“New York City mayor defends migrant debit card program as cost efficient and fraud resistant” (Politico):
The prepaid cards are intended to be used for groceries, diapers, baby formula and other necessities at local businesses. They’ve invited the condemnation by right-wing news media as simply another benefit for people who entered the country illegally and for the hefty contract involved in the rollout.
“There is no free money. These are not ATM cards. You can’t take cash out,” Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy said at the news conference.
For confused seniors who fall prey to all manner of online scams it would be great to have a credit or debit card that could be used only for certain categories of purchases. Last I checked, though, this capability was not available to individual consumers. How did the NYC migrantcrats manage to accomplish it? It seems that a “card program” can be designed in which the cards are limited by merchant category code (MCC, as explained by Stripe). What if a migrant goes to Walmart or 2SLGBTQQIA+-friendly Target and a wide range of products are available? NY1:
The city said the debit cards for new arrivals can only be used at supermarkets, bodegas and at grocery stores, with migrants being required to sign an affidavit that it would only be used for food and baby supplies.
So… the taxpayer-funded cards are “free”, but they’re not “free money.”
Happy April Fools’ Day, especially if you’re a taxpayer!
On top of the $120 cash rebate every month, my 85 y/o father’s Medicare Advantage plan gives him a preloaded $85/month grocery card, automatically reloaded on the first of every month, regardless of income or wealth. That and his daily Meals-on-Wheels delivery, and he spends $0 for food.
There are four ways to spend money according to Milton Friedman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsRk9RThGt0
The cards seem to fit the last category.
Forgot to add that the use of the cards is also a good example of Friedman’s third way to spend money.
But what if the migrant is illiterate? Is signing with an X sufficient? It probably is.
I at first thought they were just handing out “starter” EBT cards.