patrick.net

AverageBear says

CHANGE A FUCKIN' THING. NOTHING TO LOOK AT. NOTHING TO SEE HERE SUCKERS, er, TAXPAYERS.

Yeah get back to me when your rage results in real cutbacks to the MIC, which has more fraud at higher price tags. Or agricultural subsidies. Or.... why bother? Conservo-rage is reserved for poor people, who are despicable and untrustworthy and GUILTY UNTIL PROVED INNOCENT for being poor. On the other hand any fraud in conservo-favored areas is just a "few bad apples".

The Professor says

Dormitories, kitchens, and clincs paid for by eliminating section 8, food stamps, and medical insurance.

I used to live right next to one of the "industrial scale" attempts to end poverty that way. It was a New Deal effort, the first large public housing effort and it was named Techwood Homes. The problem with cramming a bunch of marginal people together in cheapest-possible housing, is you breed a subculture. The kids start to see the only better-off people they know are drug dealers, and things spiral down over decades. Eventually they bulldozed it and had better success after rebuilding the remaining units nicer and lower density and scattering poor people more in the community. Sorry it sounds good but it didn't work.

The Professor says

What I said was there is no incentive to work if someone sends you a check every month for NOT working.

and what I said is they don't send you a check for not working, any more. We have Welfare to Work which, to me is a fiasco.

I've worked with Welfare to Work as an employer, and no longer consider our Employment Security Department as a resource for labor. The people in the system are a mixed bag of Unemployment Benefits, and Welfare to Work.

It is ridiculous to take people who are questionable at the ability to cope, and try to fit them into a work enviorment.

It would be better just to give them money, and work on skill sets, rather than forcing employers to take on the social problems that go along with a segment of our society.

If we could get to full employment that would be different, but we can't. That is a discussion for another time, but the fact is some people don't have the social skill set to be working.

coriacci1 says

i repeat post Average bear delete; they don’t call afganistan the graveyard
of empires for nothing! though i can’t understand why ABear would delete such a
comment!

dublin hillz
says

You would think that our government could have anticipated this considering
that that's what american did to the soviets back in 1980's - get them caught up
to afghanistan so that they would go broke, collapse and implode.

---------------------------------------------------------
Coriacchi,

Although your comments about Afghanistan sound good on the surface, this comment has less than no worth on my thread. My thread's topic is about my state's refusal to acknowledge EBT waste and fraud. If you feel that strongly about Afghanistan, knock 'yerself out and start your own thread.... Get out of your 'WHHAAAA-mbulance', and stop crying that I deleted your post that has NOTHING to do with my topic. I offer some options:

- Don't reply to my thread
- Ignore me and my threads
- Start your own thread on whatever makes your socks go up and down.

As of now, Patrick has given a thread's owner the ability to delete comments. I exercised that feature. I don't think I'm being unreasonable. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.

I'll wait a few days so you get to read this before I delete it again. (if I remember or care)...

Sorry, repeat comment

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/24/local/la-me-welfare-casinos-20100624

Welfare aid cards valid at casinos

SACRAMENTO — California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.

The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.

Dan8267 says

Liberals here in Mass REFUSE to acknowledge welfare fraud, REFUSE to allow
reform to uncover waste.

Dan8267 says

However, I am still for prosecuting welfare fraud. And I have never said
anything remotely close to suggesting that such fraud does not happen.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Dan, you are right. I never said YOU didn't acknowledge welfare fraud, because you aren't living in Mass... I'm glad you are for prosecuting welfare fraud; you'd have plenty of people to educate here in Mass.

Vicente says

Conservo-rage is reserved for poor people, who are despicable and untrustworthy and GUILTY UNTIL PROVED INNOCENT for being poor.

You're right Vicente - poverty is regarded almost like a seditious act to a lot of the $ worshipers I know.

Vicente says

Yeah get back to me when your rage results in real cutbacks to the MIC, which
has more fraud at higher price tags. Or agricultural subsidies. Or.... why
bother? Conservo-rage is reserved for poor people, who are despicable and
untrustworthy and GUILTY UNTIL PROVED INNOCENT for being poor.

