More Americans can’t afford food
“The economy is going great. Free trade and unlimited immigration are good for America.” Keep repeating that as you ride the bus to the food bank.
Associated Press: Operators of free food banks say they are seeing more working people needing assistance. The increased demand is outstripping supplies and forcing many pantries and food banks to cut portions.
Demand is being driven up by rising costs of food, housing, utilities, health care and gasoline, while food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers are finding they have less surplus food to donate and government help has decreased…”I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I can’t believe how much worse it gets month after month,” she said.
Diana Blasingame has lately found herself having to go to a free food pantry once a month to feed herself and her teenage daughter. “I’m pretty good at making things stretch as far as I can, but food is so high now and I have to have gas in my car to do my job,” said Blasingame, 46, who earns $9 an hour as a home health aide. “I work full time, but I don’t have health insurance and sometimes there just isn’t enough to pay bills and buy food.”
[...] Tondee’s Tavern: Toasting Politics in the Peach State wrote an interesting post today on Americans hungry for higher wagesHere’s a quick excerpt…said Blasingame, 46, who earns $9 an hour as a home health aide. “I work full time, but I don’t have health insurance and sometimes there… [...]
[...] Cheezmizan with Chuva wrote an interesting post today on Americans hungry for higher wagesHere’s a quick excerpt“I work full time, but I don’t have health insurance and sometimes there just isn’t enough to pay bills and buy food. [...]
Real simple Lefty, and something you should already know as your party funds these programs — Diana Blasingame should contact:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
Wonder if Diana has other life necessities like cable, cell phones, etc.?
Bart
Do you think someone making 9 bucks an hour with kids is living the high life?
Show me someone who is making an honest effort at earning a living but still can’t put a roof overhead or food on the table…and I’ll show you someone who can’t manage money.
bb: I’m happy to forward your Republican message to working class Americans. Do I have it right:
“Working class Americans should rely on charity to meet their everyday needs (but the governement should not be a part of the charity solution). PS- no wage is too low for a working class American.”
It is amazing how much cable, cell phones, tobacco, alcohol, snacks, etc cost per month.
[...] Killing Batteries wrote an interesting post today on More Americans canât afford foodHere’s a quick excerpt…said Blasingame, 46, who earns $9 an hour as a home health aide. “I work full time, but I don’t have health insurance and sometimes there… [...]
Aubrey and bb (and Republicans in general) instantly and consistantly attack the person, not the problem. As if by discrediting the person they have eliminated the problem. Why is that?
I’ve got 3 coworkers who consistently show up without lunch money. And they’re always skipping lunch. Lunch time is always awkward. But there’s definitely an issue with irresponsible living here. They’ve all got new or almost new vehicles, and at least one of them has a big screen TV. And fancy shoes, sunglasses ect… Not to mention chemical issues. We’re definitely talking about adults who apparently are in over their heads. Some people just aren’t responsible.
LeftHook: Per your generalization, Repubs (Generally) assume personal responsibility for decisions which result in outcomes (desireable or otherwise); therefore, Repubs likewise assume people (i.e. personal decisions) are usually responsible for “the problem,” and attack the person for crying victim rather than trying to rectify the situation. (Bill’s previous post about the 3 co-workers is an excellent example; my ex-wife is another: Plenty of money for designer clothes, but couldn’t decide that her transportation was more important and regularly make her modest $294-a-month car payment, which resulted in a re-possession)
“Decision = Consequence” (yes, it usually is that simple)
Yes, the government should not be part of the charity (it’s not the government’s money!)
Operators of free food banks say they are seeing more working people needing assistance.
Does that mean there is an increase in irresponsibility?
The only real data referenced in the entire story is as follows: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual hunger survey released Wednesday showed that more than 35.5 million people in the United States were hungry in 2006. While that number was about the same as the previous year, heads of food banks and pantries say many more people are seeking their assistance.”
Hmmm, makes one wonder why the food bank folks would claim that more people need their help…could it be to raise money!!!!
bb: Nice transition from attacking the hungry to attacking the charitable.
An increase in food bank usage doesn’t translate into an increase in hunger, until food banks run out of food.
Repubs assume personal responsibility until they are asked to take some personal responsibility.
Aubrey,
Want me to take you to the Midwest to visit a few farmers?
Or, would you prefer a few Georgia farmers about to lose their farms from the drought?
BTW, you’re going to make my list if you keep the blinders on. You’re smarter than even you think.
MD
“Hmmm, makes one wonder why the food bank folks would claim that more people need their help…could it be to raise money!!!!
Sort of like toothpaste makers who change the packaging and claim, in advertising, “New and Improved!” to make more money, eh?
Now did you pull your butt out of your pile of platitudes to think that fewer people are donating? And, that means more appeals for money and food?
And, take a good look at the calender. This isn’t 2006.
But, thanks for the trip back in your personal time machine to when hunger wasn’t an issue.
The discussion, however, is about hunger RIGHT FrUCKeNG NOW!
Mad Dog
MD,
What list?
Lefty adked: “Does that mean there is an increase in irresponsibility?”
