We already knew that more people than ever were using food stamps in this economy, but today, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at what happens when too many people need assistance: job centers turn into complete sh*tshows. more ›

Conservatives have been up in arms all week over a rapper who seemingly glorifies the decadent lifestyle of food stamps and welfare. Stanley Lafleur, aka rapper Mr EBT (H-Man), watched as the video for his single "My EBT," which joyously depicts him using his government-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer card to pay for junk food, went viral this week after Drudge Report and other conservative bloggers held it up as The Reason This Country Is Going To Hell (not the champagne toasts). But Lafleur tells the News that conservatives just don't get his message: "I couldn't believe people are hating on me like I'm rubbing the benefit card in the face of taxpayers. They don't get it. My video is a parody." more ›

Back in September, the Bloomberg administration quietly released the Mayor's Management Report for the fiscal year 2010, and among the numbers about education and unemployment comes this rather shocking tidbit: "In 2010, over 1.7 million New Yorkers received federal food stamps, more than double the number of recipients in 2001." They also report, "The great bulk of recipients—over a million—do not receive welfare assistance. In fact, the number of food stamp recipients who are not on welfare has increased almost five-fold since 2001." But it's OK, just because you're on food stamps doesn't mean you have to do the "living off ramen" thing. Enjoy them now while you can still use them for sugar! [Via Gotham Gazette] more ›

Apparently the liberals in this state aren't too appreciative of Carl Paladino's suggestion that poor people be voluntarily housed in state prisons to work state-sponsored jobs and learn "personal hygiene." And they should be, because according to Paladino, this plan is just like the New Deal! He explains to Buffalo News: more ›

Carl Paladino, provider of wonderful headlines, has done it again. This time the gubernatorial candidate has a fresh new idea about what to do with all of those pesky poor people: put them in prison! Ok, it's not that bad. Paladino wants to turn some state prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they can work for the state and learn important skills like "personal hygiene." He told the Post, "Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene...the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes." more ›

Brooklyn residents Ariel and Joyce Soudry were found to be among 32 welfare cheaters in a recent crackdown, allegedly claiming benefits while holding up to $2 million in seven different bank accounts. The couple was arraigned yesterday on charges of welfare fraud and grand larceny, and appeared remorseless on their way into court—according to the Daily News, Ariel Soudry barked at the paparazzi: "Lowlifes—get a real job!" more ›

Marina Gavrielova's husband makes about $98,000 a year as a limo driver and owns a nice house in Jamaica, Queens, where the couple resides with their three children. But according to prosecutors, Gavrielova duped various city, state and federal agencies into believing she was single mom living in Brooklyn, earning just $200 a week at a nail salon. With her husband posing as her landlord, Gavrielova, a licensed cosmetologist, allegedly bilked the system out of $360,000 in welfare benefits, which helped fund trips to Cancun, the Bahamas and Jamaica. more ›