Oops: Massachusetts finds itself unable to locate 19,000 welfare recipients

posted at 5:11 pm on January 4, 2013 by Erika Johnsen

It’s been a particular hallmark of Obama’s presidenc,y and current Democratic trends in general, not merely to oppose the reform of the already and completely predictably spiraling welfare state, but to actively grow and expand it.

To paraphrase Churchill on the British Empire, Barack Obama did not become president of the United States to preside over the liquidation of the welfare state. On the contrary, he is dedicated to its expansion. He’s already created the largest new entitlement in half a century (Obamacare). And he has increased federal spending to an astronomical 24.4 percent of GDP (the postwar norm is about 20 percent), a level not seen since World War II.

Our total welfare spending has jumped astronomically since the start of Obama’s tenure, through methods both straightforward and stealthy, but one of the real kickers about all of this money passing through the hands of all of our ever-metastisizing bureaucracies is the not-fully-knowable amount undoubtedly being siphoned away through waste, fraud, and abuse. By a — er — happy accident, the state of Massachusetts alone has only recently discovered what could amount to thousands of fresh instances of welfare fraud and/or waste in their state, via the WFB:

And from Fox:

Governor Deval Patrick is downplaying the Department of Transitional Assistance admission that it could not locate 19,000 people who have either been receiving welfare benefits or have applied for them, saying the number represents a “broader class of people than those who are actually on the rolls today.” …

At a news conference, the Governor kept referring to the number of people whose addresses could not be located as just “four percent” of the mailings. …

A spokesman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services says 11,262 people were either already off the rolls or had never been approved for benefits. It also says 7,738 were returned with forwarding addresses. Still, Governor Patrick says people should continue to have confidence in the state’s ability to oversee welfare benefits.

And they’re certainly not the only ones with welfare-related troubles consuming resources — heartwarming, no?


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Failure, from Obama on down.

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:42 PM

The Boston authorities are furious. They were intentionally left in the dark by Obama and Napolitano.

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:43 PM

The dead terrorist was buried in ‘undisclosed’ location.

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:44 PM

Nice to see that not everyone is susceptible to Obam’s Jedi Mind Trick speech.

You know, the one where he said the bombers failed at least 10 times?

Ben Hur on May 9, 2013 at 4:44 PM

FBI looking more closely at 6-month trip to Dagestan.

Scouting out another Michelle Obama vacation?

The Rogue Tomato on May 9, 2013 at 4:45 PM

In 7 years, after 9/11, no one died from terrorism under GWB.

Since Obama is Pretender in Chief, there were 5 successful terrorist attacks in the USA.

“The media is (are) Obama’s scandal condom” — Greg Gutfeld

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:46 PM

why does napolitano still have a job?

Steven McGregor on May 9, 2013 at 4:46 PM

That picture looks like an ad from GQ.

Ward Cleaver on May 9, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Too busy frisking grandmas and kids in wheelchairs at TSA checkpoints…

albill on May 9, 2013 at 4:49 PM

The Boston authorities are furious. They were intentionally left in the dark by Obama and Napolitano.

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:43 PM

What, don’t they know that the occasional 9/11 is no big deal?

Ward Cleaver on May 9, 2013 at 4:50 PM

Lieberman is a rarity, a Democratic Jewish supporter of Israel and as such has been always supportive of fighting Islamic terrorism, but it is precisely these types of flexibly principled people like him that enabled his party to gain power and continue their goal of weakening America, which he is now complaining about.

When asked to be the Dem VP candidate with Gore he dropped his sometime conservative pretension like a hot potato.

Don L on May 9, 2013 at 4:50 PM

“Why are we still having problems connecting the dots?”

Because this admin, as hard as it tries, can’t connect the dots to home-grown, gun-loving, bible clutching, Obama hating, TEA party conservatives.

And no matter how hard they keep trying not to all the dots right now seem to connect directly to terror prone radical muslims.

This admin can’t have that and won’t connect those dots. It upsets CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Saudis so much.

hawkeye54 on May 9, 2013 at 4:50 PM

Honestly, we just need you productive people to just cede moer rights and wealth.

Voila, problem solved.

tom daschle concerned on May 9, 2013 at 4:51 PM

Lieberman: “To put it bluntly, our homeland defense system failed in Boston”
========

Looks like the Light of Truth is slowly Illuminating
the facts of………………

canopfor on May 9, 2013 at 4:52 PM

Yes, because chechnyans are known for their long history of peaceful loving ways…

Blake on May 9, 2013 at 4:52 PM

What, don’t they know that the occasional 9/11 is no big deal?

