Posted on 05/06/2008 4:34:54 AM PDT by captjanaway
When President Bush announced last week that he is calling on Congress for an additional $770 billion in international “food aid,” I had just returned from a trip to the grocery store and was feeling less than charitable upon hearing that he wanted to give more aid to countries (such as the terrorist, America-hating states of Somalia and the Sudan) that we have been “feeding” for over 50 years. But fear not; Bush included needy Americans in his discussion:
“Here at home, we're working to ensure that our poorest citizens get the food they need. Since 2001, the administration in working with Congress has increased funding for nutrition assistance programs by 76 percent. We've adjusted food stamp benefits annually to cover price increases at the checkout counter. And last month the Agriculture Department made available an additional $150 million to respond to the food needs of those who depend on WIC – the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. With this new funding, we will have
(Excerpt) Read more at familysecuritymatters.org ...
Uh . . . it was $770 MILLION, not billion. That’s a whopper of an error. To me, it undermines the credibility of the whole article.
Isn't that special. Those of us who actually work for a living haven't had a pay increase, in this house anyway, in I don't know how many years and it's going to decrease later this year when we retire. But, hey, as long as food stamps keeps up with prices then that's all that matters...
Typographical error? They do happen...... The writer - and the site - are very good. Typos happen to the best of us...........
Do they still even give out food stamps?
I thought they gave out a credit card looking deal so that the poor and impoverished and destitute could look all trendy and posh when they got their free Mocha Pecan ice cream.
If we don’t feed them, the Chinese or Al-Queda will.
But I was recently at a talk on this issue, and the presenter said “Why doesn’t anybody look at increasing production of food?”
He then told us the story of Malawi, they were always dependent on Food Aid. A few years ago, the government, a UN Group and a few NGO’s tried to solve the problem. They came up with a novel solution. Sell the farmers High Yield Seeds and Fertilizer at a 75% discount. And it’s worked, Malawi is now exporting food and off food aid.
This type of food aid is cheaper as well, subsidizing farmers is about 1/100th the cost of buying the population food.
But you know who’s against this plan? The WTO, only rich nations (hello Europe and the US) are allowed to subsidize their Farmers - not poor African nations.
He also apparently doesn’t know that some states have been expanding eligibility for food stamps and WIC programs.
Here in Arkansas, eligibility for a family of 4 goes up to $40K. That is actually over the “average” income here in this state.
I know a lot of people who make $40K or less and support a family - and who do not need food stamps or other aid programs.
Not so novel. I think I read somewhere in a book in centuries past there was some dude who proposed the idea of teaching a man to fish rather than merely giving him a fish. I don't suppose many in the UN or our congress have read that book.
Why is it that a family is getting free food stamps on a salary of $40,000? Why expand eligibility for a federal dependency program when the answer is to get the government out of the ethanol and food business altogether?
By increasing the eligiblity, don’t you just expand dependency on the government - aka socialism - which is what the writer was saying? Gimme more, gimme more.......
Not a drop of aid for that made-up “Mymar” until they go back to being Burma!
A week ago my wife stood in line as some latinos argued with the cashier about what they could and could not get with their WIC card. When they got their free stuff they wandered over to another counter and bought lottery tickets.
Does this family making forty grand own their own home (in their own name), own vehicle, etc?
I know of a family in Missouri who put the husband’s business, home and new truck in his parents’ names so they could get all the government freebies - AND the income from a good business. Their kid gets a private coach to teach him to pitch and bat - he’s in Little League.
Those kinds of folks p#$@ me off...
I doubt it.
This American housewife is fed up – not with working hard to pay the grocery bill and the gas to get there – but with the Socialist, global policies that have put us in this position and the elitist, inept politicians who continue to expand them.
BUMP!
“If we don’t feed them, the Chinese or Al-Queda will.”
So let the Chinese beggar themselves trying to fill the bottomless hole of the world’s need. We have enough problems as it is.
Why are you posting to me...I didn’t say it? I wrote “I doubt it” at the bottom of my post.
Last week I got stuck at the checkout behind a nice looking 20-something couple. The young woman appeared about 6 months pregnant. No wedding rings on her or him. She went to pay for her basket full of brand name food, and it turned out she did not have enough WIC vouchers for everything. Not to worry. Her male partner did the gentlemanly thing. He ran out to the car...to retrieve a plastic bag filled with more vouchers. The cashier, sensing my annoyance, apologized for the lengthy wait. I told her I did not mind the wait, but that it sure must be nice to get your food for free. Then I forked over $153 for a week’s groceries. These were not mpoverished immigrants, mind you. They were a fairly nicely dressed young couple who were merely availing themselves of the government’s (i.e. yours and my) largesse in rewarding people who procreate out of wedlock.
Three examples to match yours, all from the big apple: 1) from my mother-in-law neighborhood - well dressed: head to toe NAUTICA gear, middle thirties gentleman, paying for his groceries with WIC and EBT; 2) In my mother’s area: I saw a middle aged woman with EBT card in hand jump into a shiny, new JEEP CHEROKEE; 3) Two young girls-*(white town trash: big hoop earrings, polished long designed nails, bling and cell phone), pay for their groceries with EBT CARDS. 4) Last but not least, and this one tops the cake: my sister witnessed in the flushing area of Queens, New York: a well dressed, middle aged korean woman, pay for her groceries with an EBT CARD!!!!! and then jump into a MERCEDES 500 or higher S-CLASS!!!!!!! This THREE CARD MONTY-FREE GRAVY TRAIN EXPRESS, PAID BY OUR TAX DOLLARS, IS NOT LIMITED TO ANY ONE GROUP, EVERYONE IS IN ON IT.!!!!!!/Just Asking - seoul62.......
That’s brilliant, I wish I had thought of that. Instead of marrying my wife she could have just remained single and had our baby out of wedlock. That way she could register as a poor single mother and get us all sorts of free stuff from the government. Ah well, hindsight...
“If we don’t feed them, the Chinese or Al-Queda will.”
No, they won’t.
Example: A mother and father have 2 children. Mother makes around $1800 a month after taxes and father makes around the same. Father gets killed in a drunk driving incident leaving mother to fend for the family. Mother has a good paying job at $16.00 an hour, making above the federal poverty limit ($17,600) Good childcare in the SF Bay Area is about $200 a week per child. Mother manages to pay $1000 a month for both children. She can’t get assistance or any subsidies because “she makes too much.” Rent in the area for a 1 bedroom apartment in a good neighboorhood is usally around $1200-$1300 a month. In a bad one you can get one for around $900. Now you do the math, $1800 a month plus child care expenses and rent and food and gas DOES NOT ADD UP.
So this mother who was doing well is forced to quit her good job, stay home and take care of her children, and receive WELFARE.
She gets enough money to pay rent, food stamps to eat and free childcare while she gets job training. If she were to find a low paying job while on welfare, she gets to keep the childcare she has while paying little or nothing for it. Does the government want us to stay poor or what? It seems like you can only live now if you make too little to survive.
Why isn’t the welfare system changed so that WORKING single parents get aid where it is needed? The cost of living is way way up so what can we do?
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