Alexander Ryking

Who knew that slashing and burning the social safety net and funding for Child Protective Services in Arizona would have negative consequences for children? Oh,wait… DEMOCRATS knew. Too bad they’re not in power.

talkstraight:

Over the last three years, the number of Americans on food stamps has skyrocketed by two-thirds and stands at a record-high 46 million citizens, or one out of every seven people in the United States.  Despite the historic rise in food stamp use, however, the Obama Administration believes not enough people are receiving food stamps who should be and is offering $75,000 grants to groups who devise “effective strategies” to “increase program participation” among those who have yet to sign up.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website singles out Hispanics and elderly Americans as groups who often fail to enroll in the food stamp program (officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) and says  that one of the contributing factors that must be overcome to get more people to sign up for SNAP benefits is individual “pride”:

There are many reasons why eligible people, including seniors and Hispanics, do not participate in the SNAP. These include unawareness of eligibility, confusion about program rules and requirements, a complex application process, and a lack of transportation and pride.

To reduce these “barriers” to food stamp enrollment, the Department of Agriculture offers non-profit groups the chance to receive $75,000 grants for projects designed to boost food stamp participation among those who are eligible but have yet to sign up.  The Department of Agriculture believes that the SNAP program is“severely underutilized” and says that 33 percent more Americans who are eligible to receive food stamps have yet to apply, thus the need to offer federal grants to sign more citizens up.

First, “barriers” should not be in quotes because those are real barriers, not metaphorical ones. Second, I suppose your “compassionate” “conservative” “solution” would be to let needy people starve to death. Third, there wouldn’t be so much need for SNAP if it weren’t for the Bush Recession, whose effects still reverberate. Fourth, there’s no such thing as “food stamps” anymore, the program is called SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and doesn’t utilize a stamp book. Nor has it for a long time. Fifth, here are five facts about SNAP that everyone should know — especially know-nothing right-wingers. Sixth, it’s not the “Obama regime” it’s the Obama administration. Unlike Bush, Obama was legitimately elected to the White House. — Ryking

technipol:

The Grio:

Among the changes pushed through by Gingrich and his conservative caucus as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, was the replacement of the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program, which had been in place since 1935, with something called TANF: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. The new program put a five-year limit on cash benefits for needy recipients, imposed tighter limits on who could receive food stamps (most immigrants became ineligible), and most importantly, required welfare recipients to get a job within two years of receiving benefits.

Ironically, Gingrich, a key champion of the work requirement, now claims that poor children don’t see anyone around them working, when by Gingrich’s own design, those on welfare, after the 1996 reforms, are required to work.

Meanwhile, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Gingrich and the Republicans’ crowning achievement also increased Americans’ reliance on food stamps. By restricting the cash assistance available to families, TANF indirectly pushed more working families to rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs — also known as “food stamps” — to fill in the gap.

So despite his zeal to push “personal responsibility” and to force people off welfare, Gingrich, like Dole, may have inadvertently become a Republican godfather of food stamp growth.

Or to put it another way: Gingrich just might have been the “food stamp Speaker of the House.”

Number of people who went on food stamps under Bush: 14.7 million.

Number of people who went on food stamps under Obama: 14.2 million.

Do the math… and remember that the vast majority of the 14.2 million under Obama are there because of the Bush Recession, a recession that didn’t end until June of 2009.

“These are the voices of America’s invisible poor. Here are their stories, in their own voices: the men, women, and children of America’s poverty.”

andmodern:

The Vital Statistics

US poverty (less than $22,300 for a family of four): 46 million people, 15.1 percent.

Kids in poverty: 16.4 million, 22 percent of all kids.

Deep poverty (less than $11,157 for a family of four): 20.5 million people, 6.7 percent of population.

Impact of public policy, 2010: without government assistance, poverty twice as high—nearly 30 percent.

Impact of public policy, 1964–1973: poverty rate fell by 43 percent.

Number of Americans “deep poor,” “poor” or “near poor”: 100 million, or 1 in 3.

GOP: Welcome to South Carolina

Kids 8 and younger living in poverty: 28 percent, tied for fifth worst in the US (including DC).

People living in poverty: 18.2 percent, eighth worst.

High school graduation rate (2008): 61.9 percent, third worst.

Unemployment rate (avg. month, 2010): 11.2 percent, sixth worst.

“As for Romney, he seems to be onto something: the cause of the economic collapse, a shrinking middle-class and rising poverty is that we simply drag ourselves down due to success envy. It’s got nothing to do with economic mobility, low wages, lack of access to higher education, unequal public schools, a deteriorating safety net, gutted financial regulation, etc. In fact, at bedtime tonight I told my children that some day they too can sell toxic securities that they themselves bet against, watch people’s lifetime savings go down the tubes and be rewarded with mega-bonuses for doing it—and be proud!”