How rich is too rich for food stamps? The answer depends on where you live.
In Michigan, if you have $5,000 in liquid assets or a car or truck worth more than $15,000, you’re probably out of luck under new rules launched this month.
Earlier this month, the state of Michigan began asking residents about their assets ”” homes, cars, stocks, bonds, even lottery winnings ”” in addition to income when they receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for food stamps.
As someone who when I was a small child came from a family that at one point had to go on Food Stamps (backs when they were actually physical stamps and not a credit card like thing) for a short period, I have mixed feelings about this.
My family’s situation was that we did own a house (at least with a mortgage) with one relatively stable used automobile. My father was a carpenter by trade, and during the housing bust in the early to mid-80s (I can’t remember the precise years), was largely unemployed or had only occasional odd jobs for several months. As such, we had to go on food stamps for a short period.
From what this article seems to be saying (it is somewhat vague in particulars), I don’t know if we would have qualified for food stamps under such guidelines. That sort of raises my eyebrows. I think Food stamps are an excellent program that does a lot of good, which does keep people in some cases off the regular Welfare dole, as a program that tides them over until they can find a job and get back on their feet. And I say that as someone who has issues with wasted Government spending and issues with perfectly capable people living off the government because they are too lazy to be bothered to work (I know several of them personally). My father never once considered applying for cash Welfare checks because that was “taking charity.”
I’ve never asked him how he thought Welfare assistance was charity and food stamps was not, but he’s still sensitive about that period of his life. I think Food Stamps, at least 30 years ago, was viewed much more favorably by people in need and not an issue of public shame as was receiving a welfare check. We’ve become such an entitlement nation that I don’t know if that notion even crosses people’s minds anymore. But, for those that do have self respect and don’t want to use Government welfare, I think Food Stamps is a way to keep people from becoming completely dependent wards of the state.
As to this Michigan law, is it really cheaper for the government to pay a bunch of bureaucrat number crunchers to try and weed out Food Stamp applicants by having to do time consuming checks on this and that asset or automobile price of said applicant? I would guess not, but then I’m not a bureaucrat.
1971, I was a single parent with 4 young children, babysitting 4-6 additional children and taking in ironing so that I could stay home and raise my kids myself. My spine was sclorosing in 7 places from standing in one place and lifting the iron with my right hand for so many hours a day. I reached to open the car door and separated a rib. Weeks of pain and restricted movement later I finally saw a chiropractor and was ordered to give up the ironing. That income gone, I had to go on welfare in order to feed my kids. Food stamps were a blessing…mixed…it was not pleasant to have people looking into my shopping cart and half sneering if I bought a 2 liter bottle of soft drink to celebrate a kid’s birthday.
Because we always had a garden and baked our own bread, I always had food stamps left at the end of the month. Since I had to pay cash for the stamps and the amount I paid depended on what my expenses were the preceding month, I figured out that I could save stamps for two months and pay bills the third month instead of purchasing stamps, making stamps for month four cost less. Eventually the welfare office noticed that I didn’t buy food stamps every month and questioned me on it. The social worker in charge of stamps threatened me with welfare fraud, and informed me that the government knew how many stamps I needed and that her job depended on her case load and that I was endangering her job.
The up-side was that I was able to get a grant to finish college. From that, being a “more mature” student, I was soon marginally employed by the University as a lab instructor in experimental psychology. What to do? A month to work before the first paycheck and welfare money in hand to cover the month’s expenses. End of the month I notified the welfare office that I was now employed…and they notified me that if I did not pay back the entire amount they had given me the month before, they would haul me into court for welfare fraud. Idiots!
God always has a plan for our lives, but the preparation can be very difficult and unpleasant. On the other side of welfare, once I had the title “Director of Family and Childrens’ Services” (all work, no pay) at Habitat for Humanity in Americus, GA in the 80’s, I was able to help our home owners and potential home owners get the services they needed and counsel them towards getting off welfare and into the workforce. Being able to tell them about my own experience with welfare earned me their trust. As Habitat grew, they provided employment: from janitorial services to secretarial work.
After looking at food stamps and welfare from both sides and dealing with social workers of all sorts, I think government services could be improved if the government and it’s social workers could get past the belief that all welfare recipients are stupid and that the bureaucarcy, in its divine wisdom, has the right and the obligation
to tell people how to live.
I am making only 251 a week on unemployment. I just ran Oregon’s Food Stamp app and found I can get $81.00. ( I trying to avoid the word benefit). I will not apply Unemployment is enough. My church helps me. Unlike many on EBT I feel I need to be responsible with this gift. No blowing on boxes of green tea Ice cream and frozen mochi (I seen it). I did buy some gas and $10.00 when I seen Swanson broth on sale at .58 cents and a whole wheat pasty flour I like at $2.59 for 5 pounds, normally 3.99.
Food Stamps are not a very efficient way to help people. The encourage poor spending habits like going for more expensive items. For example merchants like pizza shops are gaming the system. For the price of a large pizza I can do meals for two days (dinner and leftovers for lunch). Here in Oregon, I can use EBT at the farmer’s market, because some localism / sustainability pushing liberal overlord thinks a good idea. Yet why should I pay $1.99 lb for Green beans when I can get local green beans at $.99 at winco? I make it a point to stay away form framer’s markets as a way to live fugal.
Food Stamps – or now the card to get them – are frequently sold by recipients at half their face value.