----------------------------------
Or....change the subject, by expanding the argument beyond the scope I presented: ie, my liberally-run state gov't refusing to acknowledge EBT waste/fraud. Between you and Corriacci, you are shouting at your rice-crispies about Afghanistan and agricultural subsidies because why??...

I'm sure projecting your "Conservo-Rage" is a masturbatory habit of yours, but it reeeealy doesn't address the argument of my state wanting to deal w/ EBT fraud. Taking my parochial argument w/ nebulous nation-wide accusations may make you feel good, but doesn't really add to the discussion of why democrats in my state are OK w/ EBT $$ going to lap dances out of state in Providence. Becuase this is what's happening. Many on this site accuse me of wanting to eliminate welfare (not true), hate poor people (not true). I'm just asking for common sense in my state gov't, and I get Afghanistan, agricultural subsidies. Is this all you got? Whatever. "A" for effort, though.

AverageBear says

I'm just asking for common sense in my state gov't,

You got it with over sight. Finding ATMs that take EBT cards is pretty easy.

The EBT card is not my favorite way to run Welfare, and is prone to abuse. However Prosecuting welfare fraud is a lost cause. Many people in the welfare system look at jail time as another resource.

We could also continue to expand on our jail system, which is over crowded, and costly.

There is no difference between handing out a check to be cashed, then the money used for hookers, and booze, or as you say they use the EBT card at an ATM.

What we should do is take the $60K per year we spend on over sight per Welfare reciepient, and spend it on education, or collective purchasing of food, or shelter.

My first wife is a great gal who is a grant writer. She put together a collective in a rural area for seniors. She taught them how to make bulk purchases of staples, and negotiate better housing.

Long story short her project is still there thirty years later, and many of the seniors had more money to spend on hookers, and booze through better money management.

I kind of also resent this idea of telling people on Welfare how to spend the money. It is a choice that some people are very unable to make, or control.

AverageBear says

I'm sure projecting your "Conservo-Rage" is a masturbatory habit of yours

Hey I'm not the one starting OUTRAGE THREADS over penny-ante fraud.

You fail to recognize this is small potatoes. When we talk about righting the wrongs of the world, do we go after the lunch money or the BAG OF HUNDREDS?

Vicente says

Hey I'm not the one starting OUTRAGE THREADS over penny-ante fraud.

You fail to recognize this is small potatoes. When we talk about righting the
wrongs of the world, do we go after the lunch money or the BAG OF HUNDREDS?

---------------------------------------
Vic, that's your problem. We AREN'T talking about the 'wrongs of the world'; we are talking about the 'wrongs of my state'. Penny-ante is relative, till you get to the state level; then you realize that we aren't talking about chump change. I don't accept the premise of your argument that I'm bitching about a small amount of wasted $$. You casually dismiss the whole crux of this thread, it's title, and my argument. And if your only excuse of an argument is "It's only a small amount of $$', and not even argue what my democrat-run state is doing, then your argument is piss poor....

You think a non democrat state spend less on social programs? Plenty of examples say no.

So if you had to pick one thing would it be:
1) Waste
2) Fraud
3) Spending

David Losh says

You got it with over sight. Finding ATMs that take EBT cards is pretty easy.

The EBT card is not my favorite way to run Welfare, and is prone to abuse.
However Prosecuting welfare fraud is a lost cause.

--------------------------------
Gee Dave, 'prone to abuse'?? Ya think?

This is where you are wrong. Why can't anyone think beyond giving welfare recipients cash?? It's the most asinine thing our society can do, and folks like Kevin and Vicente are A-OK w/ this epic-failure of a solution.

I've got a novel idea. Instead of giving these folks EBT credit cards (ie, cash), let's do the following...

- 4 times a year, have each welfare recipient come down to the local welfare office, and prove/confirm name/SS#/address. First visit, we take their picture, and put it on a super market gift card that gets replenished each week or month. Think of it as a 'license to shop' (for shit you actually need, not want....) This fixes a few things. 1) it removes the small (but growing) illegal immigrants from getting any benefits (think of Obama's Aunti Zetuni)..... 2) it removes fraud from those double-dipping in 2 or more states. 3) it confirms an actual # of recipients that are receiving benefits; Something the democrats in Mass have no fuckin' clue on how to accomplish. 4) It prevents (or at least attempts) folks from selling the card to someone else in order to get $$ for drugs/booze/nail salons.

