State officials cancel access to welfare benefits on cruise ships and at all casinos

[SAWYER]

lol, why was this even allowed to begin with?! California is finally being forced to leave no stone unturned I suppose due to their horrible policies/economy
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-1...+(L.A.+Times+-+Top+News)&utm_content=My+Yahoo

California officials are cutting off use of state-issued welfare debit cards at casinos across the country and on cruise ships, in the wake of Times reports that the aid cards have been used to spend or withdraw millions of dollars in benefits at popular vacation spots including the Las Vegas strip and on ships sailing from ports around the world.

More than $69 million meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children was accessed in all 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services.

The department instructed the vendor that administers the debit card program to make the changes Monday afternoon, in response to a report in The Times' Monday edition.

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Department of Social Services Director John Wagner said the move is part of the Schwarzenegger administration's commitment to "rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in these programs" and "to ensure these resources are going to the people they are intended for."

In June, the state cut off access to benefits in California casinos and strip clubs after The Times reported that the Electronic Benefits Transfer cards worked in those businesses too.

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

 

[BoomerD]

Good. There's been a big hub-bub over this in recent days.

While I don't advocate that someone collecting welfare has to be stuck at home all the time, they certainly shouldn't be spending the welfare check gambling and taking vacations. (although, if someone else is paying for the trip, they shouldn't necessarily be penalized for buying food while on the trip...but somehow, I doubt that's really the case.

Welfare doesn't really pay that well...how the hell can anyone use the welfare check to pay for a cruise anyway...unless there's some kind of fraud going on...

 

[Fear No Evil]

And we seriously wonder why we are 14 trillion in debt?

 

[alphatarget1]

Democratic governance = fail. By that I mean CA's state legislature and all of the crappy policies enacted (including welfare) is done by a Democratic majority in the past 3 decades.

 

[Craig234]

Democratic governance = fail. By that I mean CA's state legislature and all of the crappy policies enacted (including welfare) is done by a Democratic majority in the past 3 decades.

Less than 1% was abused this way. Right-wing commentators who can't understand that are the real problem. The Democratic legislature has done a hell of a lot better than Republicans.

 

[werepossum]

Good. There's been a big hub-bub over this in recent days.

While I don't advocate that someone collecting welfare has to be stuck at home all the time, they certainly shouldn't be spending the welfare check gambling and taking vacations. (although, if someone else is paying for the trip, they shouldn't necessarily be penalized for buying food while on the trip...but somehow, I doubt that's really the case.

Welfare doesn't really pay that well...how the hell can anyone use the welfare check to pay for a cruise anyway...unless there's some kind of fraud going on...

I can remember the story of a woman buying a house, early eighties. During qualification she put her occupation as welfare recipient. The realtor of course told her "Ma'am, this is an $80,000 house, you can't afford this!" Turned out she could. She drew a check, her son was learning disabled (Dislexia) so he drew a double check, and her daughter drew a check - between them they made a couple grand a month and could qualify for the house loan. Even better, her daughter was pregnant, and once the baby was born (another check!) they would qualify for a government-paid house cleaner to come in twice a week to clean house for one adult and two teenagers, none of whom worked. More recently, I knew a family with three adult kids, the mother, and the mother's boyfriend. The boyfriend worked, all the others drew checks even though there was nothing visibly wrong with any of them. Again, at least one boy was mildly learning disabled and drew a double check.

Things are better now, but if you have several kids and are in the right place then cruises and vacations funded by welfare aren't out of the question - surely not common, but not out of the question. And California is of course the land of Craigs - the problem isn't welfare recipients going on cruises, the problem is Republicans who think that welfare recipients going on cruises is a problem. These people are the poor, the downtrodden, the weakest among us - they are entitled to take cruises on money earned by someone else. Verily, redistribution is dogma and dogma cannot be bad.

 

[PeshakJang]

I guess they hit the ... progressive jackpot!

 

[SP33Demon]

CA wonders why it's bankrupt.

 

[Moonbeam]

CA wonders why it's bankrupt.

Californians know why California is bankrupt, a downturn in tax revenue because of the recession and the collapse of the housing market.

 

[theeedude]

69M? I guess our budget problems are solved, woohoo.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

And California is of course the land of Craigs - the problem isn't welfare recipients going on cruises, the problem is Republicans who think that welfare recipients going on cruises is a problem. These people are the poor, the downtrodden, the weakest among us - they are entitled to take cruises on money earned by someone else. Verily, redistribution is dogma and dogma cannot be bad.

If I had space in my sig, I'd paste this into it. Well done! :awe:

 

[CycloWizard]

Californians know why California is bankrupt, a downturn in tax revenue not accompanied by equal cuts in spending.

