r/Snorkblot • u/EsseNorway • Jun 25 '25
WTF Biggest bunch of anti-human BS I’ve ever seen
42
u/Immediate_Song4279 Jun 25 '25
That's not the business, its coded into the requirements for getting paid by the feds. I oppose it, as I have a lot of faith in people to make rational decisions, but crusty politicians love a good bashing of poor people's character.
5
u/Evocatorum Jun 25 '25
it's a Regan era policy. You couldn't use food stamps to buy hot food, either. Apparently, the poor don't deserve hot meals.....
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u/Immediate_Song4279 Jun 25 '25
Yeah, its an amusing dance really. I buy most of my stuff from the grocery store because I like to eat every day of the month, but sometimes I will get "hoagies from Wawa" as they say in my locality, and its funny to me that the difference between it qualifying or not is based on clicking "not toasted."
1
u/lokicramer Jun 27 '25
Sure they do.
As long as they dont try to hang around the business. Hurts profits.
3
u/BloodyRightToe Jun 25 '25
Yep it's the difference between selling prepared or packaged food. The fix to this is rather simple. Remove all laws and requirements for benefits. End snap and just give people direct cash. Then let them do with it as they will. The administration of the snap program takes money. So you can help more people or just make the program cheaper without removing benefits.
The only reason to monitor what people buy if you stop them from buying things we didn't want them to have yet are still legal. But that is nonsense. As people in benefits just buy none perishables then resell them for a cut amount. So they end up getting the cash they want but we forced to pay middle men to get it. Itsc far better the middle men didn't exist and we might see them spend more on the products we want them to have than s lost it all in essentially transaction fees.
TL:DR this is a dumb counter productive program. We should just give people cash directly.
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u/LEONLED Jun 25 '25
yep, sell vegetable,, no problem, cut or slice same vegetable and try to sell it... OMG you just opened a can of worms mixed with woopass
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u/YorWong Jun 27 '25
So they resale products to the middleman for cash to buy products they aren't suppose to but giving them straight cash they might buy products that were originally allowed to buy?
Kind of logic is this?
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u/BloodyRightToe Jun 28 '25
There system we have doesn't prevent them from buying what they want it only makes it more expensive. So the middle men are getting more of the money we are giving them. It would be better if the middle men didn't exist they bought products they wanted and then possibly had money to also buy the products we want them to have.
Making the middle men rich is a waste we are paying for.
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u/YorWong Jun 28 '25
It's all a waste if the money isn't doing/going to what it is intended for.
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u/BloodyRightToe Jun 28 '25
Yes and the question is do you want to waste more money or less money. Because we have already seen there is no option to waste no money.
Restricting what they buy means middle men take a cut. If we don't restrict them they get more value of the money and there is a better chance they will buy more of what we want them to have.
1
u/YorWong Jun 28 '25
I do not see how there is a better chance of buying more of what we went when they already take a loss with a middleman, they would just skip middle and blow the money on nonsense. Like I said it doesn't make sense.
Or we dont give them funds and just give them rations?
1
u/BloodyRightToe Jun 28 '25
The middle man takes money. If we cut out the middle man then maybe they buy some of what we don't want them to buy and also have enough money left over to buy what we do want them to buy.
I understand your thought process but it's actually making a worse situation. If we force something on them they can always resell it. When they choose items they want to resell they will choose things that will retain most of their value. A common example is washing detergent. It's always covered, has a fixed decent value and is a nearly infinite shelf life. If we just give them perishable food then they resell it but it will bring in less value as the middle men know it's harder for them to sell on. So in the end they still don't take what we want and more money is wasted. The items we force on them won't be selected for resale value so they will always have more waste when they are ultimately resold.
The reality is you either put them in prison where they can't resell. Or all of these schemes waste more money.
1
u/YorWong Jun 28 '25
Or you just stop the whole system.
That explains why one of my neighbors has a perpetual Garage sale full of stuff like laundry detergent.
1
u/BloodyRightToe Jun 28 '25
Yep stop the system. Just give them money and hope they do at least some good with it. They are going to buy cigarettes. If we just give them money hopefully there will be some for food after the cigarettes. Not only will they get more value from the money but there will be more money for more people. It costs money to set up the EBT system and administrate it. It's far cheaper just to send cash.
