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Posted on YouTube: January 10, 2010
By YouTube Member: marcchabotyt
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Posted on DU: March 23, 2011
By DU Member: Skip_In_Boulder
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This is to add some clarity to a discussion that occurred on DU last week contending that Minnesota was trying to pass a law, H.F. No. 171, that would make it illegal for homeless people to be in possession of more than $20 on their person. This is completly hysterical and a gross misunderstanding of the law that Minn. is trying to implement and completely overlooks the real insidious truth of what is being done in Minnesota. An now even Thom Hartmann is promoting this misunderstanding on his show. The original post was here:
GOPers Trying To Pass Bill Making It Illgegal For The Poor To Have $20 Here is the operative text of the bill under consideration in Minn.
2.1 (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), EBT cardholders may opt to have up to $20
2.2 per month accessible via automatic teller machine or receive up to $20 cash back from
2.3 a vendor.As you can see there is nothing in the text that mandates a homeless person not being able to be in possession of more than $20 dollars on their person. But if you still think that it might be located in another part of the bill here is the full text of which you will find no such provision.
H.F. No. 171, 1st Engrossment - 87th Legislative Session (2011-2012)What is being done here is simply a realignment of fees being collected by those who oversees the implementation of public assistance programs which today in America, in the majority of states, the overseer is J.P. Morgan, not the government.
Public assistance is delivered through an EBT card (Electronic Based Transaction) which is a type of credit card swipe card. In many states there is both a food stamp portion of the card and a cash assistance portion of the card. One can use the card to make food stamp purchases within the guidelines of the program or they can use the cash portion of the card to make cash purchases and\or cash withdrawals if the merchant accepts the EBT card, which most don't, Or you can just go to a
Chase Bank location (surprise, surprise) and make a cash withdrawal.
What is really being done in Minnesota is most likely a realignment of service fees for the provider of the program. The Obama administration did get some laws past, although very minimal, that restricted fees banks can change on transactions so what we are seeing is efforts to restructure how banks charge their fees. If we could actually get information as to how much money J.P. Morgan makes per transaction by providing public assistance we would most likely find they make a larger cut for purchases of goods and services, with an EBT card, than they make for simple cash withdrawals. So by restricting how much hard cash one can withdraw from the cash portion of their EBT card they are in effect increasing the fees they can change for use of the program.
It is not a bill which would make it unlawful for a poor person to have more than $20 dollars on themIt is imperative to understand that the way the modern corporation works is they make a little cut on each and every financial transaction that happens. They are so tapped into the entire financial structure of the country that they make a small cut on everything.
They literally make money on you when your on the way up, and they also make money on you when you are on the way down. This is really the heart and soul of privatization. After spending over 20 years in the Fortune 500 in primarily finance and tax department positions, I cannot overemphasize the importance of understanding this truism of corporate existence in the modern world.
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