I don't think anyone really understands what the next person in line is going thru just by looking at their cart. #1 you can NOT buy Wine on food stamps, but you can buy wine with cash benifits received by the state. In my state you get a credit card type card with your food and cash benifits on it. The only person that knows what part of it you're using is "you" the recipeiant and the cashier because you have to tell her EBT Food or EBT Cash.

As for the food stamps challenge link poster... I cried reading your story. It hit so close to home and I'm really sorry your husband had to go thru that. It does hurt. I've had it happen to me.

When it happened to me I wasn't buying food with food stamps I was receiving WIC (Women Infants and Childrens program) which pays ONLY for Milk, eggs, cheese, cereal and juice while you're pregnant, and once you give birth pays for ONLY Formula. As the child gets older and can eat more/different things they change your checks. But they are just that Checks. The cashier has to go thru a long drawn out process of entering dates and amounts and all kinds of junk just so you can get your child formula. Weather or not we had the money to purchase the formula was never brought up. When I found out I was pregnant, the doctor filled out the paper work on my behalf and submitted it. I didn't even know. I got a letter in the mail a few days later to come down to the WIC office with my copies of items needed such as ID and ss cards and such and I walked out with 3 months worth of checks. This program makes sure that pregnant women are eating at least half way right during pregnancy, and is making sure that the baby gets what is needed after birth if there is any chance the family can't afford it. I was looked at in the store and her exact words to her husband were "Lets go to another lane that white trash girl is on welfare and we'll be here forever". Now that was totally uncalled for and I contained myself until I got out to my FATHER's vehicle. At that time I didn't even have a vehicle of my own yet. She happened to be parked next to him and was still talking trash about me when I got out there. I looked at her and yes I'll admit I turned into a trashy person I cussed her up one side and down the other and made her cry.

Like her, none of you know what exactly anyone infront of you is really doing. I don't get food stamps anymore and my best friend doesn't either. But every friday I have to go to the store with her and run the food stamps card to get her weekly groceries. Whose card is it and whose benifits is it you ask? Her daughter's and grand daughter's whom live with her. Her daughter works odd hours and of course doesn't know how to budget or purchase food to make the money last the entire month or even two weeks so we do the shopping for her. My friend doesn't know how to use the card but I do so I go and we manage. Even when we don't have her daughter's shopping to do I'll go with her during her shopping.

Her husband gives her $100.00 a week for groceries for 1 grown man, 1 grown woman, 1 - 13 yr old girl, 1 pregnant woman, 1 - 5 yr old girl, and 1 - 3 yr old girl. I've watched this woman and helped this woman go thru the isles in the store, place things in the cart that are on her list, grab her pen and write down the price next to the item. We go thru the entire list of FOOD products first. (She shops at walmart first then the grocery store.) We stop off out of the way of everyone else and take out the cell phone (yes we both have a cell phone my god bash me for that too) and add up all the purchases so far in the cart. If she goes over she puts it back. If not we go ahead and check out. We head to the grocery store for meats and other things not able to be gotten at walmart. Normally she has about $20-40 left at this point. She picks and chooses in the meat department sometimes taking only chicken home because it's cheapest. When she can get steaks or roasts or anything other then chicken, it's a thin small piece of meat that maybe costs about $2.00. She's budgeted her life like this for the last few years and has come accustom to it even though she doesn't have to! Her husband makes enough money they don't have to pinch and scrimp but they do. Why? because they're so used to being on the bottom of the barrel and don't know how to live high on the hog. Also they just lucked out and got a pay off on their 1st mortgage which was gotten by the woman who previously owned the home.. wasn't even theirs.. she had to come up with $750.00 in 8 weeks to pay it off, plus pay the rest of her bills. Times got tighter then normal but they managed. Even when times aren't tight she still does things like this because it's what she's used to.

I think maybe everyone needs to go thru this for one month. Take and go without just so your children can eat because you can't afford to buy food for everyone in the household. I don't eat breakfast, I don't eat lunch, and I hardly ever eat dinner. The only time I eat is when my husband forces me to do so. I've gone without for so many years just so my daughter can eat and have snacks and such. Maybe you all should just stop judging everyone because one day you may be on the bottom of the barrel too.

