by Andrew Dalton

Well, now this is interesting - The LA Times reported yesterday that over $69 million worth of California welfare money has been drawn out of state. If you're unfamiliar, the cash benefits are loaded on to state-issued cards not unlike the way an undergrad's parents might load cash on to a debit card, which can then be used to draw funds in more or less the same manner. Of course, like any good nanny state, California has been keeping tabs on where the cards are being used, but doesn't necessarily have the resources to follow up on the data. Luckily, the LA Times' piece gleaned some interesting facts from the data:

First of all, given the proximity and general money-sucking nature of Sin City, we're not very surprised that Las Vegas tops the list of out-of-state destinations with nearly $12 million of California welfare funds accessed in the desert between the beginning of 2007 and May of this year. Although most casino ATMs block welfare cards from withdrawing funds, one is never far from a cash machine these days and the Times points out that over $34,700 of the funds were withdrawn from "the ATM at a 7-Eleven in the shadow of Steve Wynn's new Encore casino and a couple blocks south of Circus Circus." (We suppose the implication there is that said ATM would be convenient for a single parent traveling with children.)