Perhaps Someone Needs a Dictionary

I will start this dissection with a few facts. (If you've never seen those before, they're these things that you can totally lie about, but lying about them doesn't actually make them go away.)

Income limits to receive food stamps in California:

1 person gross monthly income: $1,127 (yearly gross $13,524)

2 people gross monthly income: $1,517 (yearly gross $18,204

3 people gross monthly income: $1,907 (yearly gross $22,884)

4 people gross monthly income: $2,297 (yearly gross $27,564)

So, in order to qualify for food stamps, one person cannot make more than $13,524. That is not a lot of money. That is, in fact, $6.50 an hour at 40 hours a week- less than the federal minimum wage of $7.75. You could not, therefore, get food stamps if you were working full time, even at minimum wage.

Welfare payments are even worse.

The two largest welfare programs -- by far -- are Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and food stamps. In 1992, the average yearly AFDC family payment was $4,572, and food stamps for a family of three averaged $2,469, for a total of $7,041. (1) In that year, the poverty level for a mother with two children was $11,186. (2) Thus, these two programs paid only 63 percent of the poverty level, and 74 percent of a minimum wage job.

Yes, those numbers are old, but does anyone really think welfare payments have gone up significantly since 1992? I doubt it, too.

Why do I make this point? Because an awful lot of people seem to think being poor in America is just awesome. Poor people are rolling in it. Being poor in America is so much better than being wealthy and paying a higher nominal tax rate.

Yeah, making minimum wage and trying to pay rent and buy food- let alone pay for anything else, is just so fantastic, we should all do it. Yay!

There is a lot riding on the election results that are now just a few days away. Everyone has a lot to lose or perhaps gain from this election. Across America there are tens of thousands of businesses that are holding on by a thread. They are counting on a new course for our country being charted that will give them at minimum a slim chance to survive. And there are tens of millions of Americans that are out of work, and simply a nervous wreck not knowing if they will lose their jobs any day now. All have so much to lose.

But there is another group that has far more to lose than all the rest. They are the poor amongst us all. Most of them voted for Obama and most of the Democrats. For when you’re down and out you will warm to anyone that tells you what you want to hear. It is hard to listen to the truth when the truth hurts. It is easy to listen to a rant of propaganda blaming all your ills on others and a promise to punish others by taking some of what they have away from them and giving it to you. They give you what you need. Someone else to blame for all that you do not have. They also give you a reason to hate the very same people who they take from in order to provide for you.

Yes, the poor are like leeches on the deserving working folk- who are the new poor. (Don't get me started on how that happened, though I'm sure John Hutchison can blame that on the poor, too.)

So, how can we, the poor, stop the recession, lower unemployment and save the country we destroyed? Giving up our cell phones.

Might be a good idea to start reducing your discretionary spending. You know, cable TV, cell phones, video rentals, eating out, custom wheels and McDonalds! After all, you can’t have it your way for very much longer.

The dollar menu is too much for you anymore! It's a luxury. Start eating garbage, you worthless piece of shit. Custom wheels? Not on $13k a year. I think John Hutchison is confusing poor people for, well, rich people. Who else has custom "wheels", by which I assume he means cars. Or something. I'm not so hip as Mr. Hutchison. And video rentals! That's for rich folks! What are you thinking, renting a Dee-vee-dee for $1 from one of those red boxes? That's for people who aren't sucking the blood of the body politic, you parasite!

So if you’re on welfare and don’t want to lose your benefits than you need to start thinking about providing something back to the very people who have provided assistance to you all their working lives. All I am asking you to do is help us do what must be done to get America on track again.

Unemployment is 20% in some places. Where the fuck are these people supposed to find jobs to get themselves off of public assistance when there are 5 people vying for every 1 available job? Where the fuck are they supposed to get the skills to qualify for the jobs? Mr. Hutchison doesn't know- just do it! Stop being poor, it's easy!

I Think I'm Sad Now

poor, poverty, entitlements, welfare, food stamps,

I learned something yesterday. If you want some anonymous trolls to come by and shit all over your comments section, suggest systemic governmental help for the poor. Because nothing sets off a wingnut like the knowledge that poor children are eating on his dime.

I can post endlessly about the nonexistence of god and the lie that is religion and nobody bats an eyelash. Racism? Boooooring. Sexism? Who cares? Governmental help for poor children? HOW DARE YoU STEeL MAI MOnEEZ, YOU sELF RigTEOUs LIBERAl BITCH!!!!!1!!eleventy!!!! NAZIS WERE SOCIALISTS AND I WORK AT SOUP KITCHENS* AND IT'S MINE, MIIIIIIIIINE!!!ONE!!!!

