# Republicans are taking away my unemployment for my own good. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823 "2013-12-08T15:44:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/161 "2013-12-12T12:46:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The OP apparently DID live under his income prior to losing his job, and his family DID have savings and resources… which are now gone. Just how many years’ income is the average person supposed to have in savings again? > _That’s NOT what they are for!_ Food stamps are to _keep people fed_. A laudable goal if you ask me. > So… how, exactly did you know that she used food stamps? Did you ask her? Did you lean over her shoulder as she paid? Do you do this to every person you are in line behind at the grocery store? > > And even if that was the case, you do know that the plural of anecdote is not data, correct? > During the depression food stamps didn’t exist, so that’s irrelevant. After awhile a certain amount of food was simply given to families that qualified, if you received that, and if your family utilized the WPA or CCC work options, congratulations, you were one of the first welfare families in America. If it was good enough for you when your family needed help why aren’t needy people today deserving? > So… just completley ignore that up until 6 months ago the OP did, in fact, make things work out with a stay-at-home parent… are you jealous that they were able to do that or something? And his current plan isn’t to have a stay-at-home parent, it’s to have TWO working parents but their combined wage still has to be sufficient to support the household. > Again, until 6 months ago he was living _below_ his means. Up until now he’s been able to meet the bills due to good planning and fiscal responsibility. But, hey, go ahead and call him lazy, a freeloader, a terrible person because he lost his job, obviously anyone without an income for even a moment is scum. > > You clearly have no experience with Section 8. I don’t know about where the OP lives, but where I live there is a ten year waiting list for Section 8. Yay, they apply for Section 8, get on a waiting list – where, exactly are they supposed to live for the next decade until their name comes to the top? How, exactly, does abandoning a house and becoming homeless benefit the OP and his family? > > And who, exactly, are you to determine that someone else’s house is “too expensive or some other thing”? Are you ready to start justifying YOUR living arrangements? > Translated: “I don’t have a good answer to your arguments so I am resorting to insulting your intelligence and gender”. Which is consistent with the rest of your posting here. You are quite free with slinging the mud. > > Ah, here we go again – a low income means your life is a waste. That is, I suppose, in addition to laziness and stupidity. Hey, **Martin** , you do realize that a bank account balance and IQ are not the same thing, correct? Having more money doesn’t make you smarter, as you so amply demonstrate in this thread. > Government subsidized? Really? Where? Certainly now where I live! > Please point to what FEDERAL agency subsidizeing daycare, because I’m not aware of one. If it’s not Federal it isn’t “the laws of this country” it’s provided by a lower level unit of government or a private charity or church or something. > Why would being poor make me an expert in childcare? > Oh, I see – you seem to think that VIRGINA=THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES. And you called me moronic? Why should I, someone living in Indiana, be conversant with the state-level public aid in Virginia? > I never said it generated $1.80, I said money given to the unemployed doesn’t stay with them, it immediately goes back out into the economy because they have bills to pay and food to buy. When come back bring reading comprehension instead of self-righteous pie. > > This, by the way, is far better than YOUR scheme to lock up millions of dollars in private accounts where it will sit for DECADES and do _nothing_ to stimulate the economy. Way to go, Skippy. > Stop looking for work you stop getting paid. How is that not “paid to look for work”? The benefits are contingent on the search. When I was on UI several years ago my job search was monitored AND I was audited during the period as well. You act as if there is no oversight. There is. > And you would force all those workers to lock that money up for DECADES in “private accounts” where it will do _even less_ to stimulate the economy. This is better… how? > Like I said – why stop at just the first $7k of income? Why _shouldn’t_ the wealthy pay UI tax on ALL their income, just like the dirt poor do? > HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! You so funny! > > Just because it’s _better_ doesn’t mean it’s _good_. That’s like saying, oh, your broken leg has been in a cast for a week, it’s better, now you have no excuse not to run the Boston Marathon tomorrow, because you’re _better_. > > The economy is still not healthy. > So… instead of everyone paying into a fund that is distributed to those in need, with the amount in the fund adjusted according to actual need, you propose locking up what would be millions, if not billions of dollars _for decades_ in these “private accounts” where the money will just sit, doing _nothing_ to stimulate the economy? > > Again, this is better… how? > How the FUCK is an “insolvent company” supposed ot INCREASE a contribution? THEY’RE INSOLVENT!!! That’s _bankrupt_, as in _has no more money!