No, Republicans, poor people on SNAP are not eating lobster and filet mignon.

[JaneyVee]

Lorca Henley of Bowling Green, Ohio, said her family's dinners on different nights this week included taco salads, tuna casserole with mashed potatoes, spaghetti with meat sauce and hamburgers they fried on the stove because they were out of propane.

Steak, lobster and crab legs were not on the menu, even though such fare figures prominently in political debates over what food people buy with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Henley, 42, said she's received SNAP benefits since October, when she lost her job as a registered nurse with a dialysis company. She said she gets $342 per month for herself, her husband and their three young kids. They buy lots of eggs, bread, apples and carrots, she added.

"I’ve never had crab legs in my life," Henley said. "I’ve never had lobster –- I haven’t had a steak in like four years."



link: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7293630?1431780802

$342 per MONTH for a family of 5. I'm a family of 4 and go through about $200 per WEEK. Jesus.

[Major Nikon]

1. This can't possibly be true

Every wingnut I've met has a story about their 3rd cousin's neighbor's good friend who saw someone buying Dom Pérignon with their EBC card.

[arcane1]

30. And they ALWAYS see them get into a Cadillac and drive off.

I've never seen anyone I know personally rant about food stamps without adding the fancy car detail.

[pansypoo53219]

36. rite wingers sucking off the teat of poor peoples welfare.

if they can, they will take advantage.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Those who believe in this ridiculous notion...

... will point to one instance where a guy bought lobster with SNAP, and that means everyone is doing it.

"What? Using food stamps on cruise ships? It's an OUTRAGE!"

Stupidity feeds stupidity. It's hard to break the cycle.

[yeoman6987]

4. Well that one person caused the entire program to

Be reexamined. Now nobody will be able to buy those rare luxuries.

[historylovr]

19. But it shouldn't matter, that's the point.

Maybe the rest of the time they ate porridge and beans so they could splurge on something nice. It sickens me that we begrudge poor people the chance to have one nice thing. I say, if it makes them feel better about where they are in life, let them have it.

[maryellen99]

7. That cruise ship thing is so stupid

My mom just came back from one... Your meals are included but extras like speciality restaurants,alcohol etc are charged to a credit card at the end of a cruise. They damn well know that EBT cards are not allowed on cruise ships.

[Mariana]

21. But it stirs up their constituencies, doesn't it?

Makes them think it's something that's really going on. Makes them want to run out and vote for the guy that's gonna make sure those people can't do it anymore. That's what's really important.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

25. EBTs with cash benefits

can be used just about anywhere. True, it's not food stamps, but cash and SNAP benefits are on the same card in many places.

While I'm guessing that it's incredibly rare for EBTs to be used on cruise ships, there's no reason they couldn't be, if there are cash benefits attached.

[maryellen99]

28. Those wouldn't be accepted..I looked it up

It does have to be a credit card or like my mom said you can purchase on board credit.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

32. Most cruise ships have ATMs

And EBTs can be used at ATMs.

[randys1]

3. If the GOP war on the poor doesnt get us mad enough to do something, nothing will

Are we unwilling to hit the streets by the tens of millions and demand the teaparty vacate our government because they only want death and destruction?

Or demand Wall Street be completely taken over and regulated and taxed?

No? Not willing to do that?

What about showing up to protest laws preventing us from voting?

I dont know what it is going to take, when I think of this hate of poor people, mainly because righty assumes they are all Black

GRRR white privilege, institutional racism, grrrrrrr

[misterhighwasted]

5. I think anyone being paid by the US Gov should buy their food with EBT cards.

Washington DC legislature & their assistants & staffers included.
Anyone feeding themselves on the taxpayers' dime should be required to use an EBT Card.
Dining in, dining out, business lunches of filet mignon or lobster or cheese sandwiches.
If it comes from the US Taxpayers, all food expense should be bought on an EBT Card & scrutinized via a paper trail, & all participants should be subject to the same rules & regs.

