I am automatically suspicious of the veracity of anything I see online, so I don’t necessarily believe this is a real receipt.
But it could be, and that’s what’s disturbing. There are very few restrictions on the use of food stamps, so there’s nothing to stop a recipient from buying porterhouse steaks and lobster.
So what should be done about this type of scam?
Well, I’ve already posted about the growing burden of food stamp dependency.
And I’ve posted about fast food restaurants trying to sign up for the program and the Obama Administration’s crazy policy of bribing states to create more food stamp dependency.
But what got me most upset was the story about college kids mooching off the program.
I remember selling my plasma twice a week while in college, and the $15 I received was enough to buy food for seven days. So I’m not exactly brimming with sympathy for kids who want “high-end organic food” and “roasted rabbit with butter, tarragon, and sweet potatoes.”
The right policy, though, is not to have the federal government tell people what they’re allowed to buy. The right policy is to end the federal government’s involvement in redistribution programs and let states decide who should receive subsidies and what form those handouts should take.
And, most important, let states be responsible for financing those programs.
For sure, I can’t believe there are people like those college kids who would mooch like that, especially when they’re perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. But it also seems you’re not being entirely fair to those on food stamps.
My mom was practically forced into marriage by my abusive, rad-trad father. After having ten kids, he suddenly decided to up with all the cash and abandon us (of course he made it seem like that job ~800 miles away was the only one he could get). Since then my mom’s been struggling to keep on top of things, but she’s suffered multiple back injuries – the result of her trying to work was a disc leak in her spine. My older sister had to drop out of college due to crippling lyme disease.
So of course we rely on food stamps. Each member of the family gets $1.50 per day, which obviously isn’t enough with how expensive everything is. And when my older sisters got jobs, food stamps took away *more money than they were earning.* So it’s actually better not to work. Until me and my brothers can get jobs simultaneously so we can jump the gap, we’re stuck in this rut.
All these 6 years people have shot mom dirty looks and said nasty comments when she pulls out that EBT card because she’s mooching off their tax payer’s dollars. And God forbid that she buy that junk or instant food once in awhile because she’s just too tired to cook for 10 people!
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
I want to let you know that it isn’t that simple. I am a college student myself that lives off of my own money, but its killing me. Every year they give us less and less money to pay for school, every year they increase the price of tuition, every year the interest rates go for loans, and every year college students are struggling to survive. There are people that work multiple jobs and go to school full time just to pay off loans and their tuition. I do not go and buy expensive food, but I will go and buy generic food and live off of it. Don’t categorize all students into one group, because some people need it to live. All of you were in college or are in college and you know who hard it was to survive. I have never spent money on alcohol, because I don’t have the money for it. I don’t party, because I don’t have time. Don’t be so judgmental of all college students, just because a few are corrupt.
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Returning programs to the states is the best way of dealing with counterproductive income-redistribution policies such as welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps. […]
[…] Returning programs to the states is the best way of dealing with counterproductive income-redistribution policies such as welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] to abuse the program. That’s true for corporate welfare, and it’s true for traditional welfare like food stamps. And, as we see from the Treasury report, it’s true for the […]
[…] the program. That’s true for corporate welfare, and it’s true for traditional welfare like food stamps. And, as we see from the Treasury report, it’s true for the […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
I am so sick of people discriminating against others on the food stamp program! I’ve Been on food stamps, and once in awhile, my daughter and I would enjoy a steak and dessert. You don’t like it? Well, fuck you! Should we eat spaghettios every day?Most people thank God to be able to eat and feed their children.And if you think it’s EASY to get them, go ahead and try. It’s Not easy.Be thankful that you are able to help other Americans, because YOU might need food stamps one day.
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
I collect stats on this type of stuff: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html#15
[…] A stark example can be seen in the food stamp program, which has morphed from a handout for the genuinely poor to a widespread entitlement for everyone from college students to the Octo-mom, and for products ranging from luxury coffee to lobster. […]
[…] A stark example can be seen in the food stamp program, which has morphed from a handout for the genuinely poor to a widespread entitlement for everyone from college students to the Octo-mom, and for products ranging from luxury coffee to lobster. […]
[…] about food stamp abuse, including people using them to buy luxury coffee at Starbucks and to purchase steaks and lobster. I’ve complained about college kids scamming the program, the “Octo-Mom” mooching off the […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
[…] Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps. […]
Oh and incidentally…the USDA reports the average person receives 140 or so a month in food stamps..and about 45 million people (1 in 7 almost) in America are getting them…so for anyone who thinks it is small potatoes….we are talking almost $70 billion a year.
