Food stamp fraud raids, the public trust, and hockey

Law enforcement had a big day in Hamtramck yesterday, as state and federal authorities raided six Hamtramck markets, all owned by Bengalis, on charges of food stamp fraud. At least one police helicopter hovered above the city while six markets were raided in a sting that resulted in almost a dozen arrests in Hamtramck alone. Similar raids took place in Detroit and Warren. The press release estimated that the combined illegal haul of public money during the investigation ran into the millions, about $12.5 million in all.

The raids were quickly followed up by declarations from senior state officials that the law must be followed. Among them was a statement from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who declared, "Michigan families are working harder than ever for every tax dollar ... Enriching yourself at public expense is not only shameful, but compromises the integrity of government and violates the public trust. I would like to thank our state and federal partners for their cooperative efforts to secure justice and fight fraud wherever it is found."

Brave, bold words from our crusading AG. There's no way Schuette is going to let people take millions of dollars of hard-earned tax dollars to enrich themselves at public expense! It so happened that a friend of ours read those words and erupted in laughter, pointing to the huge celebration scheduled for Thursday, the groundbreaking for the new hockey stadium downtown, in which millions of dollars of hard-earned taxpayer money is going to enrich the Ilitch family. "Wherever it is found"?

Needless to say, we got the joke right away.