Posted on 10/16/2013 7:25:22 AM PDT by IbJensen
Under the POS’s presidency, the number of Americans receiving food stamps (now called Electronic Benefits Transfer or EBT) exploded.
Today, one in five U.S. households are on food stamps. Worse still, we are taking two steps back for every step forward: For every new job that’s been created, two new recipients (let’s call them food-stampers) are added to the food stamps dole.
Given our exploding national debt and the impending bankruptcy of, first, Social Security Disability (in 2016!), then Social Security itself, followed by Medicare, anyone with half a brain whose head isn’t plunged deep in the River of Denial, knows that the morbidly obese Welfare State cannot be sustained.
Here’s a glimpse into the social pandemonium and mayhem when that day comes and the proverbial sh*t hits the fan.
Last Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, the EBT computer system went down in several states, including Louisiana. Reportedly, Xerox, a vendor for the EBT system, experienced a power outage while conducting a routine backup test in one of the company’s locations. While the system was back up Saturday night, it still was not functioning entirely properly in some areas.
Many stores turned away EBT shoppers, but not Wal-Mart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, Louisiana. Those stores allowed purchases on EBT cards even though, since the EBT system was down, the cards were not showing limits. The store managers called corporate Walmart, whose spokesman said to let the food-stampers use the cards anyway.
In other words: FREE STUFF!
What happened was not pretty.
The food-stampers went into a buying frenzy, stripping the stores’ shelves by the end of the day.
October 14, 2013 Carolyn Roy reports for KSLA, Oct. 13, 2013, that food stamps recipients literally cleared the Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield. “Just about everything is gone, I’ve never seen it in that condition,” said Mansfield Walmart customer Anthony Fuller.
From 7 to 9 p.m., people were loading up their carts, but when the cards began showing limits again around 9, one woman was detained because she rang up a bill of $700.00 and only had 49 cents on her card. She was held by police until corporate Walmart said they wouldn’t press charges if she left the food.
The chaos ultimately required intervention from local police in Springhill and Mansfield who were brought in for crowd control. 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 Walmart was so packed, “It was worse than any black Friday” that he’s ever seen.
There were no arrests.
Lynd says at 9 p.m., when the cards came back online and it was announced over the loud speaker, people just left their carts filled to overflowing in the aisles and left.
Walmart employees could still be seen putting food from the carts away as late as Sunday afternoon. “I was just thinking, I’m so glad my mom doesn’t work here [Walmart] anymore, that’s the only thing I could think about, those employees working, that would have to restock all that stuff,” said O.J Evans who took cell phone video of the overflowing shopping carts at the Mansfield Walmart.
Walmart shoppers Stan and Judy Garcia said, ”That’s plain theft, that’s stealing that’s all I got to say about it.”
Kayla Whaling, a spokesperson for Walmart, tells KSLA News 12 that the company was “fully engaged and monitoring the situation and transactions during the outage. We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families.”
A spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (LA DSFS) says they take all allegations of potential fraud seriously, they are aware of the reports and they will be investigating. According to a notice posted on the LA DSFS website on Saturday:
“While transactional systems maintained by DCFS contractors may have been impacted by today’s outage, the systems that DCFS uses to track EBT card usage and identify fraud were still in place. DCFS vigorously investigates all fraud claims. Anyone suspected of fraudulently using public assistance benefits are investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The public is encouraged to report cases of suspected SNAP fraud by calling the DCFS toll-free hotline at 1-888-LAHELP-U and selecting option 7 from the main menu or by visiting:
www.dcfs.la.gov/ReportFraud.”
It is usually reset with a huge die-off during conditions of total chaos, bloody revolution, famine etc.
This also gets the former elites who were largely to blame off the hook.
If they survive.
Yes, that’s following along in the direction I’ve been seeing.
However it either takes a certain level of ruthlessness, something a socio/psychopath wouldn’t have much trouble coming up with I believe. If I recall most CEO’s and upper management often fall into those categories and Politicians are more often Sociopaths with Narcissistic tendencies to boot.
