Food Stamps Used To Buy Lingerie In Louisiana
Food Stamps Used To Buy Lingerie In Louisiana
By: Kristin Tate Mar 14, 20145
Kiss My Lingerie in Louisiana has been accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer cards as payment, according to a video report by KSLA-TV. Recipients of the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)” receive Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. The cards, which are the contemporary version of “food stamps,” look and function like a debit card but are only supposed to be used to purchase food.
The Louisiana lingerie store has reportedly been accepting EBT cards for over eight months, suggesting misuse of welfare benefits that is potentially significant in scope.
KSLA-TV reported that the store owner accepts food stamps as payment so that he “does not discriminate against customers.”
One unidentified woman told the station, “We were told anything could be purchased there, with the food stamp card. No child I know eats edible underwear… It’s still the taxpayers dollars that are being used in a store like that and that really upsets me.”
In some states, EBT cards may be used to purchase items necessary to “family needs,” in addition to food. It is nearly impossible to make the argument that lingerie fits into that category.
After several national media outlets picked up the story, Kiss My Lingerie’s owners attempted to vehemently insist that they never accepted EBT cards as payment. One employee from Kiss My Lingerie said, “We don’t accept that for adult toys. No, no way.”
The extreme, left-leaning “news site” called “Americans Against the Tea Party” (AATTP) accused several outlets, including the libertarian magazine “Reason,” of publishing a story “based on lies… [it] seems like an obvious attempt to turn Louisiana residents against the food stamp program.” AATTP reported that Reason “didn’t really fact check too well before they published this piece.”
But it is AATTP that didn’t fact check. The picture below shows Kiss My Lingerie’s front door with an “EBT Accepted Here” sign on it. KSLA-TV’s full video report can be viewed here.
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This story signifies a serious problem in the food stamp program. While many may blame Kiss My Lingerie for welfare abuse in this instance, the blame should be instead placed on the federal Department of Agriculture, where the root of the problem lies. SNAP has become so mammoth in size that EBT cards have become a common, acceptable form of payment in many situations. What was once meant to be a small-scale program to help struggling families put food on the table has become a way for the federal government to subsidize various wants and needs for one-sixth of the U.S. population.
http://benswann.com/food-stamps-used...-in-louisiana/
