-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The Food Stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is a target for Republicans who voted to cut $40 billion from the program. The reasons that Republicans have given are so divorced from reality that one can reasonably suspect their true motivations lie elsewhere. The primacy of fantasy in the GOP has been recently evidenced by Michele Bachmann who sees signs of the End Times, a wished-for global apocalypse.
First up on the list of fantasies is by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas) who said “the food stamp program [grew] exponentially because the government continues to turn a blind eye to a system fraught with abuse.” In reality, SNAP participation closely tracks the long term unemployment rate, prolonged by Republicans. The sale of SNAP benefits for cash, called “trafficking,” has been cut to $1 in every $100 of SNAP benefits. The reality is a one percent abuse rate, the fantasy is SNAP is “fraught” with abuse.
The next fantasy is that able-bodied people are getting food stamps instead of working. The reality is that 83% of all SNAP benefits go to households that include a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. The average individual gets $133 a month in SNAP benefits. It is ridiculous to imagine that a person is going to quit their job for $133 a month that can only be spent on food, but Republicans bear ridicule well.
The next fantasy is that SNAP recipients use their benefits to buy cigarettes and alcohol. The SNAP program uses Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, similar to debit cards, that can be used in the supermarket checkout line only to purchase food. The Right likes to point to Jackie Whiton, a Peterborough, New Hampshire, store cashier who declined to accept an EBT card as payment for a pack of cigarettes. In reality, the EBT card contained state assistance money, not SNAP benefits, which can be used to purchase tobacco products. The store she worked for has a policy of accepting EBT cash benefits. In reality, Whiton was fired for violating the company’s policies.
The Republican war on programs that benefit Americans in need isn’t based on a philosophical commitment to small government. If it were, the $20 billion in farm subsidies, a welfare program for agribusiness, would be near the top of their hit list. According to a Greenberg report, the Republicans “are very conscious of being white in a country that is increasingly minority.” The report goes on to say that the “race issue [is] very much alive.” There you have it. Obama is taking their money and giving it to “Those People.”
H/T: Dave Johnson, Paul Krugman, Dottie Rosenbaum, Amanda Marcotte, Brian Tashman, WMUR.
Even tobacco products, don’t get me wrong, if ppl wish to smoke, so be it, but why are they allowed to put the real harmful chemicals into the tobacco in the first place?
=========================================================
who put the broken glass in my acid bath
pmjokes, While I do sometimes fail I generally try not to embarrass people. Most of us here need little or no help in that department, we are our own worst enemies 😉
I visited your site and I want a clone of Max! What a great buddy and the window to computer table platform is outstanding. Max is a lucky little guy, cat spinning aside. Lol, I had a kitty that I ended up doing that to also: he’d flop down on the kitchen floor as I was working in there as an attention getting signal and I’d rub him and he’d grab my hand and ….spin-city. Some things are universal. He’s a lovely kitty.
@lottakatz, thanks for the compliments on my site and what I did for Max.
If you happen in live in the NE Ohio area, and really like Max, I may have to find someone to take him, I got him from someone who was going to abandon him due to them moving and he is declawed and i could not let that happen.
However, I am very worried that the building management will find out I have him and I can’t pay the deposit on having a pet.
Its really bothering me big time but I am just going with the flow as its all I can do.
Either or, I hope they don’t find out until I can make enough money online to pay the pet deposit because he is all I have as a real companion.
Anyway, do you happen to live in NE Ohio and would take him in if the worst happens?
Spin the cat, Lol, I dont even know why I did it the first time, but he loves it.
I want to make better gifs but its next to impossible to film and spin at the same time 🙂
@lottakatz yah, that was me and you’re welcome.
If there is anything else you wish to know, that I may be able to answer, feel free to ask away.
BTW, it takes a lot to hurt my feelings or embarrass me 🙂
nice to meet you
pmjokes, If this was you then I appreciate the roll-over info, I did not know that.
“michaelmca66
1, October 14, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Plenty of states roll over the balance left on the card, its just how its done, its not a problem,”
@lottakatz
I am a lil slow sometimes, what exactly are you thanking me for?
that is if its me you are discussing when you said “thanks to michael”
I changed my s/n
Tina. Stick around. Be careful who you take advice from. You haven’t seen the ugly Randian Libertarian knives come out yet if you just stopped in this one time. The social safety net generally leads to a contentious thread. Keep an open mind. Visit again.
