Apparently not considered an essential need.
Printable View
Apparently not considered an essential need.
^^^ casinos either !
I'm lost. They worked?
you can pull cash from an EBT card if you get a welfare check as well as the food stamps
although if they want to start with the "essential need" then hopefully they will remove the ability to purchase slim jims and pork rinds on EBT
^ so true tho. i have seen ppl walk into gas stations pulls out their ebt and buy shit food. then they proceed to purchase blunts. ya u must need assistance so bad but u can buy weed and munchie food? lame.
I have thought about staging protests outside the welfare office but then I realize I dont know where the welfare office actually is and it would probably get me arrested
According to what I've been told when I used food stamps you can only buy items that have not been prepared directly for your consumption...i.e. a $5 hot and ready pizza. A frozen pizza from Meijer is totally acceptable though. I'm not sure how people could use EBT at the strip club unless they were buying chips or frozen items, drinks (non alcoholic and no energy drinks) are acceptable sometimes...like you CAN get a slurpee at 711 so I'm not sure about at the club.
And who cares if someone with food stamps buys Cheetos at the gas station? Unless you eat a 100% balanced diet and never indulge don't be so judgmental, everyone needs to live and you don't know WHY they receive food stamps. They could have been a lawyer for twenty years and paid far more taxes than they are using in food stamps over their employment, and maybe they lost their job during the recession and just wanted to indulge. Even if they are just a single mom with two kids who is working part time, there is nothing wrong with buying junk food with food stamps. SNAP and WIC are programs for "healthful" foods, food stamps are not.
It's not called "the welfare office". In my state it's called The Department of Health and Human Services. The name varies from state to state, but it is the Department that is responsible for ensuring residents' well-being. Is it so wrong for our government to aid the needy? I assure you that the laws the Clinton Administration put into effect back in the nineties made things a lot more difficult in the realm of abuse than they once were.
Teen parents under the age of 18 can't receive welfare on their own, they must live in an adult supervised household and the adult receives the check on their behalf and spends the money on their behalf of them and their child as THEY see fit, not the [teen] parent. This is controversial because statistics have shown that teen pregnancies typically originate from problematic living situations. Why perpetuate the cycle and force a teen to stay 'in an adult supervised household', with intense stipulations to persons outside her actual parents if she feels that is not the best place for her child? Doesn't any parent have the right to love and support their child to the best of their ability? Our government has proven that we aren't really in the business of welfare anyway, this is a business of war! (but that's another argument). Why are teen parents under the age of 18 less entitled to financial support from the state than a 22-year-old mom of three? I think it's wrong. A parent is a parent, and I say that as a young parent myself.
Although I've never received welfare my Mom did apply for food stamps about two years ago, and it DID help a lot. I've since moved out and she's fallen off the wagon, but it saved us from eating a bunch of crap. Think, expired cereal, ramen noodles and spaghetti o's out of the can every day. People shouldn't live on that. C'mon.
Its the same here, only cold foods. No energy drinks. Some gas stations here don't even take EBT.
It's not just "cold foods" it's really supposed to be
'anything prepared for human consumption'
Condiments
Drinks
Frozen foods
Canned foods
Salty snacks
Fruits
Bread
Infant foods and formula
etc etc.
They eliminated energy drinks a year or two ago in my state because of abuse. Everything else is fair game, with the exception of alcohol.
They are still food... and if you are running late to work or school (like all of us have) and need a snack so you can keep your head up why wouldn't that be considered essential? People typically eat because they are hungry or need energy. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a hot meal to a slim jim, so if I'm eating snacks from 711 it's because I'm in a rush.
Should people who receive welfare or food stamps not be allowed to snack?
Food stamps is used to SUPPLEMENT your food budget. So part of their money is still supposed to be used to pay for their food.
http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,1607,7...1832--,00.html
hmmm I think I expressed my point incorrectly
the system itself is noble but the actions of those who abuse the system stains all
I have been in a gas station on the first of the month and have seen people purchase over 300 dollars worth of overpriced junk food because they had "free money" and they did not wish to drive the extra block to the grocery store
I have seen people argue with the clerk because the EBT card would not cover cat food (actually this one actually might not be all that bad)
and I have seen people with EBT cards purchase their food items then pay cash for a few hundred dollars worth of lottery tickets
I do not believe that everyone who receives assistance abuses the system but it is easier to see the abusers than it is to see the individuals who appreciate the assistance they receive
jeez I sound like a pompous asshole today, I think I need a drink
no they should not b allowed to purchase junk food and then turn around with money and purchase a blunt. if they were that hard up they would not be buying tobacco products. its funny tho b/c most i know on public assistance still find a way to pay for their weed, cigs and nails to get done. priorities ne one? last time i checked cigarettes and weed are not essential unless maybe u have a script for medicinal mary jane which in my state no one does.
