Thursday May. 24, 2012
Comments on:
Flathead County Office of Public Assistance sees swell of applications
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By DonBirkholz on 08-19-09
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True, most of the increase in food stamps is due to the recession, but a survey done by the DPHHS (at my request), showed that in Billings, MT, 18 of 96 food stamp applicants said mandatory auto insurance, DUI costs, or fines, were a reason for needing food stamps. Go to http://www.foodstampstudy.com.  That equals 70,000 over the last 20 years in Montana.  The DPHHS has never done one survey to find out the numbers on food stamps due to DUI, fines, or mandatory auto insurance (except the Billings survey which was poorly produced. )

I do not see the value of forcing an indigent to buy 200$ of auto insurance and then he goes on food stamps to get 200$ of food stamps.  Why not put the insurance company’s office, and the Judges office right next to the welfare office so the indigent does not have far to go.
By 11deadunicorns on 08-21-09
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I find it interesting that no where in this article does it say anything about child support. When you are recieving child support in this state that is collected through CSED(Child Support Enforcement Division) any monies collected from Dead Beat, is put on an EBT card. I think it is funny that the clerk from Super 1 said that there was a lot more people using these cards…because a few years back I had an incident happen there , when it was Tidyman’s. CSED was finally able to get some child support out of my dead beat Ex, so I took my EBT card to Tidymans to do some grocery shopping. I was mortified when the clerk had a hard time getting it to process my EBT payment , then proceeded to say, very rudely and loud “Maybe you are out of FOOD STAMPS!” I called the manager as soon as I got home and informed him that sometimes a person isn’t even on food stamps when using their EBT card. Sometimes a person is just simply spending their child support payment at the grocery store. So , are all the extra EBT transactions directly related to increase in food stamp usage or increase in divorce and child support payments? We will never know. Because you guys didn’t ask.
By 11deadunicorns on 08-21-09
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Also, anybody receiving Social Security/Disability payments can opt to have their monthly payment put on an EBT card . There are too many factors left out of this story to attribute the rise in EBT card usage at stores as food stamps. It is a state offered card, and any payment a person can receive from the state or through the state can be applied to it. This story is misleading and irresponsible.
By Nancy on 08-21-09
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I don’t mean to be rude or sound insensitive…but I look around the Valley here and I do not see anyone here that looks as if they are starving, if anything the folks here could all stand to lose some weight, I have never seen so many over-weight people in my life.