Welfare Kings and Queens

I wish I can say, “Unbelievable,” but it this is not really all that unbelievable anymore.

This is a receipt from Angeli’s County Market in Menominee, Mich. (If you doubt the veracity of this receipt, it has been vetted by About.com Urban Legends and Snopes.) On Feb. 8, 2011, Mr. Louis Cuff purchased $141.78 worth of lobster, porterhouse steak, and Diet Mountain Dew using a Bridge Card (the electronic benefits card issued to food stamp recipients in Michigan). He apparently wasn’t concerned about the above receipt because it was later found near the store. Nor should he have been concerned.

Why?

BECAUSE THIS IS PERFECTLY LEGAL!

Mr. Cuff broke no laws by using his food stamps to purchase lobsters and steak. None. The only items he cannot purchase are alcohol, cigarettes and food prepared for immediate consumption, i.e., food from restaurants.

To be fair, Cuff was arrested and, on July 26, 2011, was convicted of three counts of food stamp fraud. But that was not because of what he bought. It was because he was reselling the food items at 50 percent off what he paid for them using the food stamps. I am not sure what his sentence was, but the judge in the case told WLUK that he would likely not get more than 45 days in jail. Those who bought from him were not charged.

Now, I know this is a year old so many of you have probably seen this receipt before. But it is apropo to take another look at it. In six weeks, we will be choosing a new president. President Barack Obama is asking us to give him four more years.

But Obama is truly the food stamp president. He gutted the 1996 Welfare Reform Act by suspending the work requirement as part of his economic stimulus legislation. After doing so, the number of able-bodied adults without dependents on food stamps doubled, from 1.9 million in 2008 to 3.9 million in 2010, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service (see below).

Is this the kind of America we want where men and women capable of work can live like kings and queens off the hard work of others? If we, as a society, want to issue food stamps, should we not at least restrict what they can buy with those stamps? I am not worried about their self-esteem. I don’t care if they are humiliated by being limited in what kind of food they can steal from the rest of us. Food stamps aren’t supposed to be a way of life; they are simply meant to keep one alive.

If you don’t find this disgusting, then I fear for the future of America.

CRS Memo ABAWD

Hat Tip to Roseanne Hale.