Rush vs. Kevin...Both Were Right, Both Were Wrong

I've got a lot to catch up with due to a computer crash that left me offline for a bit. I just wanted to make a few points about something I caught on Rush's radio show the other day. I don't listen to radio all that much due to my work schedule but I did happen to catch something interesting that I had to comment about.

The subject was food stamps. Rush received a call from a man named Kevin from Ohio. Kevin started with a little anti-Rush ranting and some mocking of Rush listeners etc. but then it got interesting.

Apparently Rush had commented recently about people on food stamps buying alcohol with the food stamps. Kevin pointed out to Rush that you can't buy alcohol with the food stamps, (now "EBT" cards - Electronic Benefit Transfer), since the purchase will not be approved if you try to buy alcohol with the card. This put Rush on the defensive, proving Rush had in fact said that you could. Like the title of this post states, they are both wrong and both right. Let me explain.

You can in fact buy alcohol etc. with the ebt cards but you have to know all of the rules. Some people with EBT cards have what is called "cash benefits". How this works is explained here.

As you can see this clearly tells people with EBT cards how to get cash at an atm or a store using cash back just as those with Debit cards can. Here's where Kevin was wrong.

With the cash benefits getting alcohol etc. is rather simple. All you have to do is go to an ATM or supermarket, withdraw cash with the cash benefits, then take the cash into a liquor store and buy alcohol or whatever else you wish. In my food stamp post last year I explained that cash benefits should be done away with for this very reason.

So even though he didn't realize it, in a way Rush was half right. In another way Kevin was half right. Now you know how it works.