Should the food stamp program be eliminated due to an increase in fraud?

1. 60

   John Shiresposted 7 years ago

   Should the food stamp program be eliminated due to an increase in fraud?
   
   Fox news is reporting an increase in the amount of fraud in the food stamp program and it is being suggested that we end the program. The problem I see with the program is how money is being spent and how easy it is to misuse the money one receives. For instance in Georgia a person can use their food stamp money in convenience stores. This means that someone is buying items at much higher prices than they would if they were shopping at traditional markets. Is it a form of fraud to misuse tax payer money in this way? Would we allow our politicians to over pay for services or products?

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2. 0

   savvydatingposted 7 years ago

   No. Some families really need food stamps. My own mother worked harder than you can imagine, doing jobs most people wouldn't touch because she didn't even have a high school diploma. But she also raised two children alone after her marriage went downhill. Were it not for food stamps, my brother and I would have gone hungry. Also, our meals were very humble. No fancy steaks or salmon for us.
   That being said, fraud is unacceptable. Food stamps are meant to help poor people, not those who are not poor. There must be other ways to clamp down on fraud, but allowing families to go hungry is not the way to go. Sometimes families don't have a car either, so they do their shopping at convenience stores on occasion.
   I am sure that someone out there can figure out how to prevent fraud, but removing the entire program would be cold-blooded.

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3. 86

   tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

   I wonder to what degree food price inflation above the rate of actual inflation is due to SNAP benefits, the same way government money pumped into education dramatically inflates college tuition.

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4. 50

   bradmasterOCcalposted 7 years ago

   No, the people that truly need it should get it, and conversely those people that play the system using fraud shouldn't get it. At the same time the government needs to make the economic environment healthier so that people can get off of it.

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