I think that America is ever increasingly the creature comfort/must have society. That means plasma tv’s and $40k pick up trucks and $5k sets of shiny chrome wheels come before financial responsibilities. When I worked in Miss. during the Katrina recovery, I saw moron after moron take the money given to them by FEMA and go buy a $2,000 television for the FEMA trailer.
Like I’ve said, it all comes back to education.
correction: asked
Bart-Aubrey, the belief that people simply choose their way to fortune or famine is false. Where did the both of you get such an impression? From the individual stories picked for the sake of adding soft fluffy pillows for such a world view to rest upon.
You do know that the “welfare queen” Regan spoke of in his run to the White House never actually existed, right? It’s true. He’d heard it second hand from someone in the 70s, but never actually verified whether or not it was true.
Much like the hippies in the first Rambo movie who spit on him in the airport, the terrorist Jack Bauer tortured to save the entire country and Reagan’s “welfare queen”, the basis for this blind faith you’re clinging onto here in this thread is based on fantasy.
I don’t doubt that a couple of individual stories where a mother is trading food stamps for crack is enough to convince you that all poor people are the scum of the earth, but anecdotes alone can’t hold a candle to actual statistics.
The paycheck a worker earned in 2001 doesn’t go as far as the one earned today. If that person has to drive a half hour to and from work, buy 5 gallons of milk per week, feed a family of 4…the price of all that has gone up faster than their annual 2%.
But by all means, rattle off a few more of those stories…
Because whether or not a man is tough has only to do with how often they can shout out a “fu*k you” as they kick their fellow man who is already on the ground.
Aubrey,
Oh the list!
The list of people who I don’t care about.
In general, I don’t know ‘most people.’ I only know a few hundred or so. Of those few hundred, some inspire passion, determination, even hope.
Others? Well, in life, we always get stuck knowing a hand full of people not worth hating.
So, Aubrey, are you some one so filled with hatred that others feel nothing good coming from you?
MD
MD
AL,
You do ’see’ to the root of the problem, don’t you?
False belief systems.
For the idea that ‘choice’ leads to consequence, an Aubrey or a Bart must ‘believe’ that no accidents ever happen.
There is no hope in their minds. No miracles. No good bounces of the ball. No luck.
But, can an Aubrey or a Bart look at themselves with that same belief system?
Did they ever have sex outside of marriage and not get AIDS?
Did they ever drink in public and drive home before being completely sober?
Never speed without having an accident that killed a pregnant mother?
Never jay walk without getting hit by a car, then living the rest of their lives in a wheel chair?
Never win at cards? Dice? The Lotto?
I’ve wondered how that belief system works in states with Lotteries. Did God reward a sinner with millions of dollars? How exactly does a Lotto winner ‘earn’ such random wealth?
How about combat? The guy behind you dies. Therefore, he earned death? Therefore, there’s no reason to honor him as a patriot. After all, in the Aubrey / Bart world, everything happens as a consequence of a some decision.
Bad things happen only to bad people.
God as a vengeful god, eh, AL? And, life as a series of punishments … and if they don’t “shout out a “fu*k you” as they kick their fellow man who is already on the ground,” they’re not good Christians, are they?
MD
“everything happens as a consequence of a some decision.”
Couldn’t agree more. I decided to leave it in, and now I’m a freakin’ dad!
Lefthook
I agree with your MACRO view and there are probably more folks at the soup kitchen lately. So time to seal the borders eh? And of course many people don’t like the idea of being “fenced in” so to speak. A little Orwellian maybe? So any “strong borders” candidate running for President would also have to be a champion of constitutional freedoms. And as far as I know the only person running for President who voted against the Patriot act, fully supports the bill of rights, and is completely opposed to any type of national I.D. is Ron Paul. Can we count on your support?
Bill: Perhaps. For me it’s between Obama and Paul.
MD,
Don’t make the mistake of saying that I don’t feel pity, therefore I kick my fellow man when he is down.
Yes, I do believe that there are consequences for the decisions that people make in life. I chose to join the Army and fight in Iraq; had I been wounded or died, that would have been a consequence of the decision I made. If I had unprotected sex and contracted AIDs, cause – effect.
What good does your pity do Ms. Blasingame?
Al,
You may believe that fate rules the day, that no matter how much we strive for greatness, or even just a bit more, that if it isn’t ‘in the cards’ it won’t happen. Sorry, I don’t buy that. I belive that the American dream is still alive. People nowadays seem to think that the American Dream is a Bill Gates kind of fortune. Nope, the American Dream is that a person may live a free life and the magnitude of comfort will be in direct proportion to the amount of effort applied.
Why do I have to feel pity, the worst of all emotions, for those who haven’t seized the American Dream? And if I don’t feel such pity, how is that interpreted as me kicking them when they are down?
Where does it say I pity Ms. Blasingame?
You routinely kick your fellow man, and only when he is down.
And, if you have unprotected sex and you don’t get AIDS, that violates your belief system.
Cause doesn’t always lead to the same effect.
Hence, actions aren’t punished equally.
Just as entering the Army is a death sentence for some but not for you.
So you have given two examples that consequences are unfair.
