The Weekend Rant: Welcome to McDonalds. Will that be Cash, Credit or Food Stamps?

First I'd like to start off with a little history of the Food Stamp Program. It was put in Place by FDR, (Who else?) was vastly expanded by LBJ (Who else?) and was supposed to be part of a temporary assistance package for struggling families. In spite of this, we are now seeing 3rd and 4th generation welfare dependent individuals. Oh, and as for the name "Food Stamps," it has become derogatory. It implies that people are unable or unwilling to support themselves at even the most basic level, in this case, feeding themselves. So back in 2008 it was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Cute right? Focus on the keywords there: SUPPLEMENTAL and NUTRITION.

Would you be surprised to learn that a group comprised of 100% food stamp recipients purchases, on average, 40% more sugary drinks than any other consumer group? Would you be surprised to learn that snack cakes, candy bars, potato chips, ice cream, steak, frozen French fries, frozen pizza and other extremely unhealthy foods may be purchased on the government dime with no restriction? Would it surprise you to know that 82% of the Department of Agriculture's yearly budget is used solely to pay for food stamps?

Some of you wouldn't be surprised. I can't recall how many times I stood in line at Walmart with my 10-pack of Ramen and my hotdogs while the welfare queen in front of me unloaded a cart of soda, potato chips and steak onto the conveyor belt, only to brandish her welfare card to pay for the items... OOPS! Did I say Welfare Card? That's derogatory too. They are called "EBT Cards" now, that way it feel like your shamelessly using an ATM card.

Oh, and did I mention that Food Stamp recipients, on average, score 1.6 to 4 points higher on the Body Mass Index scale (BMI), which is the government approved system for measuring obesity?

As if obesity wasn't a big enough problem in our nation, many states are beginning to allow their food stamp recipients to use their EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards at their local fast food joints. And guess who is lobbying for an expansion of this? Major fast food companies of course. And of course our noble politicians are standing up and saying "NO!" Yeah... Sure they are. According to ABC News, Yum! Brands (owner of KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silvers and Pizza Hut) are lobbying their butts off to expand into the poverty market. Not to be outdone, McDonald's and Burger King are firing up the lobbying machine too. Are you curious where your tax dollars are going? Well if you live in Arizona, Florida, California or Michigan, you just might be surprised, as you can already use your taxpayer funded welfare cards (Oops, EBT Cards) at your local junk food dealer. And for the rest of you, stay tuned. Your next. Here's a short list of where my tax dollars are being spent by the "needy" people of those "impoverished" states for "Supplemental Nutrition:"

Michigan: Church's Chicken, KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Grandma's Famous Chicken, Mr. T's BBQ, Vito's Pizza

California: El Pollo Loco, Jack in the Box, Subway, Papa Murphy's Pizza

Florida: KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Papa Murphy's Pizza

Arizona: Dominos Pizza, Golden Corral, Southern Cuisine, Rally's Hamburgers

When did it become OK for welfare recipients to openly and flagrantly abuse the system? I can't afford to eat out all the time. WHY SHOULD THEY BE ABLE TO?

What many people overlook is that these welfare recipients are de facto wards of the state. I mean if they can't afford to feed themselves, what makes you think they can afford doctors' visits? So when they get so fat off of Big Macs and Extra Crispy Recipe that they need to go see the cardiologist, who do you think will be picking up that bill?

I am not saying there are not people out there who REALLY need help. Many people who use food stamps truly need them and are grateful to get them, but this is waste. pure, simple, disgusting waste.