NY Food Stamp Recipients Shipping Welfare Funded Groceries to Relatives in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti

Yup, no fraud here (NOT!!!) … What would you expect from a welfare entitlement program?

More of your hard earned tax dollars going up in smoke in welfare entitlement fraud. s reported at the NY Post, welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels and shipping them overseas. Isn’t that special. It is bad enough that food stamps are at record highs under President Barack Obama, but now we learn that the welfare program is full of welfare abuse and fraud. Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute told The Post, “I don’t want food-stamp police to see what people do with their rice and beans, but it’s wrong.” Why not? The over-intrusive, big government seems to care about everything else we do from what we eat, the size of the drink we have and with the revelations of the NSA spying, pretty much every call, email and letter we send. So why not crack down on welfare fraud? Are these people some how special? Last time I checked, fraud was fraud. This is a crime folks, now its just a matter of whether any one is willing to enforce it.

Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.

The practice is so common that hundreds of 45- to 55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels line the walls of supermarkets in almost every Caribbean corner of the city.

The feds say the moveable feasts go against the intent of the $86 billion welfare program for impoverished Americans.

A spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said welfare benefits are reserved for households that buy and prepare food together. She said states should intervene if people are caught shipping nonperishables abroad.

Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, called it just another example of welfare abuse.

“I don’t want food-stamp police to see what people do with their rice and beans, but it’s wrong,” Tanner told The Post. “The purpose of this program is to help Americans who don’t have enough to eat. This is not intended as a form of foreign aid.”

Well at least the food stamp cards are not being used at strip clubs, liquor stores or porn shops. Oh wait, they were.

Quinnipiac University National Job Approval Rating is Underwater, 44% Approve, 48% Disapprove

President Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are floundering as they are back in the negative as his administrations in plagued by multiple scandals and ineffective leadership. According to the most recent Quinnipiac poll, Barack Obama finds himself in the negative as the American people do not approve of the job he is doing. The poll states that 44% approve, while 48% disapproval of his job. One has to wonder how his job approval rating is this high with a continued bad economy, Obamacare imploding and the Middle East on fire.

American voters say 61 – 27 percent that it is not in the national interest to be involved in Syria and oppose 59 – 27 percent providing arms and military supplies to anti-government groups, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Republicans, Democrats and independent voters all agree that helping Syria is not in America’s interest and all oppose providing arms and supplies to rebels. Republicans and Democrats support drone/cruise strikes, while independent voters are divided.

American voters give President Barack Obama a negative 40 – 52 percent approval for the way he is handling foreign policy, his worst grade ever on that score. The president’s overall job approval is a negative 44 – 48 percent, little changed from a 45 – 49 percent rating May 30.

The president has lost support among women and independent voters – the folks who supplied the key votes for his re-election just eight months ago. In April, the president’s overall 49 – 45 approval rating included a 44 – 46 percent verdict from independent voters. Now he gets a negative 36 – 53 percent rating from the same group. Since April his approval among Democrats is down from 89 – 8 percent to 83 – 11 percent, while his negative 9 – 87 percent score from Republicans is virtually unchanged.

Reuters’ David Rohde on Obama Administration : “Terrible Optics” of President Barack Obama Golfing and Sec. of State John Kerry Yachting after Egypt Over-Throws Morsi

So somebody in the MSM finally decided to say it  … What the hell is Obama thinking?

David Rohde of Reuters criticized the Obama Administration on CBS’ Face the Nation this weekend. Rohde stated that the optics were terrible following what was supposed to be a strong statement by Barack Obama regarding the situation in Egypt. So some one in the media is finally questions Obama’s optics … “Terrible Optics” of Obama Golfing and Kerry Yachting as Egypt burns.

” … you have a bit now in Egypt where the president has a tough statement and then I don’t know how this happened, but it was terrible optics. The next day the President goes golfing, Secretary Kerry’s out on his yacht. What does that say to young people in Egypt, across the Middle East–whether they’re part of the debate–about America’s interest in the region?

RCP – VIDEO

Just curious, where has Reuters’ David Rohde been for the past 4+ years with regards to the “terrible optics” of Obama golfing or vacationing as record number of Americans are on food stamps, continued 7.6%+ unemployment, Americans are forced into part-time work rather than full time due to Obamacare and Americans losing their homes? How come no one has questioned those optics? Face it … Egypt and the Middle East is just learning what America has had to deal with, this president is apathetic and just does not care. Barack Obama has gone golfing 130 times since in office. Where was the MSM questioning those rounds of golf? Did theu just happen to missing those optics?