If you are eating on the taxpayers's dime then whip out the EBT, dear GOP.

[FLPanhandle]

8. That is an excellent idea!

Include those mandatory drug tests too.

[misterhighwasted]

13. Oh ya, the drug tests, & I'm expecting the vaginal probe to soon

.be required.
I' m wondering which legislature I should present this to, for consideration as an ammendment attached in the middle of the night.
Ha.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

26. I'm a federal employee

and I'm already subject to random drug tests; had to take and pass one before I was hired as well. I don't know if that's across the federal government or not.

And if we're going to make all federal employees use EBT cards since the money comes from taxpayers, then let's add on everyone whose pay comes in some form from the government. The doctor who receives Medicare or Medicaid payments, the gasoline wholesaler who provides fuel for government fleets, the contract custodians who keep government buildings clean, the union construction workers that build and/or renovate federal facilities, etc.

[notadmblnd]

33. it should go farther than that

politicians should get paid on their ebt cards.

[misterhighwasted]

37. politicians especially.

[Oneironaut]

6. Isn't this really about lobster being *their* food?

The "lobster and filet mignon welfare queens" thing is really about social castes and control. They don't care about the money - they think that poor people are beneath them and don't 'deserve' certain types of food.

The sooner we shed the snobbish dickishness prevalent in our culture, the sooner we can improve as a society.

[vankuria]

9. My take on this

is if someone on SNAP is buying any kind of expensive foods on their EBT card they are only hurting themselves because they will run out before the end of the month. It's their money and their choice. Do I actually believe this is a problem, of course not. I've been a social worker for most of my life and I've seen people come up with ingenious ways of saving on their monthly food bill, we could all probably take some lessons from some of these mom who receive SNAP.

What worries me even more is states that want to make it so folks on SNAP can't buy any prepared foods including spaghetti sauce. A lot of people on SNAP are disabled and don't do a lot of cooking, boiling up some pasta and heating the sauce are very easy meals that can be achieved by most. If the states make it too difficult for the handicapped to live on their own they will end up in long term care, which will cost a lot more than food stamps.

[jwirr]

14. Thank you.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

27. Exactly

I trust people to make good decisions on how they spend their benefits. If they blow a month's worth of benefits on a week's worth of food, that's their problem, not mine. The only concern to me is if their are children involved that suffer because of the choices the adults make.

[PotatoChip]

35. People *not* on SNAP could do the very same- Blow a month's worth of the family food budget on

one week's worth of groceries, causing their children to "suffer because of the choices the adults make" too.

Are you "concerned" about those children as well? If not, why not?

[vankuria]

38. We're all concerned about children

however the discussion was about SNAP benefits and how the gov't wants to control what folks receiving them buy. Too much gov't control is not a good thing and their has to be personal responsibility. There are a number of ways parents can screw up and not have enough to feed their families, they could lose money gambling, spend too much on recreation, smokes, liquor, etc.

Everyone has to take responsibility for their bad choices whether receiving benefits or not.

[PotatoChip]

39. You didn't answer the question...

Oh wait, I didn't ask you.

Sorry for the mistake. I will await the answer of the poster I asked.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

42. Sure I am

But we weren't talking about people not on SNAP, we were talking about people on SNAP.

Any other irrelevant questions?

[PotatoChip]

44. Not irrelevant at all.

This is a thread that compares what families on SNAP eat vs. what families *not* on SNAP eat.

In reply to someone who said that he/she was worried about states seeking to limit the food choices of people on SNAP, you said this:

The only concern to me is if their are children involved that suffer because of the choices the adults make.

It sounded to me as if "the (suffering) children involved" means only the children of families on SNAP. Since I sometimes misread things, I was asking for clarification.

Because the focus of these red state governments toward people on SNAP is being framed around the very same concern, I wanted to see if you shared their view toward people on SNAP only, or if you were just as worried about the food choices of all families in general... Especially in light of the fact that the OP aptly demonstrates that the food choices are pretty much the same for both groups.

