Quote:
Originally Posted by Bucco
According to the NY Times, the state of New York will no longer fingerprint recipients of food stamps because of ".........because of the stigma associated with being fingerprinted." It is also reported that the fingerprinting reduces fraud amounting to 3.5 million per year !!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/ny...ps-in-nyc.html
Got me to looking around a bit and it seems that food stamp fraud is a big item. 46 million folks use food stamps and according to reports it is ripe for fraud and the US Govt knows it.
In the house this past month the Republicans were holding hearings on this matter, but it was being dismissed by the Democrats. |
Sounds like a good idea. How many times do you think that a worker in a grocery store would know what to look for with respect to checking on someone's fingerprints to see if they are who they say they are? Would not photo ids be any easier thing to check? Bank tellers check photo i.d.s all the time but I have never seen them ask to see your fingerprints.
Bank tellers may want a thumb print but this is usually to catch someone who is already in a criminal database for passing bad checks or whatever.
Would not it be sufficient to just have food stamp recipients roll their thumb in an ink pad and have them push the thumbprint on a food stamp? If upon investigation it looks like fraud has been done, the authorities would have the thumb print.
Maybe a better idea would be to require a thumb print for driver's licenses, military i.d.s, and other types of identifications.