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A Grim Record: One In Seven Americans Is On Food Stamps
NPR ^ | 12/8/10 | Jacob Goldstein

Posted on 12/10/2010 12:59:19 PM PST by Gabrial

The number of people on food stamps keeps hitting new all-time highs; as of September, nearly 43 million people were using the program, according to figures out this week.

Of course, because of population growth, absolute numbers only tell part of the story. The best way to look at the numbers over a long period of time is as a percentage of the population. And when you do that, you see that we're also hitting new highs.

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: 2endpovertysterilize; economy; food; foodstamps; poor; poverty; stamps; sterilization; sterilize; sterilizethepoor
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To: Yaelle

“I think we need to bring back shame. If you need food stamps, you should get FOOD STAMPS”,

...good point! Although a large portion of these people have no shame.


41 posted on 12/10/2010 2:17:42 PM PST by albie
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To: Gabrial

There was a time when I undoubtedly qualified for food stamps. I didn’t apply for them. My girls and I ate a lot of ramen and scrimped to make ends meet. I worked two jobs and went to grad school. I was not going to be a welfare mom. It was a lean couple of years, but we made it.


42 posted on 12/10/2010 2:22:39 PM PST by Hoffer Rand (There ARE two Americas: "God's children" and the tax payers)
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To: Zakeet
Wow is that a graph.

Just DANG.

One word sums it up:

Unsustainable.

43 posted on 12/10/2010 2:23:09 PM PST by Gabrial (The Whitehouse Nightmare will continue as long as the Nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: Gabrial

“...cell phones, computers, cable TV subscriptions, cameras...”
-
No, I don’t mind telling you about it.
Yes, I do have all those things, and I also have a full time job.
My wife has lost her job and collects unemployment while she looks for work.
My son and daughter in law both lost their jobs and have no income or assets.
They and their two kids live with me and my wife while they look for work.
My youngest son also lives here.
He is a full time college student w/ a part time job.
So there are 3 generations in the house...5 adults and 2 toddlers.
The family of 4 qualifies for “food stamps”
and all of us here eat the groceries that they provide.

We are neither proud or ashamed of what has happened.
We are trying to do the best we can in a bad situation.
We curse democrats and blame socialism for our plight.

My wife and I feel blessed that we have a house for them to live in.
We know many people who are in worse shape than we are.

The married son finally found a part time job last week.


44 posted on 12/10/2010 2:29:19 PM PST by Repeal The 17th
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To: Hoffer Rand
“It was a lean couple of years, but we made it.”

Bully for you!

When I got my first job out of college, I was so far in debt from student loans I had a very weird diet.

I had read in some book somewhere you could survive almost indefinitely on a diet of rice, beans, bananas, and sardines. So that is all I ate for quite a while. I had one pot. No dishes, just ate right out of the pot. I ate the sardines out of the can, and you don't need any dishes to eat a banana. My mother almost died when she came to visit me the first time.

45 posted on 12/10/2010 2:35:08 PM PST by Gabrial (The Whitehouse Nightmare will continue as long as the Nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: Gabrial

46 posted on 12/10/2010 2:40:11 PM PST by traditional1 ("Don't gotsta worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gotsta worry 'bout no gas; Obama gonna take care o' me!)
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To: Gabrial
So what did we get for that $10-12 TRillion we spent on the Great Society, then? No improvements in the poverty rates... no improvement in charitable giving (government is their biggest competitor, and can coerce donations at any time... and is openly adversarial to faith-based organizations)... no improvements in health or education (our poor have unconscionable illiteracy rates... and our poor are the first poor in the history of the world to have wide-spread obesity issues.)

The "new" GOP has to hammer this theme hard, and start to scale back the Nanny State.

47 posted on 12/10/2010 2:46:12 PM PST by Teacher317 (really?)
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To: Repeal The 17th
“My wife and I feel blessed that we have a house for them to live in.”

Thanks for that. It appears things are looking up with your son finding work. I hope your entire family has a blessed Christmas!

48 posted on 12/10/2010 2:47:19 PM PST by Gabrial (The Whitehouse Nightmare will continue as long as the Nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: Gabrial

Even MORE after first of the year. And seniors would bet between $10-30 per month depending on income...illegals get a lot more.

