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Associated Press Introduces Us to the Real Food Stamp Recipients
Some of the Republican Candidates, lead by Newt Gingrich are castigating food stamp recipients. Mr. Gingrich says he will go to the NAACP convention and teach food stamp recipients how to get jobs. Putting aside the rather overt racism in this remark, the picture many people have of food stamp recipients is just a bunch of people who don’t won’t to work and want to just sit around and collect welfare.
Now an AP report puts a face on some of the anonymous people whose economic misfortunes are so great that they are forced to accept food stamps in order to put food on their table.
Some have advanced degrees and remember middle-class lives. Some work selling lingerie or building websites. They are white, black and Hispanic; young and old; homeowners and homeless. What they have in common: They're all on food stamps
So who are they? Well here’s one
"I could never have comprehended being on food stamps," said Christopher Jenks, who became homeless in his hometown of Minneapolis-St. Paul after a successful career in sales and marketing.
He refused to apply for several years, even panhandling on a freeway exit ramp before finally giving in. A few months ago, while living in his car, he began receiving $200 per month.
And here’s another one.
Linda Miles is grateful to have food stamps, although she's not happy about why she needs them.
An Army veteran with a master's degree, Miles, who is black, was laid off as a substitute teacher in Philadelphia
"Food stamps are essential, especially with the economy in the shape it's in," she said. "I pay taxes. I don't steal anything from the government. I paid my dues to society; I'm a veteran. You took something from me by taking away my job.
And here’s one more
Ronnie McHugh was watching the GOP debate from home in Spring City, Pa.
"I'd give a million dollars if I could find a job. I'm 64 years old, and no one wants to hire me," said McHugh, who is white, divorced, has no savings and lives off $810 per month in Social Security.
"I would like them to sit in my shoes," she said of the debate audience. "I would tell them I had a husband who made $150,000 a year, I had a good salary. We were both laid off at the same time by the same company, and I've never been able to rally from that.
Yes, there is a group in the Republican Party who feel that these people and the others who
In 2011, more than 45 million people - about one in seven Americans - received benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the most ever. Fewer than 31 million people collected the benefits about three years earlier. Forty-nine percent of recipients are white, 26 percent are black and 20 percent are Hispanic, according to census data.
don’t deserve help, don’t deserve assistance and only deserve condescension. They are mostly known by their group name, Newt Gingrich Voters.
According to The Center On Budget and Policy Priorities 47.8% of SNAP participants are employed, just at an unlivable wage. I don't think our self-enriching lizard or the NGV's want to have that discussion.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3239
Least we forget President Obama cut food stamps by 12 billion to 'help' pay for stimulus ----and then another 2.3 billion to fund Michele's Let's Move program. Funny how you never see this reported by media --nor that Medicare (for starters) had been cut by $500 million/
ReplyDeleteHe cut home heating assistance in half during a time when prices are rising out of sight. People should PLEASE realize that both parties are controlled by corporate interests/ The Obama administration has approx 34 former Goldman Sachs banksters/ plus Jeff Immelt of GE ( insane) head of JOBS - imagine!! GE that paid NO taxes. In fact millions in taxes are owed by Executive - Congress - Treasury Dept!!!
GE has sent MORE jobs overseas than any other company ( last lighting company went to China last spring ---X-Ray company, Wis, sent to China...JOBS?? WHY are we having China (see Oakland Bridge) build OUR bridges in China --steel shipped here and CHINESE workers constructing them?? WHY isn't this all over the news? Enraging!! Where's the media - the Martin Luther King (he'd be rolling in his grave) memorial was sculpted by a CHINESE sculptor who only does MAO statutes ( King looks like a Chinese Negro) and the GRANITE came from CHINA (duh - NH is the granite state) and Chines workers were shipped to Baltimore to put it together. So all this talk about JOBS is a colossal joke.
Gingrich and the lot of them chow down on the best of KOBE beef ( $170.00 per lb) ----a few Congress people TRIED to get by on food stamps for a week ---many failed. Prepared foods are not permitted --NO you can't buy liquor - $21 for a single person per week is not great eating ( $129.00 for family of four). Meantime with nary a sneeze the military was approved for $670 billion/ 3 times the size it was in the late 90s. What are we protecting?
People living in their cars - tents - motel rooms . Many VETS are getting food stamps- it cost over 181,000 per hr to run Air Force One --and the President uses it like a golf cart for all these fund raisers ( $38,500 a plate!) - trips to Hawaii - Martha's Vineyard ( the dog was flown by separate Gulf Stream jet - true) - trips to New York - Safari in Africa on and on and on.
There is ZERO difference between the parties - some serve OIL -GAS - Timber / others big pharma, insurance, military industrial complex. NOBODY serves us --just look around. It's all empty words.