Now Food Stamps Buy Tattoos, Guns, Smut And Manicures

Democrats and Republicans joined hands and delivered legislation to the desk of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick that would have prohibited individuals receiving food stamps from utilizing those instruments to buy pornography, tattoos, guns, jewelry and manicures, and Patrick vetoed the legislation, saying:

“I’m not going to do anything that makes vulnerable people beg for their benefits. This notion of humiliating poor people has got to be separated from how we make a program, and frankly separated and disposed of, from how we make a program work and work well.”

According to the Boston Herald, Patrick's "veto rejected bans on the use of EBT cards for tattoos, guns, porn, body piercings, jewelry, fines and bail... saying the independent EBT Card Commission had ruled out the idea of banning specific products “for reasons of feasibility, enforceability (and) cost.” Calling the bi-partisan solution "political grandstanding," Patrick then had the gall to add, “Nobody is more concerned about fraud than we are.” Massachusetts House Minority Leader Brad Jones shot back: “He’s accusing us of political grandstanding. Well, I think he’s pandering to a political clientele who are in support of him and he wants to maintain that support. ... It would seem to indicate to me this isn’t something he wants to go forward.”