SACRIFICE: Obama & First Family Trip to Africa Will Cost U.S. Taxpayers Between $60 and $100 Million

Title this one, Sequester, what sequester? Or, It’s Good to be King. Or, You Can Go Home Again  ;-)

As reported at the Washington Post, President Barack Obama and his families trip to Africa will be one of the most expensive trips ever and cost the American tax payers between $60 and $100 million. That is correct. As millions of Americans are unemployed, under-employed, and struggle to get by on a day to day basis. This takes place as a record number of Americans are on food stamps and disability. This occurs as so-called sequestration has caused government departments to cut back and furlough workers. Barack Obama has said in the past that every one has to have skin in the game and must sacrifice? That is everyone but him. As Weasel Zippers states, “Just as long as the King and Queen of America enjoy themselves.” This man truly is a community agitator. Who does this at a time that the United States finds itself in record debt?

So let’s understand this, fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, a Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency but yet Americans were left to die in Benghazi without any military help within an 8 hour range? Really? Furthermore, we are in the midst of questioning the IRS for their lavish and over the top wasteful spending, yet Obama’s jaunt to Africa gets the rubber stamp of approval? The LEFT will be quick to say, well Bush did it. Is that really a defense? I thought Obama wasn’t W? We realize that other presidents have gone on expensive trips as well, but this president is not supposed to be like others. Obama says he cares about the poor and the middle class. Obama claims that he identifies with the common man and plays class warfare. However, this imperial, do as I say, not as I do, let them eat cake president just snubs his nose at the American people and does any damn thing he wants at the expense of ‘We the People”. What a disgrace.

Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency.

Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bullet­proof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, so they can intervene quickly if an errant plane gets too close.

The elaborate security provisions — which will cost the government tens of millions of dollars — are outlined in a confidential internal planning document obtained by The Washington Post. While the preparations appear to be in line with similar travels in the past, the document offers an unusual glimpse into the colossal efforts to protect the U.S. commander in chief on trips abroad.

[...]

Obama’s trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, according to one person familiar with the journey, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. The Secret Service planning document, which was provided to The Post by a person who is concerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip, does not specify costs.

The Weekly Standard reports that after the WAPO questioned the costs of a planned family safari, the White House nixed the plan. So does that mean if we question the entire trip, they will cancel this ridiculous, over-priced boondoggle as well?

HARRIS POLL … Only a Third of US Adults Qualify as Very Happy … Minorities Show Particularly Pronounced Declines in the Past Two Years

Hey minorities, how’s that “Hopey-Changey” thing working out for ya?

Even though minorities have voted overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama and Democrats, their quality of “happiness” has declined in the past two years. In the 2012 election, 93% of blacks and 71% of Latinos voted for Barack Obama, yet they are more unhappy now than in 2011. Don’t ask for things, they might come true. This is what happens when you sell your souls to one party and they know you are a sure vote. When will minorities understand that Obama and Democrats just make campaign promises and then one they have been elected, forget anything that was promised. Black and Hispanic unemployment  is among the hardest hit by the failed Obama economy. But I thought Obama was going to fix all your problems and make the ills of society go away?

2008 – I don’t have to worry about putting gas in my car or worry about paying my mortgage. If I help him, he’ll help me … LOL, wanna bet?

Maybe if minorities stopped voting for Democrats and actually saw what the other party could offer them, maybe they might be more happy. But sorry, hard to feel any sympathy of folks who vote in lock-step for one party and then complain that they are still unhappy.

A Harris Poll of 2,345 U.S. adults surveyed online April 10-15 by Harris Interactive found certain groups, such as minorities, recent graduates and the disabled, trended downward in the last couple of years.

The Role of Politics

Minorities show particularly pronounced declines in happiness in the two years since the Happiness Index was last measured, with especially low happiness levels observed among the Hispanic American population; while it is important to note that a causal link cannot be established, it may not be a coincidence that this drop coincides with a political landscape that has seen frequent, sometimes contentious, discussion of immigration policy in recent months. Other findings include: African-Americans appear to be less happy than in 2011, with 36% qualifying as very happy – down from 44% in 2011. However, though happiness is down among them, they remain roughly as happy as whites (34%); in contrast, fewer than three in ten Hispanic Americans (28%) are very happy. This represents not only a decline from 2011 (35%) but also a significantly lower percentage than seen among either whites or African-Americans. Among Americans with disabilities, the percentage of those very happy has dropped from 34% to 31%- another decline which may have ties to cuts or feared cuts in services as a result of the sequester.

What, you mean being on welfare, unemployment, food stamps, disability and being dependent on the federal “Nanny state” government does not make individuals happy?