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Colorado welfare recipients withdraw money in Hawaii, St. Thomas, Vegas
jd50ae
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By Arthur Kane
Published October 06, 2014
watchdog.org
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Taxpayers are apparently buying welfare recipients booze and cigarettes for the road at times a very exotic road.
A Watchdog.org analysis of a Colorado Department of Human Services welfare ATM withdrawals database shows that $3.8 million was withdrawn by Colorado welfare recipients outside the state in the past two years. There were withdrawals at out-of-state liquor stores and tobacco outlets, as well as vacation destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas and even the Virgin Islands, data shows.
State Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, who has urged limitations on where welfare recipients can use their electronic benefit transfer cards in Colorado, was shocked taxpayers are apparently funding some exotic travel.
I wasnt even aware of that, said Dore, who promised to try to address the misuse of cards at liquor stores, casinos and marijuana shops in the next legislative session after Watchdog asked him about those items for previous stories. Thats an additional issue we need to look into it.
Last week, Watchdog.org published stories about Colorado welfare withdrawals at liquor stores and casinos despite federal and state law banning such actions and welfare recipients taking out money at the states legal marijuana shops. Federal law prevents EBT withdrawals from ATMs at liquor stores, casinos and other adult establishments, and Colorado law since 1996 prevented ATM use in liquor stores and casinos in Colorado.
Click for more from Watchdog.org
What a great system.....
Taxpayers are apparently buying welfare recipients booze and cigarettes for the road at times a very exotic road.
A Watchdog.org analysis of a Colorado Department of Human Services welfare ATM withdrawals database shows that $3.8 million was withdrawn by Colorado welfare recipients outside the state in the past two years. There were withdrawals at out-of-state liquor stores and tobacco outlets, as well as vacation destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas and even the Virgin Islands, data shows.
State Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, who has urged limitations on where welfare recipients can use their electronic benefit transfer cards in Colorado, was shocked taxpayers are apparently funding some exotic travel.
I wasnt even aware of that, said Dore, who promised to try to address the misuse of cards at liquor stores, casinos and marijuana shops in the next legislative session after Watchdog asked him about those items for previous stories. Thats an additional issue we need to look into it.
Last week, Watchdog.org published stories about Colorado welfare withdrawals at liquor stores and casinos despite federal and state law banning such actions and welfare recipients taking out money at the states legal marijuana shops. Federal law prevents EBT withdrawals from ATMs at liquor stores, casinos and other adult establishments, and Colorado law since 1996 prevented ATM use in liquor stores and casinos in Colorado.
Click for more from Watchdog.org
What a great system.....
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Comments
Just depressing. The worst part about it is where it creates strife and conflict. As it rarely has any effects on upper class americans - while the middle class supports the bottom half and suffers dearly for it.
Aj
I can't afford to go on vacation and I don't qualify for a card. What am I doing wrong?
you pay your bills, care what others think, have a spine, payed your dues at a dead end job, care for another in need, believe in a dream.
Aj
dang!
the actions of this small minority of welfare recipients obviously represent all welfare recipients nationwide.
this just proves that we should abolish welfare!
hell, while we're at it....since the system's so corrupt and abused by so many, we might as well cut all social security programs nationwide!
yeah. that's it.
let's cut OASDI, TANF, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and SSI. that'll teach these no-good, lazy, moochers.
gotta know when to send a message and say enough is enough!!
get those welfare recipients off of Uncle Sam's payroll !!!!!
seriously though.
can you believe all those welfare folks living the high life, traveling on their private jets and yachts, taking months long vacations to exotic lands!
jeesh!!! can hardly believe the nerve of all them!!! thanks obama!!!
and here i'm stuck at work slaving away, just to pay for their fun. hell when do i get my turn!!!
man, nevermind the fact that this only represents "about 2 percent of Colorado welfare ATM withdrawals".
And the fact that "About $882,000 amount occurred in states neighboring Colorado, which may make sense if the recipient lives near the border.
So yeah, that "leaves about 1.7 percent of nearly $170 million, or $2.9 million taxpayer money, in withdrawals from Colorados traveling or vacationing welfare recipients in the past two years.
This 1.7% obviously represents everyone and shows why welfare is such an evil and corrupt system.
thanks obama.
i mean yeah, it's only a small percentage that abuses the system. but eh, better get rid of it entirely and let people fend for themselves (hunger games style). this is absolutely ridiculous. this would have never happened if george bush was in office.