_ What, you wave a magic wand and suddenly they discover money for this fund? > > And if the company is GONE then what? Around here, when that’s happened former employees saw their pensions and health care simply evaporate and NO ONE AND NOTHING stepped in to help them. Frankly, I am far more confident that the US government will continue to exist than any particular company. > Regrettably, it DOES count as genius among that set. > Clearly, he does not. > ^ Word. > > Unfortunately… I do. > Here we go again – six months without a job and you are now part of the permanent underclass! > > What do you suggest, we start branding poor people so their superiors can easily spot them at a distance and avoid them? > > Let’s see – people who lose their jobs are lazy, stupid, permanently underclass… how many different ways do you have to declare other humans beings as less than you? > So… only wealthy people are allowed to stay home with their kids, now? Everyone else HAS TO work and park the kids in daycare? Oh, and everyone please note – he’s calling the OP stupid _again_. And, with the “dream world” remark, also claiming the OP is out of touch with reality. Seriously, you can’t do better than that? > Why don’t you stop making assumptions? Your track records with them has been pretty poor. > Two points: the OP has already detailed that his wife is educated and worked prior to having a child, so she’s not some high school drop out, and second point, if it was so damn easy to find a “decent job” that a wife who hasn’t been in the job market for a couple years (because she’s raising a child) can simply find one at the drop of a hat _then the OP wouldn’t have been out of work for six months!_ Indeed food stamps were meant to help the hungry, but not to have them buy tenderloin steaks etc. When I was single I worked in a restaurant, I had nothing to eat from Friday night until Monday morning. I went to work early to eat, I did not expect anyone to feed me for free. One Christmas I would not have had anything to eat, but my landlady came and told me to eat the leftovers from a party the night before. There were times when I was growing up we had only potatoes, and what we called burnt flour gravy. some times it was bisquits and honey my brother’s gathered from a hollow tree, we even ate the wax. I do not expect anyone to go through what I did, but when I give to the local food pantry and they are fussy about what food the people will eat even though I had just bought it at the store I can’t feel that sorry for them! many people I know give food and they skimp to help others. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/162 "2013-12-12T12:49:39Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And here I thought it was because you are really [Vorbis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions_of_the_Discworld#Vorbis) using a fake name … 😛 > > Me, what I would like to see is instead of all the abandoned and empty buildings like the [Norwich State Hospita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_State_Hospital)l sitting empty and then getting torn down being turned into some sort of section 8 housing where people would get assigned living space, and instead of food stamps the government opens up the cafeterias and serves them food. While out driving, I can see empty closed school buildings, hospitals, factories … sitting there - hell, there is a motel on 395n exit 80 that was being built and construction halted with it almost completed - it could easily be turned into section 8 housing. And why can’t we have community run soup kitchens instead of food stamps or in addition to food stamps? Why can’t we have “food stamp grocery stores” where the only products are the specific ones on the food stamp program so there isn’t any customer suck quibbling about what is and isn’t allowed on food stamps and the only ‘currency’ allowed is the food stamp debit card, whatever it is called in your location. > > Someone linked to a story about the US as an evil stratified society where the poor ended up warehoused in hives and down in Australia it was paradise… to be honest, I think most of the population would like to live in a comfortable hive room with a great TV, adequate food and no need to work sort of like pre-idiocracy, or a lot of SF novels/stories. Not that I would turn my nose up at that Australian paradise. I agree on your food stamp idea, My husband worked with a man who said he sold his food stamps! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/163 "2013-12-12T13:38:53Z")
How exactly does one sell their food aid? It’s not actual stamps, and hasn’t been for a long time. It’s a debit card that can only be used for food. If you sell it, you won’t have it next month. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/164 "2013-12-12T13:59:51Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > My husband worked with a man who said he sold his food stamps! It’s called being an entrepreneur. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/165 "2013-12-12T14:08:43Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Indeed food stamps were meant to help the hungry, but not to have them buy tenderloin steaks etc. Why not? If they budget the money and choose to to but a nice cut of meat once in awhile, who cares? Is it somehow more moral to eat rice and beans and scavenged food than using your assistance to buy a treat for your family now and again. > [@](#): > > When I was single I worked in a restaurant, I had nothing to eat from Friday night until Monday morning. I went to work early to eat, I did not expect anyone to feed me for free. One Christmas I would not have had anything to eat, but my landlady came and told me to eat the leftovers from a party the night before. There were times when I was growing up we had only potatoes, and what we called burnt flour gravy. some times it was bisquits and honey my brother’s gathered from a hollow tree, we even ate the wax. I do not expect anyone to go through what I did, but when I give to the local food pantry and they are fussy about what food the people will eat even though I had just bought it at the store I can’t feel that sorry for them! many people I know give food and they skimp to help others. I think what you’ve described is a failed society. It makes me sick that people had to live like you describe, rather than having a society of such wealth be willing (because we are able) to provide a baseline for everyone person that is above scavenger. You were mistreated by our society and that should make you mad at the society that failed you. Instead you look askance at people who have a better safety net as if they’ve done something wrong. People should not have to live hungry, bleak, joyless lives in a civilized society. It is wrong to believe that a nice meal is somehow considered gaming the system. