Free Republic

If you ever wondered why we recommend prepping, and stockpiling food and emergency supplies, one look at what happened this weekend Springhill and Mansfield, LA should tell you everything you need to know – and will give you a glimpse at what this country will look like during a nationwide crisis. Over the weekend, the debit system that allows people on government assistance to buy food, temporarily went down. The resulting chaos is a small glimpse at what I believe will happen, should the government plunge this country into some sort of economic collapse. A couple of Walmarts in Louisiana...

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - KSLA News 12 obtained video of overflowing shopping carts, excited shoppers, and empty shelves throughout Walmart in Springhill, Louisiana. The frenzy was reportedly created this weekend by a food stamp glitch in the system. That glitch allowed EBT card users to seemingly shop without a limit. But there was a limit the whole time. According to the state, the retailer is on the hook for the overages. The Department of Children and Family Services oversees those benefits, called SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. DCFS tells KSLA News 12 that no EBT card is ever limitless,...

Iowa officials have implemented an emergency plan of issuing vouchers to low-income residents after computer problems caused electronic payments for food stamps to fail across the country. The Iowa Department of Human Services says it already had a contingency plan in place for such emergencies. Iowans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and find that their electronic benefit card isn't working can fill out a voucher and receive $50 daily in food assistance. DHS says the contingency plan has no financial impact to grocers. Wendy Rickman, who administers DHS' food stamp program, says the plan makes certain that people...

MANSFIELD, LA (KSLA) - Shelves in Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, LA were reportedly cleared Saturday night, when the stores allowed purchases on EBT cards even though they were not showing limits. Additional Links Computer issue, not government shutdown, likely cause of EBT card failures The chaos that followed ultimately required intervention from local police, and left behind numerous carts filled to overflowing, apparently abandoned when the glitch-spurred shopping frenzy ended. Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd confirms they were called in to help the employees at Walmart because there were so many people clearing off the shelves. He says...

If you ever wanted to know what the United States might look like and how people will react should the EBT system fail, then pay close attention I go to the register and they ask me “how you going to pay.” I said with food stamps. “Oh, we’re shut down, you can’t pay with food stamps.” I got kids to feed. You know? And because the government’s down I can’t feed my family? … What’s going on with America? Now they trying to starve us to death? …This is crazy …I got six kids I have to feed. … I’m...

In simply Southern terms, Allen West defined President Obama as a “spoiled brat child.” The former Florida Representative said America has given Obama everything he wanted, during an interview on the "The Steve Malzberg Show” show Thursday: “We gave him a state senator position in Chicago, we gave him a U.S. Senate position out of the state of Illinois, unproven, untested, no resume, we gave him the presidency — twice. So if you continue to reward bad behavior, you're going to get more of that bad behavior." The majority of Americans continue to accuse Republicans for the nearly-two-week-long government shutdown....

"...........Since he was first elected in 2008, journalists and pundits have repeatedly exclaimed that Barack Obama is the first president in our history who does not love our country. Being a minister, I always initially refuse a bad report about anyone until there is ample proof; it is the benefit of the doubt. That day has come and gone and I am now among those who believe that Obama actually hates America. He has smashed traditional marriage, exalted homosexual perversion, used the IRS like a battering ram, left border agents, ambassadors, and good soldiers to die without help, raised the...

“cuz lock your doors load your guns they cut off ebt cards nationwide” - Twitter They voted for Obama for the free stuff. Now the free stuff isn’t happening. So they riot. Today, the Electronic Benefits Transfer system (electronic food stamps debit card) went down in several states due to a computer glitch, and Obama voters are going nuts on Twitter, threatening mass rioting. This is free government money gone bad and exactly what’s wrong with our country. According to WoodTV (NBC 8), NBC News reports several states were affected by the glitch. The USDA released a statement saying:“EBT cards...

Will Obama Stop the Music This November? The current “shutdown” of 17% of the federal government has primed America for chaos with constant left-wing rhetoric and news media reports couched in apocalyptic terms such as crisis, brink, catastrophe, hostage, arsonist and terrorist. But a catastrophe is useful to a would-be tyrant only as long as it can be blamed on a hated enemy. In 1933 Hitler’s agents burned the Reichstag, not just to sow fear and confusion, but primarily in order to charge his Communist enemies with treason as an excuse to obliterate them. The German “mainstream media” dutifully parroted...

