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[bucklam66]

I'll take a saute and a side of cheese please, ta GO.

 

[WanderingWind]

South Carolina. Columbia or Charleston?

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Bingo, dude. Parris Island.

 

[McLovin]

I'm not a violent guy but for some reason I wanna punch Mak in the nuts.

 

[Rentahamster]

One of the subjects of the article responds:
http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/2...d_stamp_response/index.html?source=newsletter

Comments: http://letters.salon.com/mwt/pinched/2010/03/17/hipster_food_stamp_response/view/?show=all

Another response via his own blog: http://www.lostateminor.com/2010/03/18/hipsters-on-food-stamps/#more-31981

Googling reactions to the story also brings up a, uh, variety of opinions.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/ent...s/blog/2010/03/hipster_food_stamps_salon.html

http://www.byroncrawford.com/2010/03/oh-hell-no-hipsters-on-food-stamps.html

 

[CharlieDigital]

One of the subjects of the article responds:
http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/2...d_stamp_response/index.html?source=newsletter

Just to note this:

By the way, a whole rabbit at Lexington Market is $10, feeds at least four people, and is healthier than factory-farmed chicken (around $6 for a whole one at the same market).​

to refute some of the earlier claims that were astronomical.

Also, as promised, my weekend haul:

Greens section; this is just a small area of it. It runs the whole back wall of the market:

You can see some of the on the top right in this shot. Also, cheap bananas:

This is for two 1lb boxes of strawberries. Price is unmatched at supermarkets:

My haul:

Total: $23.04

The two most expensive items were a box of dried dates ($2.99) and a box of whole wheat fig bars ($3.50)

 

[Alucrid]

2.50 for those strawberries? Good price.

 

[jakncoke]

i miss govt cheese

 

[Death Dealer]

you can easily buy healthy food without it being organic.

idiots.

I almost never buy organic vegetables. Where I shop, they are anywhere from 50-400% more expensive.

Organic salmon is just wild salmon. Farm raised salmon is nasty. Way less omega-3, and it can potenially be polluted depending on the quality of the fish farm. Plus farmed salmon has added coloring to make it red. Salmon has red meat from its natural ocean diet. When they feed them corn pellets or whatever shit at a farm, they don't look or taste like salmon should. I have no problem with food stamp recipients buying organic salmon.

 

[Vicetrailia]

I thankfully get 94 a month in food stamps so I basically spend 20 bucks a week in food. If I buy it all at once it doesn't last.

I be hungry but I manage well and it reminds me of how badly I need a job.

And for the strawberries, did they go bad the next day? That's really cheap.

 

[ATF487]

2.50 for those strawberries? Good price.

It's ridiculous; Strawberries (when they aren't on sale) are 4 dollars around here. 1.25 a piece is amazing

 

[CharlieDigital]

And for the strawberries, did they go bad the next day? That's really cheap.

I just got them today. They're usually good for a week; may have to throw out one or two by the end of the week.

It's ridiculous; Strawberries (when they aren't on sale) are 4 dollars around here. 1.25 a piece is amazing

Yah, the premise of my arguments in this thread are that if you know where to shop, fresh fruits and produce are cheap and affordable and better for you than junk food. If you only know how to shop at the chain market's, you're going to get screwed every time because they don't specialize in produce. The chains have to buy produce that will have a longer shelf life. A produce market can buy fruits and veggies closer to ripeness because they move more produce.

 

[Agent Ghost]

Here's the thing, I'm all for people doing whatever they want in college, even if returns to money. HOWEVER, if you live in a country like the USA, where the cost of schooling for the most part is disgustingly higher than the rest of the world then it makes little to no sense to me to purely invest your time in a major which you know you will have an enormous debt coming out of and little to no job prospects. The least you could do is minor in something which you can make some money off of for the future.

Look at it this way. Food stamps are how art students in the US get a return on their investment.

You have to love articles like this which rile up the peons to hate on the peons, nice distraction. Meanwhile the people with real power committing REAL fraud involving taxpayer money on a level we can't even imagine laugh all the way to bank.

