Another Food Stamp Record

The number of American households on food stamps hit a record in January according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A total of 23 million American households received the taxpayer-funded food subsidies – the latest peak in a steady expansion of the welfare program under the administrations of both George W. Bush and [...]

SCDSS No. 2 Resigning

Isabel Blanco, the bureaucrat at the center of South Carolina’s 2012 food stamp scandal, is resigning her post with the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) effective April 15.
Blanco’s resignation comes less than a week after FITS returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. during which we alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to [...]

Cabinet Cat Fight?

The South Carolina press corps is buzzing after S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s welfare czarina dissed her health and environmental czarina prior to a press conference last week – an exchange which was captured by several open microphones (but never reported).
“We’re not going to steal the gov’s thunder,” S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) director Lillian [...]

Bakari Sellers Eats Nikki Haley’s Lunch

This website doesn’t object to S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s attempt to limit food stamp recipients’ access to fatty junk. We don’t think such a proposal solves the real problem (the fact far too many people in this state are on food stamps), but whatever.
As we noted in our original post on this subject, beggars can’t [...]

“SNAP to Work,” South Carolina!

“SING FOR YOUR SUPPER?”
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley wants a portion of the Palmetto State’s food stamp population to “sing for their supper.” Or at least that’s what she wants us to think …
Haley’s as-yet-unannounced proposal – dubbed “SNAP to Work” – would require beneficiaries of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to find jobs if [...]

About That SC Legislative State Story …

… IT’S ACTUALLY WORTH READING
“Big and bold above our fold” today is a 1,000-word editorial from contributor Jimmy G. Wiles of Myrtle Beach, S.C. – the first of what we hope will be many guest submissions published on this website in 2013.
Missed it?  Click here …
Wiles’ longish piece explores the origins of South Carolina’s legislatively-dominated [...]

SCDSS Audit: It’s About Time

MORE CABINET PROBLEMS FOR NIKKI HALEY
Months after this website began exposing a pattern of data manipulation at the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS), state lawmakers FINALLY got  around to requesting an audit of the agency.
According to The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier, a group of lawmakers has asked the S.C. Legislative Audit Council (SCLAC) [...]

SCDSS Deputy Director Suspended

ANOTHER SCANDAL FOR NIKKI HALEY’S CABINET
Embattled S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) deputy director Isabel Blanco has been suspended from her position with the agency after an “altercation” with a subordinate.
According to our sources at the agency, Blanco was suspended last Wednesday – although length of the suspension (and whether she’s still collecting her $123,600 [...]

Meet Isabel Blanco

SECOND-IN-COMMAND AT SC WELFARE AGENCY HAS SOME SERIOUS ISSUES
Not long ago, our founding editor attended a meeting hosted by South Carolina’s Department of Social Services (which has been receiving glowing coverage from the state’s mainstream media despite clear evidence of manipulated data).
Anyway, leading this assembly was Isabel Blanco – deputy director of the Palmetto State’s welfare [...]

More On SC’s “Food Stamp Fix”

HOW SOUTH CAROLINA BUREAUCRATS ARE COOKING THE BOOKS
As we reported exclusively last month, multiple sources at the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) tell FITS that the agency has been “cooking the books and supplying the federal government with false information” regarding its food stamp program.  Specifically, the agency has been accused of deliberately misleading [...]

Letter: SC Child Support Woes

SOUTH CAROLINA FALLS FURTHER BEHIND ON CHILD SUPPORT ISSUES
Dear Editor,
Much of import has happened while you were on vacation. For example, as the attached copy of Chief Justice Jean Toal’s letter to the South Carolina Clerks of Court shows, rule to show cause in S.C. Department of Soscial Services (DSS) child support enforcement cases have [...]

More Money For SCDSS Leader’s “Special Friend”

LILLIAN KOLLER’S CONSULTANT TAB KEEPS CLIMBING
The S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) has paid a “special friend” of its director tens of thousands of dollars to consult for the $2.2 billion agency.
Earlier this week, FITS reported that director Lillian Koller paid welfare consultant Sandie Hoback $102,633 from July 1, 2011 to April 30 of this year.
Hoback [...]