Giving away more "no strings attached" taxpayer money

[RadiomanATL]

Back to school spree: Billionaire, feds give out $175M to aid neediest students around the state


If they actually use it on school supplies, great. I applaud them and congratulate them on wanting a better life for their children.

However, since people on welfare usually have the poorest track record of managing their financial situation, I doubt that little more than half go to school supplies. And I'm being generous. A better way would for the government to partner with office supply stores and general stores such as WalMart and give out vouchers to these stores only. Not quite sure if this is logistically possible, but I would like to see at the very least an attempt at such a thing rather than this.

On the flip side, it is more of a direct stimulus, albeit a very very small one.

Bonus quotes in article:

"It's free money!" -- No it's not. The majority of it is taxpayer money.

"Thank God for Obama. He's looking out for us." -- You're pretty cheap if your vote is only worth $200 of someone else's money.

 

[xsited1]

I saw this as well. This is what happens when you put a bunch of "free lunch" Keynesians in power.

 

[Xenophon]

Just what we need, no strings attached handouts.

That will help.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Well, it seems to be going pretty much as expected...

Brooks says aid program flawed | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

A state program that put $200 cash into the hands of low-income parents of school-age children is opening the door for "rampant" fraud and should be suspended, Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks said Thursday

And it only gets better....

Wegmans and Tops report that ATMs in their stores ran out of cash on Tuesday, the day the money was deposited to food stamp accounts. The county reports that employees at the Wal-Mart store on Hudson Avenue called the Department of Human Services to say they thought welfare fraud was going on because there was a run on high-end electronics.

The stores received no notice of the program and would have been prepared had they known, spokeswomen from Tops and Wegmans said.

The ATMs first ran out in Syracuse, then the shortage spread to stores around the state, said Jo Natale, director of media relations at Wegmans. By then it was too late to get more cash to the machines, which are run by Wegmans, she said.

Tops reported that people would go through the checkout to purchase a pack of gum in order to get cash back from their food stamp debit card and repeat the process, as only $40 is allowed at a time, said communications manager Katie McKenna. Registers ran out of money.

But like I said, it does have a more immediate stimulus, although very small...

Though all the grants may not be used for school supplies, getting cash into the hands of those who don't have it stimulates the economy faster because they spend the money sooner than wealthy people, said economist and social worker Irwin Garfinkel, a professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work.

"In terms of the stimulus, you couldn't do better," Garfinkel said.

The program does not require a share from county property taxpayers or state income tax payers and is funded with $140 million in federal stimulus funds and a matching grant of $35 million from George Soros' Open Society Institute.

Translation: We're ALL paying for these people to go buy new X-Boxes. Soros just kicked in more than most.

 

[Xenophon]

Hey, every kid needs an Xbox 360 for school!

 

[RadiomanATL]

Hey, every kid needs an Xbox 360 for school!

My children are so deprived.

Maybe I oughtta sue someone since I didn't get my free shit.

 

[anna]

Free= obama's supporters!!

 

[pete]

They keep giving all this money away Im going to get divorced and let the wife cash in!!!!

 

[forerx]

Agree with you,thank you.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Fact is, when the government gives one person money they have taken it away from somebody else. I don't mind them giving money to school kids if it's use for school supplies. At least the money isn't being used to make tunnels so turtles can cross the road without getting hit by cars like some of the other stimulus money is being used.

 

[Sweet Willy]

You fuckers will line up and support billions and billions of dollars to kill people half a world away but you won't support helping your fellow man, impoverished school children even, to live here at home.

Go fuck yourselves.

 

[MalibuMan]

Trickle up poverty.

 

[pete]

You fuckers will line up and support billions and billions of dollars to kill people half a world away but you won't support helping your fellow man, impoverished school children even, to live here at home.

Go fuck yourselves.

Hahahaa
These would be the same impoverished kids that make a living living off the rest of us? The cycle needs to be broke not continued.

 

[Xenophon]

You fuckers will line up and support billions and billions of dollars to kill people half a world away but you won't support helping your fellow man, impoverished school children even, to live here at home.

Go fuck yourselves.

Really?

I support that?

I must have a doppleganger that claims so, since I am against all foriegn entanglements, especially 'bases' not in the USA.

 

[KittenKoder]

You fuckers will line up and support billions and billions of dollars to kill people half a world away but you won't support helping your fellow man, impoverished school children even, to live here at home.

Go fuck yourselves.

Really?

I support that?

I must have a doppleganger that claims so, since I am against all foriegn entanglements, especially 'bases' not in the USA.

Welcome to America ... where you support all or nothing of a party.

 

[Xenophon]

The irony is I don't support the party system.

 

[KittenKoder]

The irony is I don't support the party system.

Neither do I. I get pigeonholed all the time to.

 

[garyd]

Willy the loser bitching aobut the government doing shit that is constitutional - providing for the common defense - while giving them a pass doing stuff they shouldn't be doing in the first place.

As usual bitching about the 20% and letting the 80% slide.

Oh and now we are bailing out the local drug dealers good call.

 

[Sweet Willy]

Willy the loser bitching aobut the government doing shit that is constitutional - providing for the common defense - while giving them a pass doing stuff they shouldn't be doing in the first place.

As usual bitching about the 20% and letting the 80% slide.

Oh and now we are bailing out the local drug dealers good call.

Iraq had NOTHING to do with defense and most people with half sense know that. I haven't seen yet one ounce of evidence that we were under any threat from Iraq at all.

Drug dealers? WTF are you talking about? Oh....I see, all poor people are drug dealers. And Saddam had WMDs. You are quite gullible, aren't you?

 

[KittenKoder]

Willy the loser bitching aobut the government doing shit that is constitutional - providing for the common defense - while giving them a pass doing stuff they shouldn't be doing in the first place.

As usual bitching about the 20% and letting the 80% slide.

Oh and now we are bailing out the local drug dealers good call.

Iraq had NOTHING to do with defense and most people with half sense know that. I haven't seen yet one ounce of evidence that we were under any threat from Iraq at all.

Drug dealers? WTF are you talking about? Oh....I see, all poor people are drug dealers. And Saddam had WMDs. You are quite gullible, aren't you?

Actually, Iraq was a threat to the US, just not the threat they claimed it to be, that was just double talk from the politicians ... what do you expect?