Free Republic

Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker says the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), which spent $80.4 billion in fiscal 2012, is “not a government handout.” “I hope and understand that people are getting a better recognition that this is a program that really helps America, helps families in need,” Booker said on Friday, while describing his fourth day of living on a SNAP budget. "It’s not a government handout,” he said. “If anything, it’s a safety net that helps people through difficult times and bridges them towards stability.” …

“I just swipe my EBT .. . Every day I get my ‘swipe’ on . . . I mean who cares? It’s the EBT it’s not food stamps.” — YouTube rap song, “My EBT.” Welcome to EBT Nation! Gone are the days of food stamps and social embarrassment. Forget using taxpayer benefits for government cheese and day-old bread. When you’re “EBT’n’ ” (like the cool kids call it), you’re livin’ large! Walk through Downtown Crossing, for example, and you’ll see signs at Tello’s for hip jeans, tops and lingerie. You’ll also see another sign: “We Accept EBT!” Now nobody’s going to confuse Tello’s with...

With a two-year budget of more than $22 billion in state and federal funds, the Human Services Department is involved in the lives of more than a million Minnesotans who rely on state programs for health care, food support, welfare, mental health treatment, home care, nursing homes and child care aid. The agency also licenses 24,000 medical and social service providers.

In an ever-growing number of states, if you crave a taco or fried chicken from a fast-food restaurant, you can pay for it with food stamps. Food stamps - known more formally as the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - have been in use for grocery staples, such as bread and milk, since 1934, but now, for the first time, they can be used for fast food in four states across the country. The number of businesses – including convenience and discount stores, gas stations and pharmacies – that have been approved to accept food stamps has increased by a...

According to a Treasury Inspector General audit, Individuals Who Are Not Authorized to Work in the United States Were Paid $4.2 Billion in Refundable CreditsRedaction Legend: 1. Tax Return/Return Information 2(f). Risk circumvention of agency Regulations or Statutes IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS Many individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States, and thus not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN) for employment, earn income in the United States. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides such individuals with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to facilitate their filing of tax returns. Although the law prohibits aliens residing...

Nearly one-out-of-two Americans (48%) think that cuts in government spending are at least somewhat likely to lead to violence in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But that includes just 13% who feel it’s Very Likely. Nearly as many Adults (44%), however, believe violence as the result of spending cuts is unlikely, but only 12% say it’s Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Americans under 50 raise the possibility of violence more than their elders. Most adults not affiliated with either party (58%) think spending cuts are likely to...

At Milwaukee Ward 259, the Cudahy YMCA in Northwest Milwaukee, election observers vehemently argued over whether members of Wisconsin Jobs Now!, an organization embroiled in scandal and tied to Rep. Sandy Pasch via Citizen Action of Wisconsin, were allowed inside the polling site wearing Wisconsin Jobs Now! t-shirts and buttons. The controversy began just after 12:30 PM when a volunteer election observer challenged whether Wisconsin Jobs Now! personnel driving voters to the polling location should be allowed inside the building. Democrat election observers and Wisconsin Jobs Now! personnel argued that Wisconsin Jobs Now! is not in violation of GAB rules...

Judge Judy Quizzes ‘Moron’ to Whom Taxpayers Have Given $70,000 ...so far. But the narcissistic, taxpayer-funded third-year college student wants to keep the party going. Clearly the "rich" have to pay more so this "musician" can continue his life of indulgence, ripoff, and squalor. Watch it quick, it won't last long.

In our blog post of July 5, 2011 we cited analysis of the recently release quarterly summary report of Barack Obama's Stimulus that concluded the Administration spent $278,000 per job they claimed to have "saved or created" with the $666 billion the White House has spent thus far of the more than $800 billion authorized by the legislation approved in 2009.    The Administration used the Stimulus as a private slush fund to funnel vast amounts of money to programs and industries favored by the President.  One of his campaign pledges was to expand broadband internet access, particularly to rural...

Saying it is "unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction," Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed legislation requiring adults applying for welfare assistance to undergo drug screening. "It's the right thing for taxpayers," Scott said after signing the measure. "It's the right thing for citizens of this state that need public assistance. We don't want to waste tax dollars. And also, we want to give people an incentive to not use drugs." Under the law, which takes effect on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services will be required to conduct the drug tests on adults...

Although very few lugged groceries, government food stamp records showed business at Stryker Avenue Market was booming: In one three-month period, the tiny market had more electronic benefit transfer transactions than a nearby Rainbow supermarket more than 28 times its size. The agents thought they knew what was behind it, and their suspicions have resulted in the indictment of Khaffak Sahib Ansari, the market's former owner, on three counts of food-stamp fraud. The indictment, returned Tuesday, alleges Ansari got about $3 million he wasn't entitled to by trading cash for food-stamp benefits for which the government reimbursed him.

Republican legislators think they have a way to keep Minnesotans on welfare from spending their benefits on booze, smokes and lottery tickets: They'd keep them from taking more than $20 in benefits in cash. Right now, welfare recipients can use their electronic benefits cards to withdraw much of their monthly allotment in cash. The proposed legislation would require more people on welfare to get a second card to use for cash withdrawal, and would limit that to no more than $20 a month.

California taxpayers pay record amount in benefits to children of illegal aliens Los Angeles Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has just released data from the Department of Public Social Services which shows that in November 2010, $53 million in welfare benefits ($22 million CalWORKs and $31 million in Food Stamps) were given issued to illegal aliens for their U.S.-born children in Los Angeles County. The record amount is an increase of almost $3 million from November 2009, and represents 22 percent of all CalWORKs and Food Stamp issuances in L.A. county. In 2009, CalWORKs and Food Stamp benefits given to illegal...

When Eugene Jenkins showed up at St. Paul AME Church at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, he didn’t know he would be one of the last people to get a ticket for assistance with his heating bill. He waited in line until 7 a.m., when officials started to hand out the tickets, then went home for a few hours before returning at 10 a.m. By the time he had finished up his paperwork, it was 1:15 p.m., making for a long day. Jimmie Samuel, executive director of the agency, said the need for assistance in Bibb County has spiked, while the available...

For those of you whose primary political interest is stopping the growth of government or even shrinking it, you have to contend with national leaders who say they agree with you but who refuse to deal with immigration. They say immigration is a "social" issue that isn't related to government spending and deficit issues. They couldn't be more wrong. . . . Let's start with this tidbit from government data provided by the Center for Immigration Studies (Table 13: "Immigrant Households with Children Under 18"): Roughly ONE-HALF of all immigrant households with kids are accessing the welfare system, especially food...