Steve Stockman's staff eatin' healthy and 'beating' the SNAP challenge:

The “SNAP Challenge,” a left-wing publicity stunt intended to make it appear proposed cuts to food stamps would leave families unable to feed themselves, has been debunked this week by the office of Congressman Steve Stockman.

About 30 House Democrats are participating in the “SNAP Challenge” in which someone must feed themselves on $31.50 a week, which Democrats claim is the level of benefits available to a person under the Farm Bill. Democrats have been intentionally buying overpriced food and shopping at high-priced chains to make it appear the cuts go too far.

Donny Ferguson, who serves as Stockman’s communications director and agriculture policy advisor, was able to buy enough food to eat well for a week on just $27.58, almost four dollars less than the $31.50 “SNAP Challenge” figure.

“I wanted to personally experience the effects of the proposed cuts to food stamps. I didn’t plan ahead or buy strategically, I just saw the publicity stunt and made a snap decision to drive down the street and try it myself. I put my money where my mouth is, and the proposed food stamp cuts are still quite filling,” said Ferguson.

“We can cut the proposed benefits by an additional 12.4 percent and still be able to eat for a week,” said Ferguson. “Not only am I feeding myself for less than the SNAP Challenge, I will probably have food left over.”

so how'd he accomplish this feat and debunk the left-wingers? let's see his grocery list for a week (which i'm sure he followed to a T):

Ferguson purchased his food at the Dollar Tree and Shopper’s Food Warehouse located in the 6100 block of Little River Turnpike in Alexandria. It is served by Metrobus and within bike and walking distance of public housing.

For $21.55 Ferguson purchased at Dollar Tree:
Two boxes of Honeycomb cereal
Three cans of red beans and rice
Jar of peanut butter
Bottle of grape jelly
Loaf of whole wheat bread
Two cans of refried beans
Box of spaghetti
Large can of pasta sauce
Two liters of root beer
Large box of popsicles
24 servings of Wyler’s fruit drink mix
Eight cups of applesauce
Bag of pinto beans
Bag of rice
Bag of cookies

For $6.03 at the Shoppers Food Warehouse next door Ferguson bought a gallon of milk and a box of maple and brown sugar oatmeal.

traderdave wrote:I took in some of the UK election coverage on BBC last evening and found it difficult to turn it off. Everything seemed so much different than it does here. Three things that really jumped out at me:

1. They televised the live reading of the election results from each seat(?). In the US, we go by ABC News or whomever "calling" elections for the winning candidates and look for the results on-line in the morning.

2. All of the candidates stood right behind the election official during the reading of the results and the winner gave a speech immediately thereafter, in front of both supporters and detractors. US candidates are locked away in a hotel room to await the results and then address a friendly-only room.

3. Of the two dozen or so locations for which I saw results, voter turnout was never lower than 58% and was more often in the area of 75%. In fact, I just found an article that said "official" overall turnout in the UK is being calculated at 66%. In the US, we are lucky to reach that kind of turnout over two election cycles. You have to go back to 1968 to find voter turnout of at least 60% and all the way to 1900 to find turnout of at least 66% (in Presidential elections).

Anyway, I really found the whole thing interesting. Plus, I got to work on my various UK accents.

Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud Party celebrated a surprisingly strong victory in the March 17 elections after a divisive campaign, but ended up scrambling to scrape together 61 of Parliament’s 120 members into a coalition — and hold on to his premiership. He was forced to make major concessions to the more conservative Jewish Home party, and emerged weakened to lead a government that Israeli experts said was unlikely to last long or do much.
“Netanyahu simply miscalculated,” said Eytan Gilboa, a professor at Bar-Ilan University who specializes in politics and communications. “What you see here is a big political mess that, I think, shows Netanyahu has been too confident.” Of the new coalition, he added, “Nobody in his right mind believes that this will hold for even a short time.”
Mr. Netanyahu and the head of the Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett, appeared together at Israel’s Parliament building shortly before 11 p.m. to tell reporters they had sealed the deal. The two men, who have clashed frequently over politics, policy and personal matters, shook hands after two days of fierce negotiations

Mr. Bennett is expected to serve as education minister, and another Jewish Home member, Ayelet Shaked, as justice minister; both will probably sit in the security cabinet, which makes critical decisions about war and peace. Kulanu’s leader, Moshe Kahlon, a former Likud minister, will become finance minister and will also serve in the security cabinet, along with Moshe Ya’alon of Likud, who is likely to continue as defense minister. Mr. Netanyahu himself will probably double as foreign minister for now.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments, and statements earlier Wednesday by other Likud leaders, suggested that he would soon try to lure Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union as foreign minister in a national unity government. But Mr. Herzog denounced Wednesday night’s deal as “a government of national failure.”
On Twitter, Mr. Herzog called it a “government with no responsibility, stability or governance,” and on Facebook, he said it was “the most weak, narrow and squeezable government in Israel’s history.”
With Mr. Lieberman’s late-in-the-game withdrawal, Mr. Bennett used his added leverage to demand the Justice Ministry for Ms. Shaked, stirring outrage. She is an outspoken hawk on the Palestinian issue who has described African asylum-seekers as a threat to Israel’s Jewish character and has pressed for a “nationality bill” that critics say would disenfranchise Arab citizens.
Nachman Shai, a Zionist Union lawmaker, said giving Ms. Shaked the post “would be like appointing a pyromaniac to head the fire department.” Mouin Rabbani, a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, called the new Israeli government “the most extremist in its history.”

traderdave wrote:3. Of the two dozen or so locations for which I saw results, voter turnout was never lower than 58% and was more often in the area of 75%. In fact, I just found an article that said "official" overall turnout in the UK is being calculated at 66%. In the US, we are lucky to reach that kind of turnout over two election cycles. You have to go back to 1968 to find voter turnout of at least 60% and all the way to 1900 to find turnout of at least 66% (in Presidential elections).

TenuredVulture wrote:
When comparing turnout, you need to be sure the denominators are comparable. Remember, in the UK, 16 and 17 year olds are eligible, so if you're comparing turnout based on population, that will inflate UK numbers a bit.

The Nightman Cometh wrote:You can make an argument your vote is "heard" more in the UK's system than it is here, providing more incentive to vote.

Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office. More than 80 percent of that money, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor’s office.

On 58 occasions, Christie used a debit card to pay a total of $82,594 to Delaware North Sportservice, which operates the concessions at MetLife. The governor’s office did not provide any receipts, business reasons or names of individuals entertained, but defended the expense.

jerseyhoya wrote:He gets a yearly allowance of $95,000 in the state budget to host state functions and whatnot. Food and drink at receptions, a radical concept.

You know it's a fairly reported story though when it opens with the line "Chris Christie’s expense account tells a story of appetite and ambition, one that pits government waste versus the New Jersey governor’s waistline."

SK790 wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:He gets a yearly allowance of $95,000 in the state budget to host state functions and whatnot. Food and drink at receptions, a radical concept.

You know it's a fairly reported story though when it opens with the line "Chris Christie’s expense account tells a story of appetite and ambition, one that pits government waste versus the New Jersey governor’s waistline."

his own grocery bills? i guess you skipped over that part. i'm sure all politicians do it and i'll be happy to call out any democrats who do.

The governor used it to buy $102,495 worth of groceries and alcoholic beverages from retail stores.