A short EBT/Lone Star card rant

[The Marshal]

Yeah, what chaps my tush is when I am in line at aforementioned Large Chain Store, and the person in front of me, and their kids, all have iPhones. And then they pay for the full grocery cart with the Lone Star Card.
I try to salve my growing anger with the thought that maybe their parents provided for the $250+ in mobile phone per month mobile phone charges so they can call them.
Yah, right

[WildBill]

Yeah, what chaps my tush is when I am in line at aforementioned Large Chain Store, and the person in front of me, and their kids, all have iPhones. And then they pay for the full grocery cart with the Lone Star Card.
I try to salve my growing anger with the thought that maybe their parents provided for the $250+ in mobile phone per month mobile phone charges so they can call them.
Yah, right

I was just calming down.

[speedsix]

...I had a good fraud story all typed up but it seems like it went away...prolly better for everyone's BP...this is plumb discouragin'...

[pbwalker]

This is why I don't step foot in WalMart anymore, and why I shop @ HEB during off hours. As I've gotten older, it's hard for me bite my tongue in these situations.

[mommagamber]

This is why I don't step foot in WalMart anymore, and why I shop @ HEB during off hours. As I've gotten older, it's hard for me bite my tongue in these situations.

AMEN!!!!!

[BrianSW99]

The only thing that makes me madder then that is when they use the lone star card and walk out and get in a brand new Escalade or other vehicle nicer then my 2006 mini van that I drive.

Ya'll also need to keep in mind that every foster child in CPS custody is automatically eligible for benefits through the LoneStar card to help reimburse the foster parents for food expenses. Not to say abuses don't happen, but there are also a whole lot of foster kids out there. Be careful about judging someone when you see "luxury" items on the belt when they're using a LoneStar card or getting into a nicer car.

We had a foster child once that required a medically necessary special formula. It was $40 a can and lasted only 2-3 days. Fortunately, it was paid for with his LoneStar card. I'm sure other people had these same thoughts about us.

Brian

[gemini]

The only thing that makes me madder then that is when they use the lone star card and walk out and get in a brand new Escalade or other vehicle nicer then my 2006 mini van that I drive.

Ya'll also need to keep in mind that every foster child in CPS custody is automatically eligible for benefits through the LoneStar card to help reimburse the foster parents for food expenses. Not to say abuses don't happen, but there are also a whole lot of foster kids out there. Be careful about judging someone when you see "luxury" items on the belt when they're using a LoneStar card or getting into a nicer car.

We had a foster child once that required a medically necessary special formula. It was $40 a can and lasted only 2-3 days. Fortunately, it was paid for with his LoneStar card. I'm sure other people had these same thoughts about us.

Brian

The ones that jerk my chain are pulling 2 grocery carts. One loaded to the top with food stuffs and paid for with a LS Card. The second loaded
with beer/wine/cigs and paid for with a wad of cash the size of your fist. I don't begrudge anyone their booze or smokes.... but come on.
Then walk out in get in a new Suburban, Escalade etc. Somehow those folks don't strike me as caring for a sick foster child. But, I guess I could
have been mistaken. Not.

[aaangel]

i hate to say it but i actually know somebody who has one and she shops @ wholefoods and buys all organic food and vegetables only! nothing we can do!

[Seburiel]

i hate to say it but i actually know somebody who has one and she shops @ wholefoods and buys all organic food and vegetables only! nothing we can do!

I'm not sure that I can be angry about this one - there are things in modern prep food which are simply disgrossting. Consider that, even though this woman buys more expensive food, it's also possible that she eats healthier (and hence, possibly, less) than most, and has learned to be able to balance that food stamp budget.
While I am not on Assistance of any kind, I sometimes WISH I were, it would certainly make budgeting my meager paycheck easier. my wife doesn't work (nor do I require her to, her full-time job is simply looking after our house, cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, and taking care of her diabetes), so we have to watch every dime. (I love gun shows and estate sales for purchasing firearms, by the way). But on this note, I had someone (who was an avid gun owner) tell me that I should never complain about the economy or our lack of funds, if I wasn't willing to sell the few firearms that I have (a grand total of 5 in the house, her 2, and my 3). I was stunned - We live outside of town in a mobile home, drive an older model car, have no cable, and have the only internet that we can manage out here (clear, which is about the worst internet I can imagine beyond dialup), and yet, despite that we receive no fiscal assistance, we still have at least two people who think we're scum because we don't sell everything we own and stop complaining... huh

