Missouri, Kansas and other states have placed limits on what recipients of electronic benefit cards (or food stamps) are allowed to purchase, in an effort to prevent them from squandering free money on lobster and filet Mignon every night – and on other luxuries, so Funny or Die took to the streets to ask the (not-so-average) citizen what the poor should be allowed to eat. The Funny or Die interview yielded some hilariously funny and ‘completely random’ opinions…Trust me. This is America speaking. Naturally, I disagree with some answers; for instance, eating the rich should remain an option. Likewise I agree with other suggestions; one’s bootstraps should be eaten, to discourage advice to keep pulling them up…By the rich.
Some background – which is not funny ‘haha’ but it is definitely funny ‘odd.’ Concerned Republicans, who award bazillions of bucks to corporate welfare – are very concerned that the poor are squandering their SNAP (supplemental nutritional allotment program) allowance of approximately $7 per day per person, on luxuries such as lobster and filet Mignon. You cannot make this up; for all of their concern, Republican lawmakers show little forethought. Funds allocated for food may not be used for luxurious ‘extras’ such as toilet paper Never have, never will.
In Missouri, curbing food stamp purchases of cookies, chips, energy drinks, and soft drinks at least falls in line with the food stamp program’s mission to provide nutrition.. But that is only part of the bill; steak and seafood would also be prohibited.The sponsor of the bill, Rick Brattin – obviously unaware of seafood other than lobster, calamari and oysters, sought to outlaw seafood across the board. This of course would limit the purchase of cheap, nutritious forms of seafood such as tuna, inexpensive cuts of fish and fish sticks. Similarly, steak is a broad category, the bill would ban people from buying any flat cuts of beef from porterhouse to flank. In the Midwest where cattle is plentiful, beef is often an inexpensive protein source.
Meanwhile in Kansas, Sam Brownbeck signed a bill Thursday, which will ensure the poor learn responsible spending habits. For example: a welfare recipient may only withdraw $25 per day from an ATM. This is intended to prevent them from squandering the funds visiting swimming pools, seeing movies, going gambling or getting tattoos, seeing psychics, or going on vacation cruises…Truly. The law is called the HOPE act. State Sen Michael O’Donnell said “It’s all about prosperity. This is about having a great life.”
Not everyone agrees with the Republican way to a ‘great life.’
“I just think we are simply saying to people, ‘If you are asking for assistance in this state, you’re sort of less than other people and we’re going to tell you how and where to spend your money,’” state Rep. Carolyn Bridges, a Wichita Democrat, said during a House debate, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Bridges must be a lonely Democrat in Kansas…Because she is so right. One might feel like “Less than other people” with the above restrictions, but that’s not all. Programs which require recipients of any public funding to undergo drug testing are gaining in popularity, as are programs which require work for supplemental funding. Anyone who says you don’t have to ‘work’ for public assistance has never been on it.