Nailed it. Seriously I don't need to respect individuals for being leeches but I'm also smart enough to know that they represent a drop in the bucket. Its like when politicians bring up divisive topics like abortions and gay marriage. These issues are distractions used to get our attention away from the billions of dollars being stolen and mismanaged. If you can get upset over the minor issues like these, you're a fucking idiot and you're just as much a waste of space as the people trading food stamps for sugared cereal.

 

[Binabik15]

I think it´s great that they´re eating healthy with the money they receive. You don´t really have to spend more on fresh, healthy meals than unhealthy, oversalted, fat and sugar filled pre-made crap. It might be impossible for some to just have chicken breast with green salad and maybe some beans as a meal, but that doesn´t mean that people who´re content with it shouldn´t get high quality stuff. Rice, coconut milk, salmon etc seem outlandish, but they really aren´t. Fun fact: salmon used to be so cheap and widely available before we Europeans polluted our rivers that employees like housekeepers had clauses in their contract concerning how many times a week they´d have to eat salmon instead of pork :lol

Anyway, at least consider to long-term savings on public spending their "outlandish" cooking gives. Less fatty, sugary and extremely salty food should result in them being thinner, having better blood pressure and developing less diabetes and other diet related illnesses. Now that you suffer from socialised health care every dollar they now spend on good calories could be a grand saved in bypass and hip joint surgery and insulin.

PS: Now I´m hungry :/

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I just got them today. They're usually good for a week; may have to throw out one or two by the end of the week.



Yah, the premise of my arguments in this thread are that if you know where to shop, fresh fruits and produce are cheap and affordable and better for you than junk food. If you only know how to shop at the chain market's, you're going to get screwed every time because they don't specialize in produce. The chains have to buy produce that will have a longer shelf life. A produce market can buy fruits and veggies closer to ripeness because they move more produce.

Also one should consider a CSA (community supported agriculture) box if can. Helping out local famers and buying locally grown produce is the best way to go green instead of shopping organic at places like Whole Foods where quality may be very good but prices are high and many times the vegetables may come from Mexico and not within the United States.

They do give you alot of produce but if you have a family of 4-5 it should be good enough. Its normally $20 a week I think?

 

[CharlieDigital]

They do give you alot of produce but if you have a family of 4-5 it should be good enough. Its normally $20 a week I think?

Yeah, this would be my problem: just me and my wife here. The rest of our family is about 35 minutes away, but her father doesn't eat anything green :lol and my mother doesn't cook as much as she used to.

We're right in the middle of the Jersey farmlands, too. Fields of corn, potatoes, soy (I think), and whatever the hell they grow back here in the summer.

One of the farms here has a roadside "shanty" type of deal :lol in the summer and we get fresh cut sunflowers there and some produce as well.

 

[ATF487]

Yah, the premise of my arguments in this thread are that if you know where to shop, fresh fruits and produce are cheap and affordable and better for you than junk food. If you only know how to shop at the chain market's, you're going to get screwed every time because they don't specialize in produce. The chains have to buy produce that will have a longer shelf life. A produce market can buy fruits and veggies closer to ripeness because they move more produce.

Yeah, it's just that a lot of us don't live close enough to cities/large communities that have stores like that. I'm only 45 minutes from Boston, but I'd still have to go far out of my way to get anything other than a super market. The farms near me have co-ops or prices that aren't much lower.

If I lived in Boston proper or New York or another major city, I'd hit up the farmers markets like it was my job, because fresh produce is delicious and it'd be a great way to eat healthier, and try to save a bit of money when most products are more expensive in an urban environment.

 

[CharlieDigital]

Yeah, it's just that a lot of us don't live close enough to cities/large communities that have stores like that.

Well, I'm in the middle of nowhere :lol

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...0.255818,-74.516144&spn=0.10415,0.182304&z=13

About 1.25hr south of NYC and 1 hr east or Philly.

 

[BorkBork]

The food desert phenomenon is definitely something that needs to be addressed, but I think in most cases, good, fresh, and affordable food is available if you know where to look.

