What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

[Jerry DB]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

no, the poor in america still dont have a poor quality of life compared to other countries. call me a programmed asshole because i dont want to pay for some chain smoker's cigarettes. id rather pay for bread.

I agree, but when you really look at it you pay maybe like a tenth of a penny for every dollar of taxes you spend on the military or some corrupt assholes vision/pocket. There are obviously problems everywhere but I just think we should focus on the big ones first. We also should realize have the things we think and feel are often just programmed into us, I wasn't trying to insult or categorize everyone like that so my bad

[C.I.A.]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

no, the poor in america still dont have a poor quality of life compared to other countries. call me a programmed asshole because i dont want to pay for some chain smoker's cigarettes. id rather pay for bread.

you do know that you can't buy cigarettes with food stamps, right?

congratulations on not knowing what youre talking about. this whole question is loaded with political insight and if it were a repub in office doing the same thing i would criticize that too.

like with the whole Obama phone type deal. i think that it is a horrible idea that was put into place by repubs

and dont get me started on criticizing the president because this isnt the right thread and i never have enough time to refute arguments

Yet you took the time to write out a completely inane response to my post. good job

[Nullifidian]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

Awful lot of statements backed up by nothing but your own view on things in this thread.
As been stated before in the thread, it's really not your business to decide what their money is to be spent on, but if they get this money by doing nothing and there are no repercussions for doing nothing either it's just messed up.
I'm not knowledgeable enough on how it works in America but here in the Netherlands welfare and things like that are not unlimited. Depending on how long you've worked before your unemployment you get a period of time in which you get 70% (iirc) of your previous pay so that you can still pay for your bills etc. After that period you'll still get money but only the bare necessities for a low income home, so you'd be forced to move down or if you get a job before that, it won't apply. Now, welfare does not mean you get to sit on your ass all day here. Instead, you're obligated to apply for a certain amount of jobs a month, and if you don't you'll be set to bare necessities as well. If your period of 70% of your previous salary is over you're still obligated to apply but you're legally required to accept any job that is willing to hire you. Most people pick up a job quick enough for this not to happen though.
From my understanding, Obama is aiming for a system similar to this.

[adlp]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

I agree, but when you really look at it you pay maybe a pay like a tenth of a penny for every dollar of taxes you spend on the military or some corrupt assholes vision/pocket. There are obviously problems everywhere but I just think we should focus on the big ones first. We also should realize have the things we think and feel are often just programmed into us, I wasn't trying to insult or categorize everyone like that so my bad

all good bro

i'd rather the government wouldn't invest in corrupt assholes too, rich or poor. also im aware we are the top military spenders in the world and thats what i am ok with, my tax dollars going towards keeping us the most powerful country in the world with the strongest military.

[dragonmegaXX]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

you do know that you can't buy cigarettes with food stamps, right?

you do know that 85% of people who buy food with foodstamps from me also buy a pack of cigarettes or a 40 of beer right afterwards right? Whats stopping them from using that $5 to buy food instead of drugs.

[C.I.A.]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

you do know that 85% of people who buy food with foodstamps from me also buy a pack of cigarettes or a 40 of beer right afterwards right? Whats stopping them from using that $5 to buy food instead of drugs.

yeah, so what? they earned that money and they can spend it how they want to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States

some reading for you guys

[Arkuski]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

Good argument up in here.

I'll make a more intelligent response later, but my gf works in a pharmacy in the bad part of town and let me tell you, trashy people on welfare exist and are abundant. Also, we care about this because ultimately we are financing these people wih our own tax dollars.

[adlp]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

cigarettes werent the best example to use because that is correct by the USDA but i mean more like uneccessary products that arent vital to survival

[dragonmegaXX]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

yeah, so what? they earned that money and they can spend it how they want to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States

some reading for you guys

So you think it's perfectly fine to mooch off taxpayers for essentials, yet instead of using your earned money to try to improve your quality of life, or to stop mooching, you spend it on drugs instead?

[axith]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

Also, insurance companies and banks take more of your money than any welfare system ever will. The percentage of welfare money that's actually yours is so low that it's negligible.

