Posted by
Bill on Sunday, February 08, 2009 12:00:00 AM
For a number of years I worked in an upscale health food store. I was paid fairly well but because of the prices I felt that our family could not do the majority of our shopping there. We would purchase certain items on a regular basis from were I worked but the rest of our shopping list was filled at the neighborhood supermarket down the road. On a continuing basis we had several customers that did what appeared to be all of their weekly shopping at our store. I mention them because they would buy their food with government food stamps. One couple in fact, bought bottled water for the family dog, seriously. I guess because they didn’t have to work for the food that they were eating they couldn’t care less how much it was costing them. Maybe I am nosey or maybe because I have to work for what I get but when I see someone use food stamps and see them get into a brand new SUV in the store parking lot I get irritated. I have been behind a WIC customer who then bought a cartoon of cigarettes. If you can’t afford to buy food for your children you should not be smoking. Talk to any cashier at a grocery store and they will tell you that people feeding of the government teat will in many cases buy better cuts of meat and name brand items. Then they will whip out some cash to pay for their beer and cigarettes.
The reason for the above rant is due to the increased welfare spending in the stimulus bill. According to the Heritage Foundation means tested welfare spending will increase by 20% in fiscal year 2009 the largest increase in U.S. history. There are six other areas of welfare spending hidden in the bill that will cost nearly $60 billion per year. This although U.S. welfare spending is at a historical high.
According to the stimulus bill these increases in welfare will end in two years but when was the last time a government program ended. I can guarantee that in two years whoever has the nerve to suggest a cut in welfare spending will be demonized by the left. How could you want to cut services to these poor people? Hell politicians consider a reduction in the increase a program gets as cuts. So do you think that anything in this stimulus bill will go away after two years? Don’t count on it. The only future I see for our country right now is higher deficits, continued increased spending, bigger and bigger government, high inflation and of course higher taxes. I hope I am wrong but I am afraid that our children and our grandchildren are going to be left a real mess.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm2276.cfm