http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=1201232A California GOP leader believes welfare abuse is one of the symptoms for that state's financial crisis.
From 2007 to May 2010, more than $69 million of the state's welfare money was spent on vacations, shopping, and travel to Las Vegas and Hawaii. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore says California knows how to prevent welfare fraud but is not taking it seriously.
Chuck DeVore 2"California, instead of trying to attract business and jobs and invest to our state, is instead spending their money on welfare," he explains. "And while that may be all well and good, we can't even shake the fraud out of it. So I think that this is unsustainable."
The assemblyman points out that California has ten-times more people on welfare than doesTexas, the nation's next largest state. He thinks there needs to be a change in the system.
"Welfare recipients in California were essentially given the equivalent of ATM cards, with the thought being that it's cheaper to manage and it will be more difficult to cheat on," DeVore notes. "Well, as we've seen, the experience is not exactly what was advertised."
The Republican politician adds that The Golden State has the best welfare benefits in the country, but it is the only state that has not enacted the five-year limit for able-bodied recipients on welfare.