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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Florida Food Stamp spending explodes


Food Stamps in Florida
Sucking on the government teat takes on new meaning on
the beautiful Sunshine State beaches of Florida.

If you are on Food Stamps it might as well be on a lovely Florida beach
  • As unemployment falls, Florida Food Stamp spending explodes.
  • From each according to their ability, to each according to the your bikini size.


The March of Bikini Marxism  -  The number of people on food stamps continued to grow in 2012 in South Florida and the state as a whole despite a falling unemployment rate and a recovering economy, according to Florida records.

Some of the increase might stem from fraud: A study released this week by the state found a 7.5 percent rate of fraud, waste and abuse in Florida’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. More than $100 million in fiscal year 2010–11 could have potentially been lost to fraud, waste and abuse, according to the report.

Researchers suggested much of the abuse was coming from people not disclosing all or part of their income and thus getting more food stamps than they qualified for reports the Florida Sun Sentinel.


"Over 70 percent of the fraud that was detected in our sample was related to non-reporting or under-reporting of income," said the report that was presented to the Florida Strike Force on Medicaid & Public Assistance Fraud.

The Department of Children and Families that oversees the food aid for the federal government, has already instituted various safeguards in the application process to cut down on ill-gotten food stamps.

That includes enhanced data matching that helps the state detect whether applicants are in jail or prison -- or receiving benefits in another state.

DCF is also monitoring social media sites like Craigslist to stop people from buying and selling EBT cards that food stamp recipients use to buy groceries.

South Florida grocery clerks have complained to the Sun Sentinel of potential abuse. They said a few food stamp recipients have asked clerks to load groceries in luxury cars.

Two clerks anonymously sent the Sun Sentinel copies of receipts, showing what they consider abuse: One food stamp recipient bought almost $52 worth of steaks. Another purchased Haagen Dazs ice cream, Splenda, a Danish Pecan ring and gallon jugs of Arnold Palmer Zero iced tea.

The number of people on food stamps rose 8 percent in 2012 in Florida to more than 3.6 million people, according to DCF data.

The increase was even higher in South Florida.

The number of food stamp recipients jumped to 193,576 -- nearly 14 percent more in Palm Beach County from December 2011 to last month -- while the county's jobless rate dropped to 8 percent last month.

Broward, with an even better 6.7 percent unemployment rate in December, still continued to see annual double-digit increases of people on food stamps. Almost 286,000 people were receiving the food aid in December, a 11 percent increase from a year ago.






Sucking on the Government Teat
beats working for a living.

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