[PilotMan]

I've been on EBT twice. However, you assume that everyone who qualifies is actually getting assistance. Many aren't because of time, pride, the application process itself. I know that the last time we applied we had an appointment and still my wife nearly had to leave because her 4 hour wait was running against the time she had to get home to be with the kids.

In lower income areas where EBT is found you will also find higher prices at the local grocery. EBT does help families, it was a huge help for us, however it's also a direct cash transaction straight to the private sector. This is something that is not generally considered when it comes to discussions of SNAP. Every penny of it will go directly to a business.

EBT, along with TANF are both good for helping the poor. Frankly there will always be people who are on assistance. They will never work, even if they have the ability. There are people who will always be on assistance who will never work because of an undiagnosed mental disorder. I'm ok with that. Every business has a certain amount of shrink.

I'm ok with small amounts of loss. Nothing is 100% efficient. Those programs are very helpful in lifting people out of severe poverty. The overall cost of these programs v. the number of people that they help is worth it. It's worth it for our society to help make sure that there is a floor with which we won't allow people to live under. The problem is that these very same safety nets have been slowly shrunk, and stripped away over the years in the name of self help (as in do it yourself) and budget cuts.

Sure you can say that the overall number of people on assistance has grown drastically over the last 6 years. It has and it further illustrates how closely people were living to the edge of financial destruction and for how long. The market and economic collapse that we witnessed still has long lasting, rippling effects in our country. Businesses are making record profits yet real income and wage increase has eluded us. People are still making do with less and until those numbers start to go up you will still have record numbers getting help. I wish even more people were getting help. The amount of need is staggering.