Food Stamps Gone Wild!

Yesterday was a hot one as I drove past the familiar yellow truck making tasty frozen deliveries in a neighborhood.
I thought to myself how good ice cream would be right about now. But my family is on a budget and we had dinner waiting at home and cold soda.
The I noticed something new on the door of the truck. Schwans accepts food stamps. In Washington State it is the Quest Card.
I started to question what I read so I pulled over to ask the driver and he confirmed that they take Food Stamps. I could not believe it. Papa Murphy accepts food stamps as well, and I am sure there are others.
While I am watching every penny those on State Assistance can buy what I can not justify. When our state has a huge deficit we can afford to allow people to purchase what I deem luxury food products. This is intolerable. I can not afford it but I am paying for others to enjoy it?
My grandmother grew up in a poor family. My great grandmother kept the family fed by cooking for the wealthy in Seattle. Those who employed her knew that she was trying to make ends meet and allowed her to take home the left overs for her children. My grandmother was one of the older kids and she did go hungry when there was not enough. I support programs to help those in need. It would have helped my family here and there over the years.
But now it is obviously being abused.Where do you draw the line? In my opinion we should offer vouchers for basics such as hamburger,chicken,, potatoes, bread, milk, fruit, cheese, and peanut butter and even a few essentials like toilet paper and tooth paste.We should not allow luxury items. This is meant for when you are down and out and need to keep your stomach from growling- not just to satisfy the munchies.
What do you think?

It is our Job to Distract the Republicans...

These are the words I woke up to this morning as I stumbled into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. You guessed it, Nancy Pelosi strikes again.

I thought to myself- is this the job of the Speaker of the house, the 3rd in line to the Presidency? Do we not elect them to represent us and look out for the future of this great nation. How many times have we all heard that so and so is "reaching across the isle" to the other party as they try and work out solutions for all of the citizens.

Politics is about compromise.It is working together for a common good. It is bringing ideas forward and listening to others, so that we can make choices that work for the majority.It is a blending of ideas that pushes us forward and makes what was a good idea into one that is great.

Distracting the opposition would not be in the job description. As a Realtor would I make any progress by trying to distract the other agent? I would be working against myself and negating the objective...negotiating on behalf of my client to complete the transaction.

As long as politicians use distraction as way to obtain there objective we will not have economic recovery. We will have a game of Cat and Mouse and our country will suffer as a result.

The Founding fathers did not agree on every aspect. They did however compromise when needed to form the nation that survives to this day. How much time do we have left if we have truly adopted these techniques and forgotten our path?