 

[Dartastic]

One of the subjects of the article responds:
http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/2...d_stamp_response/index.html?source=newsletter

Awesome. :lol

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

I love how people just assume all technique is the result of osmosis in the arts. As if having access to the right teachers, facilities, and community is meaningless. Even putting that aside, artists rely on networking for their livelihood even more than most other professions, and a college full of like minded individuals is an ideal place to lay foundations that can last a lifetime.

i stopped reading here

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

i stopped reading here

What? Why, if I may ask? There does not seem to be anything objectionable in what he said.

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

no it's just the stupid way he said it. and i agree with what cyan said about you on the page before this too, but i'm also in love with him

this thread is just a melting pot of annoyance, really, so i consider this to be on topic:

 

[Stahsky]

If it makes you angry people slightly less angry, my legally blind single mother who is raising a 14 year old (my little brother) and does not have a job could have been using food stamps for nearly 10 years now, and only started using them out of desperation. It hurt her pride having to resort to it.

Give to the needy!

 

[numble]

Also one should consider a CSA (community supported agriculture) box if can. Helping out local famers and buying locally grown produce is the best way to go green instead of shopping organic at places like Whole Foods where quality may be very good but prices are high and many times the vegetables may come from Mexico and not within the United States.

They do give you alot of produce but if you have a family of 4-5 it should be good enough. Its normally $20 a week I think?

Do they have these in the SGV?

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

Give to the needy!

agreed. these jerkoffs generally make the choice to live in a hippie community where jobs are hard to find and they've forsaken automobiles as a method of transportation so they can't commute to work. everyone has apparently been to college in this article-- what's stopping them from getting at least a part-time job someplace?

 

[UltimaPooh]

Total: $23.04

Not to bring you down from your support local business thing...

But all of that stuff you listed is available at Wal-mart for cheaper.

They even have the same brand of strawberries.

 

[SnakeXs]

It's ridiculous; Strawberries (when they aren't on sale) are 4 dollars around here. 1.25 a piece is amazing

I got the same sized thing yesterday for $1.15. I try to buy local and these were from Cali, but I made an exception. The crazy thing is it's not even strawberry season yet.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

agreed. these jerkoffs generally make the choice to live in a hippie community where jobs are hard to find and they've forsaken automobiles as a method of transportation so they can't commute to work. everyone has apparently been to college in this article-- what's stopping them from getting at least a part-time job someplace?

hi, recession. it hasn't ended. still going!

 

[UltimaPooh]

hi, recession. it hasn't ended. still going!

Technically we're out of a recession because we have growth (very modest growth) it just feels like we're in a recession cuz none of us have jobs.

 

[fse]

the recession has made me grow some of the veggies and fruits I eat. :lol

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Do they have these in the SGV?

not exactly but in pasadena, sliverlake farmer's market? Google the CSA website and you will find the main site that has a search engine for local ones.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

They do to a point. You can't get any hot meal from the deli etc.

Was trying to read through this thread but this really got me.

Really? They do "to a point"? You can't get hot food from the deli? Man, that's really terrible, but I don't think they'd want any because they're too busy loading up on Snickers and Pepsi. I see this shit every day.

I don't believe in the Food Stamp program, but if they are going to have this program they (the government, the stewards of our money) needs to create hard and fast rules for compliance - no bullshit "food". No doritos, no ice cream. REAL food only.

And for god's sake they should not allow food stamps to be used at convenience stores.

 

[Erasus]

Not american but I´ll just say that if they are allowed to get fodstamps then they can spend it on whatever they want.

If you are poor but your "pride" is stopping you from getting foodstamps, you have only yourself to blame.

 

[CharlieDigital]

Not to bring you down from your support local business thing...

But all of that stuff you listed is available at Wal-mart for cheaper.

They even have the same brand of strawberries.

prove it

 

[Raydeen]

Strangle them with their skinny jeans.

 

[WanderingWind]

Was trying to read through this thread but this really got me.

Really? They do "to a point"? You can't get hot food from the deli? Man, that's really terrible, but I don't think they'd want any because they're too busy loading up on Snickers and Pepsi. I see this shit every day.

I don't believe in the Food Stamp program, but if they are going to have this program they (the government, the stewards of our money) needs to create hard and fast rules for compliance - no bullshit "food". No doritos, no ice cream. REAL food only.

