SNAP

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

I know, I know, it's friday, gimme a break from this crap. But I'm sorry, bad thinking pisses me right the fuck off.

This man is a member of congress; but his reasoning is SO FUCKING SLOPPY. "People who are in shape cannot possible need SNAP!"

I would wonder who elects this dumb-fuck, but I know all too well who elects these dumb-fucks.

This is why we cannot have nice things, and this is why, depending on my mood, I may be in favor of a benevolent philosopher king ruling, instead of these fucking plebs.


For anyone who doesn't wanna watch video, here's the important part transcribed:

So I’m in Crystal City and I’m buying my groceries…and I noticed everybody was giving that card. They had these huge baskets, and I realized it was the first of the month. But then I’m looking over, and there’s a couple beside me. This guy was built like a brick house. I mean he had muscles all over him. He was in a little tank top and pair of shorts and really nice Nike shoes. And she was standing there, and she was all in shape and she looked like she had just come from a fitness program. She was in the spandex, and you know, they were both physically fit. And they go up in front of me and they pay with that card. Fraud. Absolute 100% all it is is fraud



EDIT:

What's the justification for the nonsense tag? Is it that the GOP Rep is speaking nonsense? Then all posts about the GOP need one. Is it that it is Friday? I did not realize all friday posts were automatically deemed nonsense. I respectfully ask a mod to respond to this.

An hour should be enough time, right? ;)

Comments

[yardlong.livejournal.com]

That reflects a common mindset that doesn't serve any of us. The guy was extra-offended because that couple didn't look the way he wanted them to look - dirty, fat and sloppy, and preferably with annoying children with snot running down their faces. And besides that, this couple was in a nice store in a nice area. He is clueless about whatever their reality is and why they need food assistance, but the bottom line is that many people do not want recipients of charity to succeed or thrive in any way. They must be kept down. That way of thinking is the basis of "spend-down" rules, lest an intelligent poor person manage money in such a way so as not to stay so far down. God forbid that such a poor person might end up with more than someone who has a good income, yet no brains as far as managing it. There's a resentment ethic in this country, and when you see its opposite, along with true charity, it is something to celebrate.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

He also has no faculty for imagination. No consideration of how or why people are on food stamps.

But, ya know, if they're poor enough for food stamps, they should be unhealthy, that way, we can blame them for driving up healthcare costs too!

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

If they were overweight, he'd accuse them of not needing assistance because of being fat pigs.

Resentment ethic, that's as good a name for it as any.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

many people do not want recipients of charity to succeed or thrive in any way. They must be kept down.

That way they keep voting for the democrats.

[fieryphoenix.livejournal.com]

I hate his mindset with all the vitriol I can muster. God forbid people receive help and actually be doing well. No, it's not until you hit rock fucking bottom that you're worthy of a bite to eat, or antibiotics so the tooth infection doesn't spread to your brain, or a pair of good athletic shoes so that, hey, maybe you can stay fit and can get back on your own two feet now and indefinitely! The examples are countless and I don't even want to stir them up in my head right now.

And even there, I'm presuming to know their situation. I don't, and neither does Mullin. At least I'm not presuming to, nor doing so in the capacity of a United States Representative.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

It's the same mindset like the one behind racial profiling in law enforcement: because 0.002% of black youngsters wearing hoodies are criminals, as opposed to 0.001% of shirt-wearing white dudes, that somehow means the police should stop and frisk ANY black youngsters wearing hoodies. You know, just in case.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that's Crystal City Virginia, where the airport all the Congressmen use is. That isn't a poor neighborhood.

I knew college graduates who weren't at all struggling but lucked out with cheap government assisted housing (in a nice building thanks to local rules).
They were scamming the system, and they thought it was funny.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

He admits that he is not in a poor neighborhood.

Let me tell you something: having lived in poor neighborhoods and the UWS of manhattan, I can tell you, without doubt, rich neighborhoods have nicer supermarkets. FACT.

Better prices, better selection.....so IF I was on SNAP and could make it out to a nicer, cheaper grocery store, you bet your ass I would.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

The only point you make is that you knew some assholes. You should seek out better quality people.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Question: is using every loophole available to you in the tax code scamming the system? Were those guys doing anything legally fraudulent?