Fixed. Only idiots government thinks it can keep spending at the same rate when its income drops. Which raises the question: what is different between government and idiots? Idiots are digging themselves a hole, while government is digging a hole for someone else.

 

[werepossum]

If I had space in my sig, I'd paste this into it. Well done! :awe:

LOL, glad you liked it.

 

[Jadow]

And we seriously wonder why we are 14 trillion in debt?

does anyone actually wonder that? It's pretty obvious

 

[bfdd]

69M? I guess our budget problems are solved, woohoo.

Well you know if you have a problem with this you could you know pony up that 69 million dollars for those people to use out of the state that's paying it to them. It's not a lot when we're talking billions, but pennies add up and cutting any waste is good.

 

[drebo]

Californians know why California is bankrupt, a downturn in tax revenue because of the recession and the collapse of the housing market.

And the irresponsible fiscal policy of the legislature over the last three decades have resulted in a state which is unable to pay the bills in GOOD times, much less bad times.

When was the last balanced California budget? A proper state would have had money in the bank, unspent, in order to weather such a downturn. California's Democrat leaders have had a spend! spend! spend! mentality, expecting constant double-digit growth. That's incredibly irresponsible, and directly lead to the current spot where the state is now.

The only way to fix it is to cut spending significantly until the budget can be balanced at current tax rates. Once that happens, the debt acrued can be addressed and future spending can be worked on.

Bottom line, though, is that spending needs to be cut. This is a good first step, though I would like to see EBT go away entirely. Welfare should be in-kind only. You get a voucher every week for your weekly groceries and you can only get those things. EBT can be used at pizza places, bars, etc. Not acceptable.

 

[dmcowen674]

69M? I guess our budget problems are solved, woohoo.

According to Republican experts Indy and Alpha, yes

That 1% must have been the problem all along.

 

[Genx87]

I guess they hit the ... progressive jackpot!

lol

 

[IndyColtsFan]

According to Republican experts Indy and Alpha, yes

That 1% must have been the problem all along.

You voted for Bush (twice), so surely you have a direct line to Republican leadership so you can ask? I'm not a Republican, so I defer to you since you seem to vote for them all the time.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Californians know why California is bankrupt, a downturn in tax revenue because of the recession and the collapse of the housing market.

California was in the shitter long before the housing bubble popped. The core of the matter is it's just a poorly managed/governed state.

 

[Darwin333]

Good. There's been a big hub-bub over this in recent days.

While I don't advocate that someone collecting welfare has to be stuck at home all the time, they certainly shouldn't be spending the welfare check gambling and taking vacations. (although, if someone else is paying for the trip, they shouldn't necessarily be penalized for buying food while on the trip...but somehow, I doubt that's really the case.

Welfare doesn't really pay that well...how the hell can anyone use the welfare check to pay for a cruise anyway...unless there's some kind of fraud going on...

Welfare doesn't pay that well by itself. Combined with a few more programs from the shitton available, especially if 2 people are living together and both receiving benefits, and sprinkle in a little side work and you can live quite well. Hell, they even give you a cell phone and 200 minutes a month with food stamps around here.

I met a guy on one of our jobsites who actually divorced his stay at home wife so that she could start getting foodstamps. An extra 400-500 a month tax free plus a cell phone aint all that shabby. That is 6K a year he is saving on food alone. Not sure how much the lost deduction will cost him though (hell, I am not even sure if he did lose her as an actual dependent he just can't file as married).

 

[Darwin333]

Less than 1% was abused this way. Right-wing commentators who can't understand that are the real problem. The Democratic legislature has done a hell of a lot better than Republicans.

You ever going to take me up on that offer to view the real world results of the Federal legislation that you consider a hell of a lot better? Mardi Gras is coming up, you can make it a vacation (hope you have a strong liver though).

 

[Darwin333]

I can remember the story of a woman buying a house, early eighties. During qualification she put her occupation as welfare recipient. The realtor of course told her "Ma'am, this is an $80,000 house, you can't afford this!" Turned out she could. She drew a check, her son was learning disabled (Dislexia) so he drew a double check, and her daughter drew a check - between them they made a couple grand a month and could qualify for the house loan. Even better, her daughter was pregnant, and once the baby was born (another check!) they would qualify for a government-paid house cleaner to come in twice a week to clean house for one adult and two teenagers, none of whom worked. More recently, I knew a family with three adult kids, the mother, and the mother's boyfriend. The boyfriend worked, all the others drew checks even though there was nothing visibly wrong with any of them. Again, at least one boy was mildly learning disabled and drew a double check.

Yup, not sure if it is still the case but they used to coach their kids on how to convince a doc that they had ADHD. Since that isn't all that hard to do it was a common way to get another check. Did they ever end that or can you still get "crazy" checks?