EBT Card

EBT Card Outage?: It Is 8 Days Into June And Many Americans Are STILL Waiting For Food Stamp Money

Supermarket Bananas - Public DomainWidespread reports continue to pour in from all over the nation of “glitches” with the food stamp system.  It is eight days into the month and large numbers of people still have not received their benefits, and in other instances it is being reported that EBT cards are simply not working correctly.  So what in the world is going on here?  On downdetector.com there are scores of reports of problems with the EBT system from people all over the nation.  Could this simply be another example of government incompetence, or is something else at work here?

I had heard some rumblings about this over the past few days, but I had not really taken them seriously until I read an article from highly respected author Ray Gano…

It interesting over the weekend I got several emails telling me about cell phones being down, internet being down, and get this, EBT cards not working and having no money associated to them.

This is a concern because when the US Government has payment failures, then there is possibly something happening that the press is not telling you about.

Now, we know that computers have problems and that states, counties and cities run on computers. But what is interesting is that since the beginning of 2016, The US government has had over 2,700 reports on downdetector.com showing that they have been late loading the money onto these EBT cards.

Folks, we are now going on 8 days where the Government has not paid the EBT payments so that people have food.

So I went over to downdetector.com myself, and I was stunned to see that reports of EBT outages continue to pour in every hour.  Here are just a few of the recent comments that have been left by people that are still waiting for their food stamp benefits for June…

Heidi Lynn: I was supposed to get mine on the 5th and still nothing. Even ebt NJ site says $0 as well as my EBT card says $0. I’m on disability. I forgot to add I tried calling NJ Board of Services and was on hold for over an hour. I had to hang up to take dog out, etc. Does anyone know what’s going on yet?

Ann Wilson: Now that it’s been a whole week since I was supposed to get my June benefits, and haven’t, I’m planning on going to my Illinois FCRC office. I hope they will be able to fix this difficulty.

Jenn Johnson: I always get mine on time. I was due to get mine today June 7th and nothing. I am from kentucky. Why is there nothing on the news about this?

Jarrett Manhart: Havnt received mine either. They are never late. And my fone is off so i cant call em. Im on Wi-Fi down the street from me.

Sunny Nicole Jones: I haven’t gotten mine either! I’m glad it’s not just me though because then I would really be worried!

But when I went to confirm these widespread outages with articles from the mainstream media, I came up empty.

Either the mainstream media does not know what is going on yet, or it is being ignored.

If you have not gotten your EBT benefits for this month yet or you know someone that is in that position, please feel free to let me know.  I want to get to the bottom of this.  There are people all over the nation that are reporting problems with the food stamp system, but nobody seems to know exactly how widespread this issue is just yet.

Today there are well over 40 million Americans on food stamps, and a lot of them would start rioting tomorrow if you told them that their food stamp cards were being turned off permanently.

EBT cards are the modern equivalent of the bread lines of the 1930s.  Instead of having to wait in long lines for food, the government just zaps money on to EBT cards each month, and those that are hurting are able to get something to eat.

But down in Venezuela, extremely long food lines are a daily reality for much of the population right now.  The following comes from the Daily Mail…

Venezuela was once South America’s richest nation, but a fall in oil prices combined with other economic problems has led to desperate citizens taking drastic measures.

Nearly half of Venezuelans say they can no longer afford to eat three meals a day, according to a recent poll by the local firm Venebarometro. The poll surveyed 1,200 adults at their homes during the first week of April and had a margin of error of plus or minus of about two percentage points

Those who can, cross the border into Colombia to buy, bring back and then use or sell food and other basic commodities.

Could you imagine not being able to provide three meals a day for your family any longer?

Close to half the population of Venezuela is already in that position, and the economic collapse down there grows worse with each passing day.

Most Americans just assume that nothing like that could ever happen here.

Most Americans just assume that the government will always have plenty of money to give out.

As I mentioned above, there are well over 40 million Americans that receive EBT benefits.

However, when you factor in all government programs, more than 100 million Americans get some form of money or benefits from the federal government each month.

So what would happen someday if suddenly the spigot was turned off?

What would those 100 million people do?

How would they survive?

Hopefully this current EBT outage is just a temporary technical glitch, and hopefully the government will get it fixed in short order.

But someday there will be a major crisis that will cause food stamp benefits to be cut off either permanently or for an extended period of time.

When that day arrives, what will that do to our communities?

Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below…

*About the author: Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled “The Rapture Verdict” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.*

If This Guy Is What The Future Of America Looks Like, We Are In BIG Trouble

Panic Button By John On FlickrShould taxpayer dollars be used to buy sushi and lobster for a young man whose future plans consist entirely of surfing and partying as much as he possibly can?  When I first saw the video that I am about to share with you, I was absolutely floored.  Recently, Fox News interviewed a self-described beach bum named Jason Greenslate who was very open about the fact that he has no problem sponging off of all the rest of us.  When he was asked if he ever had any interest in actually getting a job, his response was “not whatsoever”.  Instead, he says that his job is to “make sure the sun’s up and the girls are out” and he would rather spend his days partying.  Of course every American should be free to live their own lives as they see fit, but the problem is that Jason Greenslate is using food stamps to help support his lifestyle.  In fact, he took Fox News into the gourmet section of a local supermarket where he purchased sushi and lobster with his EBT card.  Sadly, he is just like millions of other young men in America today that seemingly have had the drive to succeed and to be independent totally sucked out of them.  But what is the future of America going to look like if we continue to produce millions upon millions of young men that have absolutely no desire to make a living, get married and start a family?

Posted below is video from the Fox News interview with Jason Greenslate.  If you are a taxpayer, this video should upset you greatly…

Of course the vast majority of those enrolled in the food stamp program are NOT like this.  As I wrote about the other day, the economic independence of middle class Americans is being systematically destroyed.  The percentage of self-employed Americans is at a record low and the percentage of Americans with a full-time job has dropped to a shockingly low level.

