SNAP benefits to end due to US govt shutdown

StarSong said:
Few people are in danger of actually starving. The first SNAP benefits weren't due to load on people's accounts until the 3rd or 4th, so it's been 4 days at most. And many (most? all?) are reporting that benefits are being loaded on their cards as per usual.

However it works out in the immediate future, this scare should be a learning lesson to people living on the edge.

The only way I've ever gotten out of a hole was to first stop digging.
Click to expand...

The top 10% own 68% of the wealth in this country and the bottom 50% own 2.5%. To me that's prima facia evidence that the system is rigged. So I'm trying to put myself in the position of someone who is living on the edge of survival. I think that's called empathy. If I'm in that position I can see how one can feel that billionaires like the Walton family have been stealing from your kind for decades so maybe it's time for a little payback. But I was kidding about the Rib Eyes and T-bones. I actually like hot dogs more than I do steak. Or what I really like is Dinty Moore beef stew.

Coincidently I was in Walmart this morning picking up a few grocery items. Which I paid for by the way. While I was there I picked up a can of Dinty Moore beef stew but when I saw the price was now up to $3.67 I put it back on the shelf. With Alabamas regressive sales tax of 10% on groceries that would come to a little over $4 bucks for a can that only provides about 500 calories of food.

Now if I were single I think I might try to live on Dinty Moore Beef Stew alone. Let's see. 500 calories per can. I'd need about 5 cans a day. At $4 bucks a can that's $20 a day or $600 a month. I think that would be doable. :) I'd like to try it for a month. I could call it the Dinty Moore Beef Stew Challenge. :)
 
DHH said:
If it were just people who can’t fend for themselves, there wouldn’t be an issue. Sadly, far to may receiving welfare of all kinds WON’T fend for themselves. Entirely too much fraud in these programs.
Click to expand...
While the reported 2 % wfa is 1.99% too much the solution to not pay anyone benefits is cruel and inhumane and actually has little to do w our current predicament. The wfa strawman allows those "true believers" to blindly dismiss those truly needy and deserving from your conscience that are being hurt badly.

Please name one human endeavor that is free from waste, fraud, or abuse?
 

I see that today, a judge ordered the Admin. to divert some $5 billion from the school lunch program to SNAP by the end of today. I wonder about the legal aspect as this money was allocated by congress. Wonder if they can just shift it to another program without congress aproving it.
 
DHH said:
If it were just people who can’t fend for themselves, there wouldn’t be an issue. Sadly, far to may receiving welfare of all kinds WON’T fend for themselves. Entirely too much fraud in these programs.
Click to expand...

I'm sure glad I'm not one of those lazy leaches that won't fend for themselves. I don't get anthing free from the government. :)

Well except for my social security that's direct deposited to my account every month.

And then there's my pension from the State of Florida that is also direct deposited every month.

And then the government pays the lions share of my medical expenses via Medicare.

And you know what this past November 1st was? It was the 18 year anniversary of my retirement. In that time I have not done one days work. :)

Boy, I'm sure glad I'm fending for myself. :)
 
againstthegrain said:
While the reported 2 % wfa is 1.99% too much the solution to not pay anyone benefits is cruel and inhumane and actually has little to do w our current predicament. The wfa strawman allows those "true believers" to blindly dismiss those truly needy and deserving from your conscience that are being hurt badly.

Please name one human endeavor that is free from waste, fraud, or abuse
Click to expand...
All welfare programs have been abused and twisted far beyond their original intent, to be a hand-up, not a lifestyle. They all need to be scraped and start over. No one is starving. Hyperbole doesn’t help.

I was on welfare when my son was a baby. Got off as soon as possible and have repaid it more than once. THAT is what it needs to be.
 
Trade said:
I'm sure glad I'm not one of those lazy leaches that won't fend for themselves. I don't get anthing free from the government. :)

Well except for my social security that's direct deposited to my account every month.

And then there's my pension from the State of Florida that is also direct deposited every month.

And then the government pays the lions share of my medical expenses via Medicare.

And you know what this past November 1st was? It was the 18 year anniversary of my retirement. In that time I have not done one days work. :)

Boy, I'm sure glad I'm fending for myself. :)
Click to expand...
Those are not free things and you know it. You earned it. Speaking of “strawmen.”
 
Trade said:
I'm sure glad I'm not one of those lazy leaches that won't fend for themselves. I don't get anthing free from the government. :)

Well except for my social security that's direct deposited to my account every month.

And then there's my pension from the State of Florida that is also direct deposited every month.

And then the government pays the lions share of my medical expenses via Medicare.

And you know what this past November 1st was? It was the 18 year anniversary of my retirement. In that time I have not done one days work. :)

Boy, I'm sure glad I'm fending for myself. :)
Click to expand...
Touché!
 
DHH said:
Those are not free things and you know it. You earned it. Speaking of “strawmen.”
Click to expand...

Did I really? Or did I just work the system to my advantage?

Here's the way I see it. The top 10% have 68% of the wealth.

The botton 50% have about 2%.

And I've managed to get myself in that middle 40% that still have 30%.

But the top 10% are not satisfied with 68%. They want it all. But they hve bled the bottom 50% just about dry. So now they are coming after the group I'm in. And the way they are doing it is that they are coming after our Social Security by pushing to privatise it. Our Medicare, also by pushing to privatise it, and our pensions which they have already decimated the private sector ones by replacing them with 401K's and are trying to do the same with public sector ones.
 
