1 in 8 "Americans" recieve food stamps. Outrageous!

[Blackjack200]

Gotta love elitists! They never fail to deliver the snobbery. :awe:

Again, for those of you with an expensive piece of paper but are still slow - I don't have a degree - did you not read what I posted in this thread? I'm in a position now that I'd likely be in even if I had a piece of paper - likely in about the same time(years experience) too. So yeah... I guess us "uneducated" people just can't live up to your paper standards...


Now again - can the diversion end?

You mean you can only learn about psychology, economics, history and science in schools!? WHAT !? Damn... I thought I could learn something from just taking that stuff in on my own. I guess not.

I agree that it is possible to educate yourself outside of college, but at the same time, discounting a degree as a "piece of paper" is foolish. There are certainly worthless degrees out there, just as there are people who can work in a job for 10 years and not learn a damn thing.

I've read dozens of books about various scientific fields since I graduated (pharmacology, astronomy, neuroscience, economics, etc.) because I was interested and wanted to learn. While the books were interesting and worth reading, the experience was far different from spending hours pouring over obtuse material in preparation for a test. When you train your brain this way, and internalize the material you are assigned, you gain broad perspectives about your subjects, and can contextualize additional material you might read in a book, magazine, or newspaper.

 

[dmcowen674]

Bfdd I survived on ramen for a few months,I suffered malnutrition,weakness,no stamina,mentally fatigued,lethargy.I would'nt recommend it,though.I agree with most of what you wrote. you must have some oriental influence in your life.Strange to see someone who closely resembles my own dietary habits.I have a rice cooker which I use everyday.Oh I get foodstamps too,not proud of it.At least I don't go hungry like i used to.Really SUCKED.
This is from personal experience.I have endured great personal catastrophe,one after another.Death in family,loss of income ,dignity,homeless,hunger,ridicule and The Almighty seen me through all of it.Did'nt post at A.T. during those times,only till just recently.

The OP does'nt have a clue at all.Oh it's past his bedtime,after all it's a schoolnight.

Glad to see you recovered from the abyss.

 

[dmcowen674]

I was merely referring to the general lack of education. It explains a lot about your posts.

Not the economic effects of having (or not having) a degree. Actually, I agree with you that hard work + a little bit of luck is really what makes people successful; education can be a useful tool to help you along the way, but is not a guarantee of success of any kind.

Don't forget being from Iowa too.

 

[Red Dawn]

The point is they didn't even need the credit back then. They were saving 5% of their income. People actually spend a lot less on "stuff" today. Far less on food, clothing, appliances etc. What they are spending far more on is housing, health care, child care (so mom and dad can work) and an additional car (for the same reason).

Think about your typical dink couple graduating from college in 2002: Probably at least $50,000 in the hole from tuition right off the bat. Now to buy a house in a safe neighborhood with good schools you'll need $80,000 up front to hit that magic 20% equity and avoid PMI. So they're $130,000 from their first home. But how do they save the money? Apartments aren't cheap, neither are the cars that they need to get to work.

Yeah, they can probably scrape and grind and hit that $130,000 in 15-20 years. To me, scraping by for a couple of decades so you can buy a house when you're almost 40 is not the American dream.

FWIW, I don't know any 24 year old that owns a house. I do have a couple of my friends under 30 who took advantage of condo prices that collapsed in the last year, but they never would have bought at the 2006-2007 levels. Most of my friends (late twenties to early thirties) live in apartments and are have little hope of being able to afford a house any time soon.

And that's in PA, imagine how much it would cost to do that in places like CA or MA these days, even with the cost of homes dropping dramatically over the last couple of years.

 

[StageLeft]

I agree that it is possible to educate yourself outside of college, but at the same time, discounting a degree as a "piece of paper" is foolish. There are certainly worthless degrees out there, just as there are people who can work in a job for 10 years and not learn a damn thing.

I've read dozens of books about various scientific fields since I graduated (pharmacology, astronomy, neuroscience, economics, etc.) because I was interested and wanted to learn. While the books were interesting and worth reading, the experience was far different from spending hours pouring over obtuse material in preparation for a test. When you train your brain this way, and internalize the material you are assigned, you gain broad perspectives about your subjects, and can contextualize additional material you might read in a book, magazine, or newspaper.

