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OO says

Not saying that the recession is not bad, but I always see people buying food at Whole Foods with food stamps, what’s the deal with that? There’s once I followed a woman on food stamp out to her car, and she was driving a much better car than mine, I am wondering if there is a number I should call to report abuse?

Food stamps (now cards) are issued to the users - some people prefer to spend the money on ramen and other foods that go further. Some people prefer fresh foods, or treat themselves sometimes.

I've heard people complain because a person on foodstamps bought steak while they ate hamburger... what right do you have to judge what someone else eats or drives or does? The federal guidelines for food stamps is the determining factor, which is why the old guy who won the lotto is still eligible for them. Once a person is in public housing, the only determining factor is their income. So someone who won the lotto would be eligible for continued occupancy, albeit at a higher rental amount.

It's none of your business what they drive. Maybe they borrowed the car or haven't made the payment (as CC res says); or maybe that's the only car they have and if they sell it, they have no way to get another and no alternate transportation. It might not have any equity at all...

elliemae,

the point of the food stamp is to fill their stomach, not to have them eat better than me the taxpayer. And as far as I understand, the max food stamp per month in CA is $300 per person, and this person blew a hundred on very few items, and he definitely didn't have enough to buy food to last him a whole month. Just by looking at what he got, I could figure out that he was most likely NOT reliant on food stamp, but use it as a supplement.

Food stamp eligibility excludes owning an asset in excess of several thousand dollars if I remember correctly, and if someone is driving a $80K car that uses premium gas only, even if he borrows, I highly doubt that someone with no income at all can borrow that much.

Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps are all subject to severe abuse and fraud. As someone who is PAYING for the food stamp program, I feel every single right to look at the people living on MY dough if they are really in need, or they are just fraud cases.

OO says

Not saying that the recession is not bad, but I always see people buying food at Whole Foods with food stamps, what’s the deal with that? There’s once I followed a woman on food stamp out to her car, and she was driving a much better car than mine, I am wondering if there is a number I should call to report abuse?

I'll tell you a big secret: women have boyfriends.
For a while, my GF (now my wife) was a student with virtually no income, and thus got student aid and other low-income things. While she drove my Mercedes, dined with me in Michelin-rated restaurants, and vacationed in luxury foreign resorts. Anything illegal about that?

Fisk

nothing illegal about that. But then I always believe welfare should be distributed in kind, instead of cash for food stamps, people should be given free access to an all-you-can-eat soup kitchen. Instead of section 8, they should be given a room at a project, then I guarantee the welfare recipient number will drop quite significantly, because in your GF's case, she probably would rather skip the soup kitchen and dine with you instead.

OO says

I always believe welfare should be distributed in kind

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I like that. I can see Jamie Dimon manning the ladle at the soup kitchen, Lloyd Blankfein doing God's work cleaning the floors at the project, etc., etc.