - thus spending more, and feeding less...

And we won’t even go into the movement now to require recipients of social help to undergo drug testing...

[PGR88]

Economically speaking, demand is infinite for free goods.

[PGR88]

I may qualify for F-stamps someday but I swear my family and I will eat tree-bark soup instead. There is nothing that would get me to accept that stinking program’s help.

I admire your self-respect. But to understand the Food Stamp Program, ask yourself this question - if some idiot decided he was going to fly over your town in a helicopter and dump $100 bills, would you go out and try to pick some up?

[Califreak]

I never knew they had little cards that looked like debit cards until I pushed that button on the little machine you run the card through.

I thought EBT meant “Electronic Bank Transfer”-like from my debit card. I thought it was the same thing as an EFT(Electronic Fund Transfer).

Hubby heard on the news this morning about how the government is going to stop funding tattoo removal in our state. He was outraged and couldn’t believe something like that was even funded in the first place.

A lot of people hear about stuff like that and probably feel like suckers for working.

We try not to watch the news a lot anymore. It raises our blood pressure too much.

[bigredkitty1]

I don’t have a problem helping those that CANNOT work,the elderly primarily. It’s those that WILL NOT work that really chap my hide. Why should someone’s laziness be rewarded with my tax dollars? I work hard to pay my own way, everyone else should, too. A temporary hand up for some experiencing a rough patch is one thing. A permanent hand out for the lazy and shiftless is quite a different thing altogether.

Call me cruel and heartless, I don’t care. It’s taking all I have to take care of me and mine. Everyone else should do the same.

[MrB]

Has anyone else started to see the “EBT accepted here” signs in the windows of restaurants and pizza places?

So, I not only pay for my own pizza, I’m paying for the next guy’s as well.

[MrB]

If you examine how things are trending with gov’t programs,
you’ll see that they are gradually and intentionally making it HARDER
for those who “cannot” work, who actually do need some help, to get it,

while they are making it EASIER for those who WILL NOT work to get on the programs.