Louis Vitton Handbags?? I guess the welfare queen w/the Cadillac is back.

[Bleacher Creature]

Like many of us here at DU, I sometimes turn on a wingnut on my radio when I feel like getting myself angry. For the past few days, I've heard the same line over and over again, which is that "ungrateful" victims of Hurricane Katrina are using their $2,000 FEMA cards to buy luxury items. In what is an AMAZING coincidence, all of the crazies use the same exact example -- i.e. evacuees who are purchasing expensive Louis Vitton handbags.

This really stinks of the same mean-spirited lies that Reagan used to use in his crusade to cut federal funding for the poor back in the 80s. For those of you who are too young to remember, here's a snippet from a good article on the issue:

"During his stump speeches, Reagan often told the story of a so-called welfare queen in Chicago who drove a Cadillac and had ripped off $150,000 from the government using 80 aliases, 30 addresses, a dozen Social Security cards and four fictional dead husbands. Reagan dutifully promised to roll back welfare. Journalists searched for this welfare cheat and discovered that she didn't exist. Nevertheless, he kept using the anecdote."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0610-01.htm

Anyone else noticed this??

[Bozita]

1. Those handbags were counterfeits seized by US Customs ...

... and distributed to the displaced folks.


http://www.click2houston.com/money/4937407/detail.html

[Newsjock]

2. Here's the truth behind this

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3840452&nav=2CSfeRD6

U.S. Customs Donates Seized Clothing

The men and women who protect the United States borders are now focusing on relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Monday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced they are donating seized clothing, to victims of the hurricane.

About 1.7 million dollars worth of counterfeit clothing, shoes, towels, and toys are being donated to the state. Many of the clothing pieces were confiscated because they violated copyright infringements. Normally they would have been destroyed.

[marbuc]

3. "...had ripped off $150,000 from the government using 80 aliases..."

I thought Reaganites reward such entrepreneurial spirit. If this was a white (collar) male, he'd get a job in this administration.

[China_cat]

8. Let's see

That's $1875 per alias and Reagan was talking about a full year's haul, wasn't he?

So, in other words, he's saying that the 'honest' welfare recipient was only getting less than $2000/year in aid.

[Missy M]

4. There are store employees at a store in Atlanta saying...

two different women with the cards purchased $800.00 Louis Vuitton handbags. Whether it is true or not I don't know, but two out of the hundreds of thousands affected by Katrina means nothing. As ususal they pick up on the story that is the exception.

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. Those women were frauds.

And were arrested. I'll look for a link, but I saw it on the news yesterday.

[marbuc]

12. There is fraud with any large scale operation, public and private.

I saw a 9/11 widow (and she was white and seemingly conservative by the way) on Howard Stern a few years back, and she was spending her booty on crack. There was no outcry then, so why now (rhetorical question, we all know the answer)?

[MzShellG]

20. Sad but true...

Tsk tsk tsk....

[Vincardog]

5. I heard this story last night. The "ungrateful" victims of Hurricane

Katrina are using their $2,000 FEMA cards to buy a $600 Louis Vitton handbag in Atlanta. The only thing wrong with this story is they only gave out a limited number of the $2,000 FEMA cards in HOUSTON. How did some evacuee get their card in the Astrodome then slip the guards and get to Atlanta for a shopping trip?

But this story does ring the hate bell with the 'Compassionate Conservatives' they do love to hate the thought of someone waisting their hard earned tax dollars.

[ret5hd]

10. In other words, the $2000 FEMA cardw were/are...

a multi-billion dollar windfall to texas business owners.

Don't get me wrong, the money was desperately needed by the hurricane victims...but it's just funny that only texas got them.

[Vincardog]

18. Only SOME in Huston. Not everyone in TEXAS

The FEMA cards were a distraction. They were another failed effort to appear to be helping without actually doing any good. Just like turning the lights on in NO one half an hour before * speeches and turning them off an hour after.

