Comments for As Jobs Vanish, Food Stamp Use Nears Record »
Posted By Neophile 1 year, 7 months ago in Business & FinanceDriven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
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lkrdgevaComment removed: Retracted by user13 Replies
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bill29361 year, 7 months ago
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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saintetienne1 year, 7 months ago
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"What do you have to support this allegation?"
I'll field this one. Because I've seen first-hand what people on welfare do with their welfare checks: Buy liquor, buy expensive sneakers, get tattoos and get hair extensions.
So glad Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" has come to fruition.
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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So because you claim you say someone did something all people are guilty of it? Sound pretty thin to me, but then again I've seen people use it like it was meant to be used, to get back on their feet again. Maybe people would be better off taking those legal guns and just stealing what they need from people like you who seem to be doing so well according to what you say?
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saintetienne1 year, 7 months ago
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No, Jaydimwit, once again you're off on some kooky tangent. People would NOT be better off taking guns and stealing what they need from people like me. In the United States that's against the law and punishable by prison.
What I AM suggesting is a total, complete stoppage of welfare dollars (which by the way is ALSO stealing from people, but because it's done by the government, it's O.K.). I know that's a shock to someone like you in Cana-duh, which has cradle-to-grave governmental nanny service so that people don't have to work too hard, but in the U.S. we're all about business, capitalism, ingenuity and hard work, and the benefits that come with that. Again, these concepts will be foreign to you, but trust me, they work.
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walden31 year, 7 months ago
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You wrote, "in the U.S. we're all about business, capitalism, ingenuity and hard work, and the benefits that come with that...they work."
If they work so well then why are so many suffering so much?
If taxing to provide food to the hungry, shelter to the cold and medicine to the sick is "stealing" then I'd like to suggest that we immediately stop funding foreign military adventures because that too must be stealing.
Or is it just stealing when we aim to fill and baby's empty belly, but not when we drop bombs on the babies?
Interesting moral compass you got there.
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saintetienne1 year, 7 months ago
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"I'd like to suggest that we immediately stop funding foreign military adventures because that too must be stealing."
How is funding the military stealing?
The military is in place to protect our foreign interests, guarantee our security abroad and guarantee our security at home. In addition, this particular "adventure", as you call it, is bringing freedom, democracy, human rights, security and basic business practices to a hostile, downright scary region of the world that has seen little of that in our lifetime. The more we establish a foothold in Iraq, the better off their people will be due to finally having those things I just listed above. The region will become stable, the U.S. and other countries will want to do business, and greater opporutunities will arise for people who previously had precious little. Already they've experienced free elections, more rights for women, schools built for girls, and the threat of terror is diminished.
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saintetienne1 year, 7 months ago
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CONT.
I'm sorry that all you see is "bombs dropping on babies" and people "suffering so much". Maybe you need some more insights, or to change your outlook. I don't know what's wrong with you, waldork - you're one of the mopiest, angriest, most negative people I've ever come across.
Sure life sucks, there's ugliness and the world doesn't go the way we'd like it to, but why is that the only thing you dwell on? There's far, FAR more good things happening on any given day, in any given spot, than there are bad things. Why do you only see what's wrong? And if you're so concerned, what are YOU doing to right them?
Please don't tell me. I'm really not interested. I'm just bringing up a point.
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RichFatCat1 year, 7 months ago
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Saint: "I'll field this one. Because I've seen first-hand what people on welfare do with their welfare checks: Buy liquor, buy expensive sneakers, get tattoos and get hair extensions...."
Uh, you forgot the dope dealers and the casinos.
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Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
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bill2936:
The reason many on food stamps buy name brands is because many of those programs are set up to allow only the purchase of name brands. The rationale behind this is that it promotes large business.
Here's a list of foods that are acceptable to buy under WIC in Massachusetts:
http://mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=5&L0=H... Needs&L3=Food & Nutrition&L4=Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program&si...
You'll notice that fresh fruits and vegetables are not on the list, except for breastfeeding women. (I have no idea how they prove they're breastfeeding in line at a store.)
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Beau78901 year, 7 months ago
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Sorry. Let me try that link again:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=5&... Needs&L3=Food & Nutrition&L4=Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program&si...
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jordan111 year, 7 months ago
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I note how those on food stamps buy the 'name brand' food and the 'cash paying Americans' are buying the 'store brand'. >>>
Who the hell are you, the food stamp police? Follow people around to see how they use food stamps, do you? You "note" nothing. You're just talking through you ***.
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NemoShiZniTComment removed: Spammer22 Replies
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normallysilent1 year, 7 months ago
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A young couple with children with a parent out serving their county and needs some help.
No we wouldn't want to help them.
A young family having problems due the the factory closing and the work going to China or Mexico.
No we wouldn't want to help them.
OK, just a young mother which made a mistake and got pregnant and is out on her own.
What we shouldn't help her either because she made a mistake?
Yes there are many out there which use the system. There are just as many which don't seem to catch your attention as readily, which do deserve some help. They may well be in the situation their in ,due to the screwed up decisions your generation has been making .
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jumpmaster1 year, 7 months ago
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When I was a kid, my family fell on hard times. When we went to the grocery store we bought day old bakery, vegetables from the over ripe rack, and we bought soup bones and other cheap meats.
I will never forget the po' people checking out with their food stamps. There were steaks, prepared foods, potato chips, convenience foods, and all of the other things that we couldn't afford.
It was a real eye opener and it was not an isolated case. We saw the same thing every single time we went shopping.
