Posted on 03/01/2010 11:19:34 AM PST by Zakeet
Two undercover informants entered Jefferson's Liquor Palace and spotted the owner at the register. "Big baby," said one, "we gon' do this?"
The man behind the counter provided $50 in cash, two bottles of liquor, two porn DVDs and two Viagra pills — all in exchange for taking $280.85 off a food-stamp card, say federal investigators who recorded the deal.
Fraud in the government program that helps the poor has added up to nearly $100 million since 2007, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. It's a fraction of the more than $40 billion spent to feed people each year, but the crime has become a brazen way for some small stores to literally swipe cash from the U.S. Treasury, especially in the Detroit area.
There have been at least 122 fraud-related convictions of owners or employees in the five-state Midwest region since 2007, nearly double the number from 2004-06, says USDA, which oversees the welfare program. About half of those have occurred in southeastern Michigan.
Among the latest cases: A store west of downtown Detroit is accused of selling bags of the exotic chewy drug khat in exchange for food-stamp benefits. Agents in another investigation discovered that cash was wired to Somalia and other countries.
"You have a money machine on your counter. It's a crime of opportunity. We see a lot of cases," said Sheldon Light, head of the economic-crimes unit at the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit.
(Excerpt) Read more at mlive.com ...
My preferred solution to the “food stamp” problem can be summed up in a single word: Kibble.
That is, if we’re going to go to the extent of having government-provided food to the poor, let’s actually make it government-provided food. No “stamps” or “cards”, just sacks of kibble designed to meet proper nutritional balance, vitamins, etc. (Possibly a few varieties based on specific dietetic needs, but otherwise, just generic kibble.)
And no means-testing. Anyone who wants the kibble is welcome to have it, whether it’s the homeless guy sleeping in the park or Warren Buffet.
Now, it’s not gourmet dining, and I’m sure it won’t excite the palette, but the point is that no one will starve. But if you want a change of pace, then you’ll need to earn and shell out the $$$ for a piece of steak or some fresh veggies, and so on.
I'll take a wild guess and say that "yours truly" is an honest person....who does business with other honest people.... :-)
'Twould be quite a different story if you walked into a locally owned quickie mart (with an unscrupulous owner) and asked "What can I get for $100?".
Just looking at the story, I doubt that "Big Baby" is a licensed pharmacist who is qualified to dispense Viagra pills....
I know the feeling. When I lived on my own....I would do my weekly shopping. I would always get behind folks with baskets FULL of brand-named junk food using food stamps.....and here I was trying to make ends meet buying ‘generic’ brands. Used to just burn me up.
I want to say to you -- "You're totally correct"! Most of America's cities have been slowly circling the drain since the 1960s.
If you ever go to any store you will see a large percentage of non-English speakers(illegals) with food stamp cards.
When I was a kid, a lady down the street tried to get my mom to by her food stamps for .50 on the dollar. Presumably, the lady would use the cash in places that she could not spend her food stamps.
If you ever go to any store you will see a large percentage of non-English speakers(illegals) with food stamp cards.
Debbie Schussel will be covering this one. She says it is usually Muslim immigrants who run these retail store scams in Michigan. They figure if they steal $1,000,000 and get caught they can escape back home to Muslim land with the loot
Ghetto money
I know I’m going to get slammed for this, but what about children? I am *gasp* a food stamp recipient and if something like what you describe were to be enacted two of my children would starve. No I’m not exaggerating and no they are not spoiled.
You get hungry enough, you’ll eat what’s available.
And I say this as a parent of autistic twins who are both nearly impossible to encourage to eat new foods.
Most places liquor stores sell groceries too. Being from CA I was amazed when I went to NY in the 80s for find that liquor stores sold only liquor (and wine), and grocery stores sold only beer, no liquor or wine. Here, grocery stores can either get a license to sell all of the above, or a beer and wine license which is easier to get.
Umm, where will my Tigers play?
Buddy of mine used to volunteer at the local food bank. He quit because most of the people that he was serving drove better cars than he did, and plenty more were in better health than he was. He figured that if they could afford to ask for some help, then they could afford to take an afternoon or two to work it off. You don't need to be a brain surgeon to stock shelves, or in tip-top shape to sit behind a counter and keep an eye on things.
Small world, my boys are autistic too. My boys will NOT eat vegetables unless it is hidden in other foods. Period. I was instructed by our doctor to offer nothing but vegetables for a week. Nothing else even in the house, spoke to the school ect.... they refused to eat. I called the doc on the third day because the teachers were calling every hour even though I had send a note to the office and to each teacher, called the office and sent a note from the doctor. They would not eat. Doc said to wait them out. We got to day six and they still would not eat. School was ready to call children’s services. Some kids WILL NOT eat certain things.
We work at the food pantry and I never see any nice cars. But the vast majority of them smoke. But they are smart enough to take free food when it is offered. Too bad they aren’t smart enough to quit smoking.
Detroit food-stamp fraud? For the jihad?
Schlussel’s been on that for last 5-10-15? years.
“two of my children would starve”
You;d let your children starve. I’d put mine up for adoption before I’d do that
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