Federal assistance programs need better regulation

Over the past four years I have sporadically worked at a well known grocery chain. Having worked as a cashier, and worked in management, I have seen things that have made me question the state's management over programs such as WIC, TANF and Food Stamps.

Nearly 2.8 million Texans receive monthly assistance in the form of food stamps. The number receiving food stamps is an increase of 11 percent from the previous year. With the harsh economic climate it is not surprising that there has been a steep incline in people requiring assistance. By no means am I advocating the disbanding of programs like this, because many people do need assistance. However, having seen the way money is spent, the government needs to find a better way to monitor the programs.

TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) allows people to take money out of the account and spend it towards bills. However, the huge problem with this is that the money can be taken out and spent towards anything. Usually people who lose their jobs receive the money as a temporary way to provide for their families and stay afloat while looking for a new job.

The biggest issue I have seen with this program is the money trail. Many times I have seen people take money out of their account, turn around and immediately head for the alcohol aisle, or cigarettes. Why should mine, or your tax money be sent to a program that so obviously lacks an immediate money trail that monitors where this money is going?

The Food Stamp program irks me for many reasons. I give credit to WIC for at least requiring nutritional and healthy items to be purchased and not just anything. The food stamp program, however, leaves anything and everything up for grabs as long as it's not a hot food item. Cakes, candy bars and a variety of junk food is readily available, and that money often goes to it. It's very aggravating to constantly see families come through lines spending $70, $80 or even $90 on food for parties or birthdays. I do believe that every child should have a birthday, but why again am I responsible for supplying the food to this party in the form of my tax money when I may not even be making enough to supply food for my own apartment? Like I said, programs like this are needed for people who need assistance, not for parties.

I recently read an article calling for an overhaul of the entire food stamp program. Reading the headline gave me hope that maybe, finally the United States congress, or at least the Texas senate had finally figured out that people were readily taken advantage of all of us. The deeper I read however, the more I realized that politicians have a warped perception on the reality of these programs. Politicians were voicing the need for these programs to have more money. Apparently the way money worked out it appeared that a person likely lived on under $174 a month.

I find this statistic highly fascinating considering I've never seen someone have an amount under $400 on their card. In fact I once saw a family with more than $2,000 per month in food stamps. Congressmen should work in a grocery store and see this for themselves firsthand. Two hours as a checker would give any person a different perception on just how these programs really work.

With the budget recently becoming an issue and cuts starting in places like education, how much longer will all of us continue to turn a blind eye to this problem. I failed to discuss fraud that occurs on a daily basis within each of these programs, for that in itself is an opinion article all its own. Hopefully this has given you reason to actually think about programs like this and think about where taxes are going.

Jennifer Patterson is a public relations senior from Rice.