Not to mention on a purely practical basis it's a fact that those with degrees look more attractive to employers and make more money. If I tattooed the word genius on my ass it wouldn't make me smarter but if it gave me $10k/year income more virtually guaranteed I'd have to be a definite non-genius not to do it.

Most of my friends (late twenties to early thirties) live in apartments and are have little hope of being able to afford a house any time soon.

Not sure about housing in your area but having spent the last eight years in alabama and then western ny, everybody I personally know in my age group (now just over 30, so the end is nigh) has been able to afford a house for a while, but of course that is with no real money down and using PMI or something similar. I'm not sure if they could get one now. Heck, I'm not sure if I could get one despite having one for the last six years because lending standards have gotten so tight and I still don't have 20% down on a house I'd actually want to live in.

 

[StageLeft]

You first. Make a Documentary out of it. Dr checkup Before/After, 1 Year, Ramen mixed as you like, $500 Budget. I'll even Pay to watch it!

I would, too, it could be a good idea. In fact I have never seen a piece where somebody has lived long-term on extremely cheap food in an attempt to debunk the idea that if you're poor you have to eat crap. I believe it can be done--one can live on a pretty cheap amount of food and have a better than average diet, but it would be interesting to see it happen over a reasonably long term.

 

[nobodyknows]

How so? I guess millk would be expensive, but I don't drink a lot of milk. So I guess calcium would be hard to come by unless you were taking like calcium supplements. Look I think it can be done, that's basically spending 10 bucks a week for food on yourself.

$500/year = $1.37/day for food. Talk about bleak, you'd have people eating rats just so they could have some meat. People's immune systems would tank, disease would spread rampantly, but you have your insurance so who cares, right?

Let them eat cake.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Please, I've read your posts. You consistently lack a logical train of thought. You also fail to recognize logic behind many of the arguments present. You argue from emotion and a "gut feeling". Finally, you also lack knowledge of many basic facts in key fields such as psychology, economics, history, and science.

lol, you obviously haven't a clue. I challenge people who's beliefs posted here are "emotional" and lack clear real world logic. But you can continue to wallow in your ignorance by claiming I don't know XYZ if you wish - I could not care less what you think about what I know. But yeah, you're right... I couldn't possibly have a logical train of thought...oh wait - I'm an automation Engineer that does logical flow/programming all day... yeah... clearly I'm just some uneducated emotional fool.

lol @ elitists...

 

[CADsortaGUY]

$500/year = $1.37/day for food. Talk about bleak, you'd have people eating rats just so they could have some meat. People's immune systems would tank, disease would spread rampantly, but you have your insurance so who cares, right?

Let them eat cake.

You seriously don't think it can be done? Sure, it wouldn't be easy - but we are talking about being poor here.

 

[bfdd]

$500/year = $1.37/day for food. Talk about bleak, you'd have people eating rats just so they could have some meat. People's immune systems would tank, disease would spread rampantly, but you have your insurance so who cares, right?

Let them eat cake.

I can get boneless chicken breast for 89 cents a pound, I can get various different veggies and fruit 3 to 5 lbs for 99 cents and I can get rice 50lbs for 18 bucks. Hell you can get oatmeal cheap as fuck too. You don't need to eat a whole damn pound of chicken breast in 1 day, you don't need to eat 3 lbs of onions either, you don't need a whole lot of food dude. I think it can be done it would be hard but it can be done.

 

[Blackjack200]

I can get boneless chicken breast for 89 cents a pound, I can get various different veggies and fruit 3 to 5 lbs for 99 cents and I can get rice 50lbs for 18 bucks. Hell you can get oatmeal cheap as fuck too. You don't need to eat a whole damn pound of chicken breast in 1 day, you don't need to eat 3 lbs of onions either, you don't need a whole lot of food dude. I think it can be done it would be hard but it can be done.

Yeah? Cheapest I can get it (boneless chicken breast) at the store is $4.00 for the store brand. Where are you getting it from?

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?hp

I quoted Americans because we still don't know if they are all American citizens or if they are illegals. They pulled the same trick with the healthcare debate, saying 45 million "Americans" didn't have healthcare when a large portion of those 45 million were illegals.

