In California, Welfare Cards Being Used At Casino ATM’s
I’m less offended by the fact that the welfare cards are being used at casinos as I am the fact that welfare recipients get their funds via ATM cards to begin with.
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.
State officials said Wednesday they were working to determine how much money had been withdrawn from casino ATMs by people using the welfare debit cards.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who learned of the issue when asked to comment for this story, promised to take immediate action.
“We have instructed our vendors to prohibit these cards from being accepted at ATMs located in casinos and card rooms,” Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said Wednesday. “It is reprehensible that anyone would use taxpayer money for anything other than its intended purpose.”
That last statement makes me chuckle a little bit. I think it’s more than a little naive to think that money doled out via ATM cards willy-nilly isn’t going to be abused. I mean, come on. How long have programs like welfare and food stamps been in existence? And over the years, how many times have we heard about them being abused?
At a tea party I MC’d recently a candidate for the Minnesota Legislature named Gretchen Hoffman said that she didn’t mind safety nets, but what she opposed was government-funded hammocks. And that’s exactly what these entitlement programs have become.
There’s not even any shame in being on these programs any more, and the government has worked hard to make it that way. But shouldn’t you be ashamed if you’ve got a welfare ATM card in your pocket? Shouldn’t you feel bad for having to resort to your fellow citizens feeding you?
What’s more, these entitlement programs are destroying families. It used to be that if you ran on to hard times your family helped you. That’s why you had incentive to be close to your family, and to get along with them, because one day you might need to lean on them if you ran on to hard times.
But now, who needs family when you’ve got big daddy government to bail you out guilt free?
Tags: california, entitlements, gambling, welfare