And for god's sake they should not allow food stamps to be used at convenience stores.

Okay, I'll bite. Why?

 

[cwmartin]

Technically we're out of a recession because we have growth (very modest growth) it just feels like we're in a recession cuz none of us have jobs.

There's a lag associated with the growth that we're seeing in output in the economy, and the translation of that growth into significant job creation and raises of current wages/salaries. Most leading economic indicators show its'a comin, hang in there guys. A lot of us are in similar rowboats out there.

 

[WanderingWind]

There's a lag associated with the growth that we're seeing in output in the economy, and the translation of that growth into significant job creation and raises of current wages/salaries. Most leading economic indicators show its'a comin, hang in there guys. A lot of us are in similar rowboats out there.

It's not really indicative of anything, but around where I live, there have been a ton of "help wanted" signs. I see that as a positive sign for the local economy.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Okay, I'll bite. Why?

Well, for starters the aforementioned reason. If we absolutely must have a program in which we distribute wealth to the "unable", surely we should actually regulate and enforce standards upon it. Perhaps require them to buy real food and not processed shit and sugar? I'm all for buying snickers and ice cream with your dollars, but not with tax dollars.

The fact that convenience stores can even accept these cards when they may only have 10 or so items that should even qualify is an apparent flag for this scam of a program.

 

[WanderingWind]

Well, for starters the aforementioned reason. If we absolutely must have a program in which we distribute wealth to the "unable", surely we should actually regulate and enforce standards upon it. Perhaps require them to buy real food and not processed shit and sugar? I'm all for buying snickers and ice cream with your dollars, but not with tax dollars.

The fact that convenience stores can even accept these cards when they may only have 10 or so items that should even qualify is an apparent flag for this scam of a program.

Hm. Several problems with that I can see right off the top of my head.

Convenience stores might be the only place to get milk, cereal or baby foods within a reasonable distance in many urban areas. I lived in Atlanta, and if I needed to go grocery shopping, it would have been about a 30 minute drive (hours if by bus). Not so bad, unless of course, you're trying to pick up stuff for a hungry, screaming baby. Not allowing WIC/Food Stamps at convenience stores is way too arbitrary.

Secondly, your quotation marks on unable indicates you don't believe some people are on food stamps because they have no other choice. If this is a poor assumption on my part, I apologize. If this is what you believe, then I don't think I'll be discussing this with you any further. Especially when talking about a time with such high unemployment.

Lastly, I'm never a fan of too many regulations governing assistance for the poor. Of course, we can agree things like alcohol and cigarettes are obviously uneligable, but when talking about foods, where is the line? Nothing prepackaged? Nothing with a sodium content above X percent? Nothing organic? No red meats? Not to mention, as much as I personally dislike processed foods - that's largely a personal bias. I mean, especially since we all have health insurance now, why the hell does it matter what they eat - as long as it is within their allotted budget?

 

[Ripclawe]

The next generation of entitled dipshits begins!

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/27/universities-encourage-students-to-enroll-in-food-stamp-program/

Universities encourage students to enroll in food stamp program


About 20,000 people sign up for food stamps every day, and college students across the country are the newest demographic being encouraged to enlist.

Portland State University devotes a page on its Web site to explaining the ease with which students can receive benefits, along with instructions on how to apply. The school says food stamps are not charity but rather a benefit all honest taxpaying citizens can afford. The U.S. Department of Agriculture renamed food stamps the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008, instituted electronic debit cards instead of coupons, and began an aggressive push to expand eligibility. This is from the school’s site:

Here are some additional SNAP facts:
• Over half of all U.S. citizens will use SNAP at least once during their lifetime.
• SNAP is not a charity. As a taxpayer, you are paying into this program and, when needed, you can reap the benefits.
• There are enough SNAP dollars for everyone that needs them. As a matter of fact, about 20 percent of Oregonians who are eligible for SNAP do not apply.
• Students receiving SNAP can defer their student loans while they are receiving benefits.
• Applying for SNAP is easy. In most cases, you will not have to apply more than once a year.

