Thanks, suckers. You work hard, you pay your taxes, and California welfare recipients are using their welfare cards like credit cards with no credit limits.
In the last couple of year, they’ve drawn $69 million in California welfare payments while out of state. Hell, out of state wouldn’t even be so bad if they weren’t pissing your money away in casinos and on cruises and shopping sprees.
The Los Angeles Times has the disturbing details:
Las Vegas tops the list with $11.8 million spent at casinos or taken from ATMs, but transactions in Hawaii, Miami, Guam and elsewhere also raise questions. Officials say budget cuts hinder investigations.
More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami.
State-issued aid cards have been used at hotels, shops, restaurants, ATMs and other places in 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services. Las Vegas drew $11.8 million of the cash benefits, far more than any other destination. The money was accessed from January 2007 through May 2010.
Free credit cards. Free money. Free cruises. Free hotel rooms. Free shopping. All paid for by the suckers formerly known as taxpayers.
Source: Los Angeles Times