Kate, see my posting upthread- if that’s what “They” did then WalMart colluded, gave it licence from corporate on down, and it garnered the Walton’s, in aggregate as a family and incorporated among the richest people in America, with a great propaganda piece with which to foster and further their 1%er agenda.
I originally as a knee jerk reaction said it was bad behavior on the shoppers part. I’ve been rethinking that. Considering that the buyers needed food assistance to begin with, maybe they have just been paying attention to the Republican penchant to ‘break’ the government and their promise to hold the debt ceiling hostage too. Maybe they said to themselves ‘holy s**t, Dog has sent me a way to stock up on food for the next several weeks and if I don’t take it who knows if I or my family will eat with the politician’s crazy antics.’ If that state rolls over credits and debits then it was just stocking up in the face of food insecurity.
I’m not sure I know what I’d do if it had been me, not after thinking about it. My rashness at first blush was inappropriate.
Oh, BTW, now WalMart doesn’t even have classes to train their workers how to work the social safety net to make up for their crappy wages, low hours masquerading as ‘full-time, anti-union animus and lack of benefits. Bad optics.
Fu*k WalMart/Sam’s Club and Fu*k the Waltons.
Thanks to Michael , Shannon and other posters regarding roll-overs.
Nal,
thanks for fixing the jumping problem earlier!
Bob,
I looked up ‘teabilly’ (I’m a bit behind the times when it comes to lingo, it seems). This term is really not offensive when compared to ‘teabagger’. Any group can have people who display a ‘lack of sophistication’ (as the Urban Dictionary defined it). That said, I’d still want you to back up your statement rather than leave it as a given–proof man, proof! 🙂
Bob,
I’m not sure what’s wrong with politely asking for others to be polite. I have the freedom of speech, too. If someone had said “libtard” or “DemoRat” I’d have said the same thing. It’s uncalled for and rude.
You can uphold the First Amendment and still be courteous.
@Prairie Rose “You can uphold the First Amendment and still be courteous.”
I think I agree with you, although those who feel compelled can say pretty much anything they need to.
Just remember even the Terminator was perfectly respectful when he said “I’ll be back”.
It really is possible to get your point across without being rude.
Prairie Rose,
This blog is also known for freedom of speech. You know, part of the amendment before “I get to shoot anyone I want”?
I prefer “Teabilly,” as I mentioned previously. I think it says so much more.
Hey Tina,
I said three sentences to you, pulling your leg.
I got back three pages of rebuttal.
What an extraordinary performance!
I must be really good at making pithy comments. Or something.
Hey Bob…
You wrote:
Tina,
OK, if that’s what you want to be called, you’re a bit ignorant.
Why not change your nom de plume to “A Bit Ignorant”?
Then, everyone here would address you as you requested.
Too simple?
AND THEN YOU MOCK ME?
“What an extraordinary ‘performance’”.
Let me put it this way for you Bob.. I can call my sister ignorant but you may not. Get it? The worst bullies in the nation are those who use words that cut like knives and for some it takes a thousand kind words to undue.. fact. I live this with my son. So, when you decided to elaborate on a word I used in reference to not understanding a comment someone said and then turn around and title me with it… that is name calling and, of course, I am going to fire back. Get it? “Too Simple”?
This blog has been praised for its civility. Let’s keep it up. Disgusting terms like “tea bagger” are not civil, nor do they help convince people of your arguments.
Honey versus vinegar.
Since food is being discussed here, why are we putting the blame onto schools and such when our gov is the ones behind the whole thing?
They approve the chemicals that is put into food that cows eat so that cows are more plump and the businesses harvesting them can make more money at the expense of our health concerns.
nearly everything they approve as safe, in all reality is not safe.
Even the big businesses that pollute the air are just fined millions of dollars and not forced to stop the pollution.
Even tobacco products, don’t get me wrong, if ppl wish to smoke, so be it, but why are they allowed to put the real harmful chemicals into the tobacco in the first place?