Everyone is still complaining about their tax dollars being wasted. Is it wasted when they are getting food? No. It's wasted when they are getting name brand food. (Don't say yall didn't say this because it was said about someone buying name brand foods on the stamps). Well like I said before sometimes you can get name brand food cheaper then store brand. And why should they have to buy cheap store brand foods that don't taste as good as name brand but you can? That doesn't seem fair. And also please stop referring to it as free food because it's not. It's still being paid for, and remember everyone in the world has worked at least once in their life and if they haven't their parents or other family members have so someone in their family has paid taxes into the system to make it possible for them to receive it. It's not free unless they go to the shelter place and receive a box of food as a hand out. They are still having to go thru the store pick their items count up the totals go thru check out and swipe their card and pay for that food. Yes it may be money they didn't go out and kill themselves for working today, but maybe they are a little down on their luck after working for 20 straight years and got laid off or the company went under or whatever... they earned the money they are receiving. For those that abuse the system and haven't earned it... they will get what's coming to them. Karma has a way of dealing with people that take advantage of things like this. There isn't anything anyone can do by bitching here on CC about this and I think it just needs to be locked and or deleted because it's gone on far too long. It's becoming a bashing of the poor people thread and that's not right nor is it fair.

And I will repeat and one day I hope all of you high and mighty people up high on the hog fall off to the bottom of the barrel one day and have to go thru life the way others less fortunate then yourselves do.

Look into the angel food mininstries program at www.angelfoodministries.com

OhMyGoodies,

A few things...

1. Why would you wish BAD things on people? This is just a discussion - a meeting of minds if you will. If anything, I would wish that the person would maybe one day be more open-minded... but never "...I wish you fall to the bottom of the barrell...". Karma karma karma.

2. Everyone has a budget that they have to stick to. So your friends budget isn't as big as some cc people. Don't begrudge people for succeeding or doing well - especially when they are busting their a$$ to get ahead.

3. You are right the food is not free - working tax payers are buying it for the food stamp reciepients.... with or without their consent.

4. Your statement that "...everyone in the world has worked..." cannot be accurate. There are a number of people abusing the system - they know all the scams on how live off the system. They that's the problem. The system was designed to help you when you are down not support you and your family for the majority of your life. Especially with all the no cost or low cost training available.

5. I feel strongly about this subject as do many people here. I don't think people are saying don't help the people who REALLY need help (permanently disabled, physically or mentally handicapped, etc) as much as tighten the reigns so people can't keep abusing the system. AND I think when you are living off the system you are accountable to the people providing assistance.... if you don't like it don't use it.

I personally wish the best for you and your friend and I hope that you find something (work, GOD, whatever) that will help you finacially!

And I will repeat and one day I hope all of you high and mighty people up high on the hog fall off to the bottom of the barrel one day and have to go thru life the way others less fortunate then yourselves do.

I wouldn't wish that on anyone no matter how aggravated I got. I've been to the bottom of that barrel and it wasn't any fun. For several years I owned my own business and did fairly well--not big money, but enough to pay the bills without worrying too much. Raised two kids on my own unless I filed charges for child support (and that definitely is another thread). Now I am on disability and pinching pennies again. I get by because my house is paid for but I don't have extra money for frivolous things. That is why I started doing a little cake decorating.

I work with the food pantry and with Lions Club trying to do my part in my community as a way of paying back the help I got many years ago.

Diane

The reason I said what I said is because the ones on here that are bashing people for just being on stamps and not knowing the true reasoning behind it and don't know the person from adam can sit there and have that "holier then thou" attitude about it like they are better then the next person and I'm gettin really sick of it. It's shown on this site more and more every day. And I'm sorry but it's getting really old. No one is better then the next person because you don't know what tomorrow might hold for them. For all you know they could win the lottery with their last dollar and buy the company you work for and be your boss. The ones I wish the "walk a mile in our shoes" to are the ones that don't care about anything but making a buck and are all about putting someone down because they are less fortunate.

My mother could get food stamps right now if she wanted them. Why? Not because she's poor as some have refered to it here, but because her daughter is laying in a vegitative state in a nursing home and she's caring for her three young children. She makes $37,000 a year and they are barely getting by but does she go apply for assistance? No because they can make it work.

Those that don't know what it's like have no right to say anything bad about someone else's situation. That's what pisses me off so bad because all these people with their holier then thou attitudes don't care who they hurt with their comments and don't really understand much about the situtation they are commenting on because they haven't lived it first hand they are only worried about where their money is going and what it's being spent on. If that's your biggest worry in life you should be happy. Quit your job, quit paying taxes and they you won't have to worry about where your precious money is going.

As someone who has worked with several organizations that assist people that have fallen on hard times...there are good AND bad in all areas. Funny how we remember the BAD people that take advantage of assistance. Then we tend to pigeonhole ALL people that are on assistance as BAD.