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/166 "2013-12-12T14:21:55Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > How exactly does one sell their food aid? It’s not actual stamps, and hasn’t been for a long time. It’s a debit card that can only be used for food. If you sell it, you won’t have it next month. They sell the card with the remaining balance, then report the card lost to get a new one. New cards are issued through the mail until at some point it is decided that you have lost too many cards, then you are required to come to an office and pick up the replacement. I don’t know if there is a point where a new card would not be issued\*; it might depend on whether a person is receiving individual benefits or benefits for a family that includes kids. \*My daughter has lost her EBT a few times, to the point of having to pick up the replacement in the office and receive a lecture about not losing it or facing consequences, but the consequences were not spelled out. It may have been an idle threat, or maybe my grandsons will suffer for her inability to keep her shit together. I tend to believe she is not selling her card, but I really have no idea how anyone can lose something so important all the fucking time! ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/167 "2013-12-12T14:38:23Z")
> [@stretch](#): > > I don’t know if there is a point where a new card would not be issued\*; it might depend on whether a person is receiving individual benefits or benefits for a family that includes kids. New info. If the card keeps getting lost, a “protective payee” system can be set up where someone else has to manage benefits on behalf of the person who can’t keep track of the card. When you see someone with multiple cards, you may be seeing a protective payee using the cards of the folks they are managing benefits for. Protective payees are common, lots of people who get benefits are unable to manage on their own due to a number of factors (assisting the disabled being one of the main purposes of the protective payee program). ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/168 "2013-12-12T15:09:12Z")
> [@stretch](#): > > They sell the card with the remaining balance, then report the card lost to get a new one. New cards are issued through the mail until at some point it is decided that you have lost too many cards, then you are required to come to an office and pick up the replacement. Or they go shopping with the buyer. For example, you pick out $100 worth of groceries and I pay with my food-stamp card. You then give me some amount of cash less than $100. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/169 "2013-12-12T15:21:52Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Indeed food stamps were meant to help the hungry, but not to have them buy tenderloin steaks etc. When I was single I worked in a restaurant, I had nothing to eat from Friday night until Monday morning. I went to work early to eat, I did not expect anyone to feed me for free. One Christmas I would not have had anything to eat, but my landlady came and told me to eat the leftovers from a party the night before. There were times when I was growing up we had only potatoes, and what we called burnt flour gravy. some times it was bisquits and honey my brother’s gathered from a hollow tree, we even ate the wax. I do not expect anyone to go through what I did, but when I give to the local food pantry and they are fussy about what food the people will eat even though I had just bought it at the store I can’t feel that sorry for them! many people I know give food and they skimp to help others. Oh, tell us about the welfare queen and her Cadillac, Uncle Ronnie! The idea that people on assistance should be expected no occasional treat is mean-spirited. Perhaps the person with the steaks is celebrating a birthday or anniversary. Perhaps they cut it up and make a weaks worth of food. We have a safety net so that people don’t have to put their hands in hollow trees and dig out wax (good luck finding one of those in the inner city). If your story is accurate, then shame on society for failing you. If one food pantry won’t take your donation, take it elsewhere. Looks to me like you’re quite busy finding excuses not to have empathy. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/170 "2013-12-12T15:42:23Z")
“There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.” “Cardboard box?” “Aye.” “You were lucky.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/171 "2013-12-12T16:04:20Z")
