Buy Dildos on the Taxpayer Dime in Louisiana

Well, this is mildly outrageous: In Louisiana,
it’s totally cool
to buy lingerie and other sexy-time stuff with Electronic Benefits
Transfer (EBT) cards. Looks like it’s edible
underwear and jelly-bean flavored lube for dinner again tonight,
kids!

Actually, though they’re most associated with food stamps, EBT
cards serve as a repository for a host of state and federal
assistance mechanisms, including cash benefits from the federal
government which can be used relatively open-endedly. The only
things prohibited from purchase with these benefits are alcohol,
tobacco, lottery tickets, and adult entertainment (including casino
games). According
to Gonzales, Louisiana, TV station WAFB, local store Kiss My
Lingerie has been accepting EBT cards as payment for about eight
months now.

I hate to be one of those people who makes a huge deal at any
hint of benefit abuse, so let’s acknowledge that we don’t know how
many (if any) people have used federal benefits at Kiss My
Lingerie. And undergarments in general are a pretty
basic necessity, so not beyond the pale as an EBT purchase per
se. 

But you can sure buy your bras cheaper at Target than at a
lingerie shop. And from the looks of
things, the kinds of items Kiss My Lingerie sells are pretty
far from basic undergarments. EBT benefits could also be used there
to purchase “toys and
novelties.”