Monday, April 09, 2018

Trumps cutting food stamp program

A savings of 130 billion dollars is expected over the next ten years and stricter guidelines of who is eligible to receive assistance is proposed.
  While working on my book I got to know the workings on the streets.  I also worked in a grocery store and dealt with the food stamp program from that angle too.  It really bothered me to see people come in buying jumbo shrimp and crab legs  and pay for them with food stamps.  It was also disheartening to see prostitutes paying for some one else's groceries with their food stamps in exchange for cash.  The customer gets $100.00 worth of groceries for $80.00 and the food stamp recipient gets cash to spend on drugs and or alcohol.  Before the EBT card one just traded stamps for drugs.  Going to the EBT cards didn't stop the fraud; it just made the crooks get a little more creative.
  Often the homeless mothers would have multiple children and would have several hundred dollars a week for food yet they didn't have custody of the children.  Legally, they were the primary care giver but often it was family members or close family friends who actually took care of the children but the irresponsible mothers collect the money.
  It might be a good idea if recipients were required to bring the children into the office and also to pass a drug test before being issued their money credits.  A large percentage couldn't do either I believe.
       

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