From what I'm reading here, being poor enough for food assistance must be great fun!
Long overdue-will be fun to watch
- Thread starter CAJUNLAWYER
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AND you couldn't get a US Attorney to prosecute them on a bet.People used to sell actual food stamps for 50 cents on the dollar. Then buy what they wanted
So the came out with EBT cards, well, guess what? they sell those also along with their pin number.
Great system
Bodegas in NYC have been selling everything including blunts, duece bags (now 10 due to inflation, lol), rocks, and liquor, for food stamps and 5lb govt blocks of cheese, for many years before.
And nothing will stop it.
And nothing will stop it.
If required to have x number of fraud specialists per x $ of aid provided, any governmental agency can shut off the bulk of the small frauds that are now so widely practiced. That's the biggest victory. Prosecution? Good luck.
One afternoon in the late '90s I got a request from our state agency in charge of 'general assistance,' which at that time was $200-$300 monthly for folks who had exhausted eligibility for all other programs. Seems they were sending a few hundred more gen asst checks to Colmbus, NM than there were mailboxes, so they sent a guy down to coordinate name information with the USPS there - they wanted my officer there just in case. After one day, nearly all gen asst checks to Columbus were shut off, as folks were making up names and IDs for shared PO boxes. One day and time for two state employees was all it cost.
The above would be much easier now with digitalization, but one needs to focus scarce resources on it. Smaller government is only better government if it's not stupid and misdirected small govt.
One afternoon in the late '90s I got a request from our state agency in charge of 'general assistance,' which at that time was $200-$300 monthly for folks who had exhausted eligibility for all other programs. Seems they were sending a few hundred more gen asst checks to Colmbus, NM than there were mailboxes, so they sent a guy down to coordinate name information with the USPS there - they wanted my officer there just in case. After one day, nearly all gen asst checks to Columbus were shut off, as folks were making up names and IDs for shared PO boxes. One day and time for two state employees was all it cost.
The above would be much easier now with digitalization, but one needs to focus scarce resources on it. Smaller government is only better government if it's not stupid and misdirected small govt.
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fiasconva
US Veteran
OMG! What are they going to do when they can't use their cards to fill up their shopping carts at Walmart and Target with half-priced candy the day after Halloween, Easter, and Christmas???
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Hey, that government peanut butter is a heck of a lot healthier than the stuff sold commercially. A lot of it goes to school lunch programs, but Uncle could make out selling the stuff. Probably better & cheaper than the "organic" stuff too.
We've been in trouble for a long time. Heck, there's a store over on the West End ( Pittsburgh) that was selling cigarettes at the time for like 3 for a dollar.
I knew about an older man with cancer but needed money more than pain pills. He had these 30 mg slow release oxycodone pills that his son was selling for $30 apiece. The son OD'ed and the man ended up dying of the cancer.
After person A got in a bad accident, the first thing person B would ask was "What did they give you for pain?"
Yeah, we're still in trouble here.
I gotta worry about my son getting shot when all he's doing is robbing the store.
I knew about an older man with cancer but needed money more than pain pills. He had these 30 mg slow release oxycodone pills that his son was selling for $30 apiece. The son OD'ed and the man ended up dying of the cancer.
After person A got in a bad accident, the first thing person B would ask was "What did they give you for pain?"
Yeah, we're still in trouble here.
I gotta worry about my son getting shot when all he's doing is robbing the store.
Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake". They chopped off her head.
A colleague at the community college I taught at in the 2000s to 2012 got a pain pill habit that apparently everyone but me knew about. I was teaching a night class when he walked in, sat down, and talked about a half-dozen topics of which I knew nothing, passed out briefly, then went down to his English class. I immediately notified security and the division chair - the later investigation revealed he would hit up anyone on campus with surgeries, injuries, or chronic pain for 'just a pill or two' in addition to a prescription scam.
He was fired (of course) and was dead within 3 or 4 years. Apparently he had undiagnosed cancer but didn't know until inoperable because he had no pain. Tough manure - addiction can be an illness, but actively scamming to support a habit is another altogether.