[lancer78]

10. One of my friends one night

who is on food stamps came over and needed my help to show him how to cook 2 lobster tails. Of course they were on sale for $6.49 total. People on food stamps can buy seafood if it is on sale. It does happen.

[jwirr]

11. Thank you. That is one great chart. Very realistic of my family. One thing in the beverage section

they list beer and other alcoholic beverages. One needs to remember that the chart tells us what these groups eat and that does not mean they pay for all of this with SNAP. I get $71 a month for one person SNAP money but I spend a lot of my cash income to buy more foods and beverages.

[B2G]

12. Her menus sound a lot like ours. nt

[eallen]

15. I. Don't. Care.

Of all the arguments circulating around welfare programs, one of the most mean and stupid has to be the notion that recipients might sometimes treat themselves to a bit of steak and beer.

What if that is the case? Is the test for poverty that matters in the US that someone must be so far down that they never can enjoy a bit of cow meat and some beer? Or are we so mean that if someone receives any public benefit, we must insist that they don't??

That is the kind of discussion that makes me want to beat the nearest Republican over the head with a side of cow.

Moo.

[maddiemom]

17. In what states or areas of the country can you buy beer or any alchoholic beverage with food stamps?

Certainly not Pennsylvania.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

29. Nowhere

A change I would like to see is the ability to purchase non-food necessities with food stamps...toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, etc.

[maddiemom]

41. Exactly! I had started to a similar remark. Candy OK, toothpaste NO.

[F4lconF16]

34. I concur.

Moo

[TNNurse]

16. They want their stories to be true.

They want to feel noble and superior. They want to be "better" than someone else. They want people who are "not like them" to suffer and be humiliated. They are terrible horrible people and many of them think they live by Christian teachings.

THEY ARE WRONG, THEY ARE HATEFUL AND THEY ARE THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF BEING UNAMERICAN.

Did I mention most of them are also racists?????

[daleanime]

18. Gee, who would have thought it....

poor americans tend to eat like other americans when they can.

[OnionPatch]

20. As someone who has been there

I'm happy to rec this post!

My family received what were then called "food stamps" for a few years when I was a teenager. My mother had just divorced my abusive father and was working full time on minimum wage trying to feed two teenagers without any help from him.

We ate lots of rice and beans and bargain brand cereal. Canned tuna was our only seafood. Even when we were frugal we often ran out of food stamps before the month was over and had to really scrape the bottom of the barrel to get by.

These laws are designed to demean and embarrass the poor. How any decent human being could support this legislation is beyond me. Conservatives have become sick, cruel little f---ks.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Right wingers really believe poor people are poor because they're lazy....

Or worse, they believe "the government" has created an underclass that thinks of work as "optional". (Guess what color "those people" are.)

[Lyric]

23. I've purchased steaks with SNAP benefits.

They were on sale, "managers special", for $13 for a 4-pack of big thick ribeyes because they were nearly at their expiration date. But they were still good, and when do you EVER see a four pack of ribeyes that cheap? I felt like we'd won the lottery. We grilled them over hickory wood and my boys were over the moon...

[Thor_MN]

24. Time spent worrying about what other people are eating can't be used

to question how one is getting screwed by corporations.

[IVoteDFL]

31. I buy things like quinoa, seeds and nuts with my EBT card

Those are usually the most expensive things that I eat so I purchase them with my card, but I buy a lot more cheaper items with my cash and I mostly survive on those items. Just because someone buys steaks with their food stamps doesn't mean that they eat steak all the time or that all they are buying is steak.

[bobjacksonk2832]

40. The GOP has proved itself over and over again they're out of touch with most Americans

Yet despite this, millions of them still vote for such callous, selfish politicians. The power of Faux News and the RW media.

[sub.theory]

43. More Reagan Welfare Queen Bullshit

This has been going on for decades, this cartoon version of being poor and on welfare. Where poor people are actually enjoying the good life on someone else's dime. Propaganda does indeed work. It's amazing how entrenched this concept has become.