- Instead of giving out EBT credit cards, how about we give out gift cards to the local super-market that doesn't sell booze. Here in Mass, super markets don't sell liquor. You do have the rare BJ's that sells liquor, so we can remove them from this excersize. But welfare recipients will get a gift card to a Star Market, Roche Bros, Shaws, Market Basket. We use the address in the above bullet to confirm that the store's gift card is in their neighborhood.

- If you move, you have 4 opportunities a year to update the state on where you live.

I even have something more to add. We can use this card as an actual form of ID for voting, or a legit, complimentary form of state identification. You wanna vote? Great! We kill two birds w/ one stone. We (the taxpayers), pay for your card that you may (or may not) need to vote. The card will also get you your food. Liberals can't complain about 'wasting' money to confirm welfare recpient #'s, because we are, at the same time, 'getting the vote out'.....

BOOM. Problem solved. No welfare recpient is denied their doritos/pepsi/RingDings/steak/shrimp. They can buy diapers, cheese, formula, whatever the store sells. No inefficient state-run food depots.... No tax payer $$ wasted on lap dances down at the Foxy Lady in Providence, or on bail, or on cocaine, or gambling at Foxwoods in CT ...

Instead we have liberals on Patrick, that instead of actually THINKING of a solution, will actually try and defend this piss-poor status quo failure, and resort to name-calling, false accusations of me hating the poor. NNNIIIIIIICEEEEE!

Vicente says

You think a non democrat state spend less on social programs? Plenty of
examples say no.

------------------------
Vic, nope. Never said that, nor do I necesarily believe it.

Vicente says

You think a non democrat state spend less on social programs? Plenty of examples say no.

So if you had to pick one thing would it be:

1) Waste

2) Fraud

3) Spending

If govt regulations like Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is good enough for Corporations it should be good for Govt work as well.

AverageBear says

this epic-failure of a solution.

The EBT will be used to abuse Welfare receipients, for all the reasons you are suggesting.

Use it as ID? Come into the office four times a year? Have your picture taken?

As you have discovered the EBT has already tracked the abuse you are so outraged about. What more do you want?

How much more nanny State are you demanding, because your State already spends $3 for every $1 spent on Welfare policing it.

I don't know how many different ways to say that your State spends more on over sight of Welfare than on giving money to the poor.

How much is enough? Should we spend another $60 Billion on goverment agencies? How about if we just build more jails?

There's real crime in the world that we can't control, and you want to spend more resources policing the poor.

thomaswong.1986 says

If govt regulations like Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is good enough for Corporations it should be good for Govt work as well.

Sarbanes-Oxley is actually a poor analog.

It's only applied to public companies, so you go after the BIG FISH not the small fry. Bear's thread is all about the small-timer little fish.

It costs money to do a bunch of compliance accounting, which nobody pays much attention to, until companies get caught red-hot-handed. Certainly it never really penetrates to the small-time investors who are supposed to be ENLIGHTENED by access to all this enforced honesty. But when it blows up they can at least say "oh, well we should have known".

That Alan Greenspan praises SOX should be enough to discredit it.

AverageBear says

Instead we have liberals on Patrick, that instead of actually THINKING of a solution, will actually try and defend this piss-poor status quo failure, and resort to name-calling, false accusations of me hating the poor. NNNIIIIIIICEEEEE!

No we merely discount solutions that have already PROVEN ineffective. Remember physical food stamps? Yeah. So what would poor people do, who wanted something not on the approved list of items? They'd SELL the food stamps for less than face value, to get cash to get what they actually wanted.

Gift cards? So you give out cards only for the "approved" markets or one that give a good rate, or have good enforcement. Does it matter if these aren't in walking or easy public transit distance from the recipients? Poor people may not have cars and gas money. OK anyhow they buy a bunch of TIDE detergent or dry goods then sell that at a discount, now they have cash for what they do want. Nearly anything you can think of, to regulate and tightly control the way people spend their money, is open to a "free market" solution and will be trivially worked around.