/s
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
I am not sure what point you are trying to make.
The first time I saw abuse was at a Grand Union store in Falls Church, Va. over 20 years ago. A guy dressed to the nines ordering 12 specialty cut porter house steaks, and laughing. Didn't think much of it until I ended up in the check out line behind him, and he paid with welfare money, and laughing. Remember when it was like monopoly money and not a card? Anyway, he left the store and jumped into a brand new convertible corvette.
There certainly is a sense of greater entitlement since obozo took office which can not be denied, "obozo money" as they were calling it. And the free phones have quadrupled since he took office. I even had them calling me and asking if I wanted one. The plan itself started decades ago long before Bush or obozo.
As far as welfare itself it goes back to lbj. It had at that time more checks and balance and the corruption was no where near what it is today, the corruption has grown over the decades because the checks and balances have been corrupted.
And no one is saying it should be abolished by any means, no one. There are real people with real problems who are deserving of our help and should get it. But there has to be some sort of verification system set up, and it has to be enforced.
I did not start this thread in any way shape or form to end up as a "political" soap box. I started it because I thought it was an interesting article and bunched with the tax fraud article points out just how easy iy is to rip off the system because no one is watching. And both Republicans and Democrats are equally responsible.
I wasn't too sure what to take away from this, or what you wanted us all to gain from your original post since all you added was:
"What a great system..... "
But your reply here helps out.
Thanks for sharing the story about the fellow you encountered in Falls Church VA, as I'm sure he would fall under that "1.7% of people who abuse the system" in Colorado, as mentioned in the article you linked to.
And I agree that there needs to be checks and balances in the welfare system to investigate and punish abusers.
The original article you linked to included comments by CDHS employees indicating they take fraud seriously and all suspicious activity is investigated.
Is there potential for the welfare system be abused? Yep
Does this come as a surprise to anyone? I'd venture the answer is no.
Is 3.8 million$ a lot of money? Yes.
But compared to the whole pie, is 1.7% a lot? Nope just a drop in the bucket.
Are there procedures in place, and employees who focus on uncovering abuse and punishing the perpetrators? Seems like it.
So I guess, what's the point of this article?
Seems like your news source is just digging for a story and trying to put a wedge between "us" and "them".
I mean, I guess I just don't get it.
The writer cherry picks a couple "famous" locations.
And are trying to make a $560 withdrawal at St Thomas one of their main statistics here. I mean it's $500 for pete's sake. I would hope that caught someone's attention at the CDHS, but can I get some more info on whatever happened to that person/transaction - was it investigated? Was it legit? If not legit was the person punished?
Come on, the news article is just pandering to their readers.
This isn't journalism. This is click-bait.
Absolute garbage. It's like TMZ only for a different demographic.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
We all have the internet, a phone, cable, newspaper, radio or some way of getting "news." Please, do everyone here a favor and leave the news to the news sites. We don't need you to report it to us.
As for myself, I haven't even been on this website for nearly a week because I'm so tired of this nonsense. I held out a glimmer of hope that something might change in my absence. Alas, nothing has. I ask those of you who continue to argue with this troll to discontinue doing so in hopes that if no one argues with him he'll eventually go away. Trolls feed on attention, and I'm done giving this one any. You can argue until you're blue in the face, but they don't care. It's a very similar cry for attention we have witnessed previously.
On that note, I'll check back in sometime, maybe after November. All I know is I need a break and it might be a long one. I'm going to attempt to take the high road here. Thanks to those of you who take the time to research things and present factual, civil rebuttals regardless of which side you support. Also, thanks jd for ruining something I once enjoyed. You can have it. I'm out.
I mean, just like anything else (including welfare) there's always the potential for abuse...so certainly this department could never be corrupted. So it would serve a similar function as the IRS or FBI?
That already happens, there's a number of elected officials who have been removed from office due to crime convictions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_state_and_local_politicians_convicted_of_crimes
Like the DOD? What could possibly go wrong with this? Prison systems are already being privatized....it's about maximizing profits now and not rehabilitating the offenders. Prisons are understaffed and overcrowded as is.