Traditionally food stamps are for the working poor and single parents, but colleges are trying to make it as easy as possible for students to obtain federal assistance, no matter their socio-economic background.

Oregon has a state-wide non-profit which includes a special focus on food stamps for students:

Being a college student is hard work! Not just academically, but financially too. Many students are surprised to learn they may be eligible for SNAP (food stamps). Students who meet income guidelines may qualify if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

•Full-time student who works at least 20 hours per week.
•Full-time single student who is caring for children younger than the age of 12.
•Full-time married student who is caring for children younger than the age of 6.
•At least a half-time student who is actively working any hours in a work-study program.
Note: federal financial aid including Pell grants, Perkins loans, Stafford loans and most work-study is not counted as income against student eligibility.

In addition, the school notes that the federal government is working to eliminate the stigma associated with taking the government coupons to the checkout line:

Your EBT card looks and works like a debit card. You swipe it as you would a debit card, select “EBT” as the payment method, and enter the pin # that was assigned to you. No one except the cashier will know that it is an EBT card.

The Grand Views, a college newspaper from Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, featured a story on students who apply for food stamps because they claim they don’t have time to hold down a job between classes and basketball practices. The paper wrote:

Once you show up, you sign in on a computer, answer a few questions and then they tell you if you qualify. It’s pretty simple.

Massachusetts has several state-wide nonprofits that specifically help college students get food stamps. The Web site details the caveats associated with eligibility:

Q4: Can I get benefits if I still live with my parents?

If you are 22 or older, and if you buy and prepare more than half your meals separately from your parents, you can still apply for SNAP/Food Stamps for yourself.

Adam Sylvain, a sophomore at Virginia’s George Mason University, recounted a recent conversation with friends in his dorm room. “My roommate told me he applied for food stamps, and they told him he qualified for $200 a month in benefits,” Sylvain said. “He’s here on scholarship and he saves over $5,000 each summer in cash.”

“A few of our other friends who were in the room also said if there were able to, they would get food stamps … They think that if they’re eligible it’s the government’s fault, so they might as well,” Sylvain said.

Students at GMU can buy a meal plan for $1,275 that provides 10 meals a week for the semester — that’s $71 a week.

As previously reported by The Daily Caller, The USDA is pushing to regional SNAP offices to ease eligibility requirements and forgo checking people’s financial situations before providing benefits. President Obama’s latest budget included $72.5 billion for food stamps — nearly double the amount from 2008. Approximately 38 million people, or 13 percent of the U.S. population is on food stamps.

It’s a trend that seems on the rise — Salon recently reported on young, broke hipsters using federal assistance to buy high-end organic food.

“I’m sort of a foodie, and I’m not going to do the ‘living off ramen’ thing,” one young man said, fondly remembering a recent meal he’d prepared of roasted rabbit with butter, tarragon and sweet potatoes. “I used to think that you could only get processed food and government cheese on food stamps, but it’s great that you can get anything.”

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service did not respond to request for comment.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Hm. Several problems with that I can see right off the top of my head.

Convenience stores might be the only place to get milk, cereal or baby foods within a reasonable distance in many urban areas. I lived in Atlanta, and if I needed to go grocery shopping, it would have been about a 30 minute drive (hours if by bus). Not so bad, unless of course, you're trying to pick up stuff for a hungry, screaming baby. Not allowing WIC/Food Stamps at convenience stores is way too arbitrary.

There would be no problem to allow them at CStores if the purchases made reflected your idealized opinions on the matter. However, they don't. In a CStore combined with EBT, Snickers, Pepsi, Coke, Doritos, Little Debbies, Lance Crackers, and Poptarts run the show.

Secondly, your quotation marks on unable indicates you don't believe some people are on food stamps because they have no other choice. If this is a poor assumption on my part, I apologize. If this is what you believe, then I don't think I'll be discussing this with you any further. Especially when talking about a time with such high unemployment.

You are correct, I do believe -some- people are on this program by choice and not of necessity. I think it would be absurd to believe otherwise. You believe that everyone who uses this program is in need of the program? I find that to be unreasonable, unless I'm misunderstanding your implications.

