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I usually ignore Herbert, but this column got me ticked off. Our so-called "poor" have incomes in the top 20% or so of the world. By any real definition, they are "rich." And that's thanks to the miracle of capitalism & free enterprise -- which Herbert and other libs hate with a passion.

My grocery store sells potatoes for as little as 10 cents a pound. Dozens of other nutritious foods are all less than a dollar a pound (beans, rice, bananas, oranges, apples, bread, corn, even some cuts of meat). So if anyone can't feed themselves or their children among all this embarrassing excess of riches, there's something else wrong with them.

1 posted on 11/22/2004 5:48:17 AM PST by 68skylark
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To: 68skylark

I went hungry th is weekend. My GF was sick and wouldn't make me a sandwich!

When I see seniors jumping on their buses to go to Foxwoods and Mohigan Sun I really start to wonder....


2 posted on 11/22/2004 5:53:27 AM PST by Holicheese (MMMMMM Turkey!)
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To: 68skylark
"Many of them are full-time workers, and some have more than one job."

If true, I would wager that most of these people are illegal immigrants. Is Herbert in favor of shutting off illegal immigration and kicking out the illegals already here? Let them go be hungry in Mexico.
3 posted on 11/22/2004 5:53:41 AM PST by Max Combined (Clinton is "the notorious Oval Office onanist ")
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To: 68skylark
[Begin annoying Andy Rooney voice]

"Didja ever notice that the NY Times, NBCCBSABCCNN&etc. never seem to mention anything about poverty or hunger when a Democrat holds the Presidency??"

4 posted on 11/22/2004 5:54:37 AM PST by Pharmboy (Listen...you can still hear the old media sobbing.)
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To: 68skylark

How much are Fruit Loops, Coco Puffs, and Boo Berry though? Now with Franco American coming off the market - we are going to be stuck with Chef Boyardee. How can you not understand the plight in America?

Sorry for the bad sarcasm.


5 posted on 11/22/2004 5:56:45 AM PST by commonguymd (the commonguy's corner bar blogspot - http://commonguyva.blogspot.com)
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To: 68skylark
If you live in the United States the only way you can starve to death is if you work really hard at it.

If anyone starves to death in the US it is for two reasons: (1) he is an adult who consciously decided to stop eating altogether, (2) he is a child whose parents or foster parents should be imprisoned for murder.

Missing a meal because you spent too much of your last paycheck (or more likely your last government check) before getting your next one isn't starvation.

6 posted on 11/22/2004 5:57:14 AM PST by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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To: 68skylark
Former Senator Phil Gramm, a Republican from Texas who was known for his orneriness, once said, "We're the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat."

How fitting that a renowned liberal mistakes truth for orneriness!!

7 posted on 11/22/2004 5:58:21 AM PST by CROSSHIGHWAYMAN (NO PRISONERS!!)
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To: 68skylark
Of the 12 million families that worried about putting food on the table, 3.9 million had members who actually went hungry at some point last year. "The other two-thirds ... obtained enough food to avoid hunger using a variety of coping strategies," the report said, "such as eating less varied diets, participating in federal food assistance programs, or getting emergency food from community food pantries or emergency kitchens."

These are dismal statistics for a country as well-to-do as the United States. But we don't hear much about them because hunger is associated with poverty, and poverty is not even close to becoming part of our national conversation.

The interesting statistic that is interesting for its absence, is the number of deaths from starvation. At or near zero doesn't serve the left's agenda very well does it.

8 posted on 11/22/2004 5:58:23 AM PST by The_Victor (Calvin: "Do tigers wear pajamas?", Hobbes: "Truth is we never take them off.")
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To: 68skylark

"The implied bargain America offers its citizens is supposed to be that anyone who works hard and plays by the rules can support his or her family and move onward and upward."

I just checked my copy of the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution. Can't seem to find this "implied bargain" anywhere. But if that's what the study said, then this discovery makes the grant money well spent.


11 posted on 11/22/2004 6:02:56 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: 68skylark

Looks like Herbert is searching for something to slam our government on.

Former Senator Phil Gramm, a Republican from Texas who was known for his orneriness, once said, "We're the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat."

An interesting quote. I heard a guy from a non-partison organization on National Progressive Radio last year saying the same thing. He was saying that the programs that provide food assistance need more money (big surprise), but he said that the food that is bought with this assistance is ridiculous. The recipients buy foods with little or no nutritious value. The recipients recive 30 minutes of counseling every year (get this: 15 minutes of which is devoted on how to register to vote) on how to spend the money. He said he has worked with the poor since the 60's and that obesity is a huge (no pun intended) problem now with the poor compared to the 60 when the people really couldn't get food.


14 posted on 11/22/2004 6:06:31 AM PST by CriticalJ
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To: 68skylark

Are we the fattest nation or are we starving? I have never, in my lifetime, in which I have travelled all over this country, seen any children with bloated stomachs with flies roaming around their heads. What a crock.


