comrade mayor of NY knows what’s best … just do as told for ur own good.
So what happens next? The state goes into homes to make sure the unwashed lower classes aren’t overeating? Not giving coke to the kiddies?
Just where does the state intend to end deciding personal things that are legal, for your own good? I see it as the proverbial slippery slope.
on 10/11/2010 at 11:04 AM
Back when I was a teen working in the grocery store, food stamps came in little packets. You could not use them if they were torn out of the packet. You could not use them to buy food that had tax on it. Soda had tax on it. So it was not food stamp-able. Certain cereals had too high a sugar content and were not allowed either. Prepared hot food was not allowed. Beer was not allowed. Cigarettes were not allowed. And so on. Change could be given in cash only if it was less than a dollar. The experienced food stamp user soon learned the rules, and they also learned that if they didn’t want people staring at them then they should come and do their welfare shopping during the off hours. Cashiers were fired on the spot if they were derisive to the FS shoppers, or even if they made faces. So we did our best to be truly helpful even though it was often difficult. The FS shoppers assumed we had attitudes and treated us accordingly. Who needs that?
These days such limitations and practices are “demeaning”. And I have to agree with that to the greater extent. Food stamps per se don’t exist any longer: the beneficiary gets a credit card. I gather all the rules on what you can buy with them have gone away too. So now there is no more scene at the checkout, sorting the allowed items from the not allowed ones. And there is no more flashing of the “play money” like in the bad old days of 1980, or burying the stuff under the real money in the till. Maybe our liberal society has gone too far? Bloomberg is usually a jerk, but this motion is just taking things back a bit to the way they once were. Heck, it’s a conservative action.
Crickey, I remember having to deal with the WIC people. That was even worse. The state would issue a check, and it all had to be spent at once. No change given. Everything had to be checked against a list of approved products. Some brands of diapers and formula were not on the list. Total pain in the ass, and it lead to many an argument at the checkout.
Drew, That’s very interesting. I never knew about all of that.
I think my concern after reading about it was, ok. Where will they stop? If it’s only about obesity, then why not limit everyone? Hell, I must admit my own damn weight gain is my eating habits. While I’m not exactly ott weight wise, still, I do like Coke but not the diet drinks. I love pizza and boy oh boy is the pizza here good. While I don’t have pizza every day (sometimes once a week and other times longer between pizza fix)I don’t think I’ll become a poster boy for great health and breakfast of champions physique. Oh, something here we never got much of at home btw. Cream cakes and cream pastries, like the one my wife and I split today with our tea. 2nd one this week. Will the state have the right (for my own good of course) to decide what my diet must be, and deny my purchase of coke? That’s the kind of thing I guess I think about.Oh, and one more thing. The key point, which NO NEWS ORGANIZATION IS MAKING, is that food stamps are a FEDERAL program. The program is called SNAP, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Run by the Dept. of Agriculture.
And according to the SNAP website, updated just a week ago, soda is an eligible food:
The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (the Act) defines eligible food as any food or food product for home consumption and also includes seeds and plants which produce food for consumption by SNAP households. The Act precludes the following items from being purchased with SNAP benefits: alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, hot food and any food sold for on-premises consumption. Nonfood items such as pet foods, soaps, paper products, medicines and vitamins, household supplies, grooming items, and cosmetics, also are ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits.
Soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream are food items and are therefore eligible items
Seafood, steak, and bakery cakes are also food items and are therefore eligible items
Since the current definition of food is a specific part of the Act, any change to this definition would require action by a member of Congress. Several times in the history of SNAP, Congress had considered placing limits on the types of food that could be purchased with program benefits. However, they concluded that designating foods as luxury or non-nutritious would be administratively costly and burdensome. Further detailed information about the challenges of restricting the use of SNAP benefits can be found here:
Report—Implications of Restricting the use of Food Stamp Benefits
And that secondary report is one of the wisest government documents I’ve read in ages.
But the real bottom line is that IT AIN’T NONE OF BLOOMBERG’S FUCKING BUSINESS and HE HAS NO AUTHORITY WHATSOEVER to change the rules at the city or state level. Changing the food stamp laws requires an act of Congress, not the whims of some piss-ant little billionaire mayor-for-life usurper. This is real preemption, not phony preemption like the Arizona immigration law.
Tempest in a teapot. Shut up, move on. Game over. Bloomberg = UPPITY LOSER.
Ok, shot off my mouth before reading the article. Oops. They do say it’s a federal program. And they do say that BBerg is petitioning the government for redress on this by asking for a new ruling. That’s his right, and it’s the right approach.