In any case once they are convinced that such a scenario is a workable one then following it to it’s logical conclusion would be easy for the.
The problem for any sort of plan like this is that reality often steps in; as in “No plan survives contact with the Enemy”.
Those voters don't worry about government spending because they don't report their income and don't pay taxes. They will be democrats until they die, and probably for several decades after they are gone.
You might even wind up in a bunker with the Soviets closing in, still sending orders to phantom divisions, believing that your people betrayed and let you down, and deserve Gotterdammerung.
Yes... A very good analogy, I hadn’t quite thought of it in that way.
It makes you think about how such a circumstance would come about in the situation we see developing now. Doesn’t it?
I find it insulting to see those big signs announcing that the store accepts EBT cards. It shows what kind of clientele they will attract. I don’t want to shop among low-lifes.
Don’t forget drugs to placate the masses and kill a few off as well.
I have read that in some cities there are so many food banks and soup kitchens that the “poor” do not really need food stamps so they take their food stamps to restaurants buy a pizza and divide up the change with the corrupt restaurant. Extra cash for the useless.
Well, those who need food stamps get caught in the fray. They are out there, and they are the ones for whom the program is intended.
When politicians sell EBT for votes, this is what happens. People who are bribable are going to move in and act accordingly.
There was a policy. $50 limit on the cards when the system is not able to check balances, and somebody at Wal-Mart corporate thought it would be a good idea to just throw the EBT cards wide open. Yeah, the execs should have stepped front and center but the ones responsible were too far away.
If they cashiers been empowered to say “$50 only” when the first attempted purchases were $150, it would have been a relatively minor issue, but once people started making multiple cart purchases it was way too late. Wal-Mart had to cut the losses, realizing it was just groceries. Looters hadn’t started carting off the entire electronics department. Let them have the whole meat section.
Indeed, it’s on Wal-Mart, and I haven’t heard them dispute it.
I’d like to hear them declare they’re not collecting the losses from the government.
I’d also like them to declare they won’t ‘empower’ their cashiers to ignore a $50 limit.
I’d like to KNOW that they are not going to cut this off when they have no choice, sending angrier than ever mobs into neighborhoods.
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you render a very good point. This could have gotten a lot worse had they become a rampaging mob.
Somebody had better make it loud and publicly clear if something like this happens again, the $50 limit will be observed from the get go. This is exactly why there is a limit at all. The people writing the regs for this stuff aren’t worth a lot in life (probably the most useless person on the planet is a drone working in the food-stamps office), but they sure as heck could predict this.
As I always told myself when I was an engineering student in college, somebody’s hiring all these idiots with Liberal Arts majors....
I believe this so called glitch was on purpose and used to threaten the GOP to cave. The timing was too perfect.
‘...[somebody should make it] clear if something like this happens again, the $50 limit...’
Three things tell me ‘too much talk, not enough communication’:
Dominican nuns - all threats are carried out, evidence seen
Parenting - zero tolerance speaks volumes
Teaching - all rules are carried out, no exceptions
My experience is that no exceptions, none, no favorites, and NIP it in the bud, works every time, to bring about a peaceful environment.
They can say ‘no more’ all week, but nothing says it like strict enforcement and NIP it in the bud. Even Barney Fife knew that.
This is taking “the customer is always right” to a ridiculous degree. Some of these stores are acting as enablers and reenforcing the uncivilized behavior of these people.
Yes, I heard “NIP it in the bud” in the Barney voice....
If there is a way to eff something up, I suppose we’d see it at a Wal-Mart. I’ll bet that was the only place to let people buy more than $50, IOW, buds were nipped all over town, except at Wal-Mart. There were, no doubt, some serious discussions with some middle Managers there come Monday. I’d hate to be the guy who decided to bust the limit.
it is?
Nip is a derogatory term for Japanese.
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