WELFARE: Some rules needed

A legislator in New York has proposed legislation to prevent the use of food stamps to buy lobster, cigarettes and other expensive items.

And...so? If this means anything, it’s that rules like the one being proposed in New York will have little effect on food stamp recipients and thus should not be particularly controversial. As always, it must be reiterated that no one is suggesting that SNAP families be forbidden from buying lobster, cigarettes, Monster drinks, or birthday cakes. They are as free as anyone to buy those products.

And just like anyone, they should have to use their own money to do so. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

The argument actually gets even more ridiculous. At Think Progress, the writer insinuates that this kind of legislation runs counter to conservative principles of individual responsibility. “Telling adult shoppers what choices they can and can’t make for their families pushes people in the opposite direction, disempowering them to make up their own minds about their basic nourishment,” they write.

And again, no one is telling adult shoppers what to buy. The bill is telling adult shoppers what they can buy...WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S TAX MONEY! Why is that so hard to understand? Why do liberals think that welfare is some kind of natural-born right?

These assistance programs are important. We don’t want citizens dying because they fell on hard times, and we certainly don’t want children to suffer for the failures of their parents. But reasonable restrictions on what can and cannot be purchased with food stamps not only make sense, they ensure the long-term sustainability of the safety net. This shouldn’t even be controversial, but...you know...Democrats.

RALPH HALLOCK

Hayden