You are indeed an Angry Bear.

Is shouting at strangers in a forum helping?

David Losh says

How much more nanny State are you demanding, because your State already
spends $3 for every $1 spent on Welfare policing it.

----------------------------
I'm very interseted in this claim. Do you have links to back this up? Specifically concerning Massachusetts?

Vicente says

No we merely discount solutions that have already PROVEN ineffective.
Remember physical food stamps? Yeah. So what would poor people do, who wanted
something not on the approved list of items? They'd SELL the food stamps for
less than face value, to get cash to get what they actually wanted.

Gift cards? So you give out cards only for the "approved" markets or one that
give a good rate, or have good enforcement. Does it matter if these aren't in
walking or easy public transit distance from the recipients? Poor people may not
have cars and gas money.

------------------------------------------------------
Vic,

Why are you pulling food stamps out of your ass? When did I mention food stamps in this thread? i sure remember them, taking them when I was a cashier back in the 80's. Mentioning a 30 year old solution is quaint.

Mentioning food stamps brings nothing to your argument. I'm talking about a re-usable gift card for a supermarket, either with, or without a photo ID. Both forms become less valuable to pawn off for cash, as opposed to food stamps. You give away the card for cash, and you lose your ability to get food until the card is replaced. The person keeps the same card indefinitely, as it gets recharged w/ funds every week/month to shop for FOOD (not booze, not drugs) at the nearest supermarket. Are you still with me? I'm not talking food stamps. Kinda shoots your retarted 'food stamp' argument out of the water.

Tell me Vic, where do you think poor people currently get their food? Whether or not they pay for it w/ their own money, they are going to go to the same place; and chances are, it's a chain supermarket. The argument of 'ooooh poor people don't have cars and $$ for gas to get their food'?? What a LAME excuse. Then explain to me all of the cars I see in the project's parking lots where I used to live (Medford, MA)? Camrys, Accords, etc; brand new to 15+ years old; with a good representation of Escalades and Lexus' (more so than MY neighborhood, and I live in a nice area)....

God-forbid you make people get on a bus to get to the food store to get food FOR FREE. Shit, I used to do that as a college kid. What makes these welfare recipients so special?...Oh, that's right, I forgot. They are the 'victims'.. My bad.

As for the 'approved' supermarkets, there would be no 'approved' supermarkets. Every chain in the commonwealth would be used. And I'm pretty sure every chain has these gift cards.

What else you got? Because your status quo attitude to this failed distribution of welfare (EBT cash distributions) in my state, has got more holes in it than my spaghetti collander. You can't defend the fact that EBT $$ gets spent on booze, drugs, bail, nail salons, lottery, casinos OUT OF STATE, cruises, etc.

But no, no, no. Omniscient-Vic says we can't even try to improve this failure of gov't here in my state. PFFT.

Vicente says

You are indeed an Angry Bear.

Is shouting at strangers in a forum helping?

-----------------------
Vic, I didn't know you were so sensitive to CAPS. Sorry I hurt your feelings.....Sorry I didn't give you the warm and fuzzies in this thread.....

Kevin calls me a 'heartless-dick', and you get your panties in a twist because I occasionally use CAPS. I wish I could make this shit up.....The pussification of America rolls on......

Vicente says

Bear's thread is all about the small-timer little fish.

-------------------------------------------------
I'm not talking about the welfare recipients themselves. I'm talking about Mass state gov't changing it's policies to correct the EBT cash problem. I don't blame the recipients. I blame my state gov't....which leads me to my next question...

Vic, you claim that I'm going after 'small potatos/chump change'. I'm curious. What percentage of my state budget would you consider 'chump change'?? 10%, 5%, 2 or 1%

Give me a clear # that in your mind, is the thresh-hold that defines 'chump change'....

AverageBear says

Vic, you claim that I'm going after 'small potatos/chump change'. I'm curious. What percentage of my state budget would you consider 'chump change'?? 10%, 5%, 2 or 1%

Mass. state budget approx 32 billion

Your original article talks about 4 percent of EBT recipients it COULD NOT LOCATE! Is this all fraud? What do they mean by that? I dunno, the article doesn't say. Phoned every last recipient on a Sunday, sent out cops looking for them? Did they investigate 19,000 cases and prove fraud? What? Well maybe the "article has been archived" thing and the shortness of it means whatever you read I cannot see.