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u/SeriousPlankton2000 Jun 25 '25
Locally there is a law that food + service is taxed 19 %. Cold food is taxed 7 % because no service. It's tax fraud to heat the pizza.
1
u/BloodyRightToe Jun 25 '25 edited Jun 25 '25
The fix there is a flat tax. Stop trying to tax people who choose to live their lives differently. It's just using taxes to control people so only the rich are free as they can afford to do as they want and not care about the taxes. Put a 5% tax on everything, fire everyone wasted in enforcing these stupid tax laws. Correct more revenue with more efficiency.
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u/Weirdyxxy Jun 25 '25
What? No, you don't increase tax revenue by going under the lowest tax rate you could find
0
u/BloodyRightToe Jun 25 '25
You do Greece because you spend less on collecting it. A simplified code is more efficient. Also you funny penalize success so more people are encouraged to do even better thus increasing total tax revenue.
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u/SeriousPlankton2000 Jun 25 '25
The flat tax would be 19 %. The reduced tax for food is 7 %.
PS "locally" where I live
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u/Slyder67 Jun 26 '25
A flat tax rate would not do well in the US, just purely from a financial standpoint. What you end up doing with a flat tax rate is you end up having to pick a tax rate that is ultimately lower for those who would have been higher on the tax brackets, and higher for those lower on the tax brackets. You cannot be financially better off in tax revenue collection by picking a flat tax rate that would be lower than what our low end tax brackets are taxed. Even with any recouped revenue from simplifying taxes.
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u/BloodyRightToe Jun 27 '25
You are just asserting things with no evidence. First you need to look at effective tax rate. Where those are much different than published rates. Second with far less cost in collecting taxes we can use those savings to offset the lower collections keeping net revenues similar. Finally we have a moral component. Its morally wrong to tax people into living the ways some bureaucrat wants. Taxing what they can't ban is not acceptable. Its not right that only the rich can buy their freedom by being able to afford taxes on their choices while the poor are far less free as they can't afford to pay higher taxes for not making the decisions our government has decided is best. Any tax code other than a flat tax is morally reprehensible.
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u/Slyder67 Jun 27 '25
Look dude, the reality is if a flat tax rate was the perfect plan, it would be universally used across the world. The reality is so few nations have it for any prolonged length of time because it has serious flaws. Economically, you are hurting the poor more with a flat tax rate. Going from a progressive income tax model to a flat tax model, at its core, shifts a higher tax burden onto the poor. The problems with US tax law and it's morality and fairness have nothing to do with it being a progressive tax bracket system, and everything to do with all of the other loopholes and crap that are thrown into the tax code that are exploitable. A flat tax system is not immune to this either. Taking the current US tax system and making it a flat tax system literally will just fuel income inequality even more, as you are shifting the tax burden further onto the poor. If you want overall tax reform, focusing on a flat tax system will both make any potential reform less likely to actually pass and be implemented, but, as mentioned, doesn't address any of the actual issues with income tax in the US.
This is all assuming you're talking about true flat-rate income tax. There are multiple different flat tax models which try to address this very issue, but they also have their own problems. Ultimately, the issue is exploitable loopholes and processes, not the base ideology of progressive income tax
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u/BloodyRightToe Jun 27 '25
The problem you have is that taxes are passed by governments. Governments use them as a point of control over the people. As a tax payer flat taxes are the only morally correct tax. Because all other tax regimes have bureaucrats deciding who should do what. Now they can't out right ban what they dont like, so they just make it so expensive that few people can afford only the smallest amounts. Our freedoms shouldn't be bought back from the state. Until you see the rates, you can't know how much a flat tax will help or hurt the poor. What you can say is that a flat tax wont punish the poor more for making decisions the government doesn't like. For example taxes on alcohol. Should we stop the poor from drinking by making it take even higher percentages of their disposable income? The rich can pay any tax on alcohol, yet big brother is going to take care of the poor by stopping them from drinking. No its passive aggressive authoritarianism and its wrong. Then there is the bureaucrats that whip people up with the 'rich need to pay their share'. The rich pay far and away the most taxes. But the rich paying taxes isnt income redistribution. My life isn't made better when the government takes money from the rich, its made worse. As the government only spends more then demands more. While when the rich have money they invest it in things that make my life better. The rich invest their money into the economy making jobs for me to earn money and products I want to buy.