Last edited:
DHH said:
Those are not free things and you know it. You earned it. Speaking of “strawmen.”
Click to expand...
The average retiree recoups all they paid into SS within 5 years. Even sooner for Medicare for many of us.

Funny how what comes to us from the government is earned but what others receive? Well, those people are clearly on the dole.

There's waste in SS and Medicare too, but who on this forum would suggest throwing those babies out with the bathwater?

In situations like these my dear father-in-law used to say, "Whew! I got onboard ship just in time. Quick, let's pull up the ladder!!!"
 
DHH said:
If it were just people who can’t fend for themselves, there wouldn’t be an issue. Sadly, far to may receiving welfare of all kinds WON’T fend for themselves. Entirely too much fraud in these programs.
Click to expand...
We always tend to go after the recipients when in fact it’s the politicians and career bureaucrats that are asleep at the switch when it comes to fraud and abuse of government funded social programs.

“Don't hate the player; change the game.” - Steve Harvey
 
Speaking of waste, look no further than the Military Industrial Complex with it's trillion dollar plus annual budget. And also the Medical Testing Industrial Complex. And the University Industrial Complex.

The entire economy is one giant scam.
 
StarSong said:
The average retiree recoups all they paid into SS within 5 years. Even sooner for Medicare for many of us.

Funny how what comes to us from the government is earned but what others receive? Well, those people are clearly on the dole.

There's waste in SS and Medicare too, but who on this forum would suggest throwing those babies out with the bathwater?

In situations like these my dear father-in-law used to say, "Whew! I got onboard ship just in time. Quick, let's pull up the ladder!!!"
Click to expand...

I wish they would seek out and find the fraud, waste, and abuse in ALL government programs and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that.
 
Last edited:
DHH said:
I wish they would seek out and find the fraud, waste, and abuse in ALL government programs and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that.
Click to expand...
The big fraud, waste and abuse comes from huge sweetheart contracts handed out by politicians to their donors and compadres. Private prisons and military contractors like Blackwater are perfect examples.

Washington politicians who are poor are scarcer than hen's teeth. Gee, I wonder how that happens.
 
Knight said:
Gotta love social media. A new tactic is hatching.

Walmart and grocery stores in New York are expected to face mass looting as SNAP recipients face a lack of November benefits due to the federal government shutdown. Reports have indicated that people are organizing planned thefts online, prompting authorities to urge stores to bolster their security. Users on TikTok and Facebook are allegedly coordinating timed thefts of Walmart and other grocery stores.

One organizer wrote, “At the end of the day they’re trying to see if we’re gonna stick together, and we are gonna stick together." Another organizer wrote, “The thing is, they can’t catch everybody. All you gotta do is run, Forrest, run, ok?”

I remember back when we were not well off just out of the Navy when we were short of money I looked for part time work to meet an unexpected expense. Everything from janitorial work to all the jobs in the building trades. The good news is those experiences helped me secure great employment later in life.

And no I wouldn't expect those unable to seek part time work to.
Click to expand...
This is why my son told me almost a week ago that he does not want me going grocery shopping alone. We are not New Yorkers but he saw YT videos and other scuttle but that people would be causing trouble in the stores. So yesterday, he went shopping for me at our local supermarket. Next time, I'd like to go with him, just to get my shopping therapy on.
 
Murrmurr said:
Regulations about what federal money can fund SNAP benefits are very specific, and for a good reason. The administration wants clarification because the judge said they can use funds that aren't SNAP specific, which could have undesirable consequences down the road.
Click to expand...
Did they get "clarification" before sending $40 billion to Argentina? It seems there was no red tape involving that at all. Will there be "consequences down the road" for that expenditure? Where did that money come from anyway.
 
"The [name redacted] administration asked the Supreme Court late Friday to block a lower court’s order that would force the government to fully fund food stamps for millions of low-income Americans, shortly after a panel of appeals judges rejected that same request."

They are trying extremely hard not to fund SNAP.
 
I just googled it and found out that the average SNAP benefit per person in $187 a month. To put that in perspective If I were to live sloely on a 2500 calories a day diet consisting of 5 20 oz cans of Dinty Moore Beef stew it would cost be $600 a month. Now I could stand to lose a few pounds so maybe I could go a month on 2,000 calories a day which would be 4 cans and that would cost $480 a month.

If it cost that much just to live on Dinty Moore beef stew I wonder what kind of meal plan you would need to follow to keep it withing $187 bucks a month?
 
Trade said:
I just googled it and found out that the average SNAP benefit per person in $187 a month. To put that in perspective If I were to live sloely on a 2500 calories a day diet consisting of 5 20 oz cans of Dinty Moore Beef stew it would cost be $600 a month. Now I could stand to lose a few pounds so maybe I could go a month on 2,000 calories a day which would be 4 cans and that would cost $480 a month.

If it cost that much just to live on Dinty Moore beef stew I wonder what kind of meal plan you would need to follow to keep it withing $187 bucks a month?
Click to expand...
Beans, rice, and squirrel. 😁

Actually, I haven’t done the math but the main staples in my daily diet, while working on better nutrition are canned pumpkin, steel-cut oats, unsweetened applesauce, avocado oil, rye flour, walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, flaxseed, plain Greek yogurt, dill pickles, and protein powder.

Once I reach goal weight I'll dust off the bags of brown rice and black beans in the pantry.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top