The TRUTH About EBT Cards

 

 

"The Money Tree is running out of fruit..."

 

 

These days it is hard to get through a week without reading or hearing about more fraud involving EBT cards. The concept is good - if everyone who is issued one is honest. However, if the receiving person wants to "game the system", these cards are better than gold. The best part is there are very few "EBT Police" to ensure these cards are used for their assigned purposes.

This was taken from the Exposethemedia.com website in February of 2011:

I have a friend who receives payments from the government for food, and she doesn’t get food stamps. My friend gets an actual credit card which grocery stores call an EBT (Electronic Benefit Transaction). It is literally swiped at the register just like a credit card, only she chooses EBT instead of VISA. The government replenishes her card every single week, and they never forget. The only thing she needs to do to get the free money, is NOT work. She can buy gum, soda, 30 dollar steaks and so much more.

In January of this year, the New York Post reported the following:

Welfare recipients took out cash at bars, liquor stores, X-rated video shops, hookah parlors and even strip clubs. A database of 200 million Electronic Benefit Transfer records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx.

There is so much more I could report on. The internet is ripe with case after case of MASSIVE fraud and abuse. One report I read estimated the amount of fraud in the $80B EBT program was 20% - that would make the waste almost $16B a year. Other estimates think the number is much higher. The bottom line is this - with almost 1 out of 7 people using food stamps under the SNAP Program, this is a financial train wreck. EBT cards and PINs are sold in broad daylight with no fear of recrimination. The taxpayers in this country have gone from compassionate givers to suckers.

For some reason, President Obama does not mind being called "the food stamp president". He should. Being so poor that you must receive food stamps to get by means our system is still broken. It means too many people are still not working at good paying jobs. It means our economy is still in the tank.

The EBT Program is a waste of time and taxpayer money. Someone has to tell the Emperor he is not wearing any clothes. Either fix the economy, or develop welfare programs that work, and don't waste.