Posted on 03/16/2016 10:32:48 AM PDT by MtnClimber
(Colorado) Between May and November last year, 5,000 welfare recipients withdrew taxpayer money more than 10,000 times at casinos, liquor stores and pot shops despite a new state law requiring agencies to block the abuse, officials told lawmakers Tuesday.
The numbers, which show 9,204 withdrawals at liquor stores, 40 at racing establishments, 134 at marijuana shops and 737 at casinos are higher than the numbers Watchdog.org found in a similar six-month period in 2014, when we wrote stories that sparked the legislation. But Watchdog.org’s analysis was conservative and excluded many venues that sell both food and liquor, like Sam’s Clubs.
FIGHTING FRAUD: State Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, passed a bill last year to block welfare withdrawals at ATMs. After the hearing, the officials refused to discuss how many owners of prohibited locations were fined for repeated violations at their ATMs or how many welfare recipients lost their cash benefits because of the abuses.
Who would have predicted this?
Long as they vote the right way, no one cares.
Don’t worry, that’s nothing compared to EBT used at strip clubs.
Also, another of the 1000 unexpected side effects of a progressive nanny state funded by unbacked, fiat Federal Reserve dollars and unlimited debt.
The Federal Reserve IS the foundation of progressive government and leftist politics. Unlimited Debt and free money is their oxygen.
As long as our monetary system remains unchanged, conservatives can expect to lose nearly every major social, political and economic battle they face.
welfare is not a benefit, it’s a bribe
The obvious solution is to find some of the cards that have been used at these places and deactivate the card so it can’t be used.
The welfare card holder will call to ask why their card is not working and you tell them to come on down, we want to talk to you.
Give them a warning. Tell them if it happens again their card will be cancelled and their benefits will come by mail but no more card.
It baffles me the way liberals defend this practice.
Welfare recipients should be restricted to basic staple food items, period.
Political Correctness prevents us from fixing the problem.
First step is to identify the problem: EBT is a poll-tax against people who work for a living ( I know there are exceptions).
Probably because the number is zero - and they have no intention of enforcing it. Job security, ya know.
How long before their “medical” marijuana is given them “free”, courtesy of you and me?
[why do you think they call it “medical”.? (to justify it being an entitlement.)]
Welfare, apparently, is a career choice.
We had the same story in Indiana when a local tv station got the data on ATM withdrawals with EBT cards.
Vegas casinos, Nevada brothels, Disney (FL and CA), were all on the list.
I have never understood why this rule was not implemented. It is common sense. If the people who are providing the tax payer money to EBT users are buying scratch food to save money then why the h*’ll can people on EBT have freedom to buy expensive. Frankly, it should be the most basic of staples. If it was not easy people would not stay on & hopefully the single parent birthrate would go down. Stop rewarding people. There is absolutely no reason people can’t cook from scratch. People learn very quickly when things are taken away. And if you cannot afford children then don’t have them! Taxpayers are tired of being human piggy banks.
No problem, nothing will happen. What are the penalties for either the welfare recipients or the liquor stores? Who’s going to go after them?
I agree with you, but you will, unfortunately, get a lot of blowback from some FReepers who think that people using EBT cards (which you and I pay for) should be allowed to buy whatever they want.
go back to books of actual food stamps, it’d be a start
What control does a business have to screen the users of its ATM machine? Someone could just as easily be using his bank debit card rather than an EBT card.
The ATM companies, on the other hand, could easily disallow EBT withdrawals from machines in prohibited locations.
True. The banks should be responsible for blocking the ATM cash withdrawals. I though perhaps the people were using the cards to get cash out, on top of their purchases, as the store cash registers.
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