However, going back to the main theme of the article, maybe this is why we're in a recession. We're spending billions of dollars so people can get fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats. NO! If you're on food stamps, you should be restricted to rice, beans, and multivitamins. No luxuries like milk and cheese for you sir. Get off the taxpayer dime, get off your lazy ass, and go find a job.

Someone just as bright as you said "let them eat cake"

You do realise that food variation is important for healt? You do realise that rice and beans is not good enough? You do realise that if you allow them to shop for themselves they will only get what the foodstamps allow them to get? That there is a limit?

No, of course you don't, you're up there on your pedistal looking down on them saying "if they have no food, let them eat cake".

 

[Patranus]

Someone just as bright as you said "let them eat cake"

You do realise that food variation is important for healt? You do realise that rice and beans is not good enough? You do realise that if you allow them to shop for themselves they will only get what the foodstamps allow them to get? That there is a limit?

No, of course you don't, you're up there on your pedistal looking down on them saying "if they have no food, let them eat cake".

Ya. Because a large percentage of the world population isn't able to live off only rice......

Typical liberal. Thinks that everyone is entitled to the hard work of others and use made up facts based on feelings to justify their reasoning.

You CAN live off only rice.

The fact of the matter is that this is just another social program designed to provide a voting base of those 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax.

Just wait until the majority of the population gets a free ride. That should be fun for the rest of us who work hard every day.

 

[Steeplerot]

Speaking of which, it's food stamp day!

I think I am going to buy some cheese too to piss off righties.

I may even buy a bit of the full-on sharp cheddar, PRESHREDDED, zomg! call welfare abuse now!

 

[umbrella39]

Ya. Because a large percentage of the world population isn't able to live off only rice......

Typical liberal. Thinks that everyone is entitled to the hard work of others and use made up facts based on feelings to justify their reasoning.

You CAN live off only rice.

The fact of the matter is that this is just another social program designed to provide a voting base of those 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax.

Just wait until the majority of the population gets a free ride. That should be fun for the rest of us who work hard every day.

... as a student employee who can't join databases properly.... pft Nice dreams you have.

 

[Blackjack200]

Cops bust food stamp trafficking ring at 3 Star Deli in Morrisville

http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2009/12/01/yardley_news/news/doc4b154fedc43f9154362706.txt

Wow, this place is like half a mile from my house. Glad to see they catch these guys sometimes.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Ya. Because a large percentage of the world population isn't able to live off only rice......

Typical liberal. Thinks that everyone is entitled to the hard work of others and use made up facts based on feelings to justify their reasoning.

You CAN live off only rice.

The fact of the matter is that this is just another social program designed to provide a voting base of those 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax.

Just wait until the majority of the population gets a free ride. That should be fun for the rest of us who work hard every day.

Yeah, you're right, nutritionists, biologists and everyone else who knows ANYTHING about nutrition is WRONG and you are right.

Rice contains ALL essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids, right? That is your argument?

I'm sorry, but when people don't even get the most basic things i'm going to have to assume that they are either very very young or very very stupid.

In your case, probably both.

Oh, you're right about one thing though, i am a liberal, a Liberal Democrat.

 

[Steeplerot]

Cops bust food stamp trafficking ring at 3 Star Deli in Morrisville

http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2009/12/01/yardley_news/news/doc4b154fedc43f9154362706.txt

Wow, this place is like half a mile from my house. Glad to see they catch these guys sometimes.

The biggest scammers are small business, although if your state has the ebt debit card it makes it a lot harder to defraud Food Stamps.

We used to have these ladys from grocery stores in chinatown (known as mana-sans) here who would wait outside the place where you got books of FSs and would pay you .80 on the dollar straight up. This is long gone now as you cannot just trade off a card with a pin. (well you CAN but you have to reapply for FSs once someone else gets your card which can take months without benefits!)

Some of the new stuff I have seen going on is new rules on buying stuff with EBT, such as no junk food like candy, soda. (A muffin is ok, but a cupcake is not -(it has a sugar frosting) for example.

Setting this up is good in my opinion, same as not letting people buy beer/smokes with your EBT.

A big bag of doritos can cost as much as one of my cassarole dinners with veggies and maybe some meat in it if you are smart with your resources.

Comrades, learn about nutrition and eat well on your food stamp dollar if you must collect. Workers who are hungry or undernourished are not living up to their potential.