15 posted on 11/22/2004 6:07:03 AM PST by Hildy (The really great men are always simple and true)
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To: 68skylark

Poor people in this country have been fat for at least 40 years. I distinctly recall my mother pointing out a poor person (in the course of conversation; she wasn't being rude, and this was a very small town, so she knew!), and I asked why she was fat, and mom told me it was because she can only afford poor fat food like spaghetti (carbs, folks - even then!).


16 posted on 11/22/2004 6:07:22 AM PST by AmericanChef
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To: 68skylark
I have retired from even attempting to comment on irrational and demonstrably false charges about our society.

Once upon a time I used to say "anything that can be said will be said, whether truth, fantasy or raving lunatic speech." It has become routine to the point that I have better things to do with my time.

21 posted on 11/22/2004 6:12:15 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.)
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To: 68skylark

Since their retirement, my parents have been doing volunter work at their local food bank. My father takes his pickup to the local grocery stores to get their donations, then he goes to the food bank. This place is run by a Christian pastor. The food is sorted and put on shelves like a real grocery store. They have refrigerators, too. Anyone can come in and pick out whatever they want. The stuff is good, name brand, fresh stuff. They have seen people come in with new Escalades and Lincoln Navigators, but no one is turned down. Most cities have similar food banks. By the way, everyone I have met working with food banks is Conservative, Christian, Republican, George Bush supporters. I guess the libs can only talk the talk.


27 posted on 11/22/2004 6:19:51 AM PST by sportutegrl
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To: 68skylark

Herbert needs to get out of America once in a while and go visit some other countries around the world.


33 posted on 11/22/2004 6:21:46 AM PST by jpl (The tribe has spoken, now for goodness sake, get a life.)
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To: 68skylark

Former Senator Phil Gramm, a Republican from Texas who was known for his orneriness, once said, "We're the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat."
President Regan said very much the same thing while he was in office...


36 posted on 11/22/2004 6:22:31 AM PST by johnandrhonda (beatbluebeatbluebeatblue--spoil their season)
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To: 68skylark
Many of them are full-time workers, and some have more than one job.

And yet, you can drive through poor neighborhoods in DC and see Navigators and Escalades with rim jobs worth more than some cars.

42 posted on 11/22/2004 6:31:35 AM PST by rabidralph (Arm Tibet)
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To: 68skylark

I read elsewehere that most of our poor are third world immigrants.


43 posted on 11/22/2004 6:33:53 AM PST by A Ruckus of Dogs
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To: 68skylark

Poor families...That's the new "talking point" this week. NPR went on and on about that this morning.
You know where they are going with this line when the word "UNDEFUNDED" gets repeated 20 times in fifteen minutes like a mantra.

They are preparing for Bush making tax cuts permanent.


44 posted on 11/22/2004 6:33:57 AM PST by UltraKonservativen (( YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID ))
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To: 68skylark
Article: That particular example of compassionate conservatism came to mind as I looked over a report from the Department of Agriculture showing that more than 12 million American families continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves.

Excuse me? Who's yapping endlessly about fat people? Now it's a conservative plot to pretend that there are all these fat poor people out there? Whatever happened to the so-called "obesity epidemic?" I suppose statistics on the correlation between obesity and poverty will now get shoved under the rug, along with all the other incompatible statistics like correlations between poverty and low IQ, poverty and out-of-wedlock births, etc.

Does this mean we can all go back to our cheese-and-jalapeno nachos without the liberal Fat Police breathing down our necks?

46 posted on 11/22/2004 6:46:15 AM PST by valkyrieanne (card-carrying South Park Republican)
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To: 68skylark

Stuff like this really gets me ticked off...

There is NO reason that anyone in America should go hungry, with all the gov't assistance, private charities, and the like. Our parish will give food to people who need it, and does so all the time. We know people who send their kids to public schools, and the school is always trying to sign up their kids for the 'free lunch' program. This family is middle class with their own home and two cars--they can obviously pay for their own kids' food, and they always tell the school that. The school says 'it doesn't matter, they can still get a free lunch.' They drop off their kids at school, only to see the other kids being drop off for the free breakfast program, their parents driving nicer cars than most of us have and the kids wearing nicer clothes than my own kids wear.

When we first married, we were pretty broke, husband was an E-4 in the military and we lived in S. California. We lived in the not-so-nice area of town because it is what we could afford; we used double coupons and frequent shopper cards to stretch our grocery money; we didn't eat out much; and we drove an older pickup truck. We qualified for food stamps, but we didn't take them and somehow we ate and had a roof over our heads. Looking back now, we did pretty well considering we didn't have a lot of money.

It's pretty sad that when our poorest poor have cable television, cars, and homes, they still complain. What do they call the children in third world countries who can only dream of having a home, three meals a day, and decent clothes? They should be on their knees every night thanking God that they live in the USA and not some hell-hole in Africa. But all we hear about is how people are 'starving' here in America.

I also noticed we didn't hear a damn thing about this when x42 was in office, did we?


47 posted on 11/22/2004 6:50:06 AM PST by Okies love Dubya 2 (My three little FReepers are 6, 2, and 5 months old!)
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