Thanks for supporting my premise.
You still owe me on the farmers, btw.
“Show me someone who is making an honest effort at earning a living but still can’t put a roof overhead or food on the table…and I’ll show you someone who can’t manage money.”
Same is true for the entire recreation industry around Lake Lanier.
Ready to agree that you don’t control consequence?
And, if you don’t control consequence, your entire value system of cause – effect is false.
MD
“Why do I have to feel pity, the worst of all emotions, for those who haven’t seized the American Dream? And if I don’t feel such pity, how is that interpreted as me kicking them when they are down?”
A pity you think hatred, anger, jealousy, apathy, arrogance, depression, envy, fear, grief, horror, paranoia, phobia, rage, pride, pain, heartbroken, cheated, bitter, dispair, or even – self-pity are not as bad as “pity.”
Perhaps, it is not your fault you cannot feel the appropriate emotion at the appropriate time.
Or, is it a consequence of some willful action? Meaning you choose to believe you are a self made man.
Even more the pity for you.
MD
Sorry, MD, I refuse to feel pity but for the pitiful.
There is no doubt that sh%t happens and when it does, it’s hard to dodge it. However, of all those who claim that they are struggling to put food on the table this year, how many have had the unavoidable sh%t (like the south Ga farmers) land on them vs. those who don’t give an honest effort/make the best decisions?
Aubrey,
Given that half the kids in Georgia schools this year are getting lunches under subsidies, I’d say you’re way out in left field.
Also, given the data on another thread that 90 percent of folks in the bottom quintile of income leave that quintile within 10 years, I’d say you’re all wet as well.
You still assume all people have the same abilities. That justice is the ‘rule’ not the exception. That those not as fortunate as you are worthless.
Your philosophy seems to be that “The strong do not care for the weak.”
Mine remains that “Only the strong can care for the weak.”
MD
p.s. I appreciate the brutally honest nature of your post 30.
Ah, the sweet, sweet sounds of compassionate conservatives slamming the door in the face of the needy.
David
What about the needy in China?
Mad Dog
I think we’re lucky to have plenty of “hard core” conservatives like Aubrey. He’s got the macro view and I don’t blame him. I mean really, what would this country be like if everybody cried and moaned about somebody who went hungry? This country would be toast.
And for the people who believe in charity, there’s plenty of charitable groups which are much more efficient than government programs. We’re talking pennies on the dollar here. And we’re talking about volunteers.
Mr Konop,
What about the needy in China?
Oh, I am SO glad you asked!
.
The needy in China are 500 million fewer than 15 years ago because of trade.
That goes directly to infant mortality, literacy and access to clean water, sewage and healthcare.
It extends lifespans, improves diets and provides opportunities for further education.
- – - – -
But, you would put an end to that, wouldn’t you? Because, Mr Konop, you simply don’t care about the poor working stiff if he or she isn’t an American.
David
I will buy you the book for Christmas!
The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression
James Mann discusses his new book The China Fantasy (Penguin, 2007).
Mann was the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 1987, then returned to China in 1989 to cover the democracy uprising. Later he was a correspondent for CNN and a foreign affairs columnist and State Department correspondent for the Washington bureau of the Los Angeles Times. Mann is author in residence at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
A window to Mann’s view on China is available in a recent op-ed, “The Three Futures of China,” he wrote for the Los Angeles Times. The op-ed is available on-line. click here>>
Regarding The China Fantasy, the publisher’s website blurb reads:
In The China Fantasy, bestselling author James Mann examines the evolution of American policy toward China and asks, Does it make sense? What are our ideas and hidden assumptions about China? In this vigorous look at China’s political evolution and its future, Mann explores two scenarios popular among the policy elite. The Soothing Scenario contends that the successful spread of capitalism will gradually bring about a development of democratic institutions, free elections, independent judiciary, and a progressive human rights policy. In the Upheaval Scenario, the contradictions in Chinese society between rich and poor, between cities and the countryside, and between the openness of the economy and the unyielding Leninist system will eventually lead to a revolution, chaos, or collapse.
Against this backdrop, Mann poses a third scenario and asks, What will happen if Chinese capitalism continues to evolve and expand but the government fails to liberalize? What then and why should this third scenario matter to Americans? Mann explores this alternate possibility and—in this must-read book for anyone interested in international politics—offers a startling vision of our future with China that will have a profound impact for decades to come.
David
You are right unlike you, Bart, Bush, Hillary…. I do care about American workers first!
Mr Konop,
I know Jim Mann. No need to buy me his book, but thanks for the offer.
I, too, can take every single negative part of any argument and make it sound like a “fair and balanced” approach. But, I wouldn’t do that.
. . . . . . . . . .
It makes me very sad, on Thanksgiving Day (here), to see you admit that 95% of the world’s people mean nothing to you.
.
How un-Christian, how un-charitable, how un-American of you!
.
Shame on you, John Konop.
John
I don’t think David O’rear supports free markets here or in China and he’s DEFINITELY not a Populist. He’s always defending “concentration of power” a la large corporations.
Bill
I agree!
David,
Jim Mann book said better than I “How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression”!