Thread: After last month’s shopping frenzy, Louisiana governor looks to strip food stamps fro

After last month’s shopping frenzy, Louisiana governor looks to strip food stamps from abusers

Published November 07, 2013
FoxNews.com





The Louisiana governor's office said Wednesday night that it would strip food stamp benefits from anyone who took advantage of an EBT card malfunction that in some cases caused an all-out shopping frenzy in some stores across the state, The Advocate reported.
It is unclear how many recipients stand in line to lose benefits for a year, but more than 12,000 received an insufficient funds notice when the EBT card system was corrected on Oct.12, the report said.
"We must protect the program for those who receive and use their benefits appropriately according to the law. We are looking at each case individually, addressing those recipients who are suspected of misrepresenting their eligibility for benefits or defrauding the system," Suzy Sonnier, the secretary of state at the Department of Children and Family Services, said in a statement.
The frenzy at some stores was likened to the busiest shopping day of the year. "It was worse than any Black Friday,” Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd told local station KSLA-TV.
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.
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.
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 Oct. 10 and 11, creating retail riots. At Louisiana stores in Springhill and Mansfield, cards registered no spending limits, prompting recipients to go on buying binges. Stores, not taxpayers are on the hook for the excess money spent at the locations. It is up to the stores and local prosecutors to determine if charges should be leveled against abusers.
The Advocate's report says that violators will receive a letter about the disqualification along with how to appeal the matter. In the most severe cases, under Federal guidelines, individuals can lose the privilege permanently.
A worker at a soup kitchen in Alexandria said cutting off food stamps from a family would be detrimental. She said most recipients she sees receive a $25-a-month stipend. She was inside a store when the malfunction occurred, and recalled feeling empathy when she saw the individuals, who otherwise could not afford it, stacking up on food.

Click for more from The Advocate's report

Fox News' Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/07...p-food-stamps/

Louisiana Walmart Food Stamp Abusers Getting In Trouble!

Posted on Friday, November 8th, 2013 at 11:23 pm.
by: George Washington



Via Townhall

Last month a temporary glitch in Louisiana’s EBT system allowed some card recipients to shop till they dropped at a number of local Walmarts. That’s right, for several hours the limit on the cards disappeared, letting users buy steal anything and as much as they wanted.

Those that abused the system and took advantage of the major glitch are not walking away scot-free, however.
“The Jindal administration vowed late Wednesday to strip food stamp benefitsfrom recipients who misled retailers about their spending limits during a technical malfunction.

Recipients who walked away with groceries that exceeded their food stamp balances face losing their benefits for a year, two years or permanently depending on how many prior infractions they have. Exactly how many stand to be punished is unclear. More than 12,000 transactions generated insufficient funds notices once the electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, system came back online Oct. 12 and retailers could process stored transactions.”

The Jindal administration will target the worst offenders first, said Suzy Sonnier, secretary of the state Department of Children and Family Services.

“We must protect the program for those who receive and use their benefits appropriately according to the law. We are looking at each case individually, addressing those recipients who are suspected of misrepresenting their eligibility for benefits or defrauding the system,” she said in a statement.


http://www.conservativeinfidel.com/u...ers-gonna-get/

Gov Cancels SNAP Cards: Louisiana EBT Free-for-all May Come at a High Price

Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper
November 8th, 2013
Reader Views: 1,893
Comments (9)

Remember last month when EBT cards in Louisiana showed no limits? Remember how all of those EBT users had a chaos-fueled shopping spree and emptied store shelves within hours? Remember how that one woman with only 49 cents left on her card tried to leave with $700 worth of food?

Well, the governor of Louisianna remembers too, and he has taken the unprecedented move of canceling the benefits cards for every person suspect of participating in the fraudulent free-for-all.

… Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal’s office will cancel food stamp benefits for anyone who participated in a fraud and shopping spree catalyzed by an EBT malfunction.

More than 12,000 people were sent an insufficient funds notice when the problem with the EBT cards was fixed on Oct. 12; those who transgressed may lose their EBT cards for a year.

Suzy Sonnier, the secretary of state at the Department of Children and Family Services, released a statement saying: “We must protect the program for those who receive and use their benefits appropriately according to the law. We are looking at each case individually, addressing those recipients who are suspected of misrepresenting their eligibility for benefits or defrauding the system.” (source)

It all started on October 12, when technical problems plagued the EBT system across the country. 17 states were affected. Most of the benefits recipients couldn’t use their cards at all, causing mini-riots across the country when they were unable to buy food for their families. Within a few days, the USDA had sent notices to the states ordering them to freeze SNAP funds as a contingency plan because of the government shutdown. Meanwhile, in a few places in Louisiana, the EBT malfunction caused the cards to show no limit, and many stores allowed users to shop anyway.

And shop they did. Even though the accepted policy is to allow benefits recipients to purchase $50 worth of groceries in the event that cards malfunction, many stores did not limit purchases. Grocery carts were filled with reckless abandon and users gleefully left the stores with hundreds of dollars worth of ill-gotten supplies.

It looks like dishonesty was not the best policy, however.

Governor Jindal’s move comes a week after public urging from the office of the Louisiana Attorney General, David Vitter.

Sen. David Vitter urged Louisiana officials Wednesday to pursue charges and strip food stamp benefits from Wal-Mart shoppers in north Louisiana who turned a technical glitch into a free shopping spree.

Vitter, R-La., called for state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell and the Jindal administration to take action against shoppers who generated national headlines, spawned YouTube videos, and created a Twitter frenzy after a failure in the electronic benefit transfer system — the process for using food stamps — allowed them to spend beyond their balances in mid-October.

Smartphones captured images of carts piled high with groceries that were abandoned once the system came back online.
Taxpayers did not lose money because of safety measures built into the food stamp system.

“It should be clear that someone who tried to buy massive amounts of groceries purposely attempted to exceed the program limits. That sort of fraud should be met with disqualification from the program at the very least,” Vitter wrote. (source)

Those whose cards have been cancelled may appeal the decision in hopes of having their benefits restored, but if they lose the appeal, they could lose their benefits anywhere from one year all the way to…forever. Suzie Sonnier wrote, “Louisiana’s current SNAP policy allows a one year sanction from the program for a first offense, a 24 month suspension for a second offense and a permanent disqualification for a third offense.”

Let’s hope, for their sakes and that of their innocent children, that the fraudulent shoppers purchased long term storage foods, because it looks like they are going to need it. As always, it’s the children who will really pay the price for the irresponsible actions of their parents.

Through greed, dishonesty, and an entitlement mentality, these folks have just created their own SHTF event.

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

Contributed by Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper.

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

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