Posted on 04/07/2015 7:42:59 AM PDT by safetysign
re you sick of seeing “welfare leeches” in the grocery checkout line with carts stuffed full of junk food snacks, soda and even porterhouse steaks and crab legs?
So is Missouri House Rep. Rick Brattin, who has begun pushing for legislation prohibiting welfare abusers from buying foods that most hard-working Americans can’t always afford. After Brattin heard a food stamp recipient say, “This is the way I want to live and I don’t really see anything changing,” he knew something needed to be addressed.
“The intention of the bill is to get the food stamp program back to its original intent, which is nutrition assistance,” Brattin said. The program is called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, not the “buy junk food and fresh Maine lobster program.” The bill would ban the purchase with food stamps of “cookies, chips, energy drinks, soft drinks, seafood or steak.”
“I have seen people purchasing filet mignons and crab legs with their EBT cards. When I can’t afford it on my pay, I don’t want people on the taxpayer’s dime to afford those kinds of foods either,” Brattin added.
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Welfare recipients in the State are none too happy..
Progressives in Missouri are already trying to demonize Brattin and accuse him of starving the poor, but common-sense thinkers know that this is exactly the right kind of legislation to get behind. Welfare abuse has to be reined in quickly, as it’s already an incredible strain on a difficult economy.
Americans have grown tired of welfare recipients who can afford to have their nails done or tattoos inked or put worthless rims on their cars yet ask for “help” feeding their families. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has mandated that if you want taxpayer dollars, you are going to be drug tested.
Not only that but Walker is seeking a time limit of 4 to 5 years maximum, that a person could receive benefits.
“With this budget, we are addressing some of the barriers keeping people from achieving true freedom and prosperity and the independence that comes with having a good job and doing it well,” said Walker.
Wisconsin isn’t the only state looking at reforms of welfare. Eleven other states already require drug testing of applicants. The testing would apply to able-bodied individuals that have no children and are receiving benefits including Medicaid, unemployment, and food stamps.
Citizens who fail the drug tests will be offered drug-treatment and job training. Wisconsin hopes to save over $3 million over two years, thanks to the program.
Not everyone is pleased, though, especially Democrats who see it as somehow unfair or racist that taxpayer dollars can’t be wasted. Democratic minority leader, Rep. Peter Barca said that the program would only, “…hurt people striving to get to the middle class.”
Drug abuse is a prerequisite for joining the middle class? What are you, high?
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Too bad we all know that liberal wheel goes round via entitlements like welfare – you vote blue, we’ll give you “free” money.
The thing is, doing so is what actually hurts the American people.
We should be enabling citizens to find a job and earn for themselves, rather than train them to sit by the mailbox on the first of the month.
However, as previously noted, there is a need for the welfare system here in America in order to provide for those, who can’t do so for themselves, the ability to survive. The problem lies with those who are able to work and are just too lazy to do so.
These are the parasites of society and would likely go find a job if they weren’t being given so much money. Those on welfare should not be able to afford the extras, like designer clothes, designer bags, and illegal drugs – period.
Walker turned down federal funds to expand Wisconsin’s Medicaid program for the 2013-15 budget. Instead, he extended coverage to all those at or below the poverty line and encouraged all those above that line to buy health plans offered through the federal health exchange marketplace.
The Department of Health and Human Services defines the poverty level for a family of four as making $23,850 annually.
Like me on Facebook – if you dare. No one turned away. RELATED VIDEO CONTENT: The state of Missouri received a failing grade in welfare reform from the Heartland Institute.
Limit the “take” to beans, rice, cheese, peanut butter and milk. Bread was purposefully left off.
Let’s say you want to lease a new Cadillac. You just aren’t making enough money to afford a $400 a month lease payment.
I hate to be racist or judgemental, but I see people driving these Cadillac Escalades or Lincoln Navigators, people who in other respects appear to be poor. And I wonder, what’s up with the car. How the heck do you afford such a car.
I don’t think it will be the Gibsmedats that are screaming the loudest.
It will be the “liberals” who derive their righteousness from “caring about the poor”.
Such people don’t need lectures from out of touch politicians on budget management.
