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.

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.

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.

The House is holding hearings on anything and everything.

Kudos to Governor Cuomo - The Empire State will NOT exchange fingerprints for food.

This is just another Con job by the Cons to make it look like they are actually doing something when, in fact, this is the worse, most useless House in US history. Just a few more months of this nonsense.

Is the Republicans' fraud obsession for real?

Folks are trading their Food Stamp "money card" for drugs. The dealers are eating good. Children are going hungry though. Maybe the NY Gov's girlfriend could whip up some chow for the kids.

Originally Posted by DaleMN

The House is holding hearings on anything and everything.

Anything that they can do to keep from working on a budget.

Originally Posted by Posh 08

Folks are trading their Food Stamp "money card" for drugs. The dealers are eating good. Children are going hungry though. Maybe the NY Gov's girlfriend could whip up some chow for the kids.

There was waaaaaaaaaaaay more fraud going on between Dick and Halibutron while we were looking for all those non-existent imaginary WMD's than during the entire history of the food stamp program.

If you Cons want to do something constructive, find all those billions and billions of dollars that disappeared in Iraq. Maybe you can locate those WMD's as well.

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

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?..........

Oh give me a BREAK!!! The article says the fingerprinting has been done on APPLICANTS, not shoppers!!!!!!!

Teachers have to get fingerprinted to get their teaching license originally and for renewals. Does that make all of THEM "stigmatized" as likely child molesters?????????? Or how about nurses and doctors? Are THEY stigmatized as some kind of criminal for getting fingerprinted for licensure???

And as for "discouraging" the hungry from applying, the only people who would be "discouraged" from applying because of fingerprinting are those who are here in the USA illegally and they don't want to send up a red flag to immigration authorities.

ALBANY — New York City would have to stop requiring the electronic fingerprinting of food stamp applicants under regulations proposed on Thursday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo,

"Food Stamp Fraud Still Costs The US $750 Million Each Year"



"Record numbers of Americans have applied for food assistance since Obama took office, with 21 million households joining the so-called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2011–an increase of nearly 10 million from 2007."

Food Stamp Fraud Still Costs The US $750 Million Each Year - Business Insider

This from an editorial who takes execption with the generalities that are made by liberals all the time disallowing the american spirit.


"Americans, by and large, are proud and self-reliant people. To most, the idea of dependence upon the taxpayer’s munificence is repugnant and is in and of itself a strong incentive to avoid partaking in food subsidy programs. It is no wonder then, that millions individuals and families abstain from registering for the government’s assistance programs as a way of preserving their autonomous dignity. In many respects, it is the American thing to do. Only at The New York Times, however, would less than total participation in a food subsidy system be seen as a horrible travesty that is the product of a rapacious governor’s conspiracy to keep assistance from the people who need it. Without a shred of supporting evidence, Ms. Dowd and her colleagues have used this assumption to impugn both Mr. Cuomo and his system without just reason or cause, misinterpreting the unwillingness of millions to accept food stamps as their inability to. And to what end?"

"Nonetheless, an implicit association emerged: by making the application more-fraud resistant, Cuomo and his allies in the Statehouse are villains who are working ceaselessly to withhold food subsidies from their constituents. "

Irony and*Agriculture - Dartlog - The Dartmouth Review

This is a HUGE problem and it shows how the US government has lost total control...TOTAL !

Originally Posted by Bucco

This is a HUGE problem and it shows how the US government has lost total control...TOTAL !

Yeah. So let's hand them all healthcare delivery and financing.

Why don't we just pile money in baskets in federal buildings, and if people come in and say they're very needy, then they can just take what they need.

It's not far from the lack of scrutiny of people on the dole that we have now.

Originally Posted by RichieLion

Why don't we just pile money in baskets in federal buildings, and if people come in and say they're very needy, then they can just take what they need.

It's not far from the lack of scrutiny of people on the dole that we have now.

Wow, sounds like you are advocating...um.....communism. To each according to their needs?

Originally Posted by ilovetv

Oh give me a BREAK!!! The article says the fingerprinting has been done on APPLICANTS, not shoppers!!!!!!!

Teachers have to get fingerprinted to get their teaching license originally and for renewals. Does that make all of THEM "stigmatized" as likely child molesters?????????? Or how about nurses and doctors? Are THEY stigmatized as some kind of criminal for getting fingerprinted for licensure???

And as for "discouraging" the hungry from applying, the only people who would be "discouraged" from applying because of fingerprinting are those who are here in the USA illegally and they don't want to send up a red flag to immigration authorities.

ALBANY — New York City would have to stop requiring the electronic fingerprinting of food stamp applicants under regulations proposed on Thursday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo,

What's the point of fingerprinting food stamp applicants though? Do not other id verifications work just as well? Social security cards along with picture i.d. for instance. Teachers should be fingerprinted as should lawyers, physicians, and others who hold professional positions with a lot of authority. It would seem important to make sure that someone with a criminal record is not teaching our kids, doctoring us, or representing us in court.