Millionaires are now legally entitled to collect food stamps as long as they have little or no monthly income. Thirty-five states have abolished asset tests for most food-stamp recipients. These and similar "paperwork reduction" reforms advocated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are turning the food-stamp program into a magnet for abuses and absurdities.
The Obama administration is far more enthusiastic about boosting food-stamp enrollment than about preventing fraud. Thanks in part to vigorous federally funded campaigns by nonprofit groups, the government's AmericaCorps service program, and other organizations urging people to accept government handouts, the number of food-stamp recipients has soared to 44 million from 26 million in 2007, and costs have more than doubled to $77 billion from $33 billion.
The USDA's Food and Nutrition Service now has only 40 inspectors to oversee almost 200,000 merchants that accept food stamps nationwide. The Government Accountability Office reported last summer that retailers who traffic illegally in food stamps by redeeming stamps for cash or alcohol or other prohibited items "are less likely to face criminal penalties or prosecution" than in earlier years.
Lax attitudes toward fraud are spurring swindles across the nation:
Bovard's piece highlights incredible modes of outright fraud, committed without fear of prosecution. He concludes:
H.L. Mencken quipped that the New Deal divided America into "those who work for a living and those who vote for a living." The explosion in the number of food-stamp recipients tilts the political playing field in favor of big government. The more people who become government dependents, the more likely that democracy will become a conspiracy against self-reliance.
We have more government employees than ever, yet we can't seem to control the fraud that runs rampant through programs like food stamps, subsidized housing, and medicaid. These programs are meant to be a safety net, not a way of life, and certainly not a profitable business for cheats and crooks. If the gov't cannot run these programs, perhaps they should be contracted out to private businesses. Could the private sector do a better job screening applicants for genuine need, rooting out fraud, and prosecuting thieves and liars? Probably. One thing is for certain; it would be damn hard to do a worse job.
There's no suitable thread for me to attach this to, so I'm putting it here.
ReplyDeleteThis is how Britain honours those killed in the line of duty:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8599504/War-dead-to-be-driven-down-side-streets-to-avoid-the-public.html
From selsey.steve's link:
ReplyDelete“I am not sure taking coffins in hearses past schools, past families, past married quarters is necessarily the thing that everybody would wish to see … the focus must be on the families of the dead service personnel. They are the people who care most. That is where our focus is.”
Heaven forbid that children and families see first hand the price of freedom. *gasp*
Britain has gone to hell in a handbasket. Andrew Robathan should be fired.
This is making me furious. Two points.
ReplyDeleteHipsters on Food Stamps
These students, etc., are actually defensive about spending their food stamps on the best of the best foods. In my world, if you're taking a handout, you owe it to the person/people whose money you are accepting for a temporary help to buy the most economical items you possibly can and get off the tax payer's back as soon as possible. Apparently, this isn't the case with the entitlement generation.
Second, FNS relaxed requirements so that elegibility is based on income - not income and assets, as it previously was. So now I'm hearing the stories about lottery winners and others with no income but plenty of assets receiving food stamps.
Grrrr.
I added some typos in honor of DWT's recent birthday.
ReplyDelete:-)
Food stamps are easy to get. You can drive a Lexus, own a McMansion with acreage, have a couple of mega $$ pensions in the bag, have a six-figure 401(k) resting securely in the bank, AND draw food stamps. In Arkansas, the state will also pay your school tuition (even if you already have a degree), buy your books, and fill up your gas tank once a week.
ReplyDeleteAt my university, we have several blue-state union transplants (middle-aged, with bachelor degrees) who are taking full advantage of Arkansas' educational largesse, much to the anger of the local young people who are working and clawing their way for their FIRST degree, while working and raising kids.
The system is upside down, and beyond ridiculous.