And who's going to pay for all these prisons and jails? The taxpayer. This would cost a helluva lot more than the welfare system IMO, incentive the private companies that are in charge of prisons to just jail more people....yeah, no way that could be corrupted. i'd hope so. because that plan has more holes in it than a wedge of swiss cheese.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
I am an employee for the state and for just over 1 year I worked in the economic services division----giving out the food stamps, medicaid, and cash assistance. Cash is RARELY given in Florida, and more then 75% of it is for kids in foster care or whose parents lose custody (and yes, the parents then pay child support)---so I wont speak as to the cash people. Medicaid is only for expectant mothers, or parents of a child under with no income. Once they have income, they lose the medicaid.....and while some may lie, it is tied into tax roles, sooooo. Lastly the food stamps. I saw people here and there with a nice car, a nice cell phone, ect. WELL OVER 90% of the people I saw had on average to ratty clothes, could use a shower, cars hardly ran, kids had clothes given to them at Goodwill, ect. The majority could not find work, and those that could-----then they couldnt afford day care, or after school care, or the bills they have because they lost their medicaid.
I am not saying people should not be responsible for their actions. I am not saying people should be given everything. I AM SAYING, the majority of people "on welfare" do not live better than the majority of us here------as we sit in type on our laptops, smoking a cigar, in the air conditioned house. Stop reading the hype and get some facts. The same peopel who think "most" are best on welfare also think ISIS is on their doorstep with Ebola.
when something goes "wrong" then it is easy to see an notice. squeaky wheel kinda thing.
there is no doubt that there are some A-holes out there that mooch off of the system. they are easy to spot and annoying.
the big problem is that it is very difficult to to assess who needs what on an individual basis at any given moment. the system is not set up to handle that. and it is almost impossible to make it do that.
the debate is always about where the line is.
im sure there are many people out there that need food stamps for one legitimate reason or another and it is difficult to separate those from the fakes.
the other major problem is that even though many people know that the system has big problems, almost nobody has a valid way to fix it. and when it is "fixed" or reformed it isnt always "better" or "worse" than before. Its just a different set of issues.
its a difficult situation that does need a fix.
too bad there is no way to do this given the cards we are currently dealt. the entire culture of the nation needs to change before a major decline of welfare scammers happens... or even a major decline in the need for welfare happens.
but dont ask me how to do it without violating rights. not sure there is a fix at this point.
I live in welfare abuse capital america. I see trailers falling apart and a brand new cadillac outside. I see kids missing shoes and socks riding without car seats but there momma has a new Iphone 6 and daddy just got all of his tattoos done. These people dont care about living outside of what they do, cause what they do is good enough.
Welfare is a way of life for these people... they have no intentions of moving up because the hand is always there to help. If i got 500 extra dollars just to buy food id have a way better cigar budget. and you cant tell yourself, if the govt was paying for you to eat the rest of the money wouldnt be used for more personal stuff? maybe a bill here or two but because were all responsible adults.
I will give you the shirt off my back if you truly need help, its important... I believe in it. But if your not willing to help yourself then why should we?
Aj
I'm always amazed at how many people complain about people on food stamps buying alcohol or (heaven forbid!) driving a car, when thousands of wealthy Americans spend thousands of dollars on lawyers and accountants to create tax shelters that keep them from paying anywhere near their marginal rate.
I'm always amazed at how many people complain about people getting government aid when right need we taxpayers are giving $34 billion a year in corporate welfare, as well as bargain basement drilling leases on federal lands to oil companies, who use these breaks to give their overpaid CEOs multimillion dollar bonuses and huge dividends to wealthy investors, while doing nothing to lower gas prices, in spite of the fact that U.S. is about to become the world's largest oil producer.
I'm always amazed at how many people focus their wrath on the poor, rather than on the multinational tax-dodging, job-exporting, profit gouging monopolies and their overpaid, tax-sheltered multimillionaires who, unlike the poor, pull the puppet strings in government, Congress and the White House.
None of which is the real abuse of welfare. The real awful abuse is the creation of a perpetually dependent class, at public expense, all beholden to one party. A huge and ever-growing solid block of votes bought by the millions, bought with debt which jillionaires get rich on the interest from. Many people genuinely need help at some time in their lives. To get them hopelessly hooked on help, generation after generation, at the expense of our grandchildren, just to bolster a party which constantly promises more and more and more dependence... that's what's wrong.
I can say the exact thing about the Big Oil, Big Defense, Big Agriculture (including and especially Big Tobacco) and Pharmaceuticals. They've received hundreds of billions of dollars in federal subsidies and tax breaks for generations, dodge taxes like running backs, are all beholden (mostly) to the Republicans, buy Congressional votes by the hundreds, and get rich at the expense of the taxpayer all the while forever playing footsie with markets and mergers so their billionaire owners and greedy shareholders can get richer and richer, while **** the Americans who buy their overpriced products. It's amazing how Conservatives constantly focus their wrath on powerless welfare recipients, while showing no malice at all to the corporations who really own this country are really responsible for creating the mess we're in (thank you AIG, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, investment banks) and whose billionaire executives have paid no price at all for their crimes (for which I do blame Obama for being too beholden to Wall Street).
