Why are so many people on foodstamps??

[kentuck]

“We need a new direction,” Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, said in an e-mail. “Democrats are desperately trying to convince voters that they are better off than they were four years ago. But the opposite is true,” as evidenced by the food- stamp numbers, she said.
...
“Too many middle-class families who have fallen on hard times are still struggling,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an e-mailed statement today. “Our goal is to get these families the temporary assistance they need so they are able to get through these tough times and back on their feet as soon as possible.”
...
Food-stamp enrollment is rising partly because the USDA is pushing higher participation too aggressively, giving government money to people who may not need or want it, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions said in a telephone interview.
...
“This administration has been hawking food stamps,” said the Alabama Republican, who has called for lower spending on the program. “Every additional dollar in this program is borrowed money,” he said. “It’s one more example of government incompetence.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-04/food-stamp-use-climbed-to-record-46-7-million-in-june-u-s-says.html
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Is this a legitimate political issue?

[jsr]

1. Republicans want the poor to starve and die in the gutter

like in India.

[ismnotwasm]

11. And bring back an old industry

Death carts to pick up the bodies. Run by a tax sheltered corporation that has the same rights as people.

[tama]

2. Because

money creates artificial scarcity in world of abundance and alienates us from basics of life.

[justiceischeap]

3. I think it is a legitimate political issue because the average worker pay has not kept up

with rising costs in fuel, housing, food, medical care, education costs, etc. It goes beyond people not being able to find jobs but people being able to find jobs that pay a living wage. People are also having larger families, which costs more to take care of. I've got a co-worker in his early 30's that just had his 5th kid (and wants more). I don't know how he and his wife do it.

[surrealAmerican]

4. Appart from it being humane to keep poor people fed ...

... food stamps are a good example of a program that helps the economy.

[TheMastersNemesis]

5. Food Stamp Eligibility Is Determined By Income Minus Expenses

The cost of expenses helps determine the wage base for qualifying for Food Stamps. You just cannot go in an ask for them. If you have too much income that that is very low you do not get them And they are pro rated based on the final tabulation. You get so much on a sliding scale.

The fact that income is going down and prices are going up means many more people are eligible than before. The new jobs pay less than before. And President Obama cannot created higher paying jobs if business is busily creating more "contract" low paying jobs than higher paying one. And even higher paying jobs are generally paying less then they used to. Many profession jobs pay less now and are "contract jobs". So even supposedly well to do Americans qualify for food stamps.

Business is generally sitting out job creation and hoarding trillions of dollars of cash. They are using uncertainty as a factor in staying on the fence. They want the GOP in so that they can get rid of labor laws like minimum wage and overtime etc. They want a low wage economy on par with third world countries so business owner can keep most of the money to themselves.

Most Americans have little useful knowledge about how the job market works. Employers generally only want to just give a pay check with few benefits. That is the new philosophy of a new generation of business leaders. They believe that workers are "prvileged" to work for them and should be grateful just to have a little paycheck.

So we now have full time working Americans making so little money that qualifying for food stamps is on the rise.

[grilled onions]

6. Need It? Want It?

You do have to qualify which means if you qualify you would certainly not be getting 'free stuff" but rather a most helpful bridge to bringing food to the table. So many feel ashamed,embarrassed,almost apologetic when they hand that food card to the cashier. The sneers,the grumbles of those in line who analyze every parcel you chose makes you feel like you are stealing from their carts. Why would anyone go through this unless they really needed it? Yet there are many who could qualify but won't for that very reason. They would rather eat less then deal with humiliation from those who do not understand.

[porphyrian]

7. Obstructionist Congressional republicans won't pass anything helpful, maybe? n/t

[Turbineguy]

8. Cuz dey livin high off da hog?

Time for da GOP to shut dem moooochers down! Fuck'em! Make them stand at an offramp with a cardboard sign like everybody else! Tourists like seeing what a great country this is.

[JaneyVee]

9. What's their alternative, let them starve and die?

Strange they call themselves "pro-life".

[uponit7771]

10. It's a malcious question that ignores 8 years of Bush

.

[Tsiyu]

12. Food stamps actually bring in something like $1.68

for every FS dollar spent in the community. They're far more helpful to the economy than rich fucks paying 14% effective tax rates.

And wages DO NOT pay enough for people to eat decently. THAT is the number one issue in this nation's decline - low pay for labor. If you divided up Rmoney's ill-gotten gain among a few thousand workers, they would spend the money and GROW the economy.

You let the Rmoneys of the world park their wealth offshore, and America suffers.

But there are two reasons to continue feeding people - it's what decent people do (when the goddamned DOW is what over 13,000? so there's a lot of money SOMEWHERE in the US) AND hunger is what leads to rioting.

Hungry people make poor decisions.

[kentuck]

14. Raise the minimum wage by $1.00 per hour and cut work week to 36 hours...

That would raise everyone's pay and put a lot of people to work immediately.

[Tsiyu]

15. Sure would

and lower the retirement age to 60. That would free up a lot of jobs.

Although to be fair, minimum wage should be something like $17/hour.

Most Americans - even the 47% - do not want to be "moochers."

We'd much rather pay taxes and pay our own way. But if we are made to work for a pittance, or are laid off because a rich fuck like Rmoney destroys the company we work for so he can skim off his millions, we have no choice but to need help.

The wealthy in America stole the fruits of our productivity and now have the shameless audacity to call us the thieves.

[EC]

16. Every time a repub tries to make this an issue

The throw back at them should be "Then raise the minimum wage." That is the only way to get all wages up to keep up with prices. Tell them to put up or shut up. It should shame them that so many on food stamps ARE working.

And Sessions statement that people are having food stamps pushed at them rather they needed them nor wanted them is bull, anyone receiving them HAS TO APPLY for them. They'll get them if they NEED them and must want them if they applied.

[Tennessee Gal]

17. Yes, we need a new direction. So tell the fat cat

mega millionaires that have benefited from tax cuts and trickle down to turn loose of some of their trillions of dollars and invest in businesses to hire people. Give people a job making a decent wage and they will not be on food stamps.

This is a problem entirely of the making of Republican economic policies, unfunded tax cuts and wars, and the "no" mentality in Congress during the Obama administration.

Put the responsibility where it belongs.

And tell Republicans to put up or shut up.

[HopeHoops]

18. You do realize that $24K is the cutoff in most states and that will only get $100/mo.

The wage depression which I solidly place in the shrub's lap has left too many people with crap jobs at a ridiculously low minimum wage and no benefits. Even with two such jobs, you're still in the poverty range. Yes it's a political issue - we need to raise the minimum wage and bring jobs back to the USA. I can't comprehend how anyone could think that people who get food stamps WANT to be in that position. Hell LIHEAP doesn't even cover you at $24K. I'm sick of these right-wing so-called "Christians" bitching about people on assistance programs. If Jesus were here now, he'd slap them silly upside the head (at least verbally).