Mister EBT, part 2
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September 27th, 2011

Mister EBT, part 2

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Discussion (4)¬

  1. Macushla Bubba says:

    Ah, more "a friend of a friend of my relative knows someone who…" anecdotes about food stamp abuse! And Mr. EBT's sleazy video fuels the fire; shades of "Welfare Cadillac"! Can we please put some of the blame on the retail lobby, where it belongs? My local Walgreen's, like many retailers, has these insidious stickers that remind EBT users: "These items are eligible for SNAP purchase." Are these in their overpriced canned goods & bread aisle or refrigerator case? No, store managers shamelessly slap them onto all their junk food counters shelves — chips, candy, soda — items that mock the N for Nutrition in the SNAP acronym. WIC [which helped me & my first child stay healthy decades ago], limits its use to specific, healthful foods AND mandates nutrition counseling. It is one of our most cost-effective anti-poverty programs. Given SNAP's much larger scale & coverage, such tight restrictions would not be feasible for it, but it definitely should not be usable for junk food. Alas, as state sales tax programs have shown, the various food lobbies would hopelessly deadlock legislators over the definition of "junk food." In the words of Justice Hugo Black, "I know it when I see it," but not legislators. But meanwhile, while they're duking out that issue, the MERCHANTS should not be allowed to steer those dependent on SNAP toward this misuse.

    In any event, thank you, Darrin for having Lemont speak out against this fool's video, which, frankly, is worthy of the tea party. … Wait a minute… who REALLY produced this vid?

  2. ChayaFradle says:

    Better a plastic card than more cutting down trees for expendable paper.

    • Mellaril says:

      Better still, It cuts down on abuse of the system by only allowing purchases of approved items. My wife's friend was a cashier in a grocery store. She said when food stamps were issued at the beginning of the month, a kid would come in and buy one low cost approved item. At the time, the difference was returned in cash. The kid would walk out only to return immediately behind a parent who'd use the cash to buy cigarettes or beer.