Terry G
Member
Our local small town Grocery store sticks to the rules. Still, you'll get some Welfare Momma trying out the new Cahiers patience. One Woman ahead of me picked the wrong one to mess with. The Cashier looked about sixteen and was quiet and friendly. Momma decided on not cooking that day and a bunch of prepared food on the no/no list and a 30 pack of Beer. The young lady told her that stuff was a nogo. Momma had a fit and was screaming and the Cashier canceled the entire transaction which was well within her authority. It took gut's, which she had. Momma went off still swearing a blue streak after the Manager told her she was barred from shopping there any longer. It made my day. I asked the Manager if he would give the Cashier a $20 bill and not say it was from me.
Model19man
Member
I worked in a 7-11 in the 1970's. If a person presented food stamps for payment we would take them but it had to be food. No beer, no cigarettes etc. If I remember right they could buy soda pop with food stamps.
Guaranteed there is already a workaround in the underground economy. Having worked "welfare eligibility" in both NJ and FL (6 mos in each place, thank goodness) I can personally testify to the "resourcefulness" of such folks that if they put it to productive use, real intelligence would ensue instead of artificial. Joe
My DIL had an EBT card because food stamps were "demeaning". If you need the hand out you ought to have to wear a NASCAR jacket. Anyway when we would go over to the house to visit our granddaughter I would look in the fridge, she had stuff I couldn't afford and they never ate leftovers. I remember dating gals that were on welfare, things seemed to be a lot grimmer back in the 70's with the WIC programs. They were given a certain amount of monthly money and a couple hundred bucks in food stamps with the option to buy more food stamps with the money they were given, rent was covered as I recall. I had one little girlfriend I would take to K-Mart and give her $20, she would run in and come out looking like a million bucks, my little welfare queen. She went to school, kept a job as a barmaid and raised three kids. Ended up with a good job in retail and was living proof you can make do on less and still be a success. She had nothing in excess, bare minimum, grew a garden, made ends meet.
LVSteve
Member
Back in the UK in the middle distance past, my father said to me, "I don't know a single poor bloke who is ever short of money for beer and cigarettes."
Somehow we have engineered a society such that I now say, "I don't know a single poor person who is ever short of money for beer, cigarettes, gas for their Escalade/Navigator, and kibble for a pack of pitbulls."
What grinds my gears the most is that they all drive trucks and SUVs from 2020 on. How the heck does that work?
Somehow we have engineered a society such that I now say, "I don't know a single poor person who is ever short of money for beer, cigarettes, gas for their Escalade/Navigator, and kibble for a pack of pitbulls."
What grinds my gears the most is that they all drive trucks and SUVs from 2020 on. How the heck does that work?
BLACKHAWKNJ
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On another board I used to visit a Canadian member noted that in the Dominion the so-called "distressed" families always had money for beer and weed and the kids had to be enrolled in school nutrition programs. In many NYC schools the tightest security programs are in the lunchroom to keep the kids from sneaking out food.
On YouTube you can watch the video "Swipe Yo' EBT !" which explains eligibility requirements.
On YouTube you can watch the video "Swipe Yo' EBT !" which explains eligibility requirements.
fiasconva
US Veteran
jeffrefrig, that actually happened a few years ago in a city near here. Perp robbed a store, left, and thinking the owner recognized him, returned to shoot him. Another customer intervened and he and the customer got into shootout and he was killed. His father actually tried to sue the customer. One of our local anti-gun tv stations even did an interview with him. He said on the interview, " He didn't have to shoot my boy. All he was doing was robbing the store." That's one I'll never forget!
Pop once went fishing when they were kids during the depression. They caught a LOT of fish. Went around the neighborhood to see if anyone wanted any. Even though times were hard their neighbors wanted to know if the fish had Been CLEANED!!!!!!
50 some years ago when I was a kid, there were welfare Cadillacs parked in front of of shacks.
He who has the gold makes the rules. Or as it applies to this situation - if you don't like being told how to spend your subsidy, don't take it.
