New Hampshire Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) is outraged over what he describes as “a blatant violation of the Second Amendment.” The violation? People on public assistance cannot use EBT cards to buy guns. He is objecting to legislation barring the use of EBT cards for this purpose and denying people on welfare to hunt and defend themselves with guns.
Any person who receives public assistance is prohibited from using an EBT card or cash obtained with an EBT card to gamble or to purchase tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets, firearms, or adult entertainment.
Horrigan presumably wants the reference to “firearms” deleted.
Horrigan does not appear to be a gun advocate but rather believes that welfare recipients should be able to use the money without such limitations. He simply used the second amendment argument to make this point. He opposed the two Bush campaigns and has a low rating by the NRA. His website also notes that he is looking for a job.
Putting aside the firearms issue, do you believe that public assistance recipients should be able to use their cards like cash for any purchase?
That is so sad. I hope he comes back.
I have noted a persistent prejudice against conservatives, and anyone who questions Liberal policies.
Professor Turley is a Democrat. I am not. And yet I greatly enjoy his posts and value his opinion.
Wrestling with the prince of air, principalities and dark powers won’t work.
Dredd, No tunes for this thread? What’s up with that?
Karen, Before we got here we had a heated discussion on this EBT topic. Two people, on EBT, were simply relating stories of fraud they saw all the time. Well, that did not comport w/ the echo chamber and some brown shirts who were here @ the time ran them out. One guy was SOOO hurt. He emailed me and bared his soul. He was made to feel inferior by people here. His name is Michael. This reminds me, I should write to him and try and get him back. I did a couple months ago, but need to try again. An out of work truck driver w/ a good heart.
Rafflaw – I have no problems with felons not owning guns. No, the problem is that there is sometimes a difference of opinion over what constitutes sensible restrictions. In reality, some politicians who suggest “sensible restrictions” have admitted that they have the goal to abolish the 2nd Amendment.
Were you aware that gun violence in England has risen 89% over the past decade due to gangs?
There goes the neighborhood. Next they’ll be fat, trailer trash parking their old beater cars w/ rebel flags outside our doors drinking beer, playing country music and talking NASCAR.
I am aware of a Georgia Republican in a Senate race who declared that poor kids should work off their meals in the cafeteria. Sounds like washing dishes because their parents can’t pay the bill. All political parties have some members that are their albatross.
Paul Ryan address fraud in the system, and does not want Welfare to pay more than working.
“No one is suggesting getting rid of food stamps, but we want to make sure that abuses are taken care of, and that we are not hurting people who are doing everything right,” Ryan said. “We can’t assume we have all the best answers in Washington.”
““No one is suggesting getting rid of food stamps, but we want to make sure that abuses are taken care of, and that we are not hurting people who are doing everything right,” Ryan said. “We can’t assume we have all the best answers in Washington.”
Ryan ought to know all about not having the best answers. He’s the one with the budget filled with magic asterisks that no one can explain.
As for getting rid of food stamps: wasn’t the last proposal to cut already thin rations by about 10% and send that money to giant agri-business? People who want to stop abuse beef up investigation and enforcement. People who have an agenda to savage the social safety net cut benefits and claim the reductions are justified by abuse.
Actually we had this discussion a few months ago. Verified reports of abuse in the food stamp program are amazingly low – my recollection is down around 1%.
Please don’t tell me I don’t know about sale of EBT cards. I lived in DC’s Shaw neighborhood and received offers to use or purchase EBT cards on a fairly regular basis. The fact is documented statistics on fraud and abuse in the food stamp program are amazingly good. Any corporation would be proud to have a loss prevention program that came anywhere close to the food stamp program. If you think those numbers do not reflect reality then put your money where your mouth is and fund more investigation.
As for hurting people doing every thing right, please tell us, exactly, how helping those in need hurts anyone?
Karen, Sexist and homophobes and religious fanatics. Republicans are evil. This blog was MUCH better before these damn Republicans got here!
Karen,
You do have the right to own a gun, but are you suggesting that if there any restrictions on that ownership or any common sense regulations, we will be over run by a tryrant? As suggested above, maybe the English got it right since their gun crime per capita is in a whole different league than ours.
Don’t forget they’re racist, too! In fact, they probably objected to kids going hungry on the Healthy/Hunger Free Kids Act because of racism . . . somehow. 🙂
Max – some states give cash benefits. The problem is not the poor trying to get by. The problem is specifically fraud, as well as alcoholics, drug addicts, and smokers using up their benefits and still going without the necessities.
Attempts to root out fraud are not intended to harm the needy.
Karen, Everyone knows Republicans want to starve children and cut old people off of SS and Medicare. Chrissake, get w/ the program you heartless b@stard!!
Here is a Seattle Times Article outlining challenges with school lunches:
http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/2012903500_pacificplunch26.html
Basically, the school gets around $3/free lunch. $2 goes to labor, leaving $1 for the actual lunch. And they only get paid if the kids eat the food. Which means if they turn up their noses at the menu, the school loses money.
It is more of a challenge than many realize to get sodas, fried foods, and processed foods out of school. It’s a real headache for school administrators.
The article is a good start, with some experiments that are underway to improve things over the most researched and fought over meal in America.
Has anyone had to live hand to mouth, waiting in food lines, issued EBT cards for food? I have and survived that way for three years. It is a difficult life people in those conditions face. To suggest these people can just cash in their EBT points for a strip club or a gun rack of any combo is ludicrous. Systems are set up to prevent such types of transactions. Sure, some people will “sell” their EBT cards for cash so as to aquire drugs or other illicit items, however I believe that percentage is far lower with the EBT cards than with stamps as the EBT cards are issued to individual users and once reported lost/stolen the DHHS begins to track the card usage and cancel the old one. I was told in ’04 that I get one replacement card per year.
Is there anyone that works for the DHHS that can comment on card restrictions?
Feynman:
The program specifically limited calories, so, no, of course they did not replace it!
Glad to learn why the Republicans ended the Hunger Free Kids Act.
Did they then pass a bill that corrected the problem and continued funding free lunches?
Michelle Obama is going to be the Teflon first lady.
Karen – a school can spend its funds how it wishes. When the AIMS test would come up, one of the schools I was at offer PB&J sandwiches so the students had breakfast. The faculty picked up the cost and made the sandwiches.
But anytime Republicans try to address fraud, they are labeled as hating the poor. It’s absurd. They will be blamed, I’m sure, for the end of the Health/Hunger Free Kids Act even though they did it because kids were going hungry because of the ill-thought-out act.
Paul – the problem, at least here, was breakfast and dinner at school, rather than lunch. They worried about kids whose parents could not or would no feed them (blowing benefits on drugs, or middle class but just always running late and not fixing lunch or giving lunch money). So they started providing breakfast during homeroom. Which took up a chunk of time. And they didn’t want to embarrass kids, so they offered it to everyone. Which obviously was not the original intention. So then kids just liked the free breakfast better than what they could get at home. Then we got middle and upper class kids eating free breakfast. And then dinner was added.
School funds were being used in what was essentially an overlap with Welfare.
Karen
No. I don’t have problems with food stamps. I support food stamps. I think it is important to feed hungry people. I acknowledge, there is some fraud. Larceny in the hearts of men and such. T’was always so. Your concerns are not mine. Mine remain focused on the struggling.
And, no, I’m not about to mess with free school lunch because of some misplaced fear that affluent kids are getting free meals.