Okay, shouty trolls, I know I should not speak directly to you unless I am wearing a garland of garlic and have doused myself in pinot grigio first, but seriously, you don't see anything wrong with the fact that you're this upset about your money being used to feed poor children? You never get done foaming at the mouth about baby feeding facists, accidentally catch a glimpse of your reflection in the TV and think, "Wow, where are my priorities? I'm totally okay with funding wars on brown people, but I'm this angry about poor children eating more or less nutritious meals paid for with a very small portion of my taxes**?"

Really? I mean, do you get equally foamy about the lips when you're driving down the streets and realize that you are driving on roads paid for with your taxes, and maybe you don't want to maintain those roads? Maybe you like offroading to work, and fuck those of us who don't. Do you risk seizures when you use your cell phone and realize that the FCC regulates the airwaves so that you aren't calling your wife on the same frequency the firefighters down the street are trying to use? Do you have heart attacks from sheer rage when you eat meat and don't succumb to e coli or salmonella because of USDA regulation?

Yeah, probably not.

So why does the thought of a poor child with a full belly make you so very, very angry?

Just askin'.

*I am officially invoking pics or it didn't happen.

**Entitlements, all of them, are about 2% of the federal budget. To put that in perspective, military spending is, according to the government, 20% of the budget.

Yeah, I Got Dreams, Too

poor, mlk, poverty, food stamps, hunger,
Last night, I read South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer's feelings about poor people and was confused.

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better,” Bauer said. [...]

I wasn't confused about what Mr. Bauer was saying, I have read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich* after all, but I was confused about why he thought it might be a good idea to say that in public. I mean, he said, in public, that feeding the hungry is bad. He implied that the solution to poverty is to kill the poor. Who hears that and is not appalled?

Well, thanks to google reader, now I know. I Have a Dream** by blackandgoldfan.

I have a dream that one day all citizens will earn the fruits of this great nation. With freedom comes great responsibility to respect one's uniqueness in this world. There are those in this society who feel entitled to the prosperity of another, and, as free human beings, we must not stand for the theft by government to give to the idle and irresponsible. The slaves of the system have defined "entitlement" for far too long. Liberty dies a slow death under these circumstances.

It's more subtle than Mr. Bauer's stray animal speech, but it's the same ideology. . . . those in this society who feel entitled to the prosperity of another doesn't refer to the military-industrial complex or politicians who receive, on my dime, a level of health care I'll never see. No, those are poor people. Those are children who receive free lunches at school (and don't eat much on weekends). Those are adults who work for minimum wage, which just doesn't cover food and shelter. Those are the disabled who must rely on government programs for health care, food and shelter. Those are leeches on the body politic, rats breeding out of control. Those are vermin who should be exterminated.

Just so we can be clear on the vermin people like bngfan and Bauer are perfectly okay with, in fiscal year 2002, the US spent $18.2 billion dollars in food stamp benefits. The US spent $10 billion a month on the war in Iraq. A month. That means that we were spending as much in 2 months on a war that had no reasonable basis as we were on feeding people for an entire year. That's okay. Feeding the hungry is not.

Just for the record, I don't feel entitled to anyone's prosperity. If you have money, good for you. If you have a nice house and a nice car and take nice vacations every year, good for you. However, I don't think your vacations are more important than starving children.




*I am not Godwining my own post. That is almost word for word Nazi rhetoric concerning Jews and other "undesirables".

**White people editing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s seminal speech to make points exactly opposite what Dr. King was fighting for make me very angry.

A Food Stamp Menu

food insecurity, food stamps, poverty,
[trigger warning: for those with ED, I will be reviewing nutrition facts for some crappy foods. If this will trigger you in any way, please to avoid the following post.]

Wallet Pop asked a family on food stamps for a week's menu. It is . . . revealing.

This is a family of four: husband, wife, 2 children. They receive $36 per person, per week. Doing This represents, btw, the maximum one can receive in food stamps. I know a family of 5 (two adults, 3 teenagers) that receives $200 per month. Not per person, per month.

Here's what I want you to keep in mind: recently, given that 1 in 8 Americans are currently receiving food stamps, there has been a spate of opinion pieces stating that (a) people should be ashamed to get food stamps, (b) people shouldn't get food stamps, they should work, and (c) obesity is a huge problem in America, there there is no reason for anyone to get food stamps. I think a look at an average week on food stamps might help clarify things.

Monday:
Breakfast We woke up late and skipped breakfast. (trust me, that's the easiest way to stretch food dollars)

Lunch
My toddler had six chicken nuggets, $.75 20 grams of fat, 510 mg of sodium, 60 mg of cholesterol. but it's cheap.
I had a chicken patty on hamburger bun with cheese, $1.45
My daughter had Top Ramen noodles, $.15 12 grams fat, 1960 mg of sodium. Top Ramen is the nutritional equivalent of paste. and cheap.

Total: $2.35

Snacks/Drinks Water that I bought at Wal-Mart for $.25/gallon at a vending machine (probably drank 1 or 2 gallons)

Flavored water - $.62

Trail mix - $.75

2 bananas - $.50

Milk - $.50

Total: $2.87

Dinner Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.

