Who are these Mercedes driving food stamp recipients people keep seeing?

[Green_Lantern]

I have heard this anecdote about a thousand times and I've been called naive for not believing it.

I think it is more likely that they see a black person driving a Mercedes and automatically assume they could not legitimately own a Mercedes.

[phantom power]

1. they must all be hiding with the cadillac-driving welfare queens from the 80s

[jwirr]

5. My thoughts exactly. If I am not mistaken there is a limit to the value of the car you can own. If

your car is more than that value you have to sell it. The only way around this is to not be able to sell it.

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. You see, the Cadillacs became a problem. The Escalades are about 4 inches too long and 2 inches too

tall. So they bought the Mercedes fleet because they were just the right length. Now they are waiting for the car elevator grant to come through.

[RebelOne]

18. I remember seeing one in Miami at a supermarket.

I was behind this black lady who bought a large order of groceries with food stamps. When I went out to the parking lot, she was loading those groceries into a brand-new Cadillac.

[appleannie1]

2. I have never seen anyone driving a Mercedes that receives food stamps and have taken

a disabled friend to the Food Bank numerous times. No Mercedes there either. In fact, I have to wonder how some of their cars actually run.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Used mercedes are plentiful and cheap.

Harder to buy a honda in this price range.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/cto?query=mercedes&srchType=T&minAsk=500&maxAsk=3000

[Erose999]

11. Same with BMW's. Once the new wears off the value plummets. And Mercedes styling updates are often

decades apart, so its easy for the uninformed to mistake a 10-15 year old Benz for a current model.

[WI_DEM]

4. If only the politicians and media paid attention to CORPORATE WELFARE

which is far wider and far more expensive and more corrupt than any person receiving food stamps.

[Autumn]

6. The ones I find disgusting are the military men and women in fatigues down at the food stamp office

with their families. No fucking way in hell our military members and their families should have to apply for food stamps. That's just disgusting. The dept of Human Services used to be next to the VA clinic and 2 or 3 times a month we would go there for my Husbands doctor appointment. Never saw a Mercedes there but a lot of cars with Fort Carson stickers.

[WhollyHeretic]

7. Pretty much just made up. One thing that never gets mentioned though is if you are a foster parent

you get food stamps automatically.

[coalition_unwilling]

10. Another thing that is seldom mentioned is that children are the

principal beneficiaries of the supplemental nutrition assistance program. On another thread, someone quoted the figure of 50% of recipients are children. (Now granted, the benefits accrue to the debit card of the parent or guardian, but those benefits accrue because there are children in the family on whose behalf the parent or guardian is acting. Hope that heads off a potential right-wing canard.)

[Lasher]

9. Many people on food stamps can't get to the store.

I have picked up groceries for such people and I have used their food stamp card to pay for their food. I don't have a Mercedes but my point is, people can jump to conclusions.

[Ezlivin]

12. Oh yeah, I see it ALL the time

They usually arrive in this:

[L0oniX]

17. +1

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Well in California it will become real soon

I will tell you why... they changed the rules this year. You do not need to sell your newer car, regardless of brand, which you are keeping to try to get to a job, as bad paying as it may be, or to interviews. With the collapse of 2008 they realized that many folks who do have fairly expensive vehicles, can't afford to sell them right now.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

14. Now they don't even buy American-made cars?

[SoutherDem]

15. I have heard things like this my whole life.

Yet, I have never seen it. Back in the days when it really was coupon books, it was obvious who was on food stamps, if you watched them go to their car it was usually an old car not in a great shape.

I also have hear claims of how "all blacks are on welfare", "if a black owns a Mercedes it is because they are drug dealers", "they have a job which they don't deserve and would otherwise be fired if they were not black", or "they can only afford it because they are on welfare and food stamps". Basically racism.

I have also heard ridiculous claims of Welfare and Food Stamp fraud, where fake statistics like 90%, were thrown out with no proof at all. Sadly, I still hear ridiculous claims of ramped fraud with no proof but no longer necessarily hear it in reference to black people but poor people in general.

I do live in the deep south and these racist comments have all but disappeared (at least in unsolicited public discussion). But, as a kid it was a common conversation among lower middle class white people.

[Puzzledtraveller]

16. They do exist, been doing eligibility for almost 4 years

Though there is a reason. Many states lifted the resource component on eligibility. I had a single person household applicant, able bodied who received a 275,000.00 severance package, lump sum. The only thing it prevented was from them receiving expedited benefits. As they had no technical income anymore, the money they received was not counted against their determination.

[waddirum]

19. Mercedes is just a car company like any other car company

In the U.S., we associate Mercedes with luxury, as that is how it is generally marketed here.

But Mercedes makes every level of car, truck, bus, cargo van, etc. and has for years.

You can purchase as used Mercedes diesel on eBay or craigslist for cash. I've seen a bumper sticker which reads, "The finest in German Engineering falls off of this car".

[SOS]

20. Five step plan to buy Mercedes with food stamps:

1. Receive the maximum $50 a week FS benefit for an individual.
2. Sell them for cash at a 50% reduction.
3. Stop eating.
4. Save cash for 71 years.
5. Purchase S-class Mercedes for $92,000 (msrp)

It's easy to do and very common.

[kestrel91316]

21. Well, frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if certain Republicans with a ton of money had figured out

some way to game the system to get benefits............they are the worst sort of hypocrites, and projection is high art to them.

[dodger501]

22. People believe what they want to believe

A local morning radio show - I would not call them right wingnuts as such, just clueless white people - someone said they saw Escalades and other SUV's in a Section 8 housing parking lot. Well, of course that proves it!
Anyway, I have heard firsthand from people swearing they saw same such things themselves.