2011 MEDICARE COST SHARING (SENIORS TO GET LESS in SS CHECK)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2640005/posts


49 posted on 12/10/2010 3:07:44 PM PST by GailA (NO JESUS, NO CHRISTmas!)
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To: Gabrial

And this is something to brag about to them?


50 posted on 12/10/2010 3:18:50 PM PST by Baladas ((ABBHO))
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To: upsdriver

Food stamp recipients = thieves.

Thank you. Once upon a time I resembled that remark.

DH was farming, I was working part time, but with some medical bills and set=backs on the farm, we did qualify. One of our main crops is hay, sold to horse owners and hobby farmers. Once those peeps lost their jobs, our income went south, too.

It really bothered me to have to go down to that office and reveal all our financial information, plus I hated to be seen using that card.

We never used all of our allotment.

Since then the farm has improved and I have a full-time job. Even though we probably still qualify it was a happy day to terminate all that. For one thing, we had our privacy back.

OK, I’m done ranting.


51 posted on 12/10/2010 3:30:35 PM PST by Cloverfarm (This too shall pass ...)
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To: Gabrial

How many are actually not American citizens?


52 posted on 12/10/2010 3:45:00 PM PST by pleikumud
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To: Gabrial

I’m willing to bet that at least some of them don’t want to be on food stamps and are just unable to take care of their families any other way right now. Perhaps they have alternatives and just don’t know it. This is a very grim statistic. I don’t think that all of them are habitual receivers of handouts, but include people who have fallen on hard times and are at a loss as to what else to do.


53 posted on 12/10/2010 6:00:07 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (Illegal aliens commit crimes that Americans won't commit)
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To: Spok

No, you’re not. On economics, Pelosi seems even more extreme than the administration. It’s not as if 1 in 7 people are going to starve sans food stamps, which is what every Democrat analysis seems to be predicated upon.


54 posted on 12/10/2010 7:10:06 PM PST by TXConservative25
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To: Gabrial
“Is it households or people?”

It's plain enough to me. Is English your second language?

...nearly 43 million people were using the program...

That is outrageous either way. I don't have to go do the math and break down the demographics by age and households; if the total population of the US is 310,000,000 individuals, you do the math.

By coincidence I was reading about the life of a clerk in 1919. She made $7 a week and didn't consider herself poor, but...
By the current definitions of the "progressives and anarchists (the Soros crowd) she would qualify for every welfare aid in existence.

That generation may have been poor, but content.
Today's social parasites, criminals and cockroaches actually believe that they are entitled to total support, indeed demand it. And they WILL burn down their own homes, stores and aid offices to claim what is theirs.

This better end soon, before their masters, the politicians, start putting tracking devices and hobbles on every income tax-paying American with a real job.

55 posted on 12/10/2010 7:27:20 PM PST by Publius6961 ("In 1964 the War on Poverty Began --- Poverty won.")
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To: Spok
Pelosi thinks the answer to getting the economy going is to get more people on food stamps. I’m not making this up.

It's a lot more mind-boggling than that!

The MENSA candidate also asserted that every dollar paid in unemployment returns $1.20 to the national economy!

There you have it.The solution to our National fiscal disaster.
Put everybody on unemployment!
Then keep on spending like there's no tomorrow...

56 posted on 12/10/2010 7:36:15 PM PST by Publius6961 ("In 1964 the War on Poverty Began --- Poverty won.")
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To: Publius6961
“Is English your second language?”

No, it is not.

57 posted on 12/10/2010 7:39:43 PM PST by Gabrial (The Whitehouse Nightmare will continue as long as the Nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; Delacon; ...

Thanks Gabrial. So it should be no problem to add the rest of the population onto the food dole — just cut all farm supports and subsidies and various tariffs, and we can import all our food too. Problem solved.


58 posted on 12/10/2010 8:08:36 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: SunkenCiv
“...and we can import all our food too. Problem solved.”

You are most welcome. I felt someone would post this story before me, but I searched and could not find it.

As far as your prescriptive solutions go, you likely could get elected in MA or some such “taker” State! lol & /s

59 posted on 12/10/2010 8:18:25 PM PST by Gabrial (The Whitehouse Nightmare will continue as long as the Nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: Gabrial

:’)


60 posted on 12/10/2010 9:03:40 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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