SNAP Bans on Soda, Candy in 5 States to Begin on Jan. 1

SGM Jeff Mccloud - There is certainly significant room for improvement and I would be the last person to argue otherwise. Regarding your chicken example, I will only add that the law actually does allow the elderly, disabled (including veterans with disability ratings), and homeless to buy hot/prepared food from stores and restaurants - the question there is whether states have chosen to implement that option.

SPC Joshua Blotzer - I think all recipients would be best served if those who are writing the rules/waivers for their states got a little of their own experience of shopping and preparing meals on a marginal budget and the limited time frame of working full-time, dealing with public transit, gathering kids from school/practice/daycare, etc.
It starts with beans and rice and the rotisserie chicken, then goes up in price per serving from there.
Even the hot, ready to serve meatloaf at my local store is a dollar cheaper than buying the cheapest lb of ground beef there.

SGM Jeff Mccloud - The price disparity gets even worse for people living in food deserts. And that's a proposal I can easily get on board with.

SGM Jeff Mccloud
Pennsylvania Allowed Snap Cards To Be Used To Purchase Cold Prepared Foods From Restaurants Such As Salads And Cold Cuts.
They Could Use Their Access Cards,Which Is Their Money Card To Purchase Any Food.
The State Removed All The Terminals For Them About 10 Years Ago.
A Local Convenience Store Was Shut Down And The Owner Arrested Because He Was Selling Cigarettes And Beer And Ringing Them Up As Food And Dairy Products, So People Could Use Their SNAP Cards.This Happens A lot, Most Businesses That Do It Have Not Been Caught YET .

My hometown had a produce store owner who was doing this. He was caught and is doing time at the same prison I retired from. LOL

LTC Trent Klug - When I had my repair shop they had paper food stamp coupons and I had people wanting to pay for their repairs with food stamps. I tried reporting it to DHS but they didn't want to hear it.

Cpl Vic Burk It figures. No wonder I hate government most days.

LTC Trent Klug - That only happens in red states. Blue states actively look the other way.

COL (Join to see) - These two situations are fundamentally different and not comparable. Military retirement pay is earned deferred compensation—part of the total compensation package agreed upon when someone enters service. After 20+ years (in your case 28), it vests as a defined benefit based on rank, years served, and basic pay, funded through congressional appropriation as a recruitment and retention tool for a career that demands unique sacrifices, risks, frequent relocations, and separation from family—conditions most civilian careers do not impose.

It is not equivalent to means-tested welfare, disability benefits unrelated to service, or other taxpayer-supported programs that serve different purposes. Comparing it to those overlooks the distinct nature of military service and the deliberate policy choices made by the nation to honor long-term commitment.

I have to question why a senior officer would choose sarcasm over straightforward discussion on this topic. The facts stand on their own without needing defensive exaggeration or straw-man arguments about grocery carts and personal eating habits—no one is entitled to scrutinize your private life, and no serious critique of the system has suggested otherwise.

Cpl Vic Burk LTC Matthew Schlosser LTC Trent Klug

SPC Jeff Daley, PhD - Well stated Brother.

SPC Jeff Daley, PhD Well said Jeff!

I can still remember hustling out groceries for a customers who paid for their food with food stamps who also had brand new cars.

I worked two careers funded by federal tax dollars, and I worked a third funded by state tax dollars. Every thing done in those jobs was subject to public scrutiny by outside sources.

There should be limits on the purchases made by those who receive government assistance. Snacks and soda, while they are food, are luxury items not nutritional enough to sustain a person or a family, yet that's what I see in the carts of folks in addition to buying necessary food items. I get it, the snacks and drinks taste good. I like them as well,but if a person is bad enough off to need assistance from us to buy sustenance, then the people have the right to say what can be bought with that assistance.

LTC Trent Klug - I see that too. People on food stamps with cars that are much newer and better than the average person. I get that they need reliable transportation to get to and from one place to another or, maybe even to get to work and home for those who work but they certainly don't need a BMW or Cadillac to accomplish this. A base model Chevy, Ford, Toyota or whatever will do the job just as well and a much lower cost.