Priorities

So for those of you who are used to my PC blogs (mostly about my daughter), you may choose not to read any further, b/c this is a very opinionated point about a controversial subject...priorities. Here's the scoop:

Wednesday, the 1st, my husband and I decide we are completely out of food (seriously, no bread no peanut butter, no milk...nothing) and we MUST go grocery shopping. We carry ourselves down to the local Wal-Mart with our carefully planned grocery list and our meager $150 budget for 2 weeks worth of food. (For those of you who think that is a lot...keep reading).

Some of you are thinking...I thought this was titled priorities, not groceries...I'm getting there.

We get in one of THREE lines that are open for people having more than 20 items in their cart, and wait.....and wait....and wait some more. The lady in front of us has TWO carts FULL of food. Now Chris and I knew it was the first (we were there b/c we had just gotten paid), what we didn't realize was that not only had we just gotten paid, but so did every other person in the military and on Food Stamps (here's where the priorities kicks in).

She goes to pay for her (get this) $400 worth of food with her government issued food stamps, and is declined. After ringing up all those groceries, and making us stand in line for 45 minutes, she does not have the money (or food stamps) to cover it (apparently something was wrong with her card).

Now I am not against people needing assistance. What I am against and what I have a BIG problem with is this:

1) The lady was well over 300lbs and clearly did not need all that food...most of which was junk food (I'm talking chips, brownies, cookies, etc). Am I the only one who thinks they should regulate food stamps like WIC checks (specific items only....ya know....veggies, fruit, meat, bread, eggs, necessity items)?
2) What the heck entitles her to get $400 worth of free food? My husband busts his butt everyday to protect our freedoms and the government gives us $250 in his paycheck (for our whole family) toward food...Tell me how that makes sense.
3) And this is what got me going on the priorities kick to begin with. While this woman is being rung up, she takes out her $300 phone (which I am sure comes with at $80-$100 per month bill) and starts chatting. NOW, if I can't afford to feed my family, then what gives me the right to have those such luxuries?

What happened to budgeting in our country and taking pride in our good names and credit? When did it become okay to take handouts that we don't need just because we are eligible? And why is our government supporting people who clearly do not have the ambition to prioritize and support themselves or who at the least just clearly have very misguided ideals about necesities and luxuries?

In the midst of the financial crisis our country is in, I think we need to tell our government that enough is enough for handouts and bailouts. Let people fall on their butts one good time and they won't do it again. Have we yet to learn that feeding someone without teaching them the skills they need to feed themselves, only lends itself to a bigger problem. Enough of my soap box...I am interested in hearing what you think.