[SoCalDem]

19. Someone at FEMA cranked out a bunch of "extra" cards

and probably is selling them on ebay for $100 a pop..:eyes:

[NYCGirl]

6. As to the handbag buyers, no one has identified them (if indeed they

exist) as evacuees, if I remember correctly. These people may be some who were handing out the cards or some others in Houston who may have ripped off some of the cards.

[sam sarrha]

9. goes to show.. 'if you tell a lie enough times..you are a Republican'

[AmandaRuth]

11. someone call

1-800-katrina and tell that biotch the true story. I don't have the stomach for it.

[marbuc]

23. If you're referring to the Katrina of Al Franken show fame

I believe her number is 1-877-KATRINA. Al was saying Gov. Perry has the 800 number.

[Wilber_Stool]

13. How come nobody has speculated that

FEMA employees may have issued these cards to themselves and are using them. Over the years this has been a pretty common practice for government employees.

[oasis]

14. Louis Vuitton "knockoff" bags seized by customs were given away

to evacuees. That was my understanding.

Yet fuckheads like Jack Burkman and Rush will twist the story to create grist for their hate mills.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. I just pointed that out to a woman and her reply to the truth of it

"Tell that to Dan Abrams."

:shrug:

http://romantictimes.com/forums.php?state=showmessage&ID=363690&rtnum=614125860

[Bleacher Creature]

16. Ignorance like that makes me want to just give up.

It's like bashing your head against a brick wall!

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Heh, did you read more of the posts on there? Lots of very conservative

people over there. I can only go in now and then because it makes my head and heart hurt to read some of those posts.

[RebelOne]

21. Well, there could be a little truth to this.

I remember a few years back when I was in Miami, FL, I was in the check-out line of a grocery. The black lady in front of me had purchased a shit-load of groceries and then paid for them with food stamps. When I left the store, I noticed that she was loading her groceries into a brand-new Cadillac. Go figure.

[yankeedem]

24. You do know that you could purchase food stamps off the streets, right?

You could buy them for 30c on the dollar. Why is it relevant that she was black? I'm puzzled.

[marbuc]

29. Wow, the street value has deflated

it used to be 50c on the dollar.

[Tomee450]

26. Why the need to mention that

the woman was black and how did you know that the cadillac she was driving was her own. It could have belonged to a family member or friend.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Purposeful distraction. Tell anyone who uses it, "You believe it, sucker?"

It is a purposeful distraction. Don't even bother to refute it. Throw it back in their faces with "You fell for that one, sucker?".

[Vinca]

25. If the Republican wingnuts stopped and thought about it for a

second they would realize that if the recipients of the $2,000 were buying Louis Vuitton, that's a good thing. The real thing appreciates in value. They can resell it at a profit. I'd kill to find an old Louis suitcase.

[ignatius 2]

27. You know what..the welfare queens should have just

driven out of NO in their caddillacs. Problem is,just about everything else Reagan did or said was one big fatass lie including this nasty piece of bullshit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. So I take it none of the rest of you heard

as I did, that these cards were encrypted and could only be used for food and clothing, just like food stamp cards are used only for food. I heard this on the radio, on CNN and on FOX, and that these cards could NOT be used for alcohol or tobacco. They also can not be used in ATMs to get cash. (I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you all hear the story about the card holders who were using them to get cash from an ATM and then going in to a strip club.)

[tamtam]

30. I didn't hear that

I was wondering about that also because I'm on a board that is claiming people are buying big screen televisions with these cards. I know when we were caught in the cedar fire here in San Diego FEMA gave us a debit card but we could only buy food with it. I'm going to see if I can track down information about the encryption of the cards.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Let me know what you find out

I have a freeper friend I have been debating this with.

I am absolutely positive I heard these cards would be encrypted.

[Contrary1]

31. Read the second post at this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4807990

It didn't happen.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. Reagan thought he fought in WWII

When he was actually on a soundstage.