It does go back to how we are taught to respond to our circumstances and how everyone can see something different. Growing up, my divorced mom worked 2 jobs (3 at Christmas time) to support 3 kids. I saw that she was doing her best to give us what we needed. My brother remembers it as mom never being home.

We had a small meat market at the end of our street where we shopped. The butcher gave us meat bones and fat to feed the coon dogs we had for hunting. My mom would make huge pots of soups and stews with the bones before giving to the dogs. We ate the soups and stews until the next pot was made and the old went out to the dogs. I learned to hunt and fish but never for sport...for food. The butcher actually decorated cakes in his free times and always made sure that we had a cake for our birthdays. God blessed that man in so many ways, I am sure for his generous heart.

Life gives us circumstances and it's how we respond to the circumstances that make us what we are today.

I think what most here are upset about is the person that has assistance because of no income but can find the money to have their nails done every week and buy cigarettes. That being said...my sister is on assistance and yet, her and her husband smoke a pack each A DAY!!! They have several dogs...hello??? Can't feed your kids, how do you feed dogs???? Alot of us have been on both sides of the fence and can relate. We do not need to apologize for the need for assistance and we shouldn't judge. However, that is society's nature and will be society's downfall.

Summernoelle, you did not offend me by using the word cheapskate, I just don't like words that label folks is all, so please forgive me as I did not mean to single you out for that. There are pros and cons to this thread and believe me I have seen my share of abusers of the system. I don't like the fact that people intentionally do wrong when it comes to benefits, but we cannot group these "bad" people with those who are down on their luck, or whatever got them to where they are. This thing of judging people goes way back with me, in school for instance...Special Education Students were made fun of, called names, made my heart hurt for them. I did not have the courage as a kid to stand up for others, but I do now. It was a good thing I was not in the check out line with 2 of our posters because the people that made those shameful comments about poor people would have been taken to task, in a Judge Judy type of way. This is a healthy thread, I think most of us tend to agree to disagree without bashing anyone personally.

I just get really sick of people tacking advantage of the government and acting like we ( working people) own them something . wE DON'T OWE ANYBODY ANYTHING. i WORK HARD , PAY TOO MUCH TAXES AND STILL CAN'T AFFORD MOST THINGS THAT i SEE PEOPLE WHO ARE ON ASSISTANCE HAVE EVERYDAY..sorry my caps was on... Anyway all i am saying is that me and my husband both work really hard and barley make 40,000 per year total. It is not so easy having a normal life on that kind of wages but we make do. Somebody needs to educate welfare recipients about, nutrition, budgeting, BIRTH CONTROL!!!!!!!! and health and many other topics. Not everyone, just seems like the ones in my area.

It also PISSES me off when i see people getting HUGE tax refunds.. like more than the would ever pay in. and blowing it on crap when they should be saving it to live on throughout the year.

Oh and another topic ... All these folks can go to college free and not have to do hardly anything . Well nobody pays for me to go for free or I would have had a degree a long time ago... Sorry if I made anybody mad but you just have to live in my area to see what I see to understand the gfross misue of assistance that should be a good thing.

It is there to help people who need it and is abused by MANY who don't.

I used to work with a woman who was married but didnt let the wlfare office know so she could still get assistance for her kids. She got fired from where we worked and I found out later that she got a good job at another office but quit after a few days because she was making too much money and would her welfare. She is a prime example of those that cheat the system. The people that cheat the system make it so much harder for someone who really needs it to get it.

exacly that is what i see every day where i work.. there is something really wrong when you don't have a car your father buys you a home, and you get tons of assistance but you can't work more than 20 hours per week, tan all the time, get fancy hair cuts, etc and I can't pay my bills because gas is so high. I am soo mad!!

I have hesitated about posting to kind of see where this thread was going. I am very disappointed in the harshly judgmental attitudes of some on here who probably don't have a clue. My story...

I come from a lower to middle income single parent (father) family. I have always been an above average kid in school but had little to no parenting coming up. I was blessed with an amazing little boy at the young age of 15 (my mother and older sister also had children young). It was an extremely tough time for a number of reasons and I took assistance (health/childcare) from the state so I could finish school. I graduated with distinguished honors in the top 5% of my class and was accepted into the architecture (one of the hardest undergrad. programs) program at our state's flagship campus.

I graduated this spring (at 23) with an 8 year old son plus a one year old and a very supporting husband. I worked phenomenally hard during college (got my first grays at 20!!!) and had it not been for the many hands extended to me through the good lord, friends, family, AND public assistance I don't know that I would have made it. My efforts have made it possible that I nor my children will have to go through what I have ever again.