And the gov’s answer is to tax the people more and more for the products?
Tony:
“Carbs don’t make a difference if you are malnourished, you burn them.”
Malnourishment can most definitely result in obesity. Some malnourished people become rail thin while many more become obese. It is not just burned off. Please read Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes or Fat Chance by Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig for details and the physiological explanation.
Insulin, leptin, cortisol, estrogen, and a host of other hormones, as well as mitochondrial dysfunction, and micronutrient deficiencies go into inducing diet-related obesity.
Even in a lean, malnourished child, any calorie is not a good calorie. In pretty short order many of those kids are going to become obese and get type II diabetes. Almost 28% of kids living below the poverty level are obese and almost 18% are overweight, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. That means almost half of poverty-stricken kids are not lean and will not be burning off those calories; they will be storing them to their detriment.
I bet Nick would support a breakfast program for these kids if it actually nourished them.
Nal: “I’m not staying logged in”
Happened to me on another thread a little while ago- wouldn’t post my comment, wouldn’t post my request for assistance then kicked me off totally and had to re-log into WP, not just the blawg. That happens to me on this blawg only. I didn’t know if it was the blawg, my hardware, my ISP or if it was a hint 🙂
“Obesity by the poor is from poor choices of eating processed and fast food, in large part. Lack of education and cultural influences are also in play. They eat poor breakfast and it goes downhill from there. I was a big supporter of breakfast programs for kids until I learned about the high carb processed food being used”
Absolutely, Nick. It is a shame. Subsidies are in large part to blame for this, though it doesn’t help that the government pinned the cause of heart disease and obesity on the wrong culprit–fat. When all is said and done, making carbs the basis for our diet has had the same effect that it has on livestock; it fattens us up.
Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig has a great presentation on this (Sugar: The Bitter Truth) and a book about the physiology of obesity (Fat Chance). Gary Taubes does, too (Why We Get Fat).
EBT card holders in Louisiana ransacked their local Wal-Mart stores, stuffing their shopping carts full of groceries and “paying” for them with near-empty EBT cards that essentially had unlimited account balances because all accounting was offline.——————Looks like they proved our point!
What point is that Kate? “They”.. you mean the other ones.. you know, not in your backyard type of ones… Oh, you mean “people”… sorry, I did not get that feeling when I read your reply. Suppose all the rest of us should just go ahead stereotype food card holders as “they” … what you read about the people at Walmart is a shame… truly is.. But, my take on that is Walmart wanted it or it would have NEVER happened… People wanted food and Walmart was “giving” it away. Let me ask you this Kate.. were all of the recipients in the state at that Walmart?? In the hard hit state of Louisiana? I do not agree with what the good people of Louisiana did, not for a second but I still feel sadness for anyone that has to go to any lengths just to have some food… Getting an entire cart of food is a luxury most cannot afford today… can you?
The pc term is “Roma” but my wife is researching the non pc gypsies. That’s what they call themselves. She’s writing a novel on gypsies. We’ll be doing some research in Europe, where they are more of them than here in the US. I had a great discussion w/ a blackjack dealer in Vegas who was born and raised in Romania under the Communist regime. She sure love the US!
My grandparents came over from Romania, had my mom and she had me 🙂
I love the name “gypsy” but most people are very misinformed about the title and believe it or not, my ex’s family considered me a terrorist, lmfao
Sometimes I think about what it would be like to pick up and go to Romania and live the rest of my life there, but then reality sets in because, as I said before, I cant even get to a real grocery store, let alone move 783635 miles away.
Romania is a beautiful country though and the women are gorgeous.
pmjokes, I’m not a blog guy. I found this through a piece Mr. Turley wrote for USA Today. Is pmjokes your moniker?
@nick, not really a nicname, the only one I had growing up was “Romanian b@st@rd” that “friends” used to call me.
I tried to develope “gypsyroads” on various things and even have a Yt channel with the name, but apparently, “gypsy” is a bad word in Europe and I have been told numerous times it affects the way they perceive me or w/e.
pmjokes, is my websites domain, not sure why I am using it here, but I am a huge jokester so, idk.
I dont really have a nicname 😛