Not in liquor stores.......

The GOP is pounding its chest - noting that only the GOP forbids welfare recipients from using their ATM cards at strip clubs, liquor stores, and casinos.......

It's just a symbolic bone being tossed to the country's morally upright, hoping to get an "attaboy" response from them.

Granted - funds being withdrawn at those questionable locations are likely being mis-appropriated (compared to the intended use). But really -

a) the proposed measures don't stop the mis-appropriation -- they merely make it less convenient
b) the allegedly misappropriated funds represent a very small proportion of the total funds

The GOP isn't going to get an "attaboy" from me with this measure..... I'm not much for tokenism.

Look... A welfare recipient gets XXX.XX amount of money a month, basically in cash (a debit card). Why is it the governments business to tell that person what to do with that cash? If that person uses the money for stupid things, and halfway through the month they are broke, then it's their problem. No one tells me how to spend my paycheck, and if I screw things up financially, then I suffer. A welfare recipient is no better than myself, leave them alone.

Do they have a survey of Democrats or something saying such expenditures are fine with them? Because I can't imagine too many Democratic voters who would support people using such funds for things like alcohol or gambling. Or is this just another one of those false dichotomies the political class loves to make up out of thin air to demonize their opponenets and make their constituents feel warm and fuzzy about their moral turpitude?

AspenValley wrote: Do they have a survey of Democrats or something saying such expenditures are fine with them? Because I can't imagine too many Democratic voters who would support people using such funds for things like alcohol or gambling. Or is this just another one of those false dichotomies the political class loves to make up out of thin air to demonize their opponenets and make their constituents feel warm and fuzzy about their moral turpitude?

According to this article about California welfare concerns... it seems to be a bipartisan issue... see the story and the informative links...

Should California Welfare Money Be Spent On Alcohol And Tobacco?

http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/02/s ... nd-tobacco

Doesn't seem to be any Democrats blocking any of the past or future efforts in California... I don't know about other places.

I received an e-mail from Scott Tipton - highlighting this topic as one of the things the House resolution offers, that the Senate resolution does not appear to support (ergo - the Dems get demonized).

So we have really high taxes on all the evils..cigarettes, gas, booze etc.. Why? Because they are meant to keep us from buying for our own good...right? So when we use taxpayer money to help those who really need it, we should throw the "evil" rule out the window and let the poor buy stuff that's overly taxed for their own good? Yup, that sounds like a government logic to me.

I doubt any politician will do anything real to fix the problem...that would take logic and guts.

Shine,,, make your own.

By the way... happy first night of Hanukkah for all our Jewish brothers and sisters out there... and for you gentiles too! I asked my sweetie for 8 Ipad2's, one each night.

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote: Look... A welfare recipient gets XXX.XX amount of money a month, basically in cash (a debit card). Why is it the governments business to tell that person what to do with that cash? If that person uses the money for stupid things, and halfway through the month they are broke, then it's their problem. No one tells me how to spend my paycheck, and if I screw things up financially, then I suffer. A welfare recipient is no better than myself, leave them alone.

Because they are not spending their own money. They must not spend it with an "in your face" type of attitude.

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote: Look... A welfare recipient gets XXX.XX amount of money a month, basically in cash (a debit card). Why is it the governments business to tell that person what to do with that cash? If that person uses the money for stupid things, and halfway through the month they are broke, then it's their problem. No one tells me how to spend my paycheck, and if I screw things up financially, then I suffer. A welfare recipient is no better than myself, leave them alone.

I studied food stamps in college and it was as much a handout for farmers and rural american voters as to actually feeding people. It was hoped it would increase prices for American farmers' products.

But making it food only does make it more palatable to other American voters, who think helping out starving kids is a good thing as opposed to letting non-working adults getting drunk or high.