[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/204\/the-lobster-and-steak-welfare-queen#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/204\/the-lobster-and-steak-welfare-queen","headline":"The Lobster and Steak Welfare Queen","name":"The Lobster and Steak Welfare Queen","description":"Controversy has recently been stirred over the \u201cLobster and Steak Welfare Queen\u201d, food stamps users who buy luxury items instead of grocery staples.","datePublished":"2018-07-06","dateModified":"2018-07-26","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin#Person","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FoodStamps.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":100,"height":100},"url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/204\/the-lobster-and-steak-welfare-queen","about":["Normalcy on Foodstamps"],"wordCount":433,"keywords":["204"],"articleBody":"More than 40 million Americans rely on food stamps given to them by the U.S. government, with the intention of the program being to fulfill gaps in earning wages. However, controversy has recently been stirred over the \u201cLobster and Steak Welfare Queen\u201d, food stamps users who buy luxury items instead of grocery staples.In 1976 and on his presidential campaign,\u00a0Ronald Reagan\u00a0scorned what he called the \u201cwelfare queen\u201d, saying \u201cShe has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and is collecting veterans\u2019 benefits on four nonexisting deceased husbands.\u201d And forty years later, there is still an uproar about people on welfare and those using food stamps as either abusing the system or tweaking it for their own benefits.Almost forty years later, the image of the welfare queen is still very much alive, but she\u2019s changed into someone who drives a Cadillac Escalade, has the latest iPhone and, yes, still fills up her grocery cart with lobster and steak and pays for it with an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card. But how well founded is the idea of the welfare queen?Some form or shape of her will always exist, especially when people likeJason Greenslate\u00a0proudly espouse the jobless life and go on welfare to literally buy steak and lobster. The 29-year-old Californian has no fixed address, as he sleeps on the couches of friends and families and uses the $200 he gets per month on buying gourmet food.But people like Greenslate tend to be the exception, not the rule. It\u2019s true that there are people who abuse the system\u2014those people will always exist\u2014but millions of Americans\u00a0do\u00a0depend on social benefits just to keep afloat. For every Greenslate, there are a thousands of Americans who have fallen on tough times and need a hand up. Citizens working multiple jobs, commuting hours each day, living paycheck to paycheck\u2014these are the faces of welfare, not the welfare queen. While a portion of the population will always happily and proudly milk as much as they can out of the system, millions more would gladly trade the shame and stigma associated with going on welfare for the chance to work an honorable job and be able to provide for their families.Because while not everyone may be a fan of steak and lobster, if they do indulge, it\u2019d likely be preferred with the knowledge that it was an option, not a cheat."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Article","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"ID","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/\/ID\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"204","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/\/Article\/\/ID\/\/204\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"The Lobster and Steak Welfare Queen","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Articles\/Article\/ID\/204\/the-lobster-and-steak-welfare-queen#breadcrumbitem"}]}]