Lastly, I'm never a fan of too many regulations governing assistance for the poor. Of course, we can agree things like alcohol and cigarettes are obviously uneligable, but when talking about foods, where is the line? Nothing prepackaged? Nothing with a sodium content above X percent? Nothing organic? No red meats?

There is no need to extend this to mean excessive regulation. By no means have I implicated the desire for that, rather a moderate and reasonable level of regulation on the distribution of public funds. I understand that regulations can only go so far before they choke out what is being regulated, however do you believe it is unreasonable to wish for a bit heavier regulation on what can be purchased with the program? Milk, eggs, base goods like vegetables, fruits. Base materials, sugar, flour, etc. Non prepared foods, essentially. I do not have issue with grey area foods, but I believe there is a line which is crossed when it comes to candy and food which can only be considered as purely snack food (dorito, lays, ice cream).

Not to mention, as much as I personally dislike processed foods - that's largely a personal bias. I mean, especially since we all have health insurance now, why the hell does it matter what they eat - as long as it is within their allotted budget?

Really? I mean... really?

Thank god we exist by the grace of government for now they provide us with food and if our health ails from the purchase of said food, the aforementioned government will provide us with health care. If we lack the means to arrive at the destination, fear not, the government shall provideth for us.

 

[Ripclawe]

Not to mention, as much as I personally dislike processed foods - that's largely a personal bias. I mean, especially since we all have health insurance now, why the hell does it matter what they eat - as long as it is within their allotted budget?

It begins...

If taxpayers who are the producing in this country are forced to pay for someone else's health care and food stamps which means eating healthy would cut down on health related issues then yeah we should have restrictions because taxpayers shouldn't have to indulge in peoples poor health habits.

The "its free" mentality is the reason a sizable portion of this country thinks everything is a right and they are entitled to it

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

It begins...

If taxpayers who are the producing in this country are forced to pay for someone else's health care and food stamps which means eating healthy would cut down on health related issues then yeah we should have restrictions because taxpayers shouldn't have to indulge in peoples poor health habits.

The "its free" mentality is there reason a sizable portion of this country thinks everything is a right and they are entitled to it

No kidding.

 

[WanderingWind]

There would be no problem to allow them at CStores if the purchases made reflected your idealized opinions on the matter. However, they don't. In a CStore combined with EBT, Snickers, Pepsi, Coke, Doritos, Little Debbies, Lance Crackers, and Poptarts run the show.

And those items are found in abundance in every grocery store. What's your point? I didn't give you an idealized opinion, I gave you a common example of how conveniences are utilized.

You are correct, I do believe -some- people are on this program by choice and not of necessity. I think it would be absurd to believe otherwise. You believe that everyone who uses this program is in need of the program? I find that to be unreasonable, unless I'm misunderstanding your implications.

Clearly, you did. We believe the same thing here, so I won't belabor the issue. There is abuse, but the program also does a lot of good. It needs fixing.

There is no need to extend this to mean excessive regulation. By no means have I implicated the desire for that, rather a moderate and reasonable level of regulation on the distribution of public funds. I understand that regulations can only go so far before they choke out what is being regulated, however do you believe it is unreasonable to wish for a bit heavier regulation on what can be purchased with the program? Milk, eggs, base goods like vegetables, fruits. Base materials, sugar, flour, etc. Non prepared foods, essentially. I do not have issue with grey area foods, but I believe there is a line which is crossed when it comes to candy and food which can only be considered as purely snack food (dorito, lays, ice cream).

Yes, you did imply exactly that. You want the program to only be allowed in the stores you deem fit, and only on foods you deem fit. That's excessive regulation by any use of the phrase. If you read back on the thread some, you'll see I'm a huge proponent of cooking your own food, and more or less despise processed foods being substituted for such. The issue is what you deem as gray area foods may not be so to others. Again, what foods are completely off limits? Only snack foods? Fine. Define snack foods, then.

Really? I mean... really?

Thank god we exist by the grace of government for now they provide us with food and if our health ails from the purchase of said food, the aforementioned government will provide us with health care. If we lack the means to arrive at the destination, fear not, the government shall provideth for us.

