Crisis: USDA Orders States to Withhold Electronic Food Stamps

EBT shutdown risks widespread looting, riots by welfare recipients

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“In the most heavily armed nation in the world, and arguably the one where a massive portion of the population is now fully reliant on the welfare state for virtually every daily need, it is easy to see cutting off daily bread to tens of millions has a less than happy ending.” "The most catalytic event in the history of the US welfare state.”

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Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
October 16, 2013

The USDA is directing states to withhold Electronic Transfer Benefits for the month of November until further notice, setting up a potential food stamp crisis that could very easily lead to riots and widespread looting if the government shutdown drags on.

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The USDA, which oversees the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), issued the order in a letter to SNAP administrators which states, “Understanding the operational issues and constraints that States face, and in the interest of preserving maximum flexibility, we are directing States to hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.”

In other words, up to 47 million Americans who rely on food stamps to feed themselves face the prospect of going hungry next month.

An EBT system failure that occurred this past weekend led to “mini-riots” and looting at several Walmart stores. In Springhill and Mansfield, Louisiana, shelves were cleared as frenzied customers tried to exploit unlimited credit balances that had temporarily been applied to their EBT cards as a result of the system glitch. Store managers also had to close a Walmart and call police in Philadelphia, Mississippi after customers began rioting when their EBT cards stopped functioning.

EBT card users responded by invoking the threat of widespread riots if the system went down again for any sustained period of time. More conspiratorial types even suggested that Saturday’s glitch was a beta test for a future total food stamp shutdown.

Imagine how millions of people living near the poverty line are going to react when they find out that their EBT cards may not be credited next month as a result of the government shutdown.

In the state of Utah alone, 100,000 people will see their benefits frozen. Richard Phillips, a homeless man who relies on food stamps, told Fox 13, “It’s going to cause problems… because then you’re going to come to find out that you’re going to have people starting to steal and do what they have to do to survive.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjGkrIsv860

“This is going to create a huge hardship for the people we serve here in our food pantry,” said Crossroads Urban Center’s Associate Director Bill Tibbits.

As we reported on Monday, aside from a failure to fund the government, food stamps could also be withdrawn if the U.S. fails to raise its debt ceiling this week. According to a Bipartisan Policy Center report, food stamps and Social Security checks could be delayed for up to four days.

“In the most heavily armed nation in the world, and arguably the one where a massive portion of the population is now fully reliant on the welfare state for virtually every daily need, it is easy to see cutting off daily bread to tens of millions has a less than happy ending,” reports Zero Hedge, characterizing the crisis as potentially “the most catalytic event in the history of the US welfare state.”

http://www.infowars.com/crisis-usda-...c-food-stamps/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUgJE0CEhCY

What The Marching Food Stamp Army Looks Like

October 16, 2013 by Bob Livingston

Back in April, I wrote about The Silent Army. This is the army of almost 50 million (now) people who depend upon the government for their food.
In that article I wrote:

How far do you have to stretch your imagination to think of these 47 million people as a “food stamp army?” They certainly will become an army of terror, stealing and pillaging for food within just a few days after their food stamps are stopped for one reason or another.

You no longer have to stretch your imagination at all. It was on full display last weekend when the computer system that runs the Electronic Benefits Transfer system crashed in 17 States.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9C1NuDiBzDw

The EBT system — the new food stamp program — is essentially a pre-paid debit card system in which government food benefits are transferred to a card on a regular basis. When groceries are purchased, the amount of the purchase is deducted from the card and the card cannot be used again until a new balance is restored.

When EBT card holders realized the system was broken and could no longer read their cards, they became angry. Some of them threatened to riot. Some stores — particularly a couple of Louisiana Wal-Mart stores — decided to honor the cards as if they had full balances. EBT holders rewarded them by ransacking the stores — essentially stealing all the food they could carry. Store managers told news outlets it was like a tornado went through the stores.

When the system came back online and people realized they could no longer loot the stores without consequence, they left full shopping carts sitting in stores aisles and walked away. According to reports, one woman ran up a bill of $700 even though her card had a balance of just 49 cents.

Note from the Editor: Hyperinflation is becoming more visible every day—just notice the next time you shop for groceries. All signs say America’s economic recovery is expected to take a nose dive and before it gets any worse you should read The Uncensored Survivalist. This book contains sensible advice on how to avoid total financial devastation and how to survive on your own if necessary. Click here for your free copy.

What I told you in April I reiterate now. People in America who are getting free food stamps consider it a right rather than a privilege. This attitude will be very bad when the food stamp system fails, as it surely will when the worthless paper money system collapses as it did in the Weimar Republic in 1923.

With economic depression comes government oppression. Economic panics, famine and social breakdown come about as a result of depreciation and devaluation of a paper currency. There is a direct connection that few people get. It’s happening now!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began sending out notices last Friday (before the glitch) to States to “hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State electronic benefits transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.” If this occurs, it will get ugly very quickly.

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Freedom Watch, Hot Topics


http://personalliberty.com/2013/10/1...my-looks-like/