I took all the assistance I could get while I was in school to ensure that I would graduate and become something. I can say first hand, while I was following the "rules" I got a lot more food stamps than I knew what to do with. So a lot of what some cc'ers are complaining about is beyond some people's control. While I know some people do take advantage of the system there are tons that do not. You NEVER know a person's situation. And please believe I received the looks, stares, and nonsense that some people give you because they THINK they know.

edited to add,
AND I bought my son a grocery store premade cake (with food stamps) for his birthday because I did not have the time or know how (this was long before my CC addiction) to make him a cake. This happened to be one of the few times when he had the pleasure of picking something just for him.

Can I call an "exhaustion" clause on this subject? I got sick of the discussion and people being mean by the second page of these postings. Let's just go with ....."you agree to disagree" on some things, ok? I don't think this thread was meant to be rude to people without money - it was just posted to say how some people want something for nothing a lot of the time. Let's call a "truce", shall we? Put your energies into something else that matters more than being rude, mean, etc. Consider yourself very lucky that this what you put your time into instead of any numerous things that could take up your time like having you or a family member close to death, having an incurable disease, etc. Think!!! Is this really that important to argue about?

(Getting off my soapbox now and slithering away............)

ge978, you took that the wrong way. It was meant with humor because we have gone over it so many times. It was not meant to be offensive I'm sorry you took it that way. That's what happens when things are said in writing. I guess I need to start using the little faces.

Ireland, no I don't take offense to what you are saying because those are not the situations I was talking about.

The thread in general. It seems no matter how many times I say that what most of us were talking about is the abusive ones not the ones that need to be on it no one is understanding that.

The ones that are in need, could get 10x the help, I would think that's great. But, we are not allowed to question the abusers.

I do agree that it is abused by alot of people, but what got me so upset and mad was that the ones that started bashing were labeling EVERYONE on the system as a bad person that misused things.

The one person above said quitting your job and not paying taxes any longer is just stupid because you'd starve to death basically is what you're saying right? Well everyone here that seems to think it's easy to just drop all the help they receive and get a job is plain stupid. Between all the business going out of business, all the illegal immigrants coming in, and all the terrorist crap there are fewer and fewer jobs available every day. So why should someone drop their benifits that do feed their children and try to find a job only to be turned down?

What I don't understand is why people are so upset at the fact that the people on food stamp benifits can buy food? Is it that they can get food that you can't afford? Or is it that you just wouldn't purchase those foods weather you can afford it or not? Why should they have to go thru their life eating romen noddles and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches just because you don't think it's right that they be able to buy a steak on their food stamps...

This is just going in circles because no one wants to face it that they are being snotty and stuck up and having the whole "holier then thou" attitude about it all. You're all pissed because A FEW people on food stamps sells theirs for drugs or money for beer. Fine I agree!!!!!! It should be used strictly for food items to feed your family. But then in the same sentence you bash them again for selling maybe $20.00 worth of their food stamps (cause you see them buying lobster or a cake or some name brand soda doesn't mean it's for them) for what? You don't know... that little bit they are selling could be to buy diapers or toilet paper or shampoo and soap so their kids can go to school clean and not get teased for being dirty and poor or maybe it's for clothing so their kids can actually attend school this year instead of staying home because they don't have clothes to wear because they are so poor.

No one really knows why people are on assistance and no one really knows why they do what they do. And not everyone can make a massive change for the better and dig out of a hole as quickly as others can. I've been trying for 10 years to better our situation and it's impossible where we live to find a job that pays anything worth going to work. If I were to take the job I was just offered the other day, I'd be getting up at 2 am to go to work at 3 am and work until 6 PM for $100.00 a week. That wouldn't even cover day care for the hour before school when my husband is at work and the 2 hours after school while we're both still at work. Where I live there are no jobs and the ones that are available are being given to people that are here illegally (no offence to anyone whom may have a friend that is here illegally or something like that my neighbors are illegal immigrants and are the nicest neighbors we have) anyway the jobs are given to the illegals and to those who don't think about weather it's going to help them or hurt them worse by working. And also people who just don't care how they are treated.