Ward Cleaver on May 9, 2013 at 4:50 PM

Actually, far too many of those Bostonians probably think Bush did it (9/11) so they could relax now that he’s gone and a messiah has taken his place.

Don L on May 9, 2013 at 4:53 PM

We need to take yet more liberties from you and grow gubernut even larger if we are going to be able to do our jobs. Now don’t be greedy and fork over some more taxes…for the children.

Rinse and Repeat

trs on May 9, 2013 at 4:53 PM

It’s more than just willful ignorance. This is what happens when you scrub the truth out of the training material.

rightmind on May 9, 2013 at 4:56 PM

Honestly, we just need you productive people to just cede more ALL your rights and wealth.

Voila, problem solved.

Because in the long run our rights and wealth are too important for us to manage ourselves. Government is in the best position to care for all our needs as it sees fit.

hawkeye54 on May 9, 2013 at 4:57 PM

As a senator, Lieberman introduced legislation that led to the creation of the [so called] Department of Homeland Security

So now he is complaining about it. Just like some who pushed [so called] ObamaCare are now complaining about it. Same clown show just under a different tent. Has Lieberman yet said “We had to pass it to find out what’s in it?”

VorDaj on May 9, 2013 at 4:58 PM

In 7 years, after 9/11, no one died from terrorism under GWB.

Since Obama is Pretender in Chief, there were 5 successful terrorist attacks in the USA.

“The media is (are) Obama’s scandal condom” — Greg Gutfeld

Schadenfreude on May 9, 2013 at 4:46 PM

So what you’re saying is that when Bush trampled on our constitutional rights, he did it competently, while Obama tramples them in an incompetent fashion?

Either way, they’re both big government statists and I have no use for either of them.

Shump on May 9, 2013 at 5:01 PM

Either way, they’re both big government statists and I have no use for either of them.

Shump on May 9, 2013 at 5:01 PM

Both have profusely praised Islam, America’s greatest enemy.

VorDaj on May 9, 2013 at 5:03 PM

“To put it bluntly, our homeland defense system failed in Boston”

We have a homeland defense system ?
Is that what they call putting jihadies and their families on welfare rolls these days ?

burrata on May 9, 2013 at 5:05 PM

Let’s stop all muzlim immigration NOW. ALL kinds of visas. If it saves the life of a single child, we have to do this.

Let’s do this for eight-year old Martin Richard.

slickwillie2001 on May 9, 2013 at 5:11 PM

Nice to see that not everyone is susceptible to Obam’s Jedi Mind Trick speech.

You know, the one where he said the bombers failed at least 10 times?

Ben Hur on May 9, 2013 at 4:44 PM

Oh, not to worry-there are plenty of Low-IQ Democrat Voters commenting at the WaPo link!

The always-delusional Fergie Foont leads the Laugh Cavalcade:

As far as I’m concerned, nothing that ever comes out of Joe Lieberman’s mouth is worth listening to. He is a non-person.

And the fun continues downhill from there…

Please tell Joe “no public option” Lieberman to just go away. He was also the major accessory to Mr. Bush/Cheney/Powell’s sell job to get us into this made-up war in Iraq that bred many of the crazy radicals like the Tsarnaev brothers.

Darn, I thought we were done with the worm Lieberman. He had nothing to add to the discourse when he was an elected official, now he is more than useless.

Massive ego, matched only by his irrelevance.

And remember, these Rocket Scientists nominated Lieberman to be their Vice President in 2000.

Del Dolemonte on May 9, 2013 at 5:11 PM

I still can’t trust Lieberman – he looks too much like Senator Palpatine / The Emperor.

dentarthurdent on May 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

It might have helped if the would link Islam with terrorism.

And the links are staring us all right in the face. Till we do that, there isn’t really much point except to sit back and enjoy the pain of the mutilated survivors.

And isn’t it funny how much coverage there has been of those survivors?

thgrant on May 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

Both have profusely praised Islam, America’s greatest enemy.

VorDaj on May 9, 2013 at 5:03 PM

That too.