Allow me to tell you for a fact that this reciept is most likely true. Several states have tried to limit or restrict food stamps, either by not permitting junk food and crap (Minnesota) or requiring drug tests for applicants (Florida) and have been struck DOWN.
I work a job where I spend my days watching people go into the local 7-11 and buy LARGE amounts of garbage…Haagen Daaz ice cream, Doritos, 2 liter sodas, candy bars, etc and pay with food stamps. They then pull out a wad of cash to pay for their booze and cigarettes….unless they have EBT Cash, which allows them to just withdraw cash like a bank card and buy whatever they want. I see people regularly buy 6 quarts of Haagen Daaz, which is bad enough, but then they buy it at 7-11 instead of walking 1 block to the supermarket where it is half price. Why should they though? Its not their money…its mine.
If the federal government was not doing all of the unconstitutional things that it IS doing, it would not be soaking up all of those taxpayer dollars and there would be tax money left for the state to collect to do things that were authorized by the Consitution, and by the people of that state.
In fact, if the federal government were not doing all of the unconstitutional things that it IS doing, we would not even need a federal income tax. It could pay for the constitutional stuff just with duties, imposts, and excise fees, like envisioned by the founders.
And if the state’s residents didn’t like all of the taxes being imposed by the state government, they could leave, like the residents of Illinois, New York, California, and just recently also Maryland are doing.
The total cost to us tax payors exceeds $2.2 billion annually, not inclusive is another $362 million dollars that the states shell out for the cost of illegal aliens spenditures.
[…] A Food Stamp Horror Story – and Taxpayers Are the Victims « International Liberty […]
Rabbit should be cheap – it’s vermin. Start your own welfare programme of giving them air rifles?
[…] A Food Stamp Horror Story – and Taxpayers Are the Victims […]
crisap444 reblogged this on The Conservative New Ager and commented: Have you ever wanted to strangle someone…no? Well read this and get back to me. Remind me again why I slave 40 hours a week to have to be careful about what I buy at the grocery store?
At least they stocked up on Diet Dew while it was on sale!
According to Snopes, this receipt is true, it was a scam and the guy got arrested but not for buying lobster and steak with food stamps, but for selling the lobster and steak for cash. http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/receipt.asp
Big potatoes, small potatoes? Its all the same potato. realizing this, and the fact that it is not really a potato but a wealth redistribution program designed to buy votes in order to perpetuate the violence monopoly known as the government, is the real hurdle.
Time for a reality check on this receipt. It may indeed be real, but the recipient wasn’t eating the lobster of steaks. They were turning the food stamps into cash for drugs or booze. The government is the main source of funds to support the purchase of illicit substances. And that is even more horrible than the welfare queens eating high on the hog.
Completely agree with jdat747, and we can see how people like Keisha are turned off by this sort of focus. Of course welfare programs are and will remain rife with fraud, but we should concentrate on attacking the big ticket corporate welfare programs. And the issue with welfare for the poor should be the extent to which it traps people in poverty, not whether some goofball college kid buys lobster with foodstamps. By the way, is it me or do those seem like really good prices listed for lobster and porterhouse?
States are cutting all over the place and now you want them to feed all their poor people as well. Even if they only gave out bologna, bread, rice & beans that’s alot of $$$. I know you’ve saw the lawmakers eating on $4.50 a day, which is the average per person receives on the Food Stamp program. I guess we should just let all the nasty poor people die from starvation. Then you wouldn’t need to complain about them getting handouts anymore.
This type of focus loose more supporters of our movement to cut government spending than it gains. Monies spent on “individual” welfare in all of US history is pocket change compared to the sums spent on “corporate” welfare in just the last few years.
Let’s fight what we can all agree on before we tackle the small potatoes.
Never heard of my college kids using food stamps, but the “Bridge Card” in Michigan is the most abused government program ive ever seen.