There must be something wrong with the Kansas water. Really! Because there is no way they can keep making such insane rules and regulations without some mental imbalance. It has to be the water!
Three years ago, this state was sold a bill of goods by Governor Brownback with the complicity of the Republican elected officials. As I reported, they slashed their taxes promising that it would grow the state’s business so the tax collections would not be affected. Guess What? Oh, why bother.
Now, to cover his ass(ets), he proposed to NOT fund the pensions for state employees (of course, he would- because when has the [Kansas] Republican party ever cared about labor?) and slash education expenses. So that only the rich can be educated- since they will have enough money to pay for private school.
But, that’s NOT the subject of this blog. No, this is about another brilliant idea the state has to screw it’s less fortunate citizenry. What’s the idea? The state of Kansas has decided to outlaw all withdrawals from the debit cards they employ to provide assistance to the less fortunate to $ 25.00 per occurrence.
Before you even consider that may be reasonable, consider the world as it exists today. Sure, twenty years ago, you could withdraw $ 5 from an ATM. Now? All withdrawals are in multiples of $ 20.00. So, what they are really saying is that you can withdraw $ 20.00 from that ATM. That that withdrawal comes with a fee ranging from $ 1 to $ 4.
To pay their rent or to buy food for their family, they will need $ 100, $ 200 or more. Which means they will need to make 5 or 10 withdrawals in a row. Oh, and let’s not forget that many ATM’s (and banks) limit the number of withdrawals to 2 or 3 a day- ostensibly to protect the debit card holder from robbery or theft. Moreover, assuming they CAN make 10 withdrawals, they now have spent about $ 240, instead of the $ 200 they needed to spend.
(Consider this basic fact. Most welfare recipients don’t have a car; they use public transportation. So, when they go shopping, they want to get as much as they can, so that they don’t waste money on bus fare. No more- thanks to the “intelligence” of the Kansas government, they can buy $20 of groceries only.)
The only hope that the citizens of Kansas has is that the Feds will step in. Don’t give me that crap about state’s rights. There is a federal rule that stipulates that assistance beneficiaries have “adequate access” to their benefits. Or, the state will lose federal subsidies and matching funds.
I say we cut the money we send to Kansas. Because it’s the government that needs a lesson- not the citizens.
