I recently was in line at the checkout, in a local convenience store. I patiently waited behind a diamond ear ring and jewelry wearing, well dressed, designer bag carry woman, who had picked out several bags of chips, candy bars, cokes and other assorted junk food items. The cashier behind the counter smiled, said hello and began to ring up the items. “Will that be all?” the girl behind the cash register, asked “yes” the customer answered. “Then that will be $32.95” The cashier answered back, as she began to bag the various non-essential food items. At the same time the customer pulls out the “Lone Star Card”, which to those who do not know is the State of Texas’ form of food stamps. “Sorry mam, we do not take Lone Star” the cashier informed the customer. It is at this point that my story starts to get a little absurd and ridiculous. Because after being told that her “Lone Star Card” would not be accepted, this woman went into a rant, all the while going into her designer bag and pulling out a wad full of cash. She paid for items, stormed out of the store. As the cashier and I followed her with out eyes, we noticed her get into her $40,000 Expedition. We looked at each other, smiled and laughed. What makes this so ridiculous and idiotic, is that this story is 100 percent true, no exaggerations needed or made.
First, I have no problem with my taxes being used to help those in need. But I do have a problem when they are misused or just plain taken for granted. Perhaps it is time to revamp this food assistance programs offered by the State and local governments. This is what I propose, the Lone Star card should only be used for food items that are essential for the well being and health of those who are eligible for it.
Under my proposal, items such as soft drinks, candy bars and chips would not fall under the approved consumables, which could be purchased using the LSC. Second if are able to pay for a cell phone for each of your children or be able to afford a $400.00 to $500.00 car payment, than again you would not be able to receive any sort of assistance. There would be other restrictions, but for the most part, if you can spend frivolously on no essential items, than you can afford to buy that candy bar using your own money, instead of my tax dollars.
I believe the problem is that we as a society have come accustomed to living beyond our means. As a college student, I learned to forgo that extra bag of chips and Coke, in order to buy that pound of hamburger meat. Perhaps this lady could have done the same. She could have done without that designer bag and she could have opted for a less expensive vehicle and then perhaps, I would not ended up paying for her and her family’s sweet tooth and munchies run.
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Comments: 27
I tend to take things at face value and I might have gone so far as to collecting the license plate # and called the TIP line.
Do you know that to be HER car? Did you see a pink slip? Or should these "people" not be permitted to know people with money...or to borrow cars? I bet if you'd have followed her home you could have told us about her split level mansion with the sunroom on the West Wing and the manicured gardens too, eh? Incidentally...it's none of your business whether someone buys a candy bar or an avacado....food stamps and the related programs from the Dept. of agriculture supplement a monthly food bill....they do not pay for all the food needs of the recipients. Poor people in poverty might need help but what they most certainly do NOT need is every Tom, Dick, Harry and Juan trying to be their new "Daddy" and telling them what they can and cannot eat. Sheesh.
This is nothing but more meaningless, biased nonsense like people have been saying since I was very young...about how welfare families have the cadillacs and the great lifestyles.....
And it's a pile of BS. Being poor sucks. And then been judged by others makes the suckee suck more.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
I just saw a bit last night on the PBS news show that hunger in America increased 60 per cent this last year. Food stamps don't last the whole month (you get about a dollar a meal if you do it right) and emergency food shelves are not keeping up. Parents are skipping meals so the kids don't. Welfare school breakfasts are way up.
There are always idiots who abuse the system (or just have no clue how to shop and eat properly) but right now there are people who used to have nice jobs and donated to food shelves that are now in line for that free charity food.
Regardless, it's better to give charity with no strings attached. You have to accept that some people may cheat. Whenever there's something free available they're going to do it.
My point being is that, while I might not have exactly fit the bill of the article author's observation, I experienced that same judging eye this woman experienced, and I cannot condone such action having been there, nor would I. I'm not here to ball you out for it, but please try to consider circumstance before passing judgment. Thank you.
I think that the system is very abused and it does piss me off when I see people buying crap with my tax dollar. I don't want to start on my own rant, so I will stop.
Why would you go to the gas station to purchas candy anyways? Most gas stations don't accept EBT cards.
I'm also not entirely sure that this woman was abusing the system. It's quite possible, for example, that she's going through a divorce and has no income at all, but she does get to keep the car. (Why wouldn't someone assume that, I wonder, before assuming that she'll bother to cheat the state out of small amounts of money when she has millions? I know several women who went through a divorce like that, and not a single person of the second type.) In addition, she might be depressed and subsisting on nothing but chips and soda. (And, like me, she might be dead of starvation before she could swallow hamburger meat, which isn't entirely all that good for you either.)
But it's also possible that she is someone who doesn't really need the assistance. The trouble is, it's impossible to devise a system that will prevent all cheating but not exclude anyone who really desperately needs help. It's a matter of where you draw the line so that cheating is not rampant but you're not hurting a large number of people in need.
You're not. You're supposed to mind your own business and be glad YOU'RE not poor and in need of help. It's one thing if you KNOW a fraud is happening and a different thing to assume as much.
"I think that the system is very abused..."
No shit. I'm sure this is all based on your personal observations and in-depth research too, eh?
So many people just assume abuse and I see the "cadillac" myth is alive and well....all nothing less than one big bitch-fest at having to help people....disgusting.
I'd be willing to bet that if we gave up fraud investigation entirely and streamlined the application process down to something like the credit check stores can do in a couple of minutes we'd come out ahead. A lot of people would lose their jobs though.
Another thing worth considering is that fraud in government procurement is much more lucrative than welfare fraud. Think about it. Who can afford the expensive lobbying firms?
