Sunday, July 10, 2016

"The Poors" and Public Corruption: A Punny Story

I have decided to create a new interactive segment to report public corruption.

I have not put it together yet, but it is going to work like this:

Leave a comment, send a personal message, email, text, Facebook, Tweet, your stories of fraud in government.

I will not use your name, but I will if you so desire.

I will do my very own analytical insight into the situation, identify the lawmakers and policymakers, then put them on blast for not fighting to end child poverty in the U.S.

Simple.  I shall go first, but I have so many stories.

A few years ago, before U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow took national credit from stopping the Republicans, for shutting down the federal government because there was not enough cuts to child poverty programs, offered her solution by cutting SNAP benefits.

In the Senator's defense, she did offer the fresh foods program, where there were few, if any place, during the time, to purchase fresh vegetables and fruit, and even fewer vendors who would have qualified to have participated, as Michigan had yet to set up a vendor reimbursement program for the small farmers and businesses.

Poor execution, pun intended.

But, then, only because it is Michigan and no one cares about child poverty, the Michigan Department of Human Services merged with the Department of Community Health and we all know what a mess that still is, because people, disabled, elderly, anyone who is a card carrying member of "The Poors" had, at one time, their cases closed so everyone could reapply to conform with the new IT system.

Back to my story.  Michigan initiated a campaign blitz to all its SNAP benefit recipients informing them that their date of "food stamp" allotments were to slightly change by a few days each month in order to save the state money.

What this meant was, if a person normally pays $50 for utilities, the itemized deduction would be approved at the new cap of $30, resulting in a drastic deduction of SNAP benefits, for reasons of exceeding the income requirement.

Poor guy, pun intended.

There was such an influx of increased membership into "The Poors" that the BRIDGES system crashed as it was never designed to handle so many of "The Poors".

Michigan found a solution by "automating", closing offices and getting rid of front line workers.

Everything went high tech, leaving many to experience, with the new 3 month and 6 month reviews, to ensure no SNAP recipient is defrauding the program, "The Poors" were being kicked off the rolls having to re-apply, due to system failures.

Poor thing, pun intended.

The process takes at least a month, and entire month where an individual, or more than likely, a poor family which means they have kids, will receive no SNAP benefits.

Poor babies, pun intended.

Who keeps the money?  Well, you will just have to ask Governor Rick Snyder and I do not believe he is speaking much in public these days.

Might want to check some of his legal defense funds.

Just being punny.

New Mexico Defrauds The Poor Out Of Food Stamps, Whistleblowers Say

Despite working as a home health aide in New Mexico for nearly two decades, Kimberly Jones was struggling to get the hours she needed to make ends meet. She was living in a hotel room, and every day she had to make a choice.
Angela Dominguez works for the Income Support Division in Portales, N.M. She's a whistleblower who spoke out about the practice of changing food stamps applications."Do I eat or do I pay for the room? Or how can I squeeze them both? Because, you know, the hotel wants their money," Jones says. "They don't care if you eat or not."
Jones applied for food stamps. She says the state worker she met with told her she was eligible for expedited assistance, and she'd get her benefits within a week.
But the money didn't show up. Not for two months.
In a recent federal court hearing, nine employees of New Mexico's Income Support Division — which oversees food stamps — took the stand to testify about fake assets being added to food stamps applications.

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