If one food stamp recipient had to leave their groceries behind at the check-out counter due to fraud, that’s one time too many.
If that mother or father had to turn to their children and say, “Sorry, kids, we need to put it all back,” that’s unacceptable.
That’s why the Herald is calling on Gov. Maura Healey to order the state Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to immediately open up all its books for a federal audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
After the Herald’s Sunday exposé on alleged “rampant” and “unabated” fraud and abuse of taxpayer-paid SNAP benefits, there’s no time to waste. Yes, fraud may not be overwhelming, as the DTA argues, but try being that hungry mom in the grocery aisle.
In her fervor to thwart ICE agents and score political brownie points, the governor is failing to do her job.
Legitimate food stamp recipients need someone to defend their right to feed their families. Hard times can befall anyone unexpectedly, but knowing your EBT card won’t fail should be the least you can expect.
The White House has called on Healey to provide the USDA with information on SNAP recipients to allow them to root out waste, fraud and abuse, accusing the governor of protecting fraudsters over constituents.
Why is Healey doing this?
In our polarized political climate, it’s safer for any Democrat to follow the script instead of working with the federal authorities in power to guarantee SNAP benefits reach the right people.
In turn, objecting to other aspects of an administration may actually carry more weight. But that’s our flawed political system, where the truth is always the first victim.
If the state’s Democratic delegation had yelled in unison at the Biden administration for failing to control the porous immigration system, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
The Herald has pointed out before that SNAP benefits make no sense.
Welfare recipients can’t use ATMs in casinos and pot shops, but that didn’t stop them from firing up EBT cards in Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, California, Florida, and Alaska. Yes, aloha food stamps!
We added in that July 2024 story that taxpayer-paid “economic assistance” for Massachusetts residents cropped up from Alabama to Arizona, Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, Utah to Wyoming and all the New England states. It’s all part of the $3 billion federal and state dollars given out in Fiscal Year 2024. Many worry that the migrant crisis will only exacerbate this staggering bill.
It’s sad to say we are right.
This Sunday’s story stressed that a whistleblower credits the sharp rise in fraud to unfettered illegal immigration during the Biden Administration.
“What the hell is someone doing in Hawaii? We need this money to help feed families,” state Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Sutton Republican, told us in 2024. “This tells me there’s a major problem with this system.”
He’s convinced new arrivals grab welfare handouts here and then bolt. Or, as we just reported, they rip off the system.
Again, even one example is too many. It’s time to let the USDA do its job. Or, just watch as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley does hers and tracks down greedy food stamp goons.