For all I care, the entirety of what I pay into the system goes to one person. Breaking the portion of the taxes I pay yearly into several millions of chunks makes it sound just fine. 1/500,000th of a penny doesn't sound like much. Though one month of welfare/disability for a guy using said money to buy smokes and alcohol annoys the hell out of me. I'm not quoting precise numbers. I realize I don't have control over the way the money is spent.

I have known people on both ends of the welfare scheme. I know people that use medicade for their profit, use their foodstamps to pay people in food, and use whatever they get from disability/welfare to buy alcohol. I also know people that use the system to get up from a low point in their lives, and that, I don't have any problem with at all.

@spitfire That system sounds pretty good to me.

Edit: I should say that I know more people in the 'used government help to work themselves out a a low point' category than the 'living on the system' category.

[Jerry DB]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

all good bro

i'd rather the government wouldn't invest in corrupt assholes too, rich or poor. also im aware we are the top military spenders in the world and thats what i am ok with, my tax dollars going towards keeping us the most powerful country in the world with the strongest military.

I definitely love where I live and I am not trying to act like I know everything about other countries either. I just don't like how we are almost in a comic book in many ways and what gets done with our military. It feels great to be safe but I don't feel right just sitting back and allowing us to kill many innocent people all for profit and power. Well obviously our military isnt' all set on intentions with ill will. I honestly have no answers or solutions I'm just some dude on ffr. I just want to try to get people to realize that our lack of compassion seems to stem from more then just ourselves..I may be kind of broad with all of this but it definitely all stems from something specific I have gone through. The history of the United States and all the corrupt stuff that goes on isn't really a secret in the age of the internet. I guess I'm contributing to the derailing of this thread but that seems to happen almost every time anyways haha

[C.I.A.]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

So you think it's perfectly fine to mooch off taxpayers for essentials, yet instead of using your earned money to try to improve your quality of life, or to stop mooching, you spend it on drugs instead?

Don't put words in my mouth. I've explained my position adequately, if you have any more questions you can read my previous posts, for i must go now. You should realize, you have no facts to back up any of your claims.



p.s. that question is worded horribly and presupposes too many things for me to even begin to deconstruct it right now

[TC_llama499]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

this thread is funny, seems like its people who have been on EBT VS Everyone else. why does everyone assume that people only use unemployment for drugs or booze? There are some people who actually need help from this, like people who work seasonal jobs or have gotten laid off. Its not mooching off tax payers its doing what you need to do to survive, i wonder how many people on here actually support themselves 100%

[JohnRedWolf87]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

If some people are content living so poorly that they waste the little money handed to them each month, then let them. The majority of people who receive government support actually want to better themselves (I know this thread isn't about them. Just putting it into perspective). The minority just seems like a lot because a small percentage of 314 million people is still a lot of people. Besides, programs like welfare for the poor barely make a dent compared to everything else the government spends taxpayer money on.

Also, the system-abusers might get enough money to support their drug/alcohol/tobacco habits, but beyond that they're hardly living the life of luxury. There's a reason that people aren't leaving employment in droves to go on welfare, other than joking about doing so.

dragonmegaxx: The fact that they're making more money than you goes to show how outdated current minimum-wage rates are, assuming that's what you're paid. It's been needing an increase.

[funmonkey54]

Re: What are your thoughts on EBT/Food stamps.

If this thread is about people that misuse welfare, but not actually any sort of claim about welfare: Yeah, irresponsible people suck in general.

If this is a thread saying the system is flawed: Yes. It is flawed. But in our current political state, reform is deadly. One side would altogether eliminate, leaving people like me choosing between prescriptions for my mother's PTSD and food so that my family doesn't starve because the food banks are all darn near empty. (Wanna see some DIRECT good from your charity? Go ask a food bank what they need and donate it.) The other side would dump an absurd amount of money into social programs leaving the economy reminiscent of a teenage girl with her first credit card.

No matter what this thread is about: Welfare is a necessary system that does a LOT of good. It's a real shame people misuse it, but the effects of not having it are far worse than a percentage of low-life individuals depending on it from laziness.