24-year-old Amanda Clayton ought to be ashamed of herself. So should her mother Euline. Last September the young mother of two hit the jackpot when she won the $1-million dollar Michigan lottery. Granted her winnings dwindled to about half of that when she chose to take the money in a lump sum (less taxes), but that's still a hefty sum for an unemployed mom. She immediately purchased a
second house and a new car. But what Amanda
didn't do was notify the Michigan Department of Human Services that she now
no longer qualified for her $200.00 per month food stamp allotment, because, well, she thought she deserved it because she still had bills to pay. According to an interview with Amanda on Detroit Local 4 TV station, she thought the state would cut her off, but since they didn't she figured it would be okay since she wasn't working. After all, she now has two houses to deal with. Amanda doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with continuing to collect food stamps even though she has a tidy sum in the bank, two houses, and a brand new car. No- because she has that
typical feeling of entitlement that many 99%ers have, the classic 'the government owes me mentality.'
And mama, Euline? She
won't comment on whether what her daughter did was right or wrong, although she did say
"... it‘s nobody’s business if she’s not breaking the law.”
Well, as it turns out, it
is against the law, and after much outrage Amanda is
no longer receiving those food stamp benefits. In fact, anti-fraud officials are on the case.
Bilking the government isn't anything new, it happens all the time in some form or another, and to a greater or lesser degree. Unlike the
Seattle couple that were living in their $1.2 million house and collecting a lot more in welfare subsidies than the paltry $200.00 per month Amanda was getting for her food stamps, willfully stealing from the state is stealing from you and me, and that makes me angry.
"DHS relies on clients being forthcoming about their actual financial status,” Department of Human Services Director Maura D. Corrigan said in a prepared statement. “If they are not, and continue to accept benefits, they may face criminal investigation and be required to pay back those benefits.”
2 comments:
This nobody will be crucified for stealing her paltry $200 a month in food stamps from the state, while the big banks that received nearly a trillion in bailout funds go unpunished.
Not saying what she did is right. It does annoy me though that people will aggressively go after these trailer park nobodies, while the real thieves laugh and rape the American People.
There are billions of dollars lost on welfare/health care and medicaid fraud. I find that problematic.
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