Welfare spent in Cancun is what it is. It's a tiny splinter. It's buggy, is the only thing about it. Focus on this question, if you can, without spluttering on about the ills of Big anything or why conservatives must be morally deficient each time they express any opinion which differs from yours: Is it an abuse or is it not?
The news writes about it not because it's the biggest thing since Mutually Assured Destruction, but because it's the kind of thing that piques public resentment and sells news. I pipe up because if we don't even have the stones to remedy these simpler flaws in welfare, how will we ever have the guts to tackle the real problem? Which is that subsidizing shiftless parasites for every fatherless child they breed generation after generation will only breed more shiftless bastid parasites, essentially robbing those in genuine need, skewing elections towards those who make irresponsible promises on the crdit of our grandchildren. Yes. It does. In the exact same way that subsidizing electric cars encourages electric cars. While taxing responsible behavior will breed less responsible behavior, in the same way that taxing cigarettes discourages cigarette smoking.
Why is your struggling black mother struggling, generation after generation? Why is she the mother of fifteen beginning at the age of fifteen if she is the struggling daughter of a struggling mother? What is the end game here? How do we break the cycle of poverty if we can't so much as criticize the least thumb splinter bit of it without being roundly castigated as a heartless, racist, ignorant, brainwashed, callous tool of Big sumpin or other worthy only of your scorn and disdain?
Or is your welfare vote cow also a sacred cow, inviolable, blameless, faultless, impeccable, irreproachable, unblemished, unchallengeable, unquestionable and beyond criticism without exception, without so much as a splinter, in every respect?
... except by racists.
The sad thing is they are making the system so that the people who do take advantage of it are the only ones who can get assistance. I was basically told that they were trying to eliminate things for single people like myself and increase benefits for married people. That and the fact that you get more for each kid and you can see why the people who shouldn;t be married or having kids are the ones on the system who are taking full advantage of it.
I cringe every time I see things like this because then everyone comes out of the woodwork bad mouthing everyone on public assistance without taking the time to realize that there are some good people who actually need it sometimes and they actually do things by the book and still get lumped in with all the cheaters. I just hope no one has to go through what I did because it's definitely a humbling experience and just remember that not everyone who is receiving help is abusing the system.
2015 Gang War - East Coast
Enola Gay - Target #29
I have been through that humbling and embarrassing experience and I know full well that there are honest and decent people who need the help. At no time have I ever got down on the poor, but (as you said) there are cheats and liars that take advantage of any system and it galls me to no end hearing the flimsy argument that $10 or $100 should be excused or overlooked. Add it all up, welfare, Social Services, Taxes, grants, pork on important bills and who knows what else. It adds up to a huge, maybe astronomical, amount. And it is our taxes that pay for it all.
I am very pessimistic that any solutions, however simple, can ever be implemented, so long as bought votes dominate our political landscape.
Also, aren't most EBT cards issued and handled by banks? Just another questionable bureaucracy level added on. How much communication is there between the different levels? When we were on food stamps, i.e. EBT cards, the Social Services could monitor deposits to the account but that is all. In fact it was the Social Services people that let us know that SS was finally being deposited to our account, after fighting them in the courts.
Most are making good points and I don't feel most posters are being "combative", it is an emotional issue. We do not want to make life any harder then it is for people in need, but there must be a way to fix the system and, honestly I don't know what it is (and it is not just the welfare system). There are so many layers and laws and people, in how many departments?
And there is beyond any doubt a political aspect to it.
I sometimes think that the laws were written to purposely confuse everyone and allow too many politicians to make too many "adjustments". What happened to the work for benefits rules? I know some people can't work but the vast majority can. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to help clean up neighborhoods. I (IMHO) think if you had to show up at a work site to get your check/card a lot would be accomplished.
An I also think (again IMHO) that there are so many expert computer people in this country that a streamlined system with some real checks and balances is entirely possible. There are too many state laws, too many federal laws and too many politicians mucking up the whole system and making it too easy to rip off.
I was raised as a democrat changed to republican when I left the military, today I don't trust any of them to watch out for our tax dollars. And that is what it boils down to.