Posted on 11/28/2009 5:27:37 PM PST by reaganaut1
With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.
It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples [...].
Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. [...]
While the numbers have soared during the recession, the path was cleared in better times when the Bush administration led a campaign to erase the program’s stigma, calling food stamps “nutritional aid” instead of welfare, and made it easier to apply. That bipartisan effort capped an extraordinary reversal from the 1990s, when some conservatives tried to abolish the program, Congress enacted large cuts and bureaucratic hurdles chased many needy people away.
...
[T]he program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day.
There are 239 counties in the United States where at least a quarter of the population receives food stamps
...
In more than 750 counties, the program helps feed one in three blacks. In more than 800 counties, it helps feed one in three children.
...
Although the program is growing at a record rate, the federal official who oversees it would like it to grow even faster.
“I think the response of the program has been tremendous,” said Kevin Concannon, an under secretary of agriculture, “but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Indeed. The phones are FREE courtesy of your tax dollars.
15 or 16 million more on the food stamp rolls, huh?
I am a 50 year old white male who has never taken a dime in unemployment, nor a penny in government assistance, and has payed taxes for 30+ years totaling nearly a million dollars.
And even though I am currently unemployed, scratching by on the absolute minimums, and burning through savings, there is no way in hell I would ever qualify for anything other than being a pack mule for this government and its dependents.
Cloward Piven strategy in action.
Absolutely
Shadow Party in Action
bump for AM
Every single person I’ve ever seen using a food-stamp card has always gotten into a newer car than I drive.
The enslavement continues...
The more people they can make dependent on them, the more power they have. And that is the ONLY thing liberals have ever cared about.
Sort of like getting everyone addicted to Government crack (welfare, food stamps, unemployment checks, and soon free medical care)
Obomanomics. He's done more damage than any other president in American history, and he hasn't even been an affirmative action president for one whole year yet.
Oboma is more than a miserable failure. Recall the bum.
Today, the grocery store was packed. There were 5 lines full. At least 100 people in the lines alone. One person spoke up and mentioned how this government can just print money any time they feel like spending while the rest of the people scrape up pennies just to buy their groceries. The entire grocery store got in on it. I've never seen an anti-government, public outburst like the one I saw today. The people were all different ages and sizes. The place was more like an instant tea party than a grocery store.
It was a great day today. There's actually closet tea partiers everywhere, so don't believe what the RINOs and the MSM are telling you.
I was in awe. I was elated. Not one person defended Oboma and the democrats. Not one. It was just one, big, Oboma administration bash fest.
Nah. Just some weird SSSucking sound.
Don’t forget about the free Obamaphones.
Let’s raid bigfoot’s whitehouse garden.
That won't happen while bread and circuses are provided. We are talking about bread here, and it is obvious why the government wants to expand the scope of the program. People are not likely to bite the hand that feeds them.
To tell you the truth I am more concerned about fairly well off people getting money from the taxpayer to buy new cars.
Even Hillary Clinton had to give up a raise she voted for in Sec of State salary.
Likewise, maybe those on welfare should give up right to vote for a while?
I see your point but I don’t think food stamp recipients actually vote.
Hats off to you! Very admirable.
Exactly.
Get yourself a copy of Turbo Tax or something and fire up the deductions. Max out your charitable giving - etc. - by the end of the year rather than give it to Uncle Sam!
Starve the beast!
So single, older white males don’t get hungry like everybody else?! That’s outrageous!
I’ve heard a radio commercial that practically begs people to go on food stamps. It says, “Do you have a job? You can still qualify for food stamps! Do you have a house? You still qualify! Do you have a new car? You still qualify!” etc., etc. I guess you can get food stamps now no matter what your circumstances...unless you’re an older, single white male, apparently!!
(BTW, I’ve also noticed lately, almost all of the panhandlers I see in my area are white males. Maybe they ran into the same problem you did.)
I think a shot of Depo Provera every three months a woman goes in to collect is appropriate (birth control shot, $90 per dose if you pay out of pocket). If you’re too poor to feed the kids you have, you cannot be allowed to have more children. And unlike pills, there’s nothing to forget. Want kids, get a job or a working husband so you can afford them.
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