And the quality of our jobs continues to decline.  If you can believe it, 40 percent of all workers in the United States today actually make less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968.

As a result of our ongoing economic problems, we have seen wave after wave of Americans forced to go on food stamps.  Between the year 2000 and the first inauguration of Barack Obama, the number of Americans on food stamps increased by 15 million.  Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, the number of Americans on food stamps has increased by 15 million more.

At this point we have a total of 47 million Americans on food stamps, and most of them definitely need the help.

But there are also those such as Jason Greenslate that are openly abusing the system and making it more difficult for those that actually need the help to get it.

Sadly, he is a product of the system that he was raised in.  There is a reason why so many young men are “checking out” and rejecting the traditional path of making a living, getting married and having a family.

In America today, the average American watches an average of 153 hours of television a month.  All of that “programming” has an extremely powerful impact on all of us.

The next time you watch a television show or a movie, take note of how young men are portrayed and watch what values are being promoted to them.  The truth is that they are not being taught to work hard, to be responsible or to want to be good fathers and good husbands.

It is easy to jump on Jason Greenslate, but the cold, hard reality of the matter is that there are millions of others out there just like him.  Consider the following numbers…

-In America today, 36 percent of all young adults in the 18 to 31 age bracket are currently living with their parents.

-Young men are nearly twice as likely to live with their parents as young women the same age are.

-In 2011, SAT scores for young men were the worst that they had been in 40 years.

-According to the New York Times, approximately 57 percent of all young people enrolled at U.S. colleges are women.  That means that only 43 percent are men.

-It is being projected that women will earn 60 percent of all Bachelor’s degrees from U.S. universities by the year 2016.

-Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

-Between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 dropped by 27 percent after you account for inflation.

-As I mentioned in a previous article, the marriage rate in the United States has fallen to an all-time low…

The marriage rate has fluctuated in the past, with dips in the 1930s and 1960s, but it has been in steady decline since the 1970s. Now, researchers report that the marriage rate has dropped to a new low of 31.1, meaning there are about 31 marriages in the U.S. for every 1,000 unmarried women, researchers found. In 1950, that number was 90.2. In 1920, it was 92.3.

-Back in 1950, 78 percent of all households in the United States contained a married couple.  Today, that number has declined to 48 percent.

–Today, an all-time low 44.2 percent of all Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are married.

 

–The U.S. family is rapidly breaking down.  100 years ago, 4.52 were living in the average U.S. household, but now the average U.S. household only consists of 2.59 people.

 

–At this point, approximately one out of every three children in America lives in a home without a father.

Instead of endeavoring to become a husband, a father and a productive member of society, Jason Greenslate wants to party on the “safety net” forever.

But if we continue to have millions upon millions more Americans jump on to the “safety net” eventually it will break.

Just this week, Fox News reported on another stunning abuse of the safety net.  Large numbers of illegal immigrants have learned that they can get across the border and get a free hotel room by claiming that they have a “credible fear” of the Mexican drug cartels…

A sudden influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico requesting asylum is overwhelming immigration agents in San Diego, forcing agencies to rent hotel rooms for some undocumented families and release others to cities around the U.S.

Documents obtained exclusively by Fox News show Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been paying for hotel rooms for dozens of recently arrived families to relieve overcrowding inside the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, Calif., processing centers. Some ICE employees are working overtime and others have been asked to volunteer to work weekend shifts. “Duties include intake, placements, transports and release of family groups and unaccompanied minors,” according to a memo obtained by Fox News.

The surge has raised suspicions about what is driving the influx, amid claims that illegal immigrants have learned they can attempt to get asylum by using a few key words — namely, by claiming they have a “credible fear” of drug cartels.

Yes, we definitely want to help the poor and those that truly need our assistance.  But at this point about half of all Americans get money from the government every month, and that number is climbing with each passing day.

Meanwhile, our economic system continues to get even closer to a meltdown.  On Tuesday I wrote about the stunning cluster of Hindenburg Omens that we have seen lately, and now another one has appeared.  On Wednesday we witnessed the 6th Hindenburg Omen that we have seen in the last 8 trading days.  The only similar clusters in recent history occurred just before the last financial crash and just before the end of the “dotcom boom”.

In addition, the level of margin debt continues to signal that big trouble is ahead.  We recently learned that margin debt hit a brand new all-time high of 384 billion dollars in April, and this is repeating a pattern that we saw just before the financial crash of 2008 and the busting of the dotcom bubble in 2000.

So what is going to happen when the next great financial crash arrives and millions upon millions more Americans are forced to turn to the government for assistance?

And what will happen when the government is forced to start cutting back on benefits because there isn’t enough money?

Sadly, our leaders do not understand that a crash is coming.  They keep insisting that everything is going to be just fine.

But remember, the last financial crash caught them entirely by surprise as well.  For example, one of the top contenders to be the next head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, once made the following shocking admission about the last financial crisis…

“For my own part,” Ms. Yellen said, “I did not see and did not appreciate what the risks were with securitization, the credit ratings agencies, the shadow banking system, the S.I.V.’s — I didn’t see any of that coming until it happened.” Her startled interviewers noted that almost none of the officials who testified had offered a similar acknowledgment of an almost universal failure.

The blind are leading the blind, and none of them are going to see it coming.

But without a doubt the next great financial crash is rapidly approaching.

The system is failing, and people like Jason Greenslate are going to be in for a very rude awakening in the years ahead.

Now is the time to take responsibility, work hard and get prepared for the hard years that are coming.  Nobody else is going to do it for you, and when everything starts collapsing the government is NOT going to come riding to your rescue.