Worst case every single one is fraud, 91 million dollars is probably far less than people spent on buying double whipped soy lattes in Mass. Starbucks. So yeah it's penny ante bullshit. Shit you spend 5 million just on the ADVERTISING BUDGET for your state lottery, and a more useless and wasteful and inefficient agency than state lotteries I cannot imagine.

I doubt grocery chains would care much about enforcement of your proposal. Game it out, what's the downside for the grocery chain for being permissive about it? They sell alcohol and cigarettes to obvious minors that's a BFD. They sell some food to "the wrong person" well they've still sold food and who gives a shit? Gift cards don't carry ID data. Unless you want a new type of card that IS a state-issued ID? Frankly I don't get how this works without being either ineffective CYA BS or an additional cost to the retailer.

AverageBear says

Specifically concerning Massachusetts?

Massachusetts seems to have a real problem with the welfare system. I don't know why so much attention is being paid to it, but I'm sure there are politics involved.

I did provide some links earlier, but will find the specifics.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-60000-welfare-spentper-household-poverty_657889.html

This one is cumbersome, but says: "Another concern is the entangled bureaucracy of welfare. Currently governors have to ask the Federal government if they can revamp their state welfare system. And the federal bureaucracy costs money. If you took the money spent for welfare and gave it to poor families it would amount to $25,000 a year for every family of four."

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/welfare.html

This last one is a gem, that is dated, but clearly outlines the problem with welfare administration costs. This is our federal government at work driving up costs.

https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-05-91-01080.pdf

Massechusetts seems to be in the middle of the pack, but from the last report, or by all reports, it depends on how States spend the money they get.

What may be the case in your State is that they don't spend enough on staffing to police fraud, because the money is spent on your Health Care system, which was the basis of ObamaCare.

Vicente says

Worst case every single one is fraud, 91 million dollars is probably far less
than people spent on buying double whipped soy lattes in Mass. Starbucks. So
yeah it's penny ante bullshit. Shit you spend 5 million just on the ADVERTISING
BUDGET for your state lottery, and a more useless and wasteful and inefficient
agency than state lotteries I cannot imagine.

I doubt grocery chains would care much about enforcement of your proposal.
Game it out, what's the downside for the grocery chain for being permissive
about it? They sell alcohol and cigarettes to obvious minors that's a BFD. They
sell some food to "the wrong person" well they've still sold food and who gives
a shit? Gift cards don't carry ID data. Unless you want a new type of card that
IS a state-issued ID? Frankly I don't get how this works without being either
ineffective CYA BS or an additional cost to the retailer.

---------------------------------------------
Yeah, 91 million could build a few new bridges, or structurally repair 5-10, so I guess that's 'penny-ante shit' in your mind....Like so many other states, my particular state funnels it's gas tax to some nebulous 'slush fund', where it should be going directly to the maintenance of our roads/bridges...Same goes for lottery winnings ('for the children, aka education), litigation windfall from the tobacco giants (PSA education)... It's all a budgetary scam, but I digress...

As for your argument about grocery chains not caring about enforcement. I didn't mention this, and I actually don't care. I'm sure the supermarkets would be loving the new business. BTW, they don't sell alcohol in this state, so I don't know where you are getting at. Tobacco sales? huh? Where are you going with this?

Again, it seems you think I'm attacking the 'end-user' of the benefits. I'm trying to find out if my state has the brains to realize that giving EBT cash to welfare recipients can be improved upon. If ANYTHING coming out of a supermarket was going to the wrong persons, at least it's better than my tax dollars paying for booze/drugs/casinos/strip clubs.

EBT CASH = INSANITY..

AverageBear says

EBT CASH = INSANITY..

it's the same as issueing a welfare check except the money can be tracked.

David Losh says

So the system works.

