SC

SC Waiver: Just WIC It

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has yet to submit her administration’s waiver to the federal government seeking reform of food stamp disbursements within the Palmetto State. In other words she’s not exactly chomping at the bit to fire the first salvo in her “War on Fat.” Why not? Because aside from…

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has yet to submit her administration’s waiver to the federal government seeking reform of food stamp disbursements within the Palmetto State.

In other words she’s not exactly chomping at the bit to fire the first salvo in her “War on Fat.”

Why not? Because aside from her rhetoric regarding “poor people making healthier choices,” it’s not entirely clear whether Haley’s office (or her Department of Social Services – which administers the state’s food stamp program) has any clue what it’s doing.

Which obviously wouldn’t be a first …

Anyway, in an effort to help Haley speed things up we’d like to throw out the following suggestion: Just ask the feds to apply their existing standards from another food stamp program that’s currently operating in the state.

We’re referring to the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program – which already has an exhaustive list of cheap, healthy foods on its pre-approved menu.

Seriously … why doesn’t the state just ask permission from the feds to expand the WIC list to cover all food stamp beneficiaries?

Hold up … this website recently ripped big government for its efforts to crack down on sugary drinks in New York … so why are we supporting efforts to force food stamp recipients to make healthier dietary choices? Isn’t that inconsistent? And inconsistent with our libertarian-leaning beliefs?

No. Beggars can’t be choosers, people …

Also, if our state’s ever-expanding legions of ever-expanding waistlines are going to continue saddling us with an ever-expanding Medicaid bill … then asking them to shovel healthier fare down their word holes doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

Of course as we’ve noted consistently throughout this debate, Haley’s real focus ought to be getting more people off of food stamps. Because a state isn’t in “recovery” when it has to dole out $1.4 billion annually on food stamp subsidies.

***

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12 comments

Smirks March 12, 2013 at 3:19 pm

They’d have to drastically expand what WIC lets you get. People who have food stamps shouldn’t be barred from buying canned veggies, for instance, but WIC has no provision to allow one to buy a can of beans or corn. WIC should be limited because it is intended to force parents to only buy things that their infants and children need with it. Food stamps doesn’t require that kind of discretion.

It is far easier to categorize food and place limits on certain categories, such as junk food and meats. Expect certain lobbying groups representing junk food and meat to fight that one, though. Will pizza still count as a vegetable?

Reply
sweepin March 12, 2013 at 4:40 pm

Processed food interests whether meats, milling and others, American Farm Bureau, and commodity handling and processing companies will fight any changes tooth and nail.

Most people have no idea the lobbying effort that goes into protecting the Food Stamp program, the least of which are the interests that protect the “welfare state” as many call it.

Reply
dwb619 March 12, 2013 at 4:48 pm

I would suggest that the farm lobby is the biggest benefactor of the food stamp program. Most certainly its biggest advocate.

Reply
Smirks March 12, 2013 at 3:19 pm

They’d have to drastically expand what WIC lets you get. People who have food stamps shouldn’t be barred from buying canned veggies, for instance, but WIC has no provision to allow one to buy a can of beans or corn. WIC should be limited because it is intended to force parents to only buy things that their infants and children need with it. Food stamps doesn’t require that kind of discretion.

It is far easier to categorize food and place limits on certain categories, such as junk food and meats. Expect certain lobbying groups representing junk food and meat to fight that one, though. Will pizza still count as a vegetable?

Reply
sweepin March 12, 2013 at 4:40 pm

Processed food interests whether meats, milling and others, American Farm Bureau, and commodity handling and processing companies will fight any changes tooth and nail.

Most people have no idea the lobbying effort that goes into protecting the Food Stamp program, the least of which are the interests that protect the “welfare state” as many call it.

Reply
dwb619 March 12, 2013 at 4:48 pm

I would suggest that the farm lobby is the biggest benefactor of the food stamp program. Most certainly its biggest advocate.

Reply
You know me March 12, 2013 at 3:25 pm

Since she has “packed on the pounds” in the last couple of years, and on the taxpayers dime, I doubt she has a clue about healthy choices.

Reply
You know me March 12, 2013 at 3:25 pm

Since she has “packed on the pounds” in the last couple of years, and on the taxpayers dime, I doubt she has a clue about healthy choices.

Reply
surfer, the web, that is March 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm

Some guy on Nikki’s facebook page just asked if she were expecting a baby.

Reply
surfer, the web, that is March 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm

Some guy on Nikki’s facebook page just asked if she were expecting a baby.

Reply
Crooner March 12, 2013 at 5:19 pm

Food stamps, and other “safety net” programs remind me of the old saw about beer: you don’t buy it- you simply rent it. This Federal money that everyone gripes about is in the hands of the poor for mere nanoseconds before it is transferred to corporate America in the form of paid for goods and services.
Face it: Corporate America does a better job of liberating tax dollars from the government (either directly or indirectly, as outlined above) than a stripper does of liberating cash from a bunch of drunken bachelor partiers.

Reply
Crooner March 12, 2013 at 5:19 pm

Food stamps, and other “safety net” programs remind me of the old saw about beer: you don’t buy it- you simply rent it. This Federal money that everyone gripes about is in the hands of the poor for mere nanoseconds before it is transferred to corporate America in the form of paid for goods and services.
Face it: Corporate America does a better job of liberating tax dollars from the government (either directly or indirectly, as outlined above) than a stripper does of liberating cash from a bunch of drunken bachelor partiers.

Reply

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