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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Well that shows you that the rest were to embarrassed to let people see them use food stamps and vouchers. About 15 years ago after a hard time we needed help from Welfare with food voucher and went to the store in the middle of the night so nobody would see us. Thankfully that little help let me get my business up and running to a point where it payed to raise our three kids. While not rich we are comfortable to some degree and own much more than we owe now. The point is that most people getting some form of assistance are embarrassed and hide it well, you would be surprised who is getting help these days, I know people here who work with my wife for the fed government using food banks and grocery vouchers. What I see as the biggest debt on people is support payments, how can you raise two families on one income? Some are realistic, many are not.
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walden31 year, 7 months ago
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When my wife was growing up her family was on government assistance. It was the same situation of embarrassment. They felt like everyone was looking at them all the time and was interested in every item they were buying. Kind of like a modern day scarlet letter.
We've seen enough comments on this thread to see that a lot of people are interested in other people's business for some reason.
I can barely find the time to mind my own business without finding the time to care or pay attention to what other people are buying.
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jumpmaster1 year, 7 months ago
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jaydee,
The people that I saw use food stamps didn't appear to be very self-conscious about the matter. They were at the store in the middle of the day, on weekends.
There is a very good reason why your family is not on welfare any longer. You had too much pride and determination. You probably felt a little shame in taking public assistance and that is why you shopped at night. But your own drive made that as temporary as possible.
I am surprised, sort of, by who is getting help these days. We contribute to a food bank and I am just a little taken aback when I see someone pull up for free food, in a vehicle that I cannot afford. I try not to judge them but sometimes I just cannot avoid it. It just doesn't add up that I drive a ten year old car and we put aside money every paycheck to buy food for someone who drives a $40k SUV. The gift is to the food bank and it is theirs to distribute. But everyone has their limits. We have diverted our money to other charities.
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THOMNH621 year, 7 months ago
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BEAU7890 Clearly you have no first hand experience of what's going on with the working poor and the middle classes either, saintetienne.
Clearly you are unable to do any real research, the middle class and the working poor are two very different distinctons. I bet your one of the 40% of Americans that don't pay taxes.
Quackpot, that fits you well, the Ultra rich as you call them pay almost all the taxes in this country, now whats fair about that, they get the tax breaks because they are the only ones paying any.
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HMMaceComment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned
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ifmim1 year, 6 months ago
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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You really are an uneducated person, is there no school today or what? As anyone who is on here very often knows I am from Atlantic Canada and like many Maritimers have lots of family in the New England states and do travel some. Also for every Canadian station on my dish there are between twenty or thirty US stations including the ones covering just government events. While I admit the discusion at the local coffie shop may not focus on US politics many canadian's travel south multiple times a year.
And for the record after seing your posts for about a year now I believe I am better informed than you are about the state of you nation, don't you think that reflects poorly on you?
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saintetienne1 year, 7 months ago
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Jaydork - - how much louder can I scream this?
YOU'RE CANADIAN. YOU DON'T LIVE HERE. All the little nuances and activities and day-to-day living are a blank to you - - you have no access.
I don't pretend to know what YOUR life is like (pause, for wave of nausea, stomach pain and holding back of vomit), do I? NO, of course I don't, because I DON'T LIVE FULL TIME IN CANA-DUH. My life is here, in the U.S. I love my country, I remain positive about it, I see daily all the good things that have been accomplished, I see people going about the business of trying to better themselves, and most of all, I'm grateful that I live here and not ANYwhere else, including Cana-duh, a country I've visited many times in many different locations, yet remain largely unimpressed. I'm sure YOU have good experiences there (pause, for snicker and muffled laughter...), but I WOULDN'T KNOW, because I DON'T LIVE THERE.
Do you have ANYthing to do other than rag on America's problems?
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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If you can't handle others expressing their opinions on your country I suggest you convince your government to stop meddling in others affairs, until then I have the right to voice my opinions, concerns and observations on the US, don't bother coming here if you can't handle it. Once again you show just how uninformed you really are and make yourself look maybe more arrogant then you really are. Doesn't it bother you that since the shrub came to office half the nations wealth has disappeared?.
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not2needy1 year, 7 months ago
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No need to explain yourself to that idiot Jaydee!
What happens here affects our Canadian friends as well as Mexico and the rest of the world in general, when our economy fails, the whole world feels the crunch. etienne doesn't have enough sense to realize that.
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Jaydee401 year, 7 months ago
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I think The Sainte pictures himself as the Howard Stern of Propeller and likes getting reaction, when you get use to that you just let it role off you back. Not all people have the same ideas and no one is always right so let him speak. He just bought a package that he can't return so he has to make the most of it. The reason I comment on the US so much is as much as I want or wish the truth is what ever way the US goes so does Canada. Now with a decent Canadian government we could throw the US to the wolves and hope for the best but thats not what family does and we are family so we try and help as the Canadian government did a few months ago when they tried to help the falling US dollar at the detriment to the Canadian dollar. The Number one thing holding The US back is the government putting the country last at a time when the country and it's people should come first. How many billions did the government give to corporation but continues to let the people suffer?
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quackpot1 year, 7 months ago
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if you are a member of the ultra-rich, please ask snt for the appropriate forms to fill out for the Republican earmarks that will help you to even more wealth.
Republican? oh yes, the previous Republican congress has provided twice as much in earmarks (welfare for the ultra-rich )than the current congress.
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