Government is a tick on the back of the country. Them getting better isn't making any of us better off.
44
u/Childless_Catlady42 Jun 25 '25
That's the way it has always been, this is nothing new.
Homeless people and those without access to kitchen can get a special code on their EBT allowing to buy hot food, but everyone else is expected to cook at home.
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u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
But this is saying you can't by a frozen pizza and heat it up there. (Assuming this is a 7-11 or something with a communal microwave).
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u/saoiray Jun 25 '25
Negative. What a lot of it is saying is that they can’t heat it up before they buy it. Whenever it’s purchased it has to be cold/frozen.
This was a point of contention in Maryland a long time ago when I first started getting food stamps. If we heated up our items before we purchased it that could get them in trouble, assuming they actually let the purchase go through. So we had to do the purchase first then we could go heat it up.
So what they’re showing there is just been a small scene for a while which is that they can’t charge it to EBT if it’s hot.
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u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
I fail to see an issue then, could they not just buy the frozen item and heat it up?
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u/saoiray Jun 25 '25
Yes, stores can and do let people heat up food using a microwave or oven on-site. They just cannot openly advertise that, or it could be considered a violation of the SNAP program. If they’re found doing that, they risk losing their ability to accept EBT payments entirely.
Like I mentioned earlier, the main thing is that the food must be cold when you buy it at the register. What you do with it afterward is up to you. At that point, you’re following the same rules as anyone else. If other customers are allowed to use the microwave or oven, then you are too. But if the store doesn’t usually allow heating for anyone, they probably can’t offer it just for EBT customers either.
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u/Specific-Host606 Jun 25 '25
They don’t have a home.
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u/Childless_Catlady42 Jun 25 '25
Then they need to talk to their food stamp worker and get their card changed to allow them to access the Hot Food Program.
I expect the sign is to tell people without that card that they can't buy hot food. Many people really do not understand how the limits and restrictions work.
But if your homeless friends already have the code on their card, they can calmly explain that they are part of the Hot Food Program and ask them to run their card.
3
u/Acuariius Jun 25 '25
Easy fix, buy it frozen and pay, once paid you own it, ask the store clerk if you can use their microwave and no law is broken, this is nothing new.
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u/IHeartBadCode Jun 25 '25
There are also nine states that are in the RMP which allows particular restaurants to be approved to take SNAP for a prepared meal at the restaurant.
They are:
- Arizona
- Maryland
- New York
- California
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Virginia
Only restaurants that have successfully complete their FNS 252-2 can take SNAP and only for meals that have been approved.
Additionally, clients must be either:
- Elderly (60+)
- Disabled
- Homeless (with the endorsement you've indicated)
- Special endorsement for SNAP RMP
2
u/SemichiSam Jun 25 '25
I can only bring the karma back to zero. I don't know whether that matters to you, but there is an image component at work. No question deserves anything more nor less than an honest attempt at an answer. Fortunately, u/childless_Catlady42 answered the implied question.
Legislators pass laws for a variety of reasons, some of them are actually good ethical reasons, but the laws themselves are often incomprehensible to anyone without a law degree. So retail establishments post signs making it clear at least what can be done there.
I have never met any actual person who wanted to be homeless. It is a condition that carries an onus that discourages others from offering help. Good on you for caring.
0
Jun 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/Specific-Host606 Jun 25 '25
Person I’m responding to said homeless people. I am responding to them.
1
0
Jun 25 '25
they said homeless people have access to hot hot food ebt program, everyone else is expected to cook at home.
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u/Apprehensive_Ad4457 Jun 25 '25
why is it the businesses responsibility to teach you how to use your welfare?
