LR FOLLOW-UP

From Eric Dondero:

We reported last week on local newspaper stories out of California, uncovering EBT machines in California Casinos. Welfare recipients could access easy cash for the blackjack tables, slot machines, and poker.

The Governor was caught by surprise. But to his credit he has put an immediate stop to the practice.

From Mydesert.com:

Spurred by a newspaper's report that California's welfare debit cards can be used to withdraw cash in more than half the casinos in the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday issued an immediate ban on state-provided cash assistance at ATMs in gambling establishments.

The Los Angeles Times disclosed that Electronic Benefit Transfer cards work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms. The report also found the state Department of Social Services published a list of useable ATMs where the EBT cards that work like debit cards could be cashed.

“I will use every available power I have to protect taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse in government,'' Schwarzenegger said.