Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Food-Stamp Crime Wave - WSJ.com
This fits my "government at work" category perfectly.
It also fits the category of "good intentions gone astray".
Disclaimer: fasten your seat belt...
It also fits the category of "good intentions gone astray".
Disclaimer: fasten your seat belt...
James Bovard writes this and much more at the Wall Street Journal's website:
"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."