Right now, it works even better for J.P. Morgan.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/01/jp-morgan-s-food-stamp-empire.html

Here is a nice nugget:

With states paying EBT processors so much, one might think that these companies would be expected to tenaciously prevent and investigate fraud and abuse. But according to state officials and a review of a sampling of these contracts, they do not task EBT providers with aggressive fraud prevention. That job is left to states’ EBT fraud investigation units (which police recipients of benefits) and the Agriculture Department (which polices retailers). According to the USDA’s website, the federal food stamp program has “over 100” inspectors to police the nearly 200,000 retailers nationwide that accept EBT cards. For its part, the state of Florida has 63 positions allocated to police over 3 million EBT users. JP Morgan is currently involved in an eight-month pilot project with Florida focused on EBT fraud and abuse. The total staff? Just one JP Morgan employee and five to ten state employees, according to Florida officials. Moreover, critics, such as author James Bovard, say that under President Obama the federal government has tried (unsuccessfully) to thwart states like California, New York, and Texas from implementing commonsense anti-fraud measures, such as requiring those applying for an EBT card to provide finger images.

AverageBear says

As for your argument about grocery chains not caring about enforcement. I didn't mention this, and I actually don't care. I'm sure the supermarkets would be loving the new business. BTW, they don't sell alcohol in this state, so I don't know where you are getting at. Tobacco sales? huh? Where are you going with this?

Then what's the point? Oh wait you don't actually care about this issue right. I suggest you stick with tried&true "starve the beast". Cut 200 million from the welfare budget and magically all fraud will disappear, because presto-change-o it must. I believe it's already been pointed out why gift cards are prone to abuse and difficult to audit. But none of that matters. Over & out.

Vicente says

Then what's the point? Oh wait you don't actually care about this issue
right. I suggest you stick with tried&true "starve the beast". Cut 200
million from the welfare budget and magically all fraud will disappear, because
presto-change-o it must. I believe it's already been pointed out why gift cards
are prone to abuse and difficult to audit. But none of that matters. Over &
out.

-------------------------------------------------
Vic, you are projecting yet again. I'm merely asking my state to look at ways of improving how welfare can be better distributed to the needy. They refuse to acknowledge their piss-poor solution of just waving the 'magic wand' and throwing cash at the problem without thinking. You've stated that i'm concerned with 'enforcement' of those that receive the benefits(not true). The problem is 'upstream', not 'downstream'. i'm asking and suggesting that my state find a better way. I find it funny that we can track how $$ gets spent w/ EBT credit cards, yet in the same breath you tell me we don't have the ability to track how $$ gets spent with a store gift card? What nonsense.... I understand that fraud and giving the supermarket card to someone else is entirely possible. However, it would make me feel better knowing that at least this taxpayer's money is being spent (and limited to a supermarket) on food/diapers/household items (whoever does wind up using it), as apposed to drugs/bail/strip clubs/out of state casinos/etc...

You seem happy w/ the current technology that we use for our EBT/cash solution, but somehow can't imagine a card that can be used only in a supermarket, WHERE IT SHOULD ONLY BE USED. Guess what, vic? It's the same fuckin' technology! We can track who should have the card, when it's depleted, when we can replenish it w/ more funds by the week, which store it gets used at, etc.... Why are you opposed to this solution? You are OK w/ tax $$ going to booze/drugs/casinos? Apparently so, and are too lazy to think there's a better way.

You and others that defend my state's failed EBT solution have repeated the following ... 1) I don't like poor people 2) The cost benefits are 'penny ante shit', and 3) I want to end welfare altogether.

If these are the best arguments to my solution, then that tells me you are desperate at best.

Here's a gem from comment 89's link: "18 of the 24 states JP Morgan handles have been contracted to pay the bank up to $560,492,596.02 since 2004. Since 2007, Florida has been contracted to pay JP Morgan $90,351,202.22. Pennsylvania’s seven-year contract totaled $112,541,823.27. New York’s seven-year contract totaled $126,394,917."

Your State along with dozens of other constantly come up with high priced solution to combat fraud.

How much is enough? How many more people do you want to hire to scan EBT transactions, let alone do immigration checks, get people into the office four times a year for intake, and issue IDs?

How much is enough? That's the question.

