Arizona Food Stamp Fraud at Dollar Dayz

Employees of a store called Dollar Dayz on 19th and Buckeye in Phoenix, AZ were arrested for trading Arizona Food Stamps for cash.  A great deal of the cash was then used to purchase drugs.

Catch the live Arizona Food Stamp Fraud story as it unfolds below:

 

According to investigators, the store has traded approximately $1 million dollars worth of Arizona tax payer's dollars by trading Arizona food stamps for cash and then using the cash to purchase an illegal drug known as spice.

The suspects allegedly stole about $120,000 a month in Arizona food stamps.

The ridiculous part about it (other than the blatant theft)is the fact that the store only has 2 aisles of food...

Here is how the Arizona food stamp fraud went down:

People would go to the Dollar Dayz store under the auspice of purchasing food.  Once they got to the store, the clerks/owners would basically allow them to trade their Arizona food stamps at 50 cents on the dollar.  Some people would walk away with the cash, and others would go around the corner and buy drugs.

Undercover agents had been watching Dollar Dayz for months before they decided to make a bust.

Everyone who was involved in this case are facing serious charges. This is the second store to be busted for Arizona food stamp fraud in 2013 by an inter-agency group that calls themselves Strikeforce: Quest after the Quest food stamp card...

Food Stamps for Low Income Citizens of Great Britain

People who have low income and who are citizens of Great Britain are not used to getting food stamps when they apply for public assistance.

Instead, they are used to receiving cash assistance in the form of cash loans.

Local governments have decided to nix the cash assistance and issue food vouchers, the vouchers will be used the same way that we use food stamps (SNAP Benefits) here in the U.S.

The new procedure is part of the country's current welfare reform.

According to the Conservative government, the changes that are in store will allow the country's welfare system to run more efficiently...

New Job Training Requirements for Wisconsin FoodShare Recipients/Applicants

Residents in Milwaukee may be required to attend a training program in order to receive and continue to receive Wisconsin Food Stamps (FoodShare).

So, here's the lo down.  If you are not disabled, not pregnant, and not a parent of a child under the age of 18, you will have to participate in a job training program - sounds fair enough, if all goes well...

Republican Governor Scott Walker approves of the plan, and the plan does make sense... in theory. The problem is the fact that this same type of program has been tried in other states, but it usually results in colossal failure.

What ends up happening is that people aren't properly trained for jobs that pay a living wage.  They get training in a traditionally low wage paying career like Nursing Assistant (CNA) or some other nonsense, then they find a $9 an hour job wiping people's a$$es... and then they are kicked off of any type of assistance.

Under this scenario, the participant is being underpaid and they still need assistance, but because $9 an hour is too much to get assistance, they are left to fend for themselves at a paltry wage.

Yes, it's true, people should be more responsible and they should take care of themselves.  BUT, assistance programs should also offer true assistance and make sure that participants are being trained for mid to high wage paying jobs.

It does no good to yank poor people in Wisconsin or anywhere else off of government assistance and throw them into a low wage lifestyle where they will likely turn back to the government for help.  It's a never ending viscious cycle.

In any event, Wisconsin FoodShare is about to make this change to the job trainig model. If you are going to be affected, you need to make sure to research the salary of any career field you might be interested in and then find out if the state will help you to pay for the training.  This could be a positive life changing proposition for the people who are smart about their career planning.