Not only did this woman try to buy the iPads but when her card was declined she went to another store to try again. (Let’s give her points for the old adage: If at first you don’t succeed…) You can watch the clip below:

Okay, so most people don’t try to abuse the government’s food assistance program, but we see these stories way too often.

What happened to a program that started out with such good intentions?

Most readers may not know the history of the food stamp program. Here’s a short and sweet version (you can read the Wikipedia description here.)

Following the heels of the Great Depression our government wanted to get farm surpluses to the hungry inner city people. Those needing government assistance could get food stamps which allowed them to ‘purchase’ a 50-50 mix of both government surplus foods and regular groceries. Interestingly, the program ended when the widespread unemployment dropped in 1943. (A government program that ended itself? My, how times have changed.)

When the program returned in the ‘60’s the farm surplus component was removed. In the years following eligibility requirements were lessened, nutritional standards disallowed, and somewhere along the line the government decided it might hurt the feelings of individuals to accept assistance so the program changed its name and offered debit cards in place of the shameful food stamps.

President Obama, in his 2009 stimulus package, allowed for further expansion of the program with increased eligibility and each month in 2012 the number of recipients reached record levels. Today about 47Million Americans participate in this program. (There are about 307Million total in the US–so about 1 in 6.)

A far cry from helping the inner city poor receive farm surpluses in the original program.

An interesting note: When researching the statistics, a University of Maryland study showed that for every dollar received in food stamps only 17-47 cents was actually added to the food expenditures in families. Instead much of the ‘money’ collected by the family went to Income Maintenance; that is money that households are able to spend on other things because they no longer have to spend it on food.

So there you have it. What started as a simple plan to get farmers’ surplus to the hungry people has turned into another example of government run amok. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

Without requiring nutritional standards food stamp recipients are allowed to buy more expensive prepackaged, prepared and/or junk foods. The amount of actual money that goes to put more food on the table is actually a fraction of what is received; people would rather reduce their grocery money and use the program to increase their income. Additionally, continued government assistance has created additional dependency on what should be a short term program, just for emergency aid.

Many of my friends are fed up. They watch the woman in line buy roast and seafood using her EBT card and then pay cash for her cigarettes and beer while they buy chicken because that’s all the budget allows. They buy bags of dried beans or peas cooking them up with the leftover ham bone to provide a nutritional yet inexpensive meal while they tell the kids ‘no chips this week’ because they’re saving to buy a new television while the neighbor brags how his girlfriend gets enough food stamps so they were able to buy a big screen TV last month and he can watch all the cable football games.

Maybe we need to return to the original program. Maybe we need to make some changes. The other day a friend offered the following suggestions:

• Restrict food stamps to nutritional only foods; nothing with high sugar, salt or fat content
• Only certain meat/proteins qualify; none of this lobster and prime rib…eat chicken like the rest of us
• Give more value for fresh foods and produce (Former governor Mike Huckabee proposed a variable rate plan ie., if a person on food stamps bought fresh fruits or vegetables, $1 in food stamps could buy $1.25 in fresh produce. However, if the same person purchased a candy bar, that $1 would be worth .75.)
• Give the government surplus foods directly to recipients and reduce the amount of grocery dollars. This program is not meant to replace income. While helping at a local food bank my nephew asked, “Aren’t these people poor?” After hearing the affirmative he replied, “Then why do so many have iPhones? I can’t afford an iPhone.”
• Give each family a crockpot and recipes. Require recipients to attend cooking classes.

If your pride gets in the way and you don’t want to participate good. The safety nets in place were meant to help the disabled, elderly and infirm and for those in short term need. Not to be a lifestyle choice. We don’t need to wait for the government to take care of us.

Idealistic proposals with the government caring for all our needs is indeed where the frightening New World Order conspiracy ideas arise. This country was not built by the people being dependent on the government, to the contrary.  We must find a way to stop this growing dependency on the government.

In this episode of the Married to the game, we discuss:

-Why Mitt Romney’s supporters should thank Newt.

-Why sex offenders should volunteer to remove themselves from society.  (self deportation)

-Where have the entrepreneurs gone?

-Can we make people “work” for their welfare?

-Why does Day Care cost SO MUCH???

-Have we reached a point where government regulation is killing our small businesses?

-What is America going to look like, if ONLY the irresponsible people continue to reproduce/have children?

-What if YouTube made you have to join an Actor’s Union to create and post videos?

-What did Michelle Ray do to risk Social Services being called on her?

CLICK HERE NOW to listen to the lengthy, yet fresh discussion.

As a conservative audience, I can see the temptation to jump on Beckel’s quote and exploit it for all it’s worth.  Here we have a Liberal stating point blank that their policies have not only failed, but he’s implying that damage has been done to society.  It’s a pretty damning and powerful statement.

Judging by the reaction I got when I shared this quote on Twitter, there is much to exploit in the video, but… I think there is another powerful statement when you consider the full context of things.  Try, if you can, to imagine this being said on any other network.  You definitely would not have a Liberal admit something like this on MSNBC.  And even a milquetoast network like CNN wouldn’t dare to make such a proclamation.  You only get lucid moments like this on Fox News, and it’s sad.  And I have to say “lucid moments”, because it’s not like Fox is that much above the fray.  They have plenty of partisan reporting on their part too.  It’s just that every now and then, someone has the courage or the ability to speak truthfully, and for that I thank them.

Bob definitely gave the Right Wing something to crow about with this quote, but I also think he gave us, as Americans, something to think about:  If we’re ever going to actually solve some of the problems in this nation, we’re going to have to admit the instances where our side is wrong.

An act as simple as going grocery shopping has become stressful and unpleasant for many over the last few years.  Our fellow motorists on the road have long been a topic of discussion in our country, but now I see hostilities and conflict extending beyond the pavement and the stoplights.  Now the grocery store and even the parking lot itself seem to be unsafe havens in our world today.

Last Saturday, I began my (weekly) show, Married to the Game, with observations on what it’s like to go shopping in Southern California.  Below, I’ve combined some of that commentary with pictures and video that I took from a Walmart parking lot, both out of frustration and in an attempt to share with other people what I’ve been witnessing.  Ultimately, I’d love to get a conversation started in this country about how we can go back to better conducting ourselves and being “better citizens” in public.  But until then, you can find entertainment in my pain in this video below.

So what are your thoughts?  Am I just crying over misplaced shopping carts?  Are there bigger problems in the world?  Or is this video indicative of our “EBT” and “OWS” culture?

Also… In the video, I discuss how this has encouraged me to do more shopping online, thus costing local stores my business.  As more and more people seem to shop online, what effect do you think this has on our communities?

Let us know in the comments below. (or on Facebook)  This is a topic I believe we should all think more about.