A couple things about those tenderloins being purchased. First off, there is the distinct possibility that the purchaser suffers from a condition commonly known as being “stupid”. Which might well explain why they need assistance in the first place. Paying for their food is expensive enough, hiring people to monitor their purchases simply cannot be done. Also, some food stores find that their more expensive cuts of meat simply don’t get sold within the time frame allowed. They discount the shit out of their porterhouse, tenderloins and sirloins to get them out the door without losing. They are seldom on display for very long, sharp eyed carnivores, such as myself, get to know when they are likely to be discounted and offered. Also, even at full price, a good cut of meat can be sliced thin and marinated, added to a dull vegan stir fry it becomes a hearty meal, properly stored, good for couple three days worth of solid healthy meals, or about twenty minutes feeding my son. (I didn’t ask for a linebacker, but the hospital does not take returns…) Many a rigid, constipated and uptight Calvinist has sought for a way to help people without offering any advantage to a clever asshole. Very difficult, very time consuming, hence expensive. Simply more efficient to help folks out and not worry about it. Spent some years in the food co-op movement, back in the day of actual physical “stamps” and, Lordy, what a pain in the butt and monstrous inefficiency. In the beginning, we couldn’t even give back a few cents in change as cash, because they might buy cocaine or something. (Wasn’t it Reagan who talked about some guy he heard about buying orange juice for a quarter,buying it wih a one dollar food stamp, and using the change to buy vodka? I remember wondering where he bought his vodka!) (Put short: just worry about helping and being generous, leave judgement about deserving to whichever Higher Power floats your boat. Its over your pay grade…) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/172 "2013-12-12T16:45:37Z")
Its like conservatives revel in assuming the worst in every instance in order to excuse their own shitheaded view of their fellow man. I could almost see spittle in the corner of their mouths when they talk about how the poor is robbing the rich blind. If I see someone using food stamps, the first thing I do isn’t to look at their purchases and judge them. I think about the unfortunate situation that got them there and hope they can get out of it. I don’t judge what they buy because each seeming luxury could be, like elucidator said, an occasional treat, discounted, or the result of some other temporary fortune. The point is _they are using food stamps_, not they are living beyond their means. And even if they are, so what? If someone buys steak and lobster with them, they deserve to die? Fuckers like Martin probably would criminalize poverty and bring back debtor prisons, execute the homeless, that’ll solve the problem! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/173 "2013-12-12T16:54:57Z")
Its more a personality type that is reflected in a political stance, every culture, every human group has its uptight constipated Calvinists, who simply _know_ that there is too much ease and comfort in the world, and it is mostly squandered on the undeserving. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/174 "2013-12-12T19:36:37Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Indeed food stamps were meant to help the hungry, but not to have them buy tenderloin steaks etc. When I was single I worked in a restaurant, I had nothing to eat from Friday night until Monday morning. I went to work early to eat, I did not expect anyone to feed me for free. One Christmas I would not have had anything to eat, but my landlady came and told me to eat the leftovers from a party the night before. There were times when I was growing up we had only potatoes, and what we called burnt flour gravy. some times it was bisquits and honey my brother’s gathered from a hollow tree, we even ate the wax. ``` I just wanted to say that I liked your books although it was really sad when Mary went blind from the scarlet fever. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/175 "2013-12-12T20:21:58Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > A couple things about those tenderloins being purchased. First off, there is the distinct possibility that the purchaser suffers from a condition commonly known as being “stupid”. Which might well explain why they need assistance in the first place. Paying for their food is expensive enough, hiring people to monitor their purchases simply cannot be done. > > Also, some food stores find that their more expensive cuts of meat simply don’t get sold within the time frame allowed. They discount the shit out of their porterhouse, tenderloins and sirloins to get them out the door without losing. They are seldom on display for very long, sharp eyed carnivores, such as myself, get to know when they are likely to be discounted and offered. > > Also, even at full price, a good cut of meat can be sliced thin and marinated, added to a dull vegan stir fry it becomes a hearty meal, properly stored, good for couple three days worth of solid healthy meals, or about twenty minutes feeding my son. (I didn’t ask for a linebacker, but the hospital does not take returns…) > > Many a rigid, constipated and uptight Calvinist has sought for a way to help people without offering any advantage to a clever asshole. Very difficult, very time consuming, hence expensive. Simply more efficient to help folks out and not worry about it. > > Spent some years in the food co-op movement, back in the day of actual physical “stamps” and, Lordy, what a pain in the butt and monstrous inefficiency. In the beginning, we couldn’t even give back a few cents in change as cash, because they might buy cocaine or something. (Wasn’t it Reagan who talked about some guy he heard about buying orange juice for a quarter,buying it wih a one dollar food stamp, and using the change to buy vodka? I remember wondering where he bought his vodka!) > > (Put short: just worry about helping and being generous, leave judgement about deserving to whichever Higher Power floats your boat. Its over your pay grade…) I really enjoyed this post. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/176 "2013-12-13T00:42:54Z")