Wow, wild rant, and I'm sorry for that.
(tl;dr version: you generally don't really know anything about the people puchasing with assistance, try and keep a more open mind - what if it's a WIC card, doesn't that look like lonestar?)

anyway - I now return you to your regularly scheduled off-topic chat :D

[74novaman]

Wow, wild rant, and I'm sorry for that.
(tl;dr version: you generally don't really know anything about the people puchasing with assistance, try and keep a more open mind - what if it's a WIC card, doesn't that look like lonestar?)

If they're buying cigarettes with cash and junky drinks with a lone star card (which is what the lady in my case was doing) then I think I have reason to be at least mildly annoyed.

Its not like she was buying milk and diapers with the card.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

i hate to say it but i actually know somebody who has one and she shops @ wholefoods and buys all organic food and vegetables only! nothing we can do!

I have no problem with anyone using their LoneStar card to buy wholesome, organic, foods. Sometimes people need a hand in life and I would much prefer they use taxpayer dollars to buy fresh food and vegetables than junk food and sodas.

[VMI77]

She's been taught an attitude of entitlement by the liberals. My son is attending graduate school in a large city. A woman approached him as he came out of a store and asked him for money to eat. He had just eaten a pot pie at the store's food service area and offered to take her into the store and buy her a pot pie. She told him she didn't like pot pies and wanted Chinese food. Back when I was a kid, public assistance was called The Dole, and being on The Dole was something to be embarrassed about, and it was charity, not entitlement. There used to be a time in this country when people took pride in doing for themselves, took charity with gratitude and a little shame, and worked themselves out of it as quickly as they could. Now they're "entitled," permanently, generation after generation, and full of arrogant expectations.

[VMI77]

The only thing that makes me madder then that is when they use the lone star card and walk out and get in a brand new Escalade or other vehicle nicer then my 2006 mini van that I drive.

Ya'll also need to keep in mind that every foster child in CPS custody is automatically eligible for benefits through the LoneStar card to help reimburse the foster parents for food expenses. Not to say abuses don't happen, but there are also a whole lot of foster kids out there. Be careful about judging someone when you see "luxury" items on the belt when they're using a LoneStar card or getting into a nicer car.

We had a foster child once that required a medically necessary special formula. It was $40 a can and lasted only 2-3 days. Fortunately, it was paid for with his LoneStar card. I'm sure other people had these same thoughts about us.

Brian

And conversely, don't extrapolate your own experience and assume that because your use of government money isn't abusive, that abuses are isolated. I lived for years in the RGV back in the food stamp era, and food stamps were used routinely as cash at 50% of face value. People even used them for car repairs. My experience, both direct, and indirect, tells me that abuse and fraud are pervasive.

[VMI77]

Yeah, what chaps my tush is when I am in line at aforementioned Large Chain Store, and the person in front of me, and their kids, all have iPhones. And then they pay for the full grocery cart with the Lone Star Card.
I try to salve my growing anger with the thought that maybe their parents provided for the $250+ in mobile phone per month mobile phone charges so they can call them.
Yah, right

I was just calming down.

You may have paid for their iphones too....didn't Obama start a program to provide cell phones to those on welfare? That's what they do in the UK....provide free cell phones and free transportation. During the recent riots many of the rioters coordinated their attacks over their government provided cell phones and moved from place to place free on public transport.

[pbwalker]

Yeah, what chaps my tush is when I am in line at aforementioned Large Chain Store, and the person in front of me, and their kids, all have iPhones. And then they pay for the full grocery cart with the Lone Star Card.
I try to salve my growing anger with the thought that maybe their parents provided for the $250+ in mobile phone per month mobile phone charges so they can call them.
Yah, right

I was just calming down.

You may have paid for their iphones too....didn't Obama start a program to provide cell phones to those on welfare? That's what they do in the UK....provide free cell phones and free transportation. During the recent riots many of the rioters coordinated their attacks over their government provided cell phones and moved from place to place free on public transport.

Actually, it started under Bush Jr.

ETA: I assume you are talking about safelink.