2 cans of tomato soup for $.60 (bought on sale with a coupon) it's the first vegetable of the day. between this and the bananas, unless they really get grooving on the veggies later in the day, i think you can see the problem with the food stamp menu. keep in mind, we're talking about 2 children here.

6 slices of bread at a cost of 50 cents

Shredded cheese (50 cents)

Olive oil for cooking (the olive oil didn't cost me anything because i won it on RachelRay.com)

Total: $1.60 Total for day: $6.82

nope. that was it. 2 bananas and tomato soup. the rest was white bread, paste, fat and salt. you can feed 4 people on food stamps, but they're not eating well.

Tuesday:
Breakfast:2 yogurts for a total of 80 cents

3 bananas for $1.25 Total: $2.05

Lunch: 1 can of chili for $1

2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches made for $1.00

3 pears for $1.25

Total: $3.25

Dinner:2 boxes of Shells and Cheese for $5

2 ears corn fpr $2 Total: $7

Total for day: $12.30

Wednesday:

Breakfast:2 yogurts for $.80

3 bananas for $1.25 Total: $2.05

Lunch: Top Ramen for 15 cents

2 hot dogs (no bun) for 40 cents 34 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 1168 mg of sodium

1 French Bread Pizza for $1.50 Total: $2.05
Drinks: 2 apple juices for $2

Dinner: 3 roast beef sandwiches Roast beef for $5.50 (the meat was on sale, leftovers available)

3 sandwich rolls $2.50

3 carrots $1.00 Total: $9.00 ending the day at the children getting 2 servings of fruit, and, being generous, 1/2 serving of vegetables.

Total for day: $15.10
Thursday:

Breakfast:Homemade Fruit Smoothies that included fruit, juice, and sherbert mixed in the blender for $3.50 yeah fruit!

Lunch:

Leftover Roast beef sandwich from last night - $0

3 ham sandwiches: $2

Dinner (we had a guest for dinner on this night) Pork chops stuffed with stuffing: $6

1 pound of green Beans for $2

Mashed potatoes $2 Total: $8

Total for day: $11.50 wow, 2 servings of vegetables, one of fruit.

Friday:
Breakfast:2 yogurts for 80 cents

3 bananas $1.25

Total: $2.05

Lunch (we had an extra guest for lunch):2 pot pies for $1.50 pot pies aka death in a pastry shell, 21 grams of fat per pie, 8 grams of saturated fat per pie, 841 mg of sodium per pie.

2 hot dogs (no bun) for $.40

1 Can of chili for $1

Total: $2.90

clearly, she does what I do, which is to find something cheap you like, or can tolerate, and eat a lot of it.

Snack:

3 flavored waters - $.95 flavored water. saddest snack ever.

Trail Mix - $.75
Dinner:Fish for $7

Green Beans for $1.50

Pasta: $1 Total: $9.50

Total for day: $16.15

Saturday:

Breakfast:2 yogurts for 80 cents Banana smoothies for $1.25 (friend gave us some of the fruit we used)Total: $2.05

Lunch: Top Ramen noodles for $.15

4 pears for $1.25

One can of soup - $1 Total: $2.40

Dinner: Pizza for $3

Total for day: $7.45

Sunday:
Breakfast: 4 slices of toast for $.50 that for 4 people. which says to me that the bread ran out, because i don't know too many people who eat 1 slice of toast at a time. also, i'm a little concerned that this may be dry toast, which is entirely possible. butter, jam, etc. are expensive.

2 bananas for $.45 Total: $.95

Lunch: 2 Banquet Turkey Meals for $2

1 Banquet Pizza Meal for $1

1 Banquet Chicken Nugget Meal for $1

1 Healthy Choice Microwave Meal $2.40Total: $6.40
Dinner: We made French toast and sausage with eggs

1 Package Sausage - $1.50

8 slices bread - $1 oh, i see. they needed the bread for dinner.

6 eggs - $.85

Total: $3.35

Total for the day: $10.70

Miscellaneous: 6-pack of soda for $3.35

5 Microwave meals for $13

Jones Cola Fridge pack -$4 Gallon of milk for $2.50

6 gallons water for $1.50 Total: $24.35

Approximate total for week: $105.07

So, a week on food stamps: a celebration of premade, fatty, salty crap because that's what's cheap. Very few vegetables, not enough fruits, no whole grains, very little, in other words, that could be considered healthy. This is a menu for 2 children. Is anyone surprised at all the obesity you see, especially in poor communities? Should we be shocked by rising rates of diabetes? Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to learn there is a connection between troubling educational failures and a generation of children raised without vegetables.

So ask yourself who should be ashamed- the family, for needing food stamps, or the those among us who think eating crap to avoid starvation is too good for children?