Greed Isn't Just For The Rich.

Ape Still Rules

Ape Still Rules

Laus Deo
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Sep 16, 2013
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www.theblaze.com
Black Friday comes early as computer glitches cause welfare benefits frenzy.

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In some Walmart stores, customers emptied shelves like it was Black Friday, while in others, no one could buy anything -- all thanks to a weekend of glitches with the nation's welfare system.

Problems involving Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, the government payments to the poor that are administered by states with the help of private companies, plagued at least 17 states Saturday and Sunday, creating retail riots. At Louisiana stores in Springhill and Mansfield, cards registered no spending limits, prompting recipients to go on buying binges.

"It was worse than any Black Friday,” Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd told local station KSLA-TV? "It was worse than any black Friday.”- Wll Lynd, Springhill, La., police chief

Customers said shelves were picked clean in a mob scene that left employees rattled. Walmart spokeswoman Kayla Whaling told the station the company made a conscious decision to keep ringing up goods rather than to cut people off.

"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families," she said.

But when order was restored and the cards began reading properly, it became clear that some customers were out to take advantage of the taxpayer-funded program. One woman had $700 worth of merchandise in her cart and an EBT card with a balance of just 49 cents.
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Just like with our politicians when it's someone else's money there is no responsibility. The handout needs reform big time and those who went nuts need to not only pay back the system but be punished.
 
It pays to not work. I'm jealous of those who can mooch off the government because an outdated system that encourages unemployment.
 
What is an honest welfare person to do while watching others raid Walmart? Assume the effects of this will affect the program later, so might as well join in and stock up now while you can.

Anyway, what of the Walmart stores that let this happen? Are they just hoping to pass the expense onto the government by demanding they be paid back?
 
Videodrome said:
What is an honest welfare person to do while watching others raid Walmart? Assume the effects of this will affect the program later, so might as well join in and stock up now while you can.

Anyway, what of the Walmart stores that let this happen? Are they just hoping to pass the expense onto the government by demanding they be paid back?
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Like I said, greed isn't only for the rich.
 
Greed is a pretty normal human condition, I'd say. It's visible across cultures and throughout the ages.

Some people are just really good at it.
 
That's why you hold those who are spending other peoples money (those on hand out programs or those in government) accountable and punished (cut off or fired respectively) when they do it "really good".
 
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I'm a little curious, did this only happen in Lousiana? Not to say it would only happen there, but it seems like Walmarts charity was severely taken advantage of in Louisiana, and from what I hear, Walmart doesn't plan to press charges on any of the people who did this.
 
Ape Still Rules said:
That's why you hold those who are spending other peoples money (those on hand out programs or those in government) accountable and punished (cut off or fired respectively) when they do it "really good".
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Sure.
 
The cards must be tied to a persons account, so there has to be a way to see how much was spent on each. Just dock the accounts by how much was spent, so if they spent a years worth of bennies that day, make the account have zero funds for the next year.
 
Ape Still Rules said:
Can't tell if you are being snarky or if you really agree. I'm betting the former.
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I'm not sure why you'd think that. I do agree that there should be a penalty for this. Same as it's a crime to keep the cash if an ATM gives you $10,000 instead of $100.
I'm not sure if I would recommend jail time, but some kind of repayment system and or penalty suitable for each person's offence.

That being said, these people aren't very good at it. Their unwarranted spending has already swiftly been discovered, it was done in a way where they can be identified and dealt with and they didn't even get that much of a benefit out of it ($700?). I'd say as far as fraudulent or sheisty capers go, this rates as a pretty big fail.

I also don't believe this part:
"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families,"
More likely they figured someone was going to have to pick up the tab at the end so they might as well take the sales.
 
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@Li Tan

I also don't believe this part:
"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families,"
More likely they figured someone was going to have to pick up the tab at the end so they might as well take the sales.
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Yeah me too, I'm sure no one is going hungry when they're buying 10x the amount of stuff they're allowed to. Not to mention they're cleaning out the shelves of food that other WIC/EBT folks that actually have hungry at home would need, or all other non section 8 peeps want/need.

There is a line between getting food for your "starving" family and stealing, Wallmart could have stopped people from abusing the error, however, those same people prolly would have sued Wallmart for doing so.
 
And your family can't eat a BluRay player. Perhaps big ticket items like appliances and stuff could have been restricted.
 
Li Tan said:
And your family can't eat a BluRay player. Perhaps big ticket items like appliances and stuff could have been restricted.
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Most EBT/Foodstamps/WIC programs limit what you can buy with the funds. I've never had the pleasure of being on any of them, so I don't know what exactly the restrictions are. Maybe I should try to get on though, Daddy could use some new toys...
 
Li Tan said:
I'm not sure why you'd think that. I do agree that there should be a penalty for this. Same as it's a crime to keep the cash if an ATM gives you $10,000 instead of $100.
I'm not sure if I would recommend jail time, but some kind of repayment system and or penalty suitable for each person's offence.

That being said, these people aren't very good at it. Their unwarranted spending has already swiftly been discovered, it was done in a way where they can be identified and dealt with and they didn't even get that much of a benefit out of it ($700?). I'd say as far as fraudulent or sheisty capers go, this rates as a pretty big fail.

I also don't believe this part:
"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families,"
More likely they figured someone was going to have to pick up the tab at the end so they might as well take the sales.
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Jail time, lol not hardly. I'd either reduce the handouts they are getting or based on the severity of the fraud kick them out of the program all together. As for the stores who knowingly allow this fraud to happen, they only get reimbursed the max on the particular card. For example, if that crook was able to take home $700 worth of stuff and only had 48 cents to spend. The crook gets booted out of said handout program and the store only gets the 48 cents.
 
Yeah I'm not for jail time. Hell I'm already paying so they can be on public assistance, I don't need/want to pay again to send them/keep them in jail...
 
I prefer to say Self Interest is a human trait..

Unfortunately, we often Individual Self Interest and Group Interest that often seem to be at odds with each other creating bizarre messes and leading to absurd behavior.
 
Videodrome said:
I prefer to say Self Interest is a human trait..

Unfortunately, we often Individual Self Interest and Group Interest that often seem to be at odds with each other creating bizarre messes and leading to absurd behavior.
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Indeed. Got to look out for #1.
 
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