Brickbat: Mother-Daughter Activities

Nadine Jean Baptiste, a supervisor at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, and her daughter, Octavia Jean Baptiste, are facing federal charges of aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, illegal acquisition or use of SNAP benefits, and conspiracy. Prosecutors said Nadine Jean Baptiste used her position to steal the personal information of people who receive SNAP benefits on preloaded EBT cards, which both she and her daughter used to make more than $191,000 in grocery purchases for themselves.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...which both she and her daughter used to make more than $191,000 in grocery purchases for themselves.

The Biden-Harris economy, am I right?

[Chumby]

Awwww SNAP!

Two people making $191,000 in grocery purchases over about three-and-a-half years. This equates to about $75 of groceries per person per day. Jeff might refer to them as lightweights.

[SQRLSY]

Waste, fraud, and abuse goes straight to your waist! Twat a twisted, waisted way to go! STOP waisting my tax money!

[Randy Sax]

If ENB was the author Step-mother-Step-daughter Activities would be the title.

[Chumby]

Step Birthing Person and Step Fugitive Clump of Cells Activities?

[mad.casual]

Rhode Island Department of Kettle Calls Two Women Black

[TJJ2000]

Sounds like they should be on the [D] ballot running for political office. /s

[Medulla Oblongata]

But we can’t cut a single penny from the budget.

https://ijr.com/biden-harris-admin-on-track-to-oversee-massive-1-trillion-in-improper-payments-watchdog-group-finds/

If current trends persist, the Biden-Harris administration will have made over $1 trillion in improper payments by the time President Joe Biden leaves office, according to a report released by the watchdog organization Open The Books on Thursday.

An improper payment is a disbursement “made by the government to the wrong person, in the wrong amount or for the wrong reason,” per federal guidelines. The Biden-Harris administration, between 2021 and 2023, oversaw $801.4 billion in such payments after adjusting for inflation, according to the report.

The Biden-Harris administration’s improper spending works out to roughly $7,500 incorrectly spent each second, according to Open The Book’s calculations. In 2021, 7.16% of federal disbursements were made improperly, a figure that fell to 5.4% in 2023.

The plurality of the Biden-Harris administration’s erroneous disbursements in 2023 came from the Medicaid and Medicare systems, which dolled out $101.5 billion in improper payments that year, according to the report. Ongoing COVID-19 programs paid out tens of billions in improper payments as well.

LexisNexis Risk Management estimates that there has been $1 trillion in COVID-19 aid fraud, The National Desk reported. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management made hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit payments to dead people and prisoners, according to Open The Books. The Internal Revenue Service, meanwhile, incorrectly awarded $25 billion worth of tax credits.

Money incorrectly paid out by the government isn’t always lost forever, though much of it is. Of the $235.7 billion the Biden-Harris administration erroneously spent in 2023, it managed to recover about $51 billion, according to the report.

[diver64]

The only improper payment I'm angry about right now is the nearly $1 Billion FEMA spent on illegal aliens and now says they don't have any money to help Americans.

[LIBtranslator]

Note to foreign readers: by "Open The Books" they mean Open the King Trump Version of the Bible to Revelations: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead... And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

[LIBtranslator]

Free government food for moochers?
Sounds like a grate idea
With the most altruistic intentions
What could possibly go wrong?

[AT]

Pre-loaded EBT cards - even literal food stamps - have always been the wrong way to go.

There should have been a special section of the grocery store, maybe labeled "Government Welfare Recipients," where they just go and are given a cart of pre-loaded groceries. Milk, cheese, meat, produce, beans, rice, bread, dried pasta, concentrate juice, eggs, cereal, oatmeal - every bag is the same. They don't get a choice. Here's what you need for nutritional standards, nothing more nothing less.

The moment we let beggars be choosers, we royally screwed up whatever positive aspect such a welfare program could or would ever have. And that we actively made an effort to remove shame from it didn't help.

Honestly, a big red flashing light should go off, with a storewide announcement, "WELFARE RECIPIENT, WELFARE RECIPIENT" anytime anyone swipes an EBT card. Just so that the rest of the people know what they're being forced to put up with. When people are kept in the dark, they fail to appreciate just how bad the problem is.