[Max Combined]

"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.

[Josh in PA]

If they would rather have cable TV, cell phones, internet connections than food, than that is their problem.

[grey_whiskers]

That particular example of compassionate conservatism came to mind as I looked over a report from the Department of Agriculture¹ showing that more than 12 million American families continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves.

The 12 million families represent 11.2 percent of all U.S. households. "At some time during the year²," the report said, "these households were uncertain of having, or unable³ to acquire, enough food for all their members⁴ because they had insufficient money or other resources."

Again, let's play PARSE THE LIBERAL^TM!

1)Department of Agriculture? Those are the 'free cheese' people, right? Sounds like they fear Bush's budgetary axe.
2) "At some time during the year" IS NOT "all year long" (and can be as little as just once!)
3) "uncertain...OR unable" is a classic means of increasing one's statistical count: classic example is the count of those who "bike or walk" to work is 7%. So we should build more bike paths, right? Well, no--those who walk don't need bike paths. Why are they lumped together--because they have a common contrast to those who drive, not because they have common needs.
4) ALL their members? Gee, this makes it sound like who rooms full of welfare queens, illegal immigrants, or drug dealers. To quote Dilbert, "What were they drinking when they wrote this piece of crud?"

Cheers!

Full Disclosure: Give to the Salvation Army instead of shopping at Target!

[valkyrieanne]

If true, I would wager that most of these people are illegal immigrants.

I don't think so. Illegal immigrants know how to cook. I see Mexican families (not necessarily illegal) all the time around here at the places where I shop. They shop at the cheapest stores; they're very frugal. They buy 50-lb sacks of rice and beans; tomatoes and peppers by the box; fruits and vegetables off the discount bins. They probably feed their families on a tenth of what most Americans spend. I don't like *illegal* immigration, but one point in these folks' favor is that they know how to make a dollar squeak. It's just these virtues that the both the rural & urban American poor seem to have lost long ago.