so no, those ppl should not be allowed to purchase crap or really even b on public assistance in the first place. people just do not understand priorities. i think many ppl like to live above their means and then figure its okay b/c they r on assistance.
yes u r right that it is really no one else's business if u have paid into public assistance and want a slim jim but at the same time dont others who pay into it and dont use have every right to complain and state their opinion? yes.
no, just someone who is speaking the truth. if that makes u an asshole, im sorry! lol
i have known quite a few ppl on public assistance who flat out just do not need the shit. like, they will solely live off EBT for food (no supplemental here, not that spending ur money wisely is bad if u can make it all month on EBT go you!) n then turn around n spend their cash on going to the club, buying brand new name brand shoes, new clothes they don't need, nails done, hair did, etc. i kno everyone on public assistance is not abusing it but there r far too many who do. the system is flawed.
actually i kno some states (at least mine) u almost have to b to even get on assistance. if ur a teen and living with ur parents u have to count their income even if they dont provide food, etc. for u. that does suck. i def dont think public assistance is horrible and it is helpful to many that really do need it. i have just seen and heard of way too many ppl abusing it and unfortunately the people who work with public assistance get paid too little n have way too much to do to catch those ppl. i will agree that public assistance has gotten harder to abuse than it was in the past.
Sorry if I sound cruel, but junk food is not a NEED and no, I don't feel food stamps should be used to pay for that. I've seen far too many people on assistance who abused the system. If you want a candy bar, use your own money. Sure in theory it could be the former professional using the system, but in most of the cases I know it's the woman who had multiple kids by various dads and never worked (and never paid in). I do not want to pay for her to eat junk.
I don't get when what people eat became anyone else's business. The system is different here though, so I may not be understanding this correctly. Do you pay more taxes for the people that don't eat organic, homecooked veggies every night? If you buy junk food on food stamps, do you get like, twice the amount, to supplement your crappy nutrition? I don't get it.
As far as I know - and I could be wrong, please correct me if I am - you pay the same amount of taxes whether that single mom buys junk or not. If people feel so, so strongly about what someone on benefits is eating, I suggest they start community cooking classes in their own home so that these people know how to use fresh ingredients and cook healthy food.
I am, right this second, eating some chocolate I paid for with disability benefits. Beside me is some soda. Oh my God, crucify me. I'm so abusive.
I always find it funny that people are judgemental of welfare recipients but not corporate America that is robbing this country blind.
Nobody wants to stand outside the oil companies and protest the corporate welfare they get. No one bitches and moans about AIG half a trillion dollar bailout. No one pickets investment houses that have intentionally robbed pensions and 401ks. It is talked about but nothing is done. Oh but lets stone the people on welfare to death.
you can actually reach or live next door to the people on welfare. peasants hate their slightly better off neighbors far more than they hate nobles far away in the kingdom's capital.
that said, a lot of people are upset about the corporate bailouts *and* welfare abuse on the small scale.
I still don't see the big deal, food is food. And, if someone wants to eat shitty food I guarantee you it'll cost less than eating freshly chopped veggies and fruits, lean meats, whole grain breads, and drinking nothing but the finest orange juices and juicy juice around. Frozen pizzas, potato chips, and 2 liters cost a lot less than that.
Regardless, the state gives them a budget of x per month, which means they are entitled to use it as they see fit within the state's limitations. If they want to blow it on twinkies and slim jims then who cares? It's no more money out of your wallet than if they had been eating a strict vegan diet!
^^^ not necessarily true. for a cost of about 100-200$/month, i can eat meat, dairy and veg from healthy sources and also feed a couple other people as well. this is roughly the cost of food stamps for *one* person. for the 300+ that is more usual for a family of 4, that family of 4 could eat well including luxuries like fancy juice and steak several times a month.
the 'cheap' stuff is only cheap if 5-10 minutes of cooking or prep time is too much effort. otherwise you can eat healthy and tasty without hours of slaving in the kitchen hand-grinding your own wheat or whatever the stereotype is about eating healthy on a budget.
You know, assuming that everyone in the family of four is eating an 8 oz steak twice a month, they're going to eat up quite a bit of that $300...
http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/v...cm_ite=M101985
Having fresh strawberries versus a couple handfuls of chips for a snack will always be more expensive. I don't believe people who eat healthy 'slave' in the kitchen, I'm just saying that healthful foods typically cost more than their junky counterparts.
the two aren't really comparable, especially not buying steak from the television.
buying seasonal also tends to be pretty cheap, which is why it's another mythical meme that it's 'always cheaper' to buy crap.
buying junk is more expensive in most places i've lived. chicken for 30 cents a pound or 99 cents for a 10 oz bag of chips? cherries for 1.99/lb or 10 oz of cookies for 2.99? &tc.
and without subsidies for corn, soy and wheat, eating fresh meat and produce would be pretty cheap as a rule and the junk would be even more expensive at the register.