Avram – I understand that you weren’t aware that zd’s example was not a grey area, so it’s not part of this discussion and we will drop it. Plus, I have no answers anyway, just reading what I see.
The way I see the nice car issue, which is a good example of legal but smelling bad, is one of jealousy. It’s not hard to imagine how someone with EBT could afford to drive a new Lexus SUV (e.g. saved up for a long time, or received a gift, or had enough to put down to drive off the lot but will eventually lose it, etc) but to the hard working guy driving a 10 year old Buick it can be difficult to fargin. Why should I work so hard and have no disposable income while this guy gets to take it easy and have everything I have plus more? Not easy to answer, because the hard working guy’s advantages and superiority are not nearly as visible as the advantage of the Lexus over the Buick. But it’s not hard to understand how the guy who gets everything handed to him wouldn’t artificially limit his conspicuous spending either when he has no need to worry about how to cover his next months’ expenses.