I spoke to a local store when someone was using my brother's, who is a big POS, EBT card. I asked the cashier if she asked for his ID and she said the office that manages it said the store wasn't allowed to verify the identity of those using the card. The office said that if the person using it isn't the the same as the cardholder's name on the card then they must have permission from the cardholder to use the card. The office said if the store asked for ID to use the EBT card they could loose their ability to accept EBT cards for payment. And because the welfare system is big business most businesses don't want to chance loosing those customers.
I have told this story several times. There is a lady who comes into the local grocery store where my mother works every month. She buys tuna on her EBT card and not the cheap canned stuff but the expensive kind in pouches. She brags it is for her cats and that she will continue to use her EBT to buy it until they allow her to buy cat food for her cats using her EBT card. And I am not talking about a few pouches but every pouch of regular tuna the store had. She does it every single month and we are all paying for her cat's food.
WIC is different and is to help make sure children eat the right things and the right amounts. WIC has its problems too. The biggest problem is the WIC system authorizes way too much food for a child to eat. When I was a private in the Army we were approved for WIC as well as food stamps. I never took the food stamps but we did use WIC for a few months until we went overseas. He was born in January and came over in May. They expect a child to drink gallons upon gallons of milk as well as eat at least 30 pounds of cheese each month. And every item was the same, way too large of portions for the average child to eat.
As far as those wearing jewelery you really can't judge people based upon that. Some people might have fake stuff or it might be hand downs from family. I do have an issue with those who buy authorized food using their EBT card then pull out wads of cash to pay for those time they can't buy on their EBT cards. I have seen it more times than I can count, max out their EBT card then use cash to buy junk food, sodas, alcohol and cigarettes.
The system as a whole is broke. People are allowed to sit at home and collect a paycheck as long as they do not try to succeed in life. They are given just enough to keep them from losing hope. Personally, if you are collecting a government benefit you need to work. If nothing else pick up trash along side of the road for 2 hours a day or maybe answer information calls to government offices. But the worst thing is to pay people to sit around. And before any mother receives benefits for a child the child's father must be proven so he can replay the government for any support the child receives from the government.
I am also a huge supporter of drug testing for those who are receiving any government benefits. If you do not want to submit to a drug test you should not be given any benefits. Most employers these days require them so why should the government be any different. The choice is up to those applying. And if they fail they loose benefits for one month, second offense they loose benefits for 6 months and third time they loose benefits for life. Millions of people live their day to day lives without using illegal drugs so it can't be that hard.
And while we are at it, if you have had multiple kids and they have been taken you should be placed on semi permanent birth control until such time as you can prove you can support another child. And if the parents are not US citizens then the child should not be automatically a US citizen if they are born here. If one parent is a citizen then yes but not two, by default the child should take the mother's nationality.
Enough of my rant.
Dolomite