They call him the “Minnesota Millionaire,” a wealthy retiree who helped expose how a loophole in the food stamp program is being abused and screwing taxpayers out of billions of dollars.
“I like to say I audited the program. And what better way to audit the program than to be a part of it?” Rob Undersander told The Federalist in a phone interview this week.
Over the past decade, the retired engineer has been a crusader against the federal Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE) policy, a welfare enhancer with roots in the Clinton administration that has incentivized wholesale theft from U.S. taxpayers ever since. Undersander has worked alongside the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) to end the BBCE loophole and prevent millionaires like himself from tapping into benefits they have no business receiving.
In a new video exclusively provided to The Federalist, FGA breaks down the scam that more than 40 states have used to balloon the nation’s welfare rolls. The foundation calls it “fraud by design.”
“In fact, millions of food stamp recipients exceed the federal asset or income limits,” the video explains. Roughly one in five of those Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients count assets of $100,000 or more, the FGA notes.
Undersander began “auditing” the SNAP program in 2016 — by collecting SNAP benefits.
‘Fully Weaponized the Loophole’
The retiree was volunteering at the Central Minnesota Council on Aging, helping seniors sign up for Medicare plans, when he learned about Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility. The loophole helps states bypass federal food stamp eligibility requirements, specifically income and asset thresholds. The latter limits take into account liquid assets, such as cash on hand or readily available money in bank accounts. Wealth in property, retirement accounts, life insurance, personal goods and other possessions don’t count toward the asset limits.
States get around the limits through the so-called “non-cash benefit” provision.
“If someone is deemed eligible to receive other welfare benefits, they automatically qualify for food stamps,” FGA explains in the video. “And states have fully weaponized this loophole.”
Hellbound and Down 