If judgments were horses …

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, April 6, 2011

This is my response to the comments posted on the March 31 article concerning the food stamp fraud arrests:

1) Just because a few people use their cash benefits on their food stamp card to buy a bottle of wine or a bott

le of beer every now and then (I include myself in this — since I bought a bottle of wine four months ago and haven’t drank it yet. And no, I’m not a booze hound), it doesn’t mean that we should just get rid of the food stamp program altogether.

I fail to understand why those who assign blame to a select few feel automatically entitled to condemn the rest of us to abject starvation. Or do they even care what happens to the poor these days?

2) Not everyone on the food stamp program is an illegal immigrant. And if they are on the program, it’s not up to the commenters to decide who gets deported and who doesn’t.

That’s the government’s job. Have a complaint? Take it up to them!

3) Since we’re cutting back severely on a lot of things these days, who is going to pay the state money to crack down on food stamp abuse? Anyone?

So far nobody wants to pay for it. They’re just expecting it to happen, or for it to be a “free” service. (Sorry, but that’s not how the real world works.)

4) I carry my expired ID card wherever I go. (I haven’t the money to get it renewed — since we’ve been cut back on our benefits these last three years.) Anyone can ask me for proof of identification wherever I go to buy food. I’m not ashamed of the idea!

Schuyler Thorpe
Everett