Ridiculous and petty.
By itself, the above and any one of the following items might be explainable, diamond jewelery, quality her of clothing, the designer bag or the Ford expedition that she drove; but in combination, they add up to something being wrong even if what is generally considered junk food had not been among her purchases.
Then there is the bit about the store not accepting Lone Star cards. I am not familiar with the laws in the state of Texas, but the fact that the store did not accept them suggests that either store had never or applied to handled them or that the State of Texas had reason to rescind the store's ability to get reimbursed for Lone Star Card purchases. Barring something really out of line, the latter would happen only if the store had been engaging in some sort of fraud. I can only see the former happening if the store was located in a very wealthy neighborhood were so few if any customers needed state/federal assistance to pay for their food that the store had not found it necessary to apply to handle the Lone Star Card.
As for the junk food purchases, that being the only luxury available to really the poor, I cannot see totally excluding them from being purchased with food stamps or it equivalent, but I can see placing restrictions on the number of such items purchased. When I was a child we survived very nicely on the one six pack of six ounce Cokes per week that my father would purchase for what was then our five-six person household. Chips and the like were another thing purchased one bag at a time and expected to be consumed in moderation and last for several days.
As for the non-essential, non-food items that you mentioned, there could be a problem with people who entered into contracts at a time when they could afford such items and the items now being worth substantially less than the amount still owed under a contract which they are legally bound to honor. In the absence of such a contract, however, I am inclined to think people seeking assistance should be obligated to sell such items or dispense with non-essential serviced and use that money to delay and perhaps eliminate the need for assistance.
One rule fits all theories are rarely fair to all and that is what make problems such as dealing with food stamp and welfare abuse tricky.
I have worked with our county food bank form time to time and have seen a lot of "new" destitute people coming in for food because they no longer have any food or the means to obtain any food. One instance that comes to mind is that of a lady who drove up in a Lincoln Navigator and was also well dressed. She was about 50 years old, had lost her job some months before and exhaused her savings trying to exist while looking for another job which she could not find. She said that due to her age and the fact that she was single and without children no one wanted to hire her. Of course she was just guessing as to the reasons because these reasons are illegal reasons for not hiring someone, but she was guessing that these were the reasons because she was qualified in her field (whatever it was according to her). But, she had run out of money and needed help. She wasn't turned away because her car was nice or her clothes were nice, she too needed help and needed food. The food bank does not take food cards, if you need food, they give it to you. You don't even need to prove you are desperate, you ask they give, it's that simple. I don't know if this system is abused or not, but it probably is because of the ease in obtaining the food. I just hate to judge someone because of the way they look or what they drive. I'm not poor but neither am I rich, but if you saw me on the street you'd probably think I was the neighborhood bag lady because of my blue jeans and sweatshirt wardrobe. Don't judge me by my appearance, I'm really a nice person.
I have nothing against providing help to those in need. My family through the family foundation we started in my late father’s name, regularly lend a helping hand to our neighbors. However, I do not feel that having to pay for candy bars and sodas is right.
Again, you wish to give your child that Coke and Snickers, pay for it yourself and leave the Lone Star to buy some real sustenance , the way it was meant to be.
If many people who do not qualify for such programs such as Food Stamps, have to choose between buying their children that candy bar and coke they want, or buying a loaf of bread, then why does this woman with her wad full of cash, get agitated if she has to doll out money to indulge her and her families sweet tooth?
I agree that the welfare system, and just about any other "charity" system, is horribly abused. It's the world we live in - where there is money, there will always be someone out there ready, willing, and able to scam it. I don't think it's right, but there's not much we can do to stop it without clinching down and completely violating even the most honest welfare recipient's rights.
I receive food stamps for myself and my girls, since I'm going through an ugly divorce which left me with practically nothing, and live in a very small town where jobs are scarce and even the "wealthy" people are now struggling.
There is no justification for using food stamps to buy nothing but junk, esepcially when you do have the cash to pay for it. Do I think that "junk foods" should be totally off-limits to welfare recipients? No. I do however think it would be a good idea to implement a limit on just how much can be bought with food stamps.
I do find it ironic that so many are griping about their tax money being wasted on a Snickers or a coke - nevermind that we're funding the loss of thousands of lives in a war that our tax dollars are also paying for. Nevermind that our economy is going to crap and now our government is looking to us to "bail out" the big money banks and institutions.
Yes it does piss me off as well to see people paying for literally cartloads of nothing but junk, but for those who are actually trying to provide nutrition for their family and decide to "splurge" now and then, what's the harm? It's not like being on welfare doesn't shame most people bad enough, especially parents - but taking away a parent's right to spoil their child with a candy bar or soda occasionally or buy treats for their child's school or birthday party only rubs salt in the wound. These aren't all people who live off welfare because they want to, for most it's because they have to.
Christmas is coming up, how many people out there do you think won't be able to buy presents for their kids? Would you rather they have empty stockings, or at least a couple of candies and some cookies to set out for Santa?
I see your point with this particular woman Juan, even though as many have already pointed out, no one but her knows her circumstances or why she behaved the way she did. I'm not griping at anyone, or even saying that anyone is wrong, just stating my opinion.
I just hope you never have to be the one turned down trying to buy a treat for your child with a food stamp card.
The reason is simple, those people who make even 1$ above the cut off point to qualify, in many instances have to forgo that candy bar or coke, in order to put real food on the table. So why should they not be able to buy that Snickers for their child and someone as the person I saw have the ablity to indulge their munchie cravings?