It is tragic that so many conservatives here still don't realize why they lost the election. They have had their ass whooped in the election and still think that the current path of the GOP is valid. Times change, and so has the voting public. They know that what we had wasn't working, and voted out the GOP.
As for food stamps, the corrupt side of this has been around for many decades. I have watched people pay with food stamps for food that I could not afford, and then they go out to the parking lot and get in a big new car that I could not afford. That was in 1970. Last year, a neighbor with a net worth of half a million in assets and almost that much in savings, but low retirement income, gave me some of the free stuff he gets based on his income. It was nasty tasting peanut butter from India. I thought part of the commodities program was to help OUR farmers, not those of the rest of the world. Point is, he didn't need it, but took it anyway becasue it was free.
Local ads here in Utah show a single mom (dressed in a waitress outfit) having to put her little girl to bed without supper because there was no food in the house. That is hardly an accurate portrayal of the typical food bank recipeient, but it is meant to get people to donate food. If the people who get food from food banks were accurately portrayed, the donations would dry up. People standing in line smoking cigarettes (expensive habit), hair and nails done up, driving nice cars, and looking for free food. And so many of them are FAT !!!
Up until recently, I would have said that most of them got in their positions by making bad choices, dropping out of school, making themselves unemployable, etc. If it was just them, I would let them go hungry, but they have children, and some use their children to gain sympathy.
My own sister once complained to me about not having money for milk, while opening a carton of cigarettes. My chronically unemployed younger brother won't work for $10 per hour, as that amount is beneath his dignity. An older brother tried to borrow money from me to pay "credit card" debt, which turned out to be gambling debt. People like that, I want to slap them upside the head and take their kids away from them...
But now is a bit different...many are in bad shape due to losing their jobs and they are suffering for the sins of others.
A lot of churches are doing their part along with the govt and we will just have to keep doing this until the economy improves and people get their jobs back. As for those who avoid education and available jobs, we need to find a way to let them starve without harming their children....