Another comment was about people that blow their tax return money on useless things. Well let's see have you ever taken a portion of your tax return and just gone shopping just because? Or taken a portion of your pay check and just gone shopping just because you had the money and the urge to do so? You've never treated yourself to anything in your entire life? I bet half of you own a $600.00 KA mixer... you treated yourself to that... that's mainly what people do with their taxes. Treat themselves and their children to things they couldn't have or do all year long because there was no money to do it. I take my tax money and pay bills if there are any over due, then I buy my daughter's birthday presents a little early so that they are already done, I set aside a little to cover her small birthday party, and then the rest if any left over I spend on me and my husband because I feel he's earned a small little treat no matter what it is.

Did yall ever think that maybe that computer they are using was given to them by the government to further education or for work purposes? Or maybe they are renting it. Maybe it was a gift from a family member. Maybe they splurged at tax time and bought it with hopes of starting a home based business where the computer was the main neccessity. You don't know anything about these people so stop bitching about them. You don't know who pays their bills you don't know who pays for the internet bill or who pays for the car payment. You don't know anything about these people you're bad mouthing except that they do things differently then you. Not all people in this world that are on government assistance are bad people that abuse the system but you are all labeling every single one of them.

And don't get me started on the birth control thing. You can NOT tell someone they don't have the right to have a child. Weather they can afford it or not. I couldn't afford to have a child when I did but we made out just fine. She's healthy and happy and gets straight A's in school and has gotten perfect reports from the doctor every year and was always kept up to date on shots and things. Just because people aren't rich and sittin high doesn't mean they don't deserve to have children.

Now yes in the same sentence... if you are just having kids to get more assistance from the governement it is wrong and it shouldn't be allowed. And in MD it's not allowed. For instance, my hubsand and his ex wife have 3 children together, she has another from another relationship after their divorce. The state of MD noticed a pattern with her, 2-3 years between each child oldest of which didn't even live with her, and each time her benifits got dropped or lowered she ended up pregnant... after the last one they forced her to get her tubes tied. Told her plainly and bluntly the next pregnancy you will NOT be getting ANY assistance from the state of MD for it. No medical coverage, no WIC, no food stamps no nothing! So of course she got fixed so she could keep what benifits she did have. People like that make me sick. People that lie to the government agencies to get more when they don't even need it, make me sick. I know one them too. These two people I do NOT speak to on a regular basis, the one I avoid at all costs. I've even gotten to the point of turning her in because I can't stand what she's doing.

What yall need to understand is how you're making it seem. You say you don't mean everyone that's on the system is bad, but in the same message you're making it seem as though you mean just the opposite. As many threads have said in the past, it's very hard to understand the true meaning of text and the true tone in someones message and exactly how they mean it to come out. And no matter how schooled we are sometimes are words do over lap and backtrack and run in circles and don't always make 100% sense lol mine espeically. But my point is my feelings were hurt because everyone is making it SEEM as though EVERYONE on the system is bad. And it's just not so. YES there are bad people out there, but do NOT label everyone like that because of a few bad apples. With that I'm done with this thread and it should've been locked pages ago because it just seems to be going in circles and doesn't seem like anyone here really cares about what's really going on out there in the real world because poverty is a big problem in the US and believe it or not...I have a homeless shelter about a block away from my house and didn't even know it! Had no clue! Still don't know exactly where it's at but I know it's around my house somewhere. Those are the people I like to help, when I can.

Oh and one more thing... someone mentioned earlier about the use of food stamps to bridge the gap between paychecks and such... When I was getting alot of food stamps I'd stock up during meat sales and stock my RENT TO OWN chest freezer brimming full each month. At the end of the month before the next benifits rolled in, I'd call my best friend who had 3 children living at home and were on a majorly tight budget and ask her if she needed anything, of course she'd always say no but she's slip up and mention to one of the kids or her husband "pick up some ____ we're all out" and then I'd hear the arguement start about where the money for ____ would come from. So once a month I'd take a garbage bag and go to my freezer and clean it out. Anything and everything I could find that I knew we wouldn't eat or weren't able to fix since our stove was currently broke and we could only use roasts in the crock pot and such.... I'd then take another garbage bag and clean out the cabinets of boxed foods and canned goods. I'd take and borrow dad's truck and go pay her a visit and make her cry every time. Now 8 years later, whenever we are on hard times, she does the same for us. That's what I mean by Karma and what goes around comes around. If you cheat the state you may get away with it today, but you'll pay tomorrow. If you do right and help someone the same way you've been helped.... it will be returned many many times over.

No,I don't get a tax refund and I don't get to go shopping because my money goes to pay for peoples food stamps!!!

i'm quitting this talk too there is no easy answer and there is no end to this discussion

I will hang my head in shame because I come from the poorest part of Detroit and strived to get out of that life and now I am one of those "uppity" people.
My greatest sin was to have children I could afford to have.

