Paul’s Food Stamp Rant

If you missed it this morning, Paul went off on a rant about his recent trip to Wal-Mart.  After yesterday's show, he stopped by the Wal-Mart to pick up a quart of oil.  While he was standing in line, he saw something that underscored a problem in our country today.

It was shortly after 10 am.  A man and his daughter were in front of Paul in line.  While Paul was pondering why the girl wasn't in school, the dad picked up a pack of chewing gum and a soda and paid with his food stamp card.  Paul had to restrain himself from saying something mean.

We go to work everyday.  We wake up early and we're tired.  We have stress and health problems because we're trying to provide for our own families.  And, as taxpayers, we all chip in to help needy families who can't afford to feed their children.  Which is fine, part of being a good citizen is helping out your neighbors.

But if we're going to help feed those families, can we put restrictions on food stamp cards so people can't abuse the system?  Not only are soda and bum two of the most expensive items you can buy, but they will not contribute to that family's nutritional needs.  Meat, cheese, bread and milk are one thing, but nobody owes you a coke.

If we're all going to pick up the tab for needy families, the least our government can do make sure food stamps are used for food.  And it's not hard to do.  They have had limits on what items can be purchased with food stamps for years.  But when people are buying gum and soda pop, at 10 am while the rest of us are working or in school, those limits need to be stricter.