Government handouts have become commonplace across the U.S., particularly in Democratic-controlled jurisdictions where such programs often come with few, if any, strings attached.

Such was the case when Washington, D.C., officials approved a pilot program aimed at distributing lump sums of taxpayer cash to low-income mothers in the district.

While supporters claimed it would help struggling families emerge from dire economic situations, a candid admission by one of the recipients revealed how the money was actually spent.

Canethia Miller was one of 132 women selected to benefit from the largesse and received nearly $11,000. Instead of using the free cash to pay off debt or save for the future, however, she spent more than half of it on a lavish vacation to Miami that many of the taxpayers who helped fund it would not have been able to afford.

“Some of it I just left alone,” she told the Washington Post. “The other side is, I wanted to blow it. I wanted to have fun.”

The mother of three boasted that her children “got to experience something [she] never would have been able to do if [she] didn’t have that money.”

The Post, which portrayed her story and those of other recipients in a generally positive light, noted that the family outing was a “dramatic upgrade” from the vacations they typically took and included museum trips, dinner at the high-end Japanese steakhouse Benihana, and “new clothes, shoes, gadgets and toys” for all of the kids.

Referring to her children, Miller bragged: “Every outfit they wore was new.”

Of course, she directly benefited from the government handout too, including a $180 salon visit to have her hair and nails done prior to the flight. 

As ordinary taxpayers struggle to put food on the table, Miller showed a photo of herself to the reporter and asked: “Do you know how good I look in this picture?”

Despite spending some of the cash to pay bills and depositing a whopping $50 into a savings account, many readers were taken aback by the seemingly wasteful use of taxpayer money.

Just curious. Did any of these people invest the money instead of blowing it? $10,000 is enough to buy the tools necessary to start a small personal services business: hair care, pressure washing, lawn mowing, house painting, concrete repair, pedicures, etc.

— 🇺🇸 UltraMAGA Hillbilly 🇺🇸 (@TruthingtonPost) February 3, 2024

Miller, however, seemed to believe she had been a good steward of the unearned windfall.

“A lot of communities in my area don’t know the financial gain of credit, saving for your kids,” she claimed. “That’s why we’re broke. That’s why we don’t have nothing to pass down or no house to give down. I’m trying to get to the level where I’m passing something down that really matters, so I can be set and my kids can be set and they don’t need to push so hard like I’m doing now.”