Thursday, April 23, 2015

Quickies: A Not-Unintended Consequence

     Charles Hill brings some, ah, meat for the grill:

This turned up over at Interested-Participant, along with the note that “it seems to tell a story:”
... And it turns out that the actual purchaser, in fact, was not living large — not very large, anyway — at our expense; he was buying this stuff with EBT and then turning it over for cash, to the tune of 50 cents on the dollar. This isn’t what you’d call the highest use of taxpayer dollars, but anyone who is shocked — shocked! — to see this sort of thing going on probably isn’t paying attention: the system that can’t be gamed very likely can’t even be built, and I figure there’s nothing to be gained by paying some Federal agent to peer into people’s grocery carts.

     Is there anyone among our Gentle Readers who honestly thinks the sort of thing Charles describes above is an unintended consequence?

     The people who designed the existing welfare bonanza are not stupid. They were able to foresee such machinations. to them, it probably constitutes a stroke in the cause of “social justice:” just one more way of transferring income from those eeeeevil working types to the oh-so-virtuous “poor.”

     But don’t you dare speak or write in favor of eliminating government welfare or scaling it back. For that sin, the Left will call you “everything but white.” Remember: You’re not allowed to have your own opinions. Resolving to keep them to yourself is no guarantee they won’t somehow be winkled out of you.

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