Food Stamp nutrition resources

 

[nobodyknows]

I can get boneless chicken breast for 89 cents a pound, I can get various different veggies and fruit 3 to 5 lbs for 99 cents and I can get rice 50lbs for 18 bucks. Hell you can get oatmeal cheap as fuck too. You don't need to eat a whole damn pound of chicken breast in 1 day, you don't need to eat 3 lbs of onions either, you don't need a whole lot of food dude. I think it can be done it would be hard but it can be done.

You're full of it.

From yesterdays sale ads, the cheapest meat around here right now is pork sholder roast for 99 cents/lb or roasting hens (whole, including the bones) for 99 cents/lb. The cheapest fresh fruit is apples for 77 cents/lb. The good ones are well over $1.00/lb. Tangerines are 99 cents/lb.

Are you claiming you can live on 1 pound of meat and 1/2 a tangerine a day? Get real. You would subsist for a while but it would be downhill all the way. I know a WWII vet who lived on rice and spam for 6 months. He lost 30 pounds and had yellow jaundice. To this day he cannot eat rice or spam.

 

[Hacp]

You're full of it.

From yesterdays sale ads, the cheapest meat around here right now is pork sholder roast for 99 cents/lb or roasting hens (whole, including the bones) for 99 cents/lb. The cheapest fresh fruit is apples for 77 cents/lb. The good ones are well over $1.00/lb. Tangerines are 99 cents/lb.

Are you claiming you can live on 1 pound of meat and 1/2 a tangerine a day? Get real. You would subsist for a while but it would be downhill all the way. I know a WWII vet who lived on rice and spam for 6 months. He lost 30 pounds and had yellow jaundice. To this day he cannot eat rice or spam.

Meat and tangerine? Why should the poor afford luxuries like that? They should be stuck with rice and beans.

 

[nobodyknows]

Meat and tangerine? Why should the poor afford luxuries like that? They should be stuck with rice and beans.

Another "Let them eat cake" asshat.

 

[Red Dawn]

Meat and tangerine? Let them eat cake!!!.

 

[bfdd]

You're full of it.

From yesterdays sale ads, the cheapest meat around here right now is pork sholder roast for 99 cents/lb or roasting hens (whole, including the bones) for 99 cents/lb. The cheapest fresh fruit is apples for 77 cents/lb. The good ones are well over $1.00/lb. Tangerines are 99 cents/lb.

Are you claiming you can live on 1 pound of meat and 1/2 a tangerine a day? Get real. You would subsist for a while but it would be downhill all the way. I know a WWII vet who lived on rice and spam for 6 months. He lost 30 pounds and had yellow jaundice. To this day he cannot eat rice or spam.

Yeah... that's cheap buddy. You don't need a pound of meat a day to live. Mix it in with some rice or potatoes which are dirt cheap, some cabbage(7lbs for 99cents), etc. It's not that expensive bud. 3lbs of bananas 99 cents. I have the sales around me I just looked at the ads yesterday. Here's just ONE of the ads for local stores around me http://www.paylessfoods.com/weeklyads/v1_p1.htm there are others too with different sales etc.

edit- Can't find an ad for this place online, but they have ground beef for 79cents a pound and 10lb bag of potatoes 99 cents, 5 pounds of oranges 1 dollar. And for your tangerine thing, it's 2 lbs for 99 cents. Nice they also have mixed veggies(carrots peas green beans and corn) for 99 cents a pound.

Look you can find the deals, just because you aren't willing to look doesn't mean they don't exist. You don't need a whole lot of food to feed yourself with. 10 bucks a week? That's a lot of food.

 

[sandorski]

Yeah... that's cheap buddy. You don't need a pound of meat a day to live. Mix it in with some rice or potatoes which are dirt cheap, some cabbage(7lbs for 99cents), etc. It's not that expensive bud. 3lbs of bananas 99 cents. I have the sales around me I just looked at the ads yesterday. Here's just ONE of the ads for local stores around me http://www.paylessfoods.com/weeklyads/v1_p1.htm there are others too with different sales etc.

$9 for a 15 (?)pack of "Beer". If it were decent beer, I'd be all over that.

 

[Steeplerot]

$9 for a 15 (?)pack of "Beer". If it were decent beer, I'd be all over that.

wtf is a 15 pack of beer? a opened case?