The biggest leeches in this country are the same politicians who crow the poor have it too good but they’re the ones who spend the public’s money like drunken sailors.
Yeah, poverty is no fun but its not the source of America’s problems.
I’d rather see SNAP recipients have to pass a drug test to get assistance.
A plan like this won’t work because a recipient can always go to the Quick Mart and get a carton of cigarettes that is rang into the cash register as rice and beans. They can also buy Tide detergent and sell it on the street for $.50 on the dollar and buy meth with the $.50.
Isn’t this proposal an attempt to correct the policies? Do you feel this is punishing everyone for the misdeeds of a few, by changing the policies regarding how public assistance funds are spent?
Ummmm.....yes they are. Read the news. They find EBT transactions every day at resorts and on cruise ships.
Its just food - why people getting worked up about seafood and steak?
This is hardly a gourmet dinner in a six star restaurant.
Well micromanaging people’s behavior isn’t conservatism. That’s what liberals do.
The only reason to apply that to the poor is because they don’t a well-heeled lobby to defend them.
Of course, no one dreams of micromanaging corporate welfare for people who don’t really need it in the first place.
I feel the urge to resurrect my “kibble” idea...
Eliminate food stamps/EBT/whatever altogether. Instead, produce a generic shelf-stable food (i.e., “kibble”). Possibly with a small, limited variety of formulations to cover the vast majority of dietary needs.
The kibble would simply be free. Distributed by the government with some kind of deal/subsidy to grocery stores to stock it (the subsidy would cover sales losses from reduced available floor and stockroom space plus the labor to keep it stocked). Anyone could take what they need, limited only to prevent hoarding in the case of actual or projected shortages (such as before a major storm).
Now, as much as I despise the idea of anyone having this level of reliance on the government, the kibble concept falls pretty much into a “least harm” category. It’s not means-tested, so it’s a benefit available to anyone and everyone, not just those who are in the “system”. It provides only a rudimentary subsistence level benefit; hopefully the prospect of being able to do better than kibble will encourage people to move from a handout-taker to a producer. It eliminates fraud, since you can’t trade kibble for anything of value, since it’s already free to everyone. And it’s likely cheaper in the long run.
Its not EBT.
EBT goes for food. Welfare goes for everything else.
Its amazing how some people get them mixed up.
I don't care what they have in their carts. I don't want to freakin pay for it anymore. I'm not going to pay for some lazy bum to sit around eating bread and eggs any more than I want to pay for some lazy bum to sit around eating crab legs and steaks. The idea that Food Stamps are OK if you limit them to basic foods is wrong-headed. We need to drastically cut back on eligibility for Food Stamps, period.
What’s wrong then with popcorn, candy and soda?
Its cheap for the most part - yeah, its junk food.
Just like your kibble.
By the way, what kind of kibble do you feed your dogs?
If I am paying for it, I have every right to dictate what they eat. Take the King's Coin, Do the King's Bidding.
It’s true their carts are overflowing. I thought this was a “federal” program?
Actually, my son worked as a cashier at Kroger. He noticed EBT users buying a lot of processed, easily sold foods like frozen sausage biscuits, meals, etc. Anything you could throw in a microwave or easily sell as a unit. They used their cash for cigarettes and alcohol.
Remember, all of these people are eligible for free food from local pantries and schools.
He never saw any of them get into an Escalade though.
The real way to go is time limits on welfare. Like 5 years and it ends.
As far as food stamps I don’t think you should be able to buy booze and cigarettes but other than that you should be able to purchase anything in the grocery store. If you blow your money on crab legs and steak the first week then you can tough it out til the next month on rice and beans. Its supposed to be a free country so you are supposed to be free to make your own choices good or bad. Live and learn.
Besides lets get down to the truth here. If we take all the illegals off welfare of any kind our burden would be cut in half. Welfare benefits should only be for US citizens. We have massive outlays to the tune of billions being spent on illegals.
While we’re at it, let’s limit what’s on the menu at the White House dinners and what Congress eats in their cafeteria!
EBT is just the mode of payment, a debit card on which all benefits are loaded. Maybe you’re thinking of SNAP or WIC.
The States should say foodstamps can only purchase those items Michelle O allows the children to eat in public school.
There. Done.
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