Shump on May 9, 2013 at 5:17 PM

So what’s new with this?
This regime has failed at EVERYTHING it has done that was supposed to be FOR this country.
The only thing they’re succeeding at is their unstated goal of destroying the country.

dentarthurdent on May 9, 2013 at 5:18 PM

The local counterterrorism group in the Caucasus presumed that Tsarnaev had failed to make any connections during his stay. However, evidence points in the other direction:

So has somebody in an official position called this terrorism now? I ask because the rat-eared coward has not. Officially we have not had a single incident of terrorism on American soil since we elected the Muslim-named one. Unprecedented.

But I’ve got to wonder why exactly we gave citizenship to the live terrorist even as his brothers name is coming to the attention of the FBI and CIA. Guaranteed most of us would not even be able to get a government security clearance if we were on a list at one of the alphabet organizations. Or is Tamerlan Tsarnaev the “Joe Smith” of Russia?

Happy Nomad on May 9, 2013 at 5:26 PM

Another day, another Democrat admitting that everything they do to fix our nation’s problems just makes them worse.

txhsmom on May 9, 2013 at 5:27 PM

Well…. since none of these new departments (ahem – DHS) are effectual, lets scrap them and save some cash.

Free Indeed on May 9, 2013 at 5:39 PM

Every time I see that particular picture of Tsarnaev, I want to smash him.

That picture captures the essence of the foreigner receiving welfare, subsidies, and all sorts of goodies. And he dresses like a girl too.

portlandon on May 9, 2013 at 5:43 PM

There’s no way such a system can be omnipotent.

rickv404 on May 9, 2013 at 5:44 PM

That’s a pretty fancy get-up for a welfare kid.

steebo77 on May 9, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Seems many agencies within this administration ‘are taking a second look’ at how they’ve performed. Too bad they won’t issue any corrections.

GarandFan on May 9, 2013 at 6:03 PM

Every time I see that particular picture of Tsarnaev, I want to smash him.

That picture captures the essence of the foreigner receiving welfare, subsidies, and all sorts of goodies. And he dresses like a girl too.

portlandon on May 9, 2013 at 5:43 PM

Well, if it makes you feel better, you should be using the past tense.

Happy Nomad on May 9, 2013 at 6:03 PM

As a senator, Lieberman introduced legislation that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

That was one of the biggest mistakes ever. The GOP allowed itself to be bullied into creating that Frankenstein “federal police force” by that joke of a 9/11 commission that, itself, should have been laughed out of existence.

Now, I see these DHS SUVs all over the place with “POLICE” written on them in big letters, as if the US is supposed to have a federal police force. It is disgusting. And they have the label “federal protective police” written on their sides – to explain their alleged mission. I’m offended byt he sight of these SUVs and the idea that the feral government is moving so swiftly to institute the un-American idea that

“We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as the military].”

This place resembles Jakarta more and more every day. That’s what we get when a retarded Sukarno copy is given the executive power and allowed to operate with no constraints, at all.

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on May 9, 2013 at 6:05 PM

That’s a pretty fancy get-up for a welfare kid.

steebo77 on May 9, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Makes me wonder if we are on the wrong path with the “Misha” lead. Misha sounds more like a fashion consultant than a jihadi.

It’s not easy to learn how to dress like a Russian pimp, maybe Misha helped him.

slickwillie2001 on May 9, 2013 at 6:11 PM

Seems many agencies within this administration ‘are taking a second look’ at how they’ve performed. Too bad they won’t issue any corrections.

GarandFan on May 9, 2013 at 6:03 PM

GarandFan:Exellent point(s),and they won’t take any heat,nor
firings,either!:)

canopfor on May 9, 2013 at 6:27 PM

If the formation of DHS didn’t solve those problems, perhaps we should rethink the approach of adding layers of bureaucracy onto the problem and look for ways to eliminate organizational barriers instead — which is what we should have done in the first place.

Of course, those of us who believe in smaller government thought it was a terrible idea at the time. That is if the above quote is modified. Change eliminate to modify.

burt on May 9, 2013 at 6:32 PM

“To put it bluntly, our homeland defense system failed in Boston”

DUH!

Obama’s policies and attempts to protect American lives have failed:
… at Fort Hood…
… in Boston…
… In Benghazi…
… in Cairo…
… and in 18 other Embassies/nations on the anniversary of 9/11 on 9/11/12 when 20 Embassies were unprepared for attacks, Marines at the Cairo Embassy were ordered NOT to carry live Ammo that day, and after 2 previous terrorist attacks & much prior warning the 1st Ambassador in over 30 years to be killed was provided no protection and left to die alone.

easyt65 on May 10, 2013 at 8:55 AM