Aug 7, 2008 10:46 pm US/Central
In The Know: MN Welfare Being Used In Other States
(WCCO)
Minnesota House Republicans charged on Thursday that more than $10 million in state welfare money is being spent in other states, as far away as Hawaii. Don Shelby says some of that can probably be explained, but a lot of it cannot.
Minnesota welfare recipients who used their state issued and funded debit cards spent $387,000 in Texas last year. Retailers in Illinois enjoyed a $1.3 million windfall in credit card charges, all paid for by you and me.
Now, people on welfare have a right, if not the means, to take a vacation anywhere they want, and to use their card anywhere they want. It is not against the law.
It would be one thing if the government was just wasting money. And, I trust that it is likely that most people on welfare don't abuse the system, there are some. But the new figures, at least, suggest that people are stealing from a caring state.
The Republican minority leader asked for the figures, and today Marty Seifert told me that it was the first step in an investigation meant to stop fraud.
My heart goes out to people who need a hand up. I'm right there. But I have no stomach for people who would steal a state blind.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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