I was mostly being facetious. However, I still fail to see why you're so invested in what poor people eat. It doesn't make any sense why you'd care if they're buying tortillas or buying snickers. Again, not a healthy choice, but that's the money they've been allotted for foods...so why do you care?

It begins...

If taxpayers who are the producing in this country are forced to pay for someone else's health care and food stamps which means eating healthy would cut down on health related issues then yeah we should have restrictions because taxpayers shouldn't have to indulge in peoples poor health habits.

The "its free" mentality is the reason a sizable portion of this country thinks everything is a right and they are entitled to it

Right. Based on that exact same logic, since we all pay taxes, fat people should be put on government mandated diets, because now we all shoulder the burden of their decision to survive off of Krispy Kreme burgers and lard shakes.

 

[Ripclawe]

Right. Based on that exact same logic, since we all pay taxes, fat people should be put on government mandated diets, because now we all shoulder the burden of their decision to survive off of Krispy Kreme burgers and lard shakes.

We penalize people for smoking and if the government is now going to foot medical bills with taxpayers money, why not have people who are obese put on diets or face higher premiums?

 

[WanderingWind]

We penalize people for smoking and if the government is now going to foot medical bills with taxpayers money, why not have people who are obese put on diets or face higher premiums?

...because that's out and out fascism. I say this as a healthy adult male who runs 20 hours a week, btw. I'm not a fatty, myself. Though some of my best friends....

You can't possibly think being forced to go on a diet by government officials is anything but a horrible idea.

 

[GaimeGuy]

The next generation of entitled dipshits begins!

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/27/universities-encourage-students-to-enroll-in-food-stamp-program/

Am I the only person who honestly doesn't see a problem with this? College is fucking expensive in this country, so if we can't save as much money on tuition as people in other countries, maybe we can save money on stuff like food instead.

Even if you're "saving $5000 a year" through a scholarship, you're still paying a fuckton. I'm fortunate enough to have a family that saved up money for me to go to college, so I don't have to worry about student loans for the next 20 years. I can't say the same thing for most college students.


And if you get $200 in food stamps, it shouldn't matter if you want to spend that on PB&J or on organic salmon. You get X amount of dollars for food.

 

[WanderingWind]

Am I the only person who honestly doesn't see a problem with this? College is fucking expensive in this country, so if we can't save as much money on tuition as people in other countries, maybe we can save money on stuff like food instead.

Even if you're "saving $5000 a year" through a scholarship, you're still paying a fuckton. I'm fortunate enough to have a family that saved up money for me to go to college, so I don't have to worry about student loans for the next 20 years. I can't say the same thing for most college students.


And if you get $200 in food stamps, it shouldn't matter if you want to spend that on PB&J or on organic salmon. You get X amount of dollars for food.

These are the qualifications.
•Full-time student who works at least 20 hours per week.
•Full-time single student who is caring for children younger than the age of 12.
•Full-time married student who is caring for children younger than the age of 6.
•At least a half-time student who is actively working any hours in a work-study program.

Seems reasonable to me. A full-time student working 20 hours a week is clearly not a lazy-ass welfare queen. A full-time student caring for kids isn't either. The last one is a bit more ambiguous, because 'any hours' can mean two a week - which isn't so reasonable. But again, a student who is also working is not trying to only live off of the government.

 

[Ripclawe]

...because that's out and out fascism. I say this as a healthy adult male who runs 20 hours a week, btw. I'm not a fatty, myself. Though some of my best friends....

You can't possibly think being forced to go on a diet by government officials is anything but a horrible idea.

Not have the fatty police come to your house but with a nationwide medical database in place to keep track you can have higher premiums for those who are considered fat or unhealthy. A healthy society would be cheaper to fund in the long run. Higher premiums would be the incentive to lose weight.

Am I the only person who honestly doesn't see a problem with this? College is fucking expensive in this country, so if we can't save as much money on tuition as people in other countries, maybe we can save money on stuff like food instead.

It just feeds into the entitled mentality and giving that to college students can't be good for society as a whole later on where everyone expects the government to come to their aid with something like food stamps.

Colleges have more than enough funding to provide students with lunch off of tuition fees that they should have to shove students on food stamps