More Ingratitude

Representative Gohmert of Texas recently made an impassioned speech about the fraud and abuse rampant in the food stamp program. In response, a New York social worker who says she understands the decision-making process of a food stamp mother wrote a letter as if she were one. She offers up all sorts of excuses why a person on the dole should not be ashamed to be seen in the checkout at the grocery with king crab legs when those of us who are paying for our own groceries have hamburger meat and chicken.

She says in her fake letter that if we saw her buying king crab legs, it was an exception to her usual purchases. After all, we are so stingy that we only give her $4.50 per day per family member. And we don't even keep her up with inflation! Well, for your information, she informs us, children should eat fish. I can agree with that -- we buy tilapia at about one-third the cost of king crab legs. Sometimes we buy canned tuna fish; but we buy king crab legs only on those special occasions when we visit a Red Lobster.

She then decries the perks that our elected representatives get and says that we spend much more on those than we do on food stamps. I want to see her references for that, because I've found statistics that say otherwise. She says she gets $400 a month for food -- multiply that by the more than 23 million on food stamps. Last year the cost was $78 billion. And these people do nothing to earn it. For Senators and Congressmen, the approximate yearly cost for salaries and benefits (which they, in theory, earn) total about $6 billion. Sounds to me like food stamps cost us more than 12 times what congressional salaries do.

Then this fictional food stamp queen wants to know what the senators and reps buy at the grocery store. Well, honey, it's none of your business. They're buying it with their money. You're spending our money. Big difference!

Then this fictional mama says that people like her keep welfare food in the cupboards -- that is, they defraud. She says they keep empty rice and cereal boxes and bean cans so that when child welfare comes calling, the workers don't know they don't really have food. So, I'm wondering, if you're on food stamps, does that automatically mean you are subject to calls from child welfare? I thought there had to be some indication of child abuse or neglect for child welfare to come calling.

Then Ms. Entitled says that they could cut food stamp costs if she just didn't have to fill out so much paperwork. She said it's hard to follow all the rules, and she doesn't like being criticized for buying high calorie foods. Then she does the martyr thing -- "When I buy king crab legs for my kids, I go without so my kids can have a nutritious meal." Ms. Entitled says, "I do what I have to do." Hmmm - would that in any way include getting a job or having the kids' father(s) get off his (their) duff(s) and support his (their) offspring? That, of course, assumes that this poor, unfairly criticized woman knows who the father(s) of her offspring is (are).

"Food stamps, crab legs, childhood obesity." The Dallas Morning News; June 28, 2013; p. 23A.