"Food stamp fraud" brings up the image of Ronald Reagan's apocryphal welfare queen, and the Des Moines Register tut-tuts its disapproval. But they don't have tales of thousands of dollars or even tens of dollars. ... Yes, some of the actions described in the article seem tacky to someone raised in the middle class. But the tone is condescending. Every example in the article is the stereotype of cash for cigarettes. But there's a few other things you can't buy with your food stamp cards. Like toilet paper. Or food for the pet that may be your only source of comfort, your only "luxury." ... We support our weakest neighbors with just enough money to fill their bellies with sugar and starch, deny them a hand in getting a bar of soap, then look down upon them because they're dirty. We brainwash people with cigarette ads, berate them when they're too poor to sustain the addiction, and won't even pay for a patch to slap on their arms.