The hits just a' keep on comin'...... My state Gov't is run by a bunch of idiots. There's a reason why we are starting to call our governor 'Teflon Deval'.... Deval is hiring all of these mental midgets who can't even run a lemonade stand, and refuses to answer the tough questions (which rarely happens w/ our liberal state press/media)....

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/02/dta_glitch_led_to_ot_free_for_all

------------------------------------------------
Taxpayers doled out a stunning $3.4 million in overtime to state workers to fix a massive, multimillion-dollar glitch in the scandal-plagued welfare department — a revelation critics say adds insult to injury as the state negotiates with the feds over how to pay back $27 million in food-stamp overpayments.

More than 900 employees in the Department of Transitional Assistance — mostly caseworkers — shared in the $3.4 million OT bonanza between November 2010 and May 2011, the department acknowledged after a Herald public records request.

DTA authorized the wages — an average of roughly $3,500 each — so staff could address a backlog of 30,000 clients whose eligibility had to be recertified after the agency overpaid food-stamp clients by $27 million in federal money.

.“When it costs that much money to correct the problem, that’s an affront to the taxpayers of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, frankly,” said state Rep. Jim Dwyer (D-Woburn).

AverageBear says

i'm asking and suggesting that my state find a better way. I find it funny that we can track how $$ gets spent w/ EBT credit cards, yet in the same breath you tell me we don't have the ability to track how $$ gets spent with a store gift card?

Please explain how this works.

As currently implemented, they are CASH. I can hand you my card and you can spend it. Someone gives me a gift card to Jamba Juice or someplace else I never go. What do I do with it? I resell it to someone I know or I put it up on PlasticJungle. There is no identity attached to it. No audits are possible without identity being attached to a transaction entry.

So you want to implement some different gift card system that does have identity & audit ability? How will that work, what will it cost, and who pays for it? Will retailers be required to implement a state-mandated solution for it out of their own pockets?

AverageBear says

Taxpayers doled out a stunning $3.4 million in overtime

You cherry picked this article for drama.

This is another labor dispute with the Union. Had the State authorized enough workers to adminster this program wthere wouldn't be a need to pay over time to correct the over payments.

The people who suffer are the Food Stamp program receiptients.

So in a time when the State needs more jobs the State refuses to hire because it might swell the Union ranks. Nice.

Massachusetts' Dept of Transitional Assistance (DTA) efforts to improve fraud/waste is "Flowing like peanut butter"......

I'll stop bashing my state gov't (ie, gov. Deval Patrick and the state senate), when I see that they care more about the voting, law-abiding taxpayer, rather than the deadbeat cheaters...

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/audit_1164_dead_people_received_welfare_benefits

• Auditors identified 1,164 cases where $2.39 million was paid in benefits from six to 27 months after the recipients had died.

• DTA gave out another $532,000 to people either claiming deceased dependents or to 40 people who were being claimed by more than one guardian.

• During the time the audit focused on, DTA did not verify self-reported Social Security numbers, leading the state to pay out more than $1 million to those using two numbers to collect and individuals whose Social Security numbers were being used by more than one person. It also shelled out benefits for an “extended amount of time” to people with an invalid temporary Social Security number.

• Five regional DTA offices could not provide documentation for more than 30,000 blank EBT cards, raising serious questions in an agency where past internal probes found employees misusing blank EBT cards to access recipients’ benefits inappropriately.

• Despite generating reports to help identify fraud, DTA did not use them, even though they revealed more than $15 million in EBT activity that auditors say “should have been identified by DTA and investigated.”

David Losh says

The people who suffer are the Food Stamp program receiptients.

Suffer? Yah. They suffer all right. They suffer at the nail salon, the liquor store, and "suffer" at the ATM machine before they use the 'state assistance' to fund their night out..... Please wake up...

The Professor says

Total 2012 entitlement spending: $2,053,000,000,000.00

Us Population: 313,914,040

$6,540 in entitlement spending for every man, woman, and child in the US.

You know this probably includes social security and medicare right (but not the money collected from everyones FICA and medicare payment).

What a total crock.

What about the years when more was being paid in to SS than "spent" on it.

AverageBear says

My state Gov't is run by a bunch of idiots.

You elected them.