Oh, _you!_ ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/177 "2013-12-13T01:25:47Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Balanced budget multipliers are discussed in sophomore macroeconomics. Given the disparity in marginal propensities to consume between the employed and unemployed (which follows from, among other theories, the Permanent Income Hypothesis espoused by Milton Friedman), there are solid armchair reasons to believe in the multiplier. I’m not discussing a balanced budget multiplier. > [@](#): > > And back in reality, extending unemployment insurance is thought to have a multiplier of 1.64 according to, you know, professional economists. [http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/10/pocketfull\_of\_m.html](http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/10/pocketfull_of_m.html) > > It’s amazing that two faced proponents of fiscal austerity are still taken seriously. “Thought to have.” Sums up the reality pretty succinctly. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/178 "2013-12-13T01:34:46Z")
Ah yes. “Economics isn’t really a science, so whatever economists say is crap. When it’s contrary to my beliefs, at any rate.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/179 "2013-12-13T02:21:41Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Indeed food stamps were meant to help the hungry, but not to have them buy tenderloin steaks etc. What, tenderloins aren’t food? Hey, when I was on foodstamps I would sometimes purchase the on-sale steak variety for the week at my local butcher’s. I would get home, chop it into cubes, divide the pile into 4 ounce smaller piles, and use 1 such pile to make a stir fry for 2 people to share. So that 1 steak made 4 meals for us, and since I was going to the effort of serious gardening I could afford to spend some of the food stamp budget on meat rather than just beans But no doubt you’d sneer at that instead of seeing it as a way to stretch quality protein over multiple meals, or frugal shopping as I watched what was on sale or discounted. But relax - my situation is improved and I no longer qualify for such assistance. So I’m no longer feasting on your dime. 😉 > [@](#): > > When I was single I worked in a restaurant, I had nothing to eat from Friday night until Monday morning. I went to work early to eat, I did not expect anyone to feed me for free. One Christmas I would not have had anything to eat, but my landlady came and told me to eat the leftovers from a party the night before. There were times when I was growing up we had only potatoes, and what we called burnt flour gravy. some times it was bisquits and honey my brother’s gathered from a hollow tree, we even ate the wax. That is truly appalling. I do not want to live in a country where such things occur. Society failed you if indeed you were in such straits. Also, if you did not ask for help _you were being foolish_. What, you would have starved quietly to death rather than ask for help? Why? The food stamp program was developed to _prevent_ to sort of hell you lived in. Why do you resent it? I paid taxes for 30 years as an employed citizen in part so help would be there if I ever needed it. I’ll be damned if I put up with some sanctimonious survivor of past societal abuse looking down at me because I took advantage of the safety net _I helped fund for THIRTY YEARS_ when I found myself down on my luck. > [@](#): > > I do not expect anyone to go through what I did, but when I give to the local food pantry and they are fussy about what food the people will eat even though I had just bought it at the store I can’t feel that sorry for them! many people I know give food and they skimp to help others. Oh, how terrible! Poor people might have standards, too! Maybe some of the people at the food pantry have medical conditions that have dietary restrictions? (My spouse and I both have such conditions) People also give expired or rotten food to pantries sometimes - don’t the poor deserve food of the same quality you eat, or does being poor mean you should eat garbage and be grateful for it? And, frankly, if people are having trouble feeding themselves I have to question if they should be attempting to donate to food pantries. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823/180 "2013-12-13T13:18:50Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Why not? If they budget the money and choose to to but a nice cut of meat once in awhile, who cares? Is it somehow more moral to eat rice and beans and scavenged food than using your assistance to buy a treat for your family now and again. > > I think what you’ve described is a failed society. It makes me sick that people had to live like you describe, rather than having a society of such wealth be willing (because we are able) to provide a baseline for everyone person that is above scavenger. > > You were mistreated by our society and that should make you mad at the society that failed you. Instead you look askance at people who have a better safety net as if they’ve done something wrong. People should not have to live hungry, bleak, joyless lives in a civilized society. It is wrong to believe that a nice meal is somehow considered gaming the system. No, Society didn’t fail me, it was my decision to not ask for help. No one knew my situation. During the depression we were very happy to get food to fill our stomachs and were very grateful for what we had. My husband and I saved for our old age and went without things others took for granted, although we are not rich we have all the comforts we want. And do help others. If one isn’t grateful for what is given to them, they don’t deserve it. Of course that is not the Majority of people but I would guess that some people think they are owed the best! There were some words from and Old poem that went;,“He looked the whole world in the face, he owed not any man”. In those days it was such a man that was honored. Not someone like the Donald who had one business go bankrupt, and let the people he owed take a loss. If that is true then Why the big fuss over Gold faucets? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-are-taking-away-my-unemployment-for-my-own-good/675823.md?page=10)