But he is still a piss-ant usurper. Not “puissant”, just piss-ant. And if Congress accepts his request it will be months if not years before they decide if the Act is in need of rewriting, and if it does that will take ages too. So it may not be a total Tempest in a (sugar free) Teapot right now, but several years down the road.
Bloomy is nothing but a bored wealthy guy who figured out the only real power in this country is Government power. He now has his lil corner of power to wield . I remember he ran as all 3 party types to get where he is so its obviously just a power trip for him, nothing else.
BTW Peiper, even though Drew kinda drooled on your cornflakes here I did like your take on this gag. Very Cleva old graasshopper.
Ok my take it is not the ‘food’ it is the stuff put into food that is the problem. Coke, HiC, Koolaid - are not food - they are all water with chemicals, sugar and flavorings put into them.
The problem with obesity is that sugar (in one of it’s very many incarnations) is in the majority of ‘foods’ - most of which do not need sugar in them - it is done just like cigarettes. It makes an attractive (in terms of human taste & smell, the two major components of food attractiveness) item addictive. What they have found is that when you combine sugar with carbohydrates - bingo - you get the tri-fecta of heart disease, diabetes and yes, you guessed it, obesity.
Read the labels - heck even ‘diet’ products have some form of sugar in them (don’t even get me stated on those chemical cousins - aspartame and splenda) and so does the Glycerna brand - can we say a real big DUH?!! Why would either of those product lines - one to fight fat and the other to help balance glucose - have sugar in them? Because if you combine sugar and carbs - you get exactly what Big Food is catering to Big Pharma - in the terms of creating, enabling and increasing the rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
I used WIC - and while I do not know the angst (Never got employed after getting my Checker & Cashier Certificate) of the cashier - I loved that it specified exactly what to buy and that the mother had to go to a class (believe me after the second one - you really have to want to get ‘free’ food to put up with the same drivel) to learn why those foods. I do not find it demeaning to learn how to feed my family better. And I feel bad for those liberals and those ‘poor’ who do feel that way. You will not accomplish anything by banning an item - Teach the people as to why an item is a wrong choice. [Never forget - give a man a fish, he eats for a day, Teach a man to fish, he eats forever]
I have not cleaned my diet to a raw fruit, veggie and little meat - I do not think I will ever get there - as I love a great desert (cake with frosting and ice cream at the top) and I love meat a lot too. But I have cut sodas out to the point of once in while when eating out (depends on the venue) or when doing long distance driving (very hard to explain that one). I would never, ever touch diet soda - aspartame and splenda gives me headaches. Xylitol & erythitol are better alternatives - chewing gum with xylitol when you can’t brush is even endorsed by the ADA - good luck in finding it though. . . I wonder why?
Liberals created the problem - with the creation and distortion of the FDA - and we have a chemical cuisine that has mostly not be properly tested prior to being put into ‘foods’ - way too many ‘foods’ have additives that are not necessary and we are becoming a much less active society - thus we do not need the amount of food that we used to.
But if you work on lowering the carbs and sugar amounts that you consume in a day - shop in the produce, dairy and meat section only - and try to eat as close to raw/natural (and that doesn’t mean the natural/health food aisle - read those labels - they are going over to the dark side more and more) - You will have the best diet you can in this twisted society.
But never, ever trust a liberal - as pointed out - if they begin with sugary soda - where will they stop - and while I grasp that this is ‘taxpayer’ money being used - whose business is it? And if they had left the rules (I like the if it is taxed, can’t buy it) - the way they were, would this be an issue? So one liberal who doesn’t want the ‘poor’ to feel different, even though they are because they are taking money from the gov (which should reserve the right to control how it is spent, in a sense) changes the rules and creates an even bigger problem. Which another liberal is ‘solving’ the wrong way. Who’d have thunk? /sarc off/
Peiper our little guilty pleasure is cheese danish - force ourselves to only buy from one store which is about a 45 minutes from the house (an international store - love the choices) - which makes it about every two months for us. Pizza is also one of my downfalls - oh well.
Perfection is not what I’m striving for - living better is.
God Help America
A Proud American InfidelTEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
Is there still anyone here who remembers me?
It’s been awhile. A couple of years at least. Glad to see you guys are still around.
Larry
Drew is out Bowling right now Larry but Im sure he will make an effort to meet and greet an old lurker/stalker/commenter like yourself.Take a look around and see if it feels like the old haunt you remember.
Hey! Larry. AWOL?
Very nice to see you back here.Tannenberg!!!!
Woo hoo!!!!
There, see? I remembered!
Will YellowDog and Bulldog show up next?
I don’t recall YellowDog. He must have come and gone while I was out on sabbatical.
I do remember Bulldog. Sorry to hear he’s not around.
I don’t know how active I can be at this point, but I’ll make an effort.
L
10/11/2010 at 12:59 PM
