Do You Really Know Where Your Tax Dollars Are Going? I Don't Think You Do!

 "A database of 200 million "Electronic Benefit Transfer" records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The New York Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx." 

Wait one minute!  I thought that was not permissible under the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program.  Well, you would be partially correct.  Welfare recipients receive food stamps and cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.  Both benefits handouts are accessed through an EBT card, but only cash assistance, which is meant for housing, utilities and household necessities, can be accessed through ATMs.  For instance, a single-person household could receive a maximum $200 in monthly food stamps plus $158 in cash assistance. A family of four could get as much as $668 in food stamps and $433 in cash.  Of course, the food-stamp program prohibits the purchase of booze, tobacco and lottery tickets with an EBT card.  But with the cash-assistance program, users can blow money on strippers or a six-pack and to tap welfare dollars from liquor stores, casinos and adult-oriented establishments where ever an ATM is located. 

The problem is that currently EBT cards operate like debit cards.  That is, recipients swipe them at a participating ATM or grocery checkout and enter their PIN, and the amount is deducted from their balance.  Grocery-card transactions can be traced, but cash transactions can’t really be traced.  For instance, if that ATM machine is located in strip clubs and liquor stores, do you really believe that the cash transaction is going to be used to pay the rent rather than for a lap dance?  And there you have it.  Therefore, the next time you see an ATM machine, remember where some of those EBT cash withdrawals just might be going. 

What is our government doing about this problem?  Good question.  I will have to get back to you on that one.  Better yet, why doesn't the government simply insert a magnetic device or some device that does not allow an EBT card to be used at an ATM machine?