According to the Los Angeles Times (11/02/10), the State of California is removing a number of ATMs and point-of-sale card readers from the system that accepts EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards. These are debit cards given to welfare recipients instead of the old fashioned welfare check and food stamps. They reduce the stigma attached to welfare, and provide tracking information to the government.
So why are businesses and ATMs being removed from the network? Let's see, more than $16,000 has been accessed from cruise ships, and nearly $12 Million has been accessesed from Las Vegas. This money is for the poor to feed, clothe, and house themselves. So where can the cards no longer be used? Medical marijuana shops, psychics, massage parlors, bail bond establishments, bingo halls, gun shops, bars, race tracks, smoking shops, tattoo parlors, and on cruise ships. (Casinos and poker rooms were taken out of the system in June.)
So why were these places allowed to dispense cash or services for welfare recipients in the first place?
Monday, November 8, 2010
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