Poverty in this story is said to hit an 11-year high, yet AP dares to discuss the "economic rebound." Dateline San Francisco, Los Angeles: "At 11 p.m. on the last day of the month, shoppers flock to the nearest Walmart. They load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. That's when food stamp credits are loaded on their electronic benefits transfer cards. 'Once the clock strikes midnight and EBT cards are charged, you can see our results start to tick up,' says Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's chief financial officer. As food stamps become an increasingly common currency in a struggling US economy," which the AP says is rebounding "they are dictating changes in how even the biggest retailers do business."

So, in other words, the government is controlling this, too. When the government reloads these EBT cards, that's when the wards of the state head to Walmart and start loading up using the equivalent of food stamps. So the government is even controlling consumer spending in this regard. "From Costco to Walmart, store chains are rethinking years of strategy as they watch prized customers lose jobs and turn to this benefit, the stigma of which is disappearing not just in society, but in corporate America." So now it's a badge of honor to have one of these EBT cards. It's a badge of honor to be on food stamps. It's a badge of honor. It's no longer a stigma. "Besides staffing up for the spike in shoppers on the first day of the month, retailers are adjusting when and what they stock, updating point-of-sale systems to accept food stamps and shifting expansion plans to focus on lower-income shoppers." That's just the first four paragraphs. It makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want to read any more to you. What you really need to know here, the really sick part is that most of these benefits, the loaded up EBT cards and the food stamps are all gone in three days. They spend 'em all in three days and then it's back to poverty for the remaining 27 to 28 days of the month.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34479788/ns/business-personal_finance/