[matt04]

Anyone who asked yes would have been asked questions like, what kind of car do you drive, what kind and how many cell phones do you have, smoke, etc.

I am sick of seeing people at the local supermarket near Springfield purchasing expensive and non-essential items like birthday cakes, steaks, etc with food stamps.

[Marty62]

I don’t make judgements on what people eat. Are they suppose to eat Spam? Other peoples diets are none of my business.

But the bigger point is that food prices are thru the roof.
Anyone that has been to a supermarket lately knows that.

[Baynative]

How can there be poverty problems in Massachusetts - isn’t the state controlled by liberals?

[bobk333]

From a study by the Heritage foundation:

Poor In America: Cable TV, Cell Phones, Video Games and More

The majority of poor Americans are not as bad off as we may have been led to believe – at least in terms of everyday amenities. With a government social network that includes benefits like unemployment, food stamps, welfare, rental and mortgage assistance, and health care, the poor in America are still doing fairly well compared to their counterparts in most other countries around the world.

The following chart from The Heritage Foundation shows that even poor Americans – those who fall below the official income poverty line – usually have a DVD player, video gaming system, multiple televisions, a computer, washer and dryer, cable TV, dedicated internet, a cell phone, and in a very limited amount of cases, even a jacuzzi.

The figures were taken in a government consumption survey near the height of the financial and economic bubble in 2005.

With “poor” people enjoying the benefits of what would traditionally be considered middle class is it any wonder, then, that the entire debt based system of this country is in collapse?

America, it seems, has the richest poor people in the world.

We have created a culture of entitlement in this country, where the “poor” and even the “middle class” have been led to believe that they can spend above their means, and any income discrepancies will be offset by government assistance (incidentally, it seems that our premier corporations are operating under the same narrative). It is, after all, the right of every American to have a cell phone, or internet, several TV’s, and a washer & dryer. If that means we have to take income from one group of people at the barrel of a gun to make sure Joe Poor-Pack has these critical amenities, then so be it.

The gap between the middle class and the poor is certainly being closed. Unfortunately, it is closing in the wrong direction. Instead of the poor moving up the income and net worth ladder, it is the other way around. The depression, wage cuts, inflation, taxation and destruction of credit is knocking the middle class down one rung at a time.

Soon, there will be only the poor and the wealthy, but at least we’ll all have cell phones, iPads and cable TV.

.

[dfwgator]

Krusty Burgers are cheap.

[buccaneer81]

I lived in downtown Springfield 20 years ago. This doesn’t surprise me at all. Puerto Ricans are a real study in human priorities. They’d sell their mothers to keep their knives.

[C210N]

The specific question asked was: “Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” ...

The odd thing though is that the local economy is BOOMING, since so many folks get food stamps, which add $1.84 to the economy for every $1 spent.

[ken21]

did they vote for obama?

that could be the problem.

[Yaelle]

I was just in the hospital having a baby and they come into your room to try to sign you up for WIC. They don’t seem to care if you are eligible or not.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I got an idea! Let's stop deporting illegal aliens! That should end all of the poverty and hunger in America!

extreme sarc/

[Sea Parrot]

Pure unadulterated BS. Beans, rice, cornbread and grits is a perfectly adequate diet, and I have seen the time would have compared them to gourmet haute cuisine doings.

Hell, I am 72 years old, still have my grits and eggs for breakfast, love my cornbread and beans at least once a week.

And just in case of SHTF, have 100 lbs of rice 200 of beans, 50 each of corn meal and grits stored. Consider it cheap insurance, all dated, rotational used and replaced.

Having seen some real hard times makes me frugal to the nth degree.

[Avery Iota Kracker]

A national poll of a small city, what am I missing here.

I call BS, lift the covers and you’ll find the usual free lunch for kids, 365 days a year.

[DennisR]

Do these people not know that one can actually put these little tiny things in the ground and - lo and behold! - food will magically appear in a few months?

[Persevero]

Nonsense, there is a “childhood obesity epidemic.”

[Always Independent]

MAybe they could ask BO to donate a couple of those extra hudred thousand dollars he said he has to the hungry.

Still wondering what he did with Nobel Money?

[TexasFreeper2009]

it’s such a hardship shoving the last twinkie from the box in your fat mouth for lunch!

These stories are pure bs. Nearly everytime I see an obese person or child they are poor.

[Kickass Conservative]

The Safety Net has become a Hammock.

Instead of Food Stamps, the Government should have food distribution centers. Michelle Obama should run them.

If people are truly food poor, they would go there and pickup their weekly ration of food for each family member.
That way you cut down on fraud.

John Stossel once said, if you tell people that the food in the market is free, they'll head straight for the Filet Mignon. When it's your own hard earned money, you clip coupons and buy store brands.