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A temporary increase in food stamps expires October 31, meaning for millions of Americans, the benefits that help put food on the table won't stretch as far as they have for the past four years. Food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, go to 47 million Americans a month. Almost half of them children and teenagers. The monthly benefits, which go to one in seven Americans, fluctuate based on factors including food prices, income and inflation. Those could affect people right here in East Tennessee as 1.3 million Tennesseans receive food stamps at a cost of about...

STUARTS DRAFT, Va. -- People in 17 states haven't been able to get food they need if they have a food stamp debit card. The O'Neils rely on their EBT Debit card to feed themselves and their son Micah. "People were looking at me I asked if there was anything else if she could if she could run it again and it wasn't working," said Terry O'Neil. The card has $153 to support three people for the remaining weeks in October. When their EBT card was denied today at the Waynesboro Walmart, Kristen O'Neil was embarrassed and frustrated. "We didn't...

Full carts abandoned at Chicago grocery stores were a common sight as shoppers in Illinois and many other states have been unable to use their food stamp debit cards. More than two million people in Illinois use a so-called Link Card. That's one in six residents in the state. So when suddenly the system went down Saturday morning many customers just walked out of the store. "Now I'm going to have to unfortunately do the fast food thing now. No cooking tonight," said Link Card user Rob Lee. "That's how people starve," said shopper Sean Wright. "People starve if they...

People in California, New Jersey and 15 other states found themselves temporarily unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards on Saturday, after a routine test of backup systems by the vendor Xerox resulted in a system failure. Illinois residents began reporting problems with their cards — known as LINK — on Saturday morning, said Januari Smith, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services. “It really is a bad situation, but they are working to get it fixed as soon as possible,” she said.

VIRGINIA - The Electronic Benefit Transfer system malfunctioned across Virginia and several other states Saturday, but service was restored by around 10 p.m. "It's just frustrating how I've been to several different stores right in around to get groceries for my family," said Jessica Perkins, an EBT customer. Perkins has five kids she was grocery shopping for Saturday. Perkins went to Farm Fresh, Save-A-Lot, and Food Lion before figuring out she could use her EBT card at WalMart. Perkins said she could only use the $50 at a time. "I just thank God that I have some type of provisions,"...

BANGOR — The Electronic Benefits Transfer system that allows welfare recipients to buy groceries and other necessities experienced issues on Saturday. In some cases, people weren’t able to buy groceries. The website for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the EBT system, is offline because of the government shutdown.

ATLANTIC CITY - If you tried to use your electronic benefits transfer card Saturday, and was having problems, you're not alone. "I feel its going to leave a huge dent in these families because there is people who have 3 or 4 children," the Atlantic City woman said. "I think its horrible that people aren't able to get their food stamps. There are families out there that depends on these things, to feed their families," explains an Atlantic City man. As for store owners like Mohammed Ali of the 7–11 in Atlantic City, he says he has already lost hundreds...

Sheree Powell, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, started receiving calls around 11:30 a.m. about problems with the state's card systems. More than 600,000 Oklahomans receive SNAP benefits, and money is dispersed to the cards on the first, fifth and 10th days of every month, so the disruption came at what is typically a high-use time for the cards. Oklahoma also runs a separate debit card system for other state benefits like unemployment payments. Those cards can be used at ATMs to withdraw cash. Powell said Xerox administers both the EBT and debit card systems, and they...

The government benefit cards that allow people on public assistance to buy food went down Saturday, impacting welfare recipients in Los Angeles and other cities across the country. Distressed shoppers began calling and emailing the KTLA 5 newsroom Saturday morning to report the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system wasn’t working. A Food 4 Less store in Hollywood confirmed that the EBT system went down at about 7 a.m. A Stater Bros. Market in Downey also said the system was not working. The California and federal government EBT websites remained out of service as of Saturday afternoon.

DETROIT - Michigan residents in a federal food program are being denied purchases with their debit-style cards because of technical problems. A woman from Fenton, who asked not to be identified, spoke with WWJ about her experience. “I’ve been in two different stores and in both stores, I was told that food stamps could not be authorized so I was not able to make a purchase. I’m absolutely outraged and furious,” she said. “Today is Saturday, my only day off to go grocery shopping for my children and I’m very, very angry that this has happened.” Officials said they’re not...

The number of Erie County residents in the food stamp program is the highest its been in 20 years. One in 5 people, or 20.5 percent, in the county are on food stamps. In all, more than 57,000 Erie County residents are on food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. About 38,000 city of Erie residents, or nearly 37 percent, are on food stamps, a 24 percent increase from 2009.