Can you buy ice with food stamps?

[sachiko]

The answer is yes.

I was behind a guy, healthy looking dude younger than my husband, who was buying a whole bunch of stuff for a party, including a big custom made cake. He handed over a card to pay for it. I didn't think about it until he asked if you could buy ice with food stamps. The cashier told him he could and he handed over the same card to pay for the ice. (They give you a credit card like thing instead of coupons now for food stamps.) I accept the need to help people out who are having a tough time, but I think food stamps should be restricted to stuff like rice, beans, ground beef, milk, etc.


No mutton or lamb chops though please

[thatguybme]

I agree with you- but others will say its 'their money and they can buy anything that is legal' -

Im glad that they did away with the stamps/coupons though - I knew a guy that ran a store and he had a man send his kids in with $1 stamps to buy $0.05 gum so he could get hard cash back as change.. lather, rinse and repeat until the dad had enough change to buy beer/cigs..

The store owner refused to sell the kids the gum but the dad called the state/federal agency that controls food stamps and complained. They agency threatened to cancel the stores participation in the food stamp program if the owner refused to sell any eligible items to the kids..

brian

[falcon]

They started the welfare credit card thing because of food stamp abuses. There are lots of abuse of the welfare credit card also. Cashiers just ring up item/s, set them aside and give cash.

[Howler]

For starters, to draw welfare you should have to pass a drug/alcohol test. Fail that, and no welfare until you test clean.

[The Rev]

Every social progam has serious flaws, but we do have people that do qualify for them and do use them wisely, there's always ways to cheat the system.

[sachiko]

Originally Posted by thatguybme

I agree with you- but others will say its 'their money and they can buy anything that is legal' -

brian

It's not their money. It's our money. We have an obligation to help people who are in definite need. My mom got subsidized housing, subsidized daycare, and food stamps when I was little until she could established on her own.

But she went to work right away as a waitress and was able to get off the public assistance. We had to work together as a family to make it work. I remember sitting down for a conversation when I was in the third grade when she explained to me that, if she didn't have to pay for daycare, we could buy a house.

But I had to be responsible and behave myself and be really grownup. I promised and it worked.

A person who gets food stamps because the family has fallen on hard times gets no criticism from me. But they should feel a moral obligation to buy necessities and not fancy cakes, party supplies, and ice on our money.

[Centauri]

Originally Posted by daddyslittlegirl

It's not their money. It's our money. We have an obligation to help people who are in definite need. My mom got subsidized housing, subsidized daycare, and food stamps when I was little until she could established on her own.

But she went to work right away as a waitress and was able to get off the public assistance. We had to work together as a family to make it work. I remember sitting down for a conversation when I was in the third grade when she explained to me that, if she didn't have to pay for daycare, we could buy a house.

But I had to be responsible and behave myself and be really grownup. I promised and it worked.

A person who gets food stamps because the family has fallen on hard times gets no criticism from me. But they should feel a moral obligation to buy necessities and not fancy cakes, party supplies, and ice on our money.

You speak the truth. The only people who deserve food stamps are the people who are willing to get off of them and find a job.

[vc1111]

But they should feel a moral obligation to buy necessities and not fancy cakes, party supplies, and ice on our money.

Aside from a cake and the ice what kind of wasteful "party supplies" did they buy? Booze? No? Napkins? A few balloons? Some ice cream? How different from normal supplies could it have been?

Do you know what they were celebrating? Could it have been a cause worth celebrating? Maybe they were celebrating a birth, a graduation, or even someone getting a job?

I hate these threads. The are the antithesis of charity.

[vc1111]

You speak the truth. The only people who deserve food stamps are the people who are willing to get off of them and find a job.

And what about those physically unable to work? Or unable to find a job at all? Kind of a broad brush you're swinging there, isn't it?

[bowtruck]

why are those people entitled to anything?