Struggling U.S. Families Threatened by Food Stamp Cuts

Inter Press Service ^ | October 17, 2013 | Ramy Srour

[2ndDivisionVet]

I need to go grab a Kleenex...

[cherry]

I don't want to see people starve or freeze to death...

but work and living properly are values that need to be rewarded and not working gainfully should not be rewarded....

we work...therefore we eat....

[2ndDivisionVet]

If you want to take money out of your own pocket and feed people, feel free. Don’t pick my pocket to do it.

[DocRock]

America is the only country with fat poor people.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Junk food is cheaper than good food here, that isn’t true in Africa or South America.

[SatinDoll]

Glad you have a job. There is 25% unemployment in my community. My nephew, who lives with me in a house I inherited so at least we have shelter, just lost his third job this year.

Yeah, the economy sucks.

I sell items on eBay and Craigslist. Sales have dropped because few people have disposable cash.

You try living on $250 to $300 a month. My water/sewer bill is $100 per month because the city council made a poor decision 5-years ago. The property tax is $4000 per year and so far we haven’t been able to get enough money together to pay it. I expect in a year or two to be forced out.

Being self employed for this 61 year old is the best I can do. EBT means I can eat. That $180 doesn’t go very far but I’m managing.

[Vanders9]

Unfortunately these days even people who want to work, can’t. Not in this economy.

[Vanders9]

So? You just eat less of it. Most “junk food” (a subjective term) is very calorific.

[thecodont]

America is the only country with fat poor people.

I was at a fast-food restaurant yesterday and while passing the entrance, saw a very obese woman sitting in a motorized wheelchair in one of the parking spaces out front. It seemed she was there to solicit donations.

After I went inside and ordered my food and sat down to eat, a bit later she entered and sat opposite me (she'd ordered some food and brought it to her table) and stared at me. She kept trying to address me and I ignored her, then she got up and went to another table.

When I left the restaurant, she was parked back outside in her chair, apparently still soliciting donations.

[Vanders9]

I thought this 40 billion in “cuts” was actually a reduction over ten years in the increase in SNAP...

[2ndDivisionVet]

Inside the Beltway that’s a cut.

[snarkytart]

it is..the media and low information voters at work.

[goodwithagun]

A bag of potatoes costs about the same as a bag of potato chips. A container of real oats is cheaper than a box of cereal. We just bought a #3 bag of apples for around $2.50, which is about the cost of a jug of apple juice. Sure some things are expensive, but when you don’t buy soda and frozen pizzas one can eat quite healthy for less than the cost of junk food.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Do you know any welfare recipients? If so, try explaining that to them. Good luck. Let me know what happens.

[goodwithagun]

I’m not saying that’s what they do, I’m making a point that it’s possible. Trust me, I get pissed every time I’m shopping for our family’s groceries and I see gibsmedats with carts overflowing. I buy generic oats, they buy name brand sugary cereal. I skip the chip and cookie aisle, they strip it like a plague of locusts.

[itssme]

We must remember that there are AMERICAN CITIZENS in this country who are elderly, disabled/sick, who have lost their jobs and can't find another and have a family to feed, that do make use of the SNAP program and their local pantries. I am NOT referring to those illegal aliens, or people who prefer to scam and live off the government, who are able-bodied, yet don't want to work. This is not the time for this government to be cutting back SNAP programs, since this socialist government IS totally responsible for the suffering numbers of unemployed in this country, for the suffering of American citizens who have lost everything and are struggling to survive and provide the basics for their families. This vile government creates the chaos and suffering that has affected the very people who have been most adversely affected by their policies,and then takes away the assistance that makes it possible for these same people to buy food that they need to sustain themselves and their families. And to those oboma drones who make a living out of scamming the SNAP programs, who don't want to work and laugh at those who do, who are illegal aliens, knowing full well they broke the immigration laws on the books, with the help of the socialist president in this country, I say damn you for making it impossible for honest people to obtain help when they need it. And to the volunteers who work at these pantries, I say thank you and God bless you. When you don't have money to feed, clothe or shelter yourself, the pantries are a source of hope and help..many have a donated used clothing section where people can pick up donated used clothing and household basics, items they need, but don't have the money to buy. Stop in sometime and see what a pantry is like, and volunteer if you're able, because there are some people out there truly in need, and grateful to you all for what you do. God bless you and thank you for volunteering, And to the churches who sponsor and support pantries, thank you and may God bless all your efforts.

[Gene Eric]

Obama is a scumbag. Seems like a good thread to mention that.

[kabumpo]

Not so. I have seen fat people in communist countries, where there were constant food shortages.

[kearnyirish2]

“When I left the restaurant, she was parked back outside in her chair, apparently still soliciting donations.”

I’m a fat slob with a bad diet, but that would prevent me from going to that place again. Years ago there was a McDonalds in Newark that had panhandlers INSIDE, and if you went through the drive-through menacing minorities would wait just past the “second window” on the store property (so they could see that you’d gotten change); the trick was to pretend you didn’t speak English if you were inside, and close your window AT the second window after transacting your business (so the car was “buttoned up” when you passed the loitering parasites). Because a lot of white people passed by to reach downtown Newark each morning, management had to clean house quickly.

Every morning the children from the neighboring school fill the place getting their breakfast; guess the free breakfast in school isn’t cutting it.

[kearnyirish2]

Are “families” even mentioned in the article?

It is time we stopped referring to welfare sows with “golden ticket” bastards as “families” (and they’re not even mentioned either).