Food stamps on the rise oh noes!!

[Meow Mix]

What I want to know is this: is it really the case that there are more on food stamps who don't need it, or is it the case that people who have needed it all this time are finally getting the assistance they need?

I can easily imagine a scenario like this:



[Some alarmist]: "How terrible! It used to be that only three of those children were on food stamps, now ALL of them are! Obviously this is becoming a nation of dependence!"

So what's the real story? Anyone know where we can get information on what sort of conditions these "new additions" to food stamp programs are living in?

[Shadow Wolf]

I know many of the new additions are from people loosing their jobs, having less hours, or taking pay cuts due to the recession.
In Indiana a part of it was from the sytem being privatized which royally screwed things up and denying people or cutting their benefits even though they shouldn't have been, and the additions where made when the system was moved back into the states control and the mess being sorted out.

[Meow Mix]

Originally Posted by Shadow Wolf

I know many of the new additions are from people loosing their jobs, having less hours, or taking pay cuts due to the recession.
In Indiana a part of it was from the sytem being privatized which royally screwed things up and denying people or cutting their benefits even though they shouldn't have been, and the additions where made when the system was moved back into the states control and the mess being sorted out.

Which, if that's the case, then shouldn't all this alarmism over the "increasing dependency" and calling Obama the "food stamp president" be exceedingly eye rolling?

[Revoltingest]

Originally Posted by Meow Mix

What I want to know is this: is it really the case that there are more on food stamps who don't need it, or is it the case that people who have needed it all this time are finally getting the assistance they need?

I can easily imagine a scenario like this:



[Some alarmist]: "How terrible! It used to be that only three of those children were on food stamps, now ALL of them are! Obviously this is becoming a nation of dependence!"

So what's the real story? Anyone know where we can get information on what sort of conditions these "new additions" to food stamp programs are living in?

Here's one thing I hadn't considered...gov't advertising to boost the program.
Government runs ads to get more people on food stamps - Jun. 25, 2012

[Shadow Wolf]

Here's one thing I hadn't considered...gov't advertising to boost the program.
Government runs ads to get more people on food stamps - Jun. 25, 2012

That would have been nice back when I first moved out on my own, got laid off, and had to move back in with my parents because even after being short on bills I could afford very little food. Sure advertising helps raised the amount, but many times people that go from being well-off to having very little (as was my case) are unaware of benefits that can help them out.

[Dingbat]

Stupid poors getting poorer. You filthy poors get out of the way before I run you down with my vehicle that costs more than your house! Filthy Plebeians!

[Alceste]

I know this is going to seem completely loony, but I think in times of major economic stagnation and high unemployment, people become more reliant on social assistance programs to make ends meet. I know it seems implausible, but I've got a right to my crazy belief system.

[Dingbat]

Originally Posted by Alceste

I know this is going to seem completely loony, but I think in times of major economic stagnation and high unemployment, people become more reliant on social assistance programs to make ends meet. I know it seems implausible, but I've got a right to my crazy belief system.

That is just insane. Obviously poors breed and make more poors. If we just rounded up the poors and spade and neutered them then all our economic woes would be fixed.

[Alceste]

Originally Posted by Dingbat

That is just insane. Obviously poors breed and make more poors. If we just rounded up the poors and spade and neutered them then all our economic woes would be fixed.

Actually, if we just went back to the kind of social safety net we had in place during the depression we wouldn't even have to neuter them. They would kill themselves and their families or starve to death, like in the good old days.

[Reverend Rick]

They would not starve to death, they just would have to lower themselves to shining shoes on the street and cleaning rich people's toilets.

There still would be soup kitchens to feed them after they worked hard all day for little money.

I'm thinking of all the immaculate lawns and polished wheels that would be out there. Every window would be perfect.

Perhaps slave fences would come back in style and the gene pool might be improved by the rich having their way with all the pretty young things out there in great need.

Before someone takes my head off, I am not being serious OK?