The Food Stamp Moocher Myth

food stamps or SNAP.

I'm fortunate in that I've never needed that help, but in my childhood, we could have used them. But that's long ago and doesn't matter.

A year or so in the grocery store I was in line behind two people who were buying a vast quantity of food, and for some reason (can't recall the details any more) I started to think maybe they were on food stamps. If so, I was impressed at the efficiency of what they were purchasing. Just eyeballing it, they were stocking up of food that would feed whoever was involved quite well.

Perhaps the real problem is that many on SNAP aren't very good at budgeting their food, and use that money inefficiently. Of course, any relatively privileged person like myself could easily criticize such people. But I live with a degree of stability most of those using SNAP simply don't have.

I sometimes do volunteer work at my local homeless shelter, working in the kitchen there. I really enjoy it. I like to cook, and I've learned to make dishes for a large number, and it gives me great pleasure to give these people a good meal. Then I sit back and take some time to recognize to what extent "There but for the grace of God go I."

I'm probably no better than most of those people. And even though I've been relatively poor at a couple of points in my life, I've never come close to homelessness, or needing to rely on the kindness of strangers for a meal.

A truly decent society would make certain that every single person would have a safe place to sleep every night, would never go hungry, would always have needed medical care.

Oh, and don't get me started on the bullshit that some significant percentage of homeless are that way by choice.

...what a lousy band!

Not because it is or it is not true, but because who gives a shit? They're dead and thus don't create $9 of economic activity? Is that the value of their life?

(I get that's not your intention to say, but the argument of economic activity created from food stamps shouldn't even be needed.)

amount of economic activity generated is important in increasing aggregate demand.

Food stamps are not about aggregate demand to me

The point about increasing aggregate demand is important in looking at how food stamps impact the economy. People given food stamps spend it all -- this stimulating the local economy as it benefits the people receiving food stamps. They cannot save the food stamps a bank account, etc.

That is the purpose of the program to generate money for the store. A better way would be just to have a standard living wage. There is alot of abuse of this program and the food is not going to feed the children. Even the backpack charity the parents will take the food. Lots of the people buy food to be sold to convenient stores and restaurants for cents on the dollar. Those stores and restaurants need to be shut down and the responsible parties jailed.

There is actually very little fraud.

While a living wage is certainly desirable, it would not address the whole problem. There would still be elderly, disabled, and people in areas where there are not enough jobs.

Your assertion "there is a lot of abuse"? Thanks...

[link:http://m.wbaltv.com/news/14-baltimore-stores-indicted-for-16-million-food-stamp-fraud/41438966|
More than that one example. They sell to buy drugs. Buy hundreds of dollars of soda and no food. Talk to some people who work retail. Acquaintances lost being able to get snap after using the snap card to get food and selling it to store. Food their 5 children went without.

That's not hardly a credible source for your statement. I meant like did a newspaper write and article and show this to be a problem? Or a TV show like 60 Minutes? And is your example of just one person, the only example or did thousands of people do this? Here's two examples of what I mean; this- http://www.news4jax.com/news/local/ebt-fraud-steals-millions-in-taxpayer-dollars
and this:- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/us/food-stamp-fraud-in-the-underground-economy.html
They seem to cancel each other out

Google food stamp fraud and your state of choice. It is in the millions. One case alone netted 2 million. [link:http://www.wsaz.com/content/news/32-indicted-in-2-million-food-stamp-fraud-case-373346691.html| There is lots more. The republicans just do not want to help anyone for any reason. It would be better to correct the problem then to allow them to scrap the whole program. If my Kroger card tracks what I buy it should be easy to do the same with the SNAP. Who cares about a few steaks you can tell when family is buying for themselves. And you can tell when they are buying for a restaurant or a business. Maybe there needs to be a 60 minutes program.

intelligent viewpoints to a captive audience of ~ 25 people, and I was part of that crowd. One time, he was bad-mouthing food stamps and the lazy thieves getting things for free. I said 'you know, most of those people are kids and their single mothers', and he just frowned at me and shrugged, didn't say a word. Because he didn't care enough to say anything.

Of course, he'd also called pro-choice people "baby killers" before, called me and the whole Dem party baby killers, in some of his other long winded "political officer" style diatribes.

So after he shrugged off letting the American kiddies starve, I told him "Yeah, you're "pro-life". The "pro-life" party."

Great graphic info, J. Thanks for the o.p.

The wealthy right created the myth so their ignorant side of the party would have a reason to continue to support them. They have people believing that people on food stamp are getting something they are not, worse yet, they are paying for it.

Compassion is thus removed from these people.

many other issues. Tragic that the needy in Red Stated vote against their best interests.