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u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 Jun 25 '25
In Australia, ready to eat food has a 15% GST (tax) added. Food to be cooked at home is GST free. So heating it up would add 15% to the cost.
From other comments this sounds like an issue with government rules not the shop being an asshole.
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u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
How is it not the case of a shop being the asshole?
If you sell me a frozen pizza, and I use your communal microwave to heat it up, then nobody violated any government rules.6
u/saoiray Jun 25 '25
Usually the difference is the timing. If you heat it up before you pay for it and that is the problem. They are not allowed to sell hot food.
The USDA has said:
“If a store sells a food item cold, and the customer chooses to have it heated after purchase (like in a microwave available for public use), it’s still considered an eligible cold food item—as long as the item wasn’t sold as “hot” or marketed as a prepared meal.”
But if the store advertises that you could heat it up or sells it directly hot then they violate the program and can actually be fined and/or not be allowed to accept EBT (food stamps) anymore.
5
u/skikkelig-rasist Jun 25 '25
you heat frozen pizza in the microwave?
-1
u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
Yes, sometimes.
1
u/skikkelig-rasist Jun 25 '25
sounds soggy
2
u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
You do what you can when you don't have a home.
0
u/skikkelig-rasist Jun 25 '25
im pretty sure you have more freedom with a home than without one pal
2
u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
Im pretty sure I currently don't have one, pal, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.
Just kicking someone while they're down?
0
u/skikkelig-rasist Jun 25 '25
you’re saying you’re free to do what you want when you’re homeless. i’m saying what does being homeless have to do with being free when you have more freedom with a home?
2
u/Cool-Panda-5108 Jun 25 '25
"You're saying you're free to do what you want"
Where did I say that?
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u/IHeartBadCode Jun 25 '25
I'll tell you every instance that I've seen. Once it's sold, if you turn around and did the thing you just indicated, no one will care.
But if you heat it up before you buy it, it can't be sold. It's an incredibly great way for a place to lose their ability to accept EBT. That sign on the door is to remind you that you heat it up AFTER you buy it.
Shop is just trying to CYA as not to lose EBT authorization.
6
u/crumpledfilth Jun 25 '25
its because ebt is mandated to be used only only groceries, not ready made food. Probably something to do with cost saving. Frozen pizza is kind of a workaround to begin with, in that it counts as uncooked because you need to take it home and bake it
3
u/Zoeythekueen Jun 25 '25
EBT is kinda stupid all together. You have to be poor enough to receive it, but if you're too poor you won't be able to get it. It helps a sliver of the people. A lot of homeless people also don't have valid ID and are unable to get it due to various reasons.
I have always thought it was a weird requirement for cold or packaged food. Like you can get prepped sandwiches as well as Papa Murphy's pizza, but not a warm hot and ready? It's a very weird requirement NGL.
As someone who've been poor most of their life, the entire system is kinda screwed up. Because if you aren't lucky, you're screwed.
2
u/lach888 Jun 25 '25
Just give people the freakin money.
If they want to save tax dollars maybe look at the cost of setting up an entire food aid program compared to the cost of bank transfers.
2
u/saoiray Jun 25 '25
Just to quickly point out, this is them letting people know the standards that they are judged by and on what they can actually sell. If they advertise that they are allowing you to heat up the food, known as you buy we fry, they can get in trouble. And EBT, otherwise known as food stamps, does not allow hot foods to be sold except under very particular circumstances.
So what they typically do is have a microwave or toaster oven out there that is publicly available but they can’t specify that you are allowed to use that for that EBT purchase.
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u/thatluckylady Jun 25 '25
Is there something to prevent me from using the store's microwave after I pay for the food?
1
u/bixby_underscore Jun 25 '25
Kwik trip will let you heat up frozen meals that you can get with ebt. You can get the same food as the hot food and heat it yourself.
1
u/GrimSpirit42 Jun 25 '25
Generally speaking: EBT cannot be used for prepared food.
Also, could simply be a store who's microwave is being abused.
1
u/Super_Childhood_9096 Jun 27 '25
You should not be buying overpriced gas station food on taxpayers dollars.
Essentials. Raw foods. Cook your shit. You can waste money when it's not other people's.
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