I find there is a big disparity between people who use the tax code and people who use welfare to get their government handouts are treated.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Oh I know how to play this game, too.

I know of a dozen cases of scamming the system, yes.

I also know of a dozen thousand cases of genuinely needing food aid to survive.

Obviously, the existence of those dozen scammers means the remaining dozen thousand should be deprived of food aid because they're potential scammers too.

The logic is ironclad and so beautiful.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Poor people in this country are not starving? Clearly something is wrong here!

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, once we throw in em in jail for some petty drug charge, or some trumped-up terrorism charge, they'll stop eating....

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

If it involves the GOP I would say it automatically qualifies as 'nonsense'

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Or maybe just lack of sense.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

An hour should be enough time, right? ;)

Sonny dude random internets man Sir, you have the balls of a brass monkey.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Just how old are you, anyway rick?

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Also, I aim for steel balls, I may need to step it up.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

For a group of people whining about the pitfalls of 'class warfare,' did you ever notice how some right-wingers share some traits with Mutaween, a bunch of busy-bodies checking up on what others have in grocery store checkout lines, checking out their clothes, shoes, and now apparently their even physical attributes (what's next, body fat measurements?). And judging from previous exchanges here in talk_politics, some of them are very concerned with what they have personally seen in section 8 housing: doing a visual inventory on any electronic appliances, the size of any TVs, and cell phones! And they always have a great story to share how they saw someone using social safety programs fucking over Amercia (tm)!

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

MUSCULAR PROFILING, OMG!

Also, hope the 8-hour delay in fixing the tags didn't spoil your... um... mood too much.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Actually, I take (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1750397.html?thread=139517565#t139517565) that one last bit back (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1750397.html?thread=139536509#t139536509).

Dude, I don't want you to keep hurting yourself like that, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it, and that makes bunny sad.

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

It's funny how one example of possible fraud (based on nothing more than location and the couple's physical appearance) is example enough for some people to want to cancel the entire program. Because, yeah, that couple might have been personal trainers who get paid under the table. Or they could make so little as personal trainers and have a few children that they really do qualify. (Assuming that's what they are... which is possible. They would still need good quality shoes and clothing for meetings with clients, especially in a wealthier neighborhood.) It's unfortunate that many people seem to equate being in good physical shape with being middle to upper class.

I think with any government assistance program, there is potential for fraud. I don't know what percentage of SNAP cases are fraudulent, but I'm okay if 95% are legit and 5% are fraudulent. That's helping a heck of a lot of people. (I reserve the right to change this opinion if I ever run for political office.)

Of course, we won't get an exact percentage, since any fraudulent cases that are caught would likely be removed from the sample (i.e., the person would owe money back to the government), and we won't be aware of the ones we don't catch. I also wondered for a moment if the cost of finding fraud might be higher than the cost of the fraud itself... though even if it is, there should be a deterrent, however effective it really is, or else abuse of the system will grow.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

As long as they continue to think that government assistance is only for the destitute and disabled they will continue to be shocked when the program runs as intended.

They're either ignorant or lying.

People with insecurities like to impose their morality on others. They want to stroke their ego by feeling superior to others, or they want a distraction from their own problems by focusing their vitriol on others.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

What makes you think any of these people actually exist and this politician isn't just making up a story? You think this is a real thing? The guy is making shit up. It's what politicians do.

*NEWSFLASH* POLITICIANS MAKE UP FAKE STORIES TO TELL AT CAMPAIGN EVENTS *END*

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Of course he's making it up. Otherwise, there would have been cell phone videos plastered all over Fox News, hell I bet they would have gotten the PIN numbers with a zoom lens too!

[paft.livejournal.com]

This is kind of what I meant when, in a recent thread, I commented on politicians publicly saying stuff that used to be mainly found in idiot right wing posts. I've been hearing these kinds of stories for decades, invariably by someone who saw it WITH THEIR OWN EYES! These stories vary, but they do tend to follow a pattern. This guy's story varies slightly from the current trend, which is all about seeing a woman "with a designer purse/expensive phone" paying for groceries with an EBT card/foodstamps.