As far as my energy, I will put it to where ever I chose too. I could even put it to stop watching this topic if I didn't like it here.

Janette...I'm not offended...next time put a smiley in so i can laugh

I think some people need to put a little research into where their tax money is actually going....the mentality that you are actually paying out all of this money to support people on food stamps is not true. Look up how much of your taxes go to the war and the national debt.

And yes...I do think this is an important subject to argue about...maybe some people have been educated and thats a good thing. Or maybe you still feel the same way you did before and thats ok too...whatever works for you.

I just couldn't keep away !! This topic pushes my buttons so! Jannette I agree with you whole heartley and if the makes me uppity the i guess I am. At leat I have a job and am not lazy like it seems so many people are.

I have but one thing to say,
"There, but for the grace of God, go I!"

Wow. I am so sick with and ashamed of so many of the CC'ers here right now. Some of the comments I have seen from you "hard working, uppity" people have been just plain ignorant. Not even a small fraction of your tax dollars are going to pay for people's food stamps. What about the war in Iraq that is costing our nation and our tax payers billions of dollars? BILLIONS of dollars....to "help" the Iraqi people who have made it abundantly clear that they DO NOT WANT OUR "HELP". Meanwhile, we have middle class families in this country who are SCREWED. They bust their asses to make money to feed their families...but they don't make nearly enough to live comfortably...yet, they make too much to even be eligible for any of these government assistance programs. We have elderly people who cant afford their medications, homeless people on the streets of NY, people starving....OUR PEOPLE HERE AT HOME NEED HELP. So, you balk at how people spend their food stamps? Are you kidding me? In the grand scheme of things, the way food stamps are spent should be the LAST thing on your list. There are MANY, MANY, MANY more ways the government blatantly WASTES your tax dollars. Food stamps don't even come close to skimming the surface.

I never imagined there were so many snotty, rude, ignorant, un-educated, crap-spatting people on this site. It makes me very sad that any human being would be anything more than COMPASSIONATE toward any other human being who is doing all they can to make it in life. *sigh*

And, do any of you really think that the amount of tax dollars taken out of your paychecks would decrease if everyone in the country suddenly went off food stamps? No, the government would just find something else to spend our tax dollars on. Believe me, I get irritated, too, when I work a 50 hour week and about 20% (or whatever it is) of my check is taken in taxes, but I've also been on the other side of the spectrum. I think, honestly, if the government is going to tax our pay regardless, I'd rather have the money given back to the people - even if I'm not one of those people.

ok so where does this money come from for food stamps , college , heating and cooling assistance, head start, medicaid and other programs come from? An i agree with the iraq comment we need to come home but what are we suppost to do about that or about anything for that matter!

You VOTE!!!

You know why politicians talk about social security so much when they are campaigning...because old people vote. Why have politicians started campaigning more towards black people? Because they are starting to vote.

If you want your issues heard you vote and make sure everyone else you know votes. It is very sad at how much of our population actually votes. And I will be the first to admit that sometimes it feels like voting for the lesser of two evils but not voting isn't going to solve that either.

The tax dollars spent on social programs in this country pales in comparison to money spent on things like war, deficit spending, etc. Social programs are just an easy target because too many people using them are under/uneducated thus continuing the vicious cycle that keeps poor people poor. The things most of our tax dollars go to are too complicated for the average American to understand so in turn we complain about the things we supposedly understand. It doesn't solve anything but pit middle against lower and continues to push the divide between the rich and everybody else.

oops double post

WOW! I can't believe that 5 pages later this topic is even more heated than before. Honestly....what is the fuss about? Is this still about PUBLIC assistance...food stamps....what should be done with them? How they should be used? I know poor. I don't know public assistance but I do know that this can go on and on and still never get anywhere. There are so many OTHER things wrong in society (the world!!) that NEED our attention that the misuse of food stamps is sooooooo irrelevant. OUR tax dollars, what they do with it....that's almost comical. We're biting the heads off of people with opinions....until someone actually steps out and does SOMETHING about OUR money or anything else for that matter...it's still an opinion. I'm not mad at all at anyone's opinion. I choose to see the good in what's good. When it boils down to it, it's still a judgement call. What you would do, what they're doing and what's being done. You can wait for someone to do something or you can do it yourself.
I think that people should stop judging, respect the opinions of others and MOVE ON. Unless you live it and then LEARN it...you have no idea.