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USDA Report: Nearly 36,000 Retailers Engaged in Food Stamps Fraud to the Tune of more than $1 Billion!

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Published on: March 2, 2018

This is just among the plethora of examples as to why it is immoral to have a “safety net” out of DC, not to mention the fact that it’s completely unconstitutional to do so.

A report out of the US Department of Agriculture reveals that 35,891 food retailers across the country engaged in food stamps fraud to the tune of more than $1 billion over three years from 2012 to 2014.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

According to the report, “During 2012 to 2014, the rate of trafficking was 1.5 percent of total SNAP benefits, an increase from the estimate of 1.3 percent in the 2009-2011 study. Much of this increase is due to growth in the number of SNAP-authorized smaller stores that have a higher rate of trafficking.”

“Trafficking is defined as buying or selling benefits for cash or consideration other than eligible food, and the penalty is permanent disqualification,” the report reads. “Permanent disqualification occurs when a retailer’s authorization to redeem SNAP benefits is revoked.”

The USDA claims, “The total value of trafficked benefits increased to an estimated $1.1 billion annually, reflecting the overall growth in SNAP participation and benefits, and the slightly higher trafficking rate. This is an increase from $858 million annually in the 2009-2011 study.”

This is not a benefit.  It’s a crime.  It’s taking other people’s money and feeding or making rich other people who take it.

The report went on to state, “About 11.8 percent of all authorized SNAP stores engaged in trafficking. The rate of store violations has increased from 10.5 percent in the 2009-2011 study. The number of stores authorized to accept SNAP benefits also increased since the last study period. The majority of that growth has been in small grocery stores and convenience stores. Since the 1990s, the proportion of SNAP retailers engaged in trafficking has ranged from 7.4 percent to 11.8 percent.”

Of course, the greatest amount of fraud took place where you would most likely see it, in poor neighborhoods.

According to the report, “The likelihood of trafficking varied by store characteristics and settings. Small stores (e.g., small grocery or convenience stores) accounted for about 16 percent of all redemptions, but accounted for 94 percent of all dollars trafficked. Trafficking occurred exclusively in privately owned stores. It also  occurred more frequently among retailers located in neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty than those with less poverty and in the most urbanized neighborhoods.”

A chart found on page 9 of the report lays out where the fraud occurred due to business types.

“An estimated $1.077 billion in SNAP benefits annually were trafficked and thereby diverted from their intended purpose,” said the report.  “Overall, about 1.5 percent of total SNAP benefits were trafficked; and approximately 11.8 percent of all authorized SNAP stores engaged in trafficking.”

Publicly owned stores were found to not be trafficking.

“As there were no publicly owned stores found to have trafficked, privately owned stories account for 100 percent of all benefit dollars trafficked although they account for only 54.6 percent of all SNAP redemptions,” the report revealed.

While larger stores were less likely to be involved in trafficking benefits, convenience stores were discovered to the most likely to engage in trafficking.

By way of comparing, consider the report stated that only 30 stores were categorized as “supermarkets” and only 42 were “large groceries” of the 35,891 food retailers that engaged in food benefit trafficking while 1,700 were medium-sized groceries, 4,850 were small groceries and 25,954 were convenience stores.

Why do we continue to spend ourselves into debt and allow for this transfer of wealth in our nation?  We are a generous people.  We can handle our own, thank you very much.  We don’t need the state to be our nanny or big brother.  The more this continues, the more it rids good people of the means to actually meet the real needs to those who need our help.  Instead, the bigger government grow, the more it becomes a beast that plays “Father knows best” for each and every one of us.

It’s time to end government welfare… all of it.

Article posted with permission from Freedom Outpost

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