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Word is that nobody in Oregon is getting EBT (food stamps). Of course the Department of Agriculture is closed, as are local offices, so there is nobody to ask if it's a glitch. If it's a glitch, there's nobody to fix it.
National news says the program is funded through the end of January, but word on the street says it's not happening.
Are poor people in other states faced with the same problem?
Whose word?
According to local news, a handful of independent grocers in the state experienced connectivity issues and can’t get resolved due to the Shutdown. It has nothing to do with funding EBT.
True. Take Target, currently advertising for $12/hr jobs. Can a person live on $24,000 a year? Maybe not on his or her own. But a couple together would make nearly $50,000. Tight budget? Definitely. Doable? Yes.
And say what.....not married? Well then find two roommates and rent a 3-bedroom townhouse for $1800 so your share would be $600, and babysit on weekends. That's what I did when I first started out and made a low income.
People are not entitled to earn an income that enables them to rent a 1-bedroom on their own. If they want to earn more money, they can always take advantage of free community college in the evenings and get a vocational certificate.
Seems more rampant poverty that pushes number up more than anything. When you look at a map of the United States, you see huge areas of no industry, business, or other entity that can provide jobs. I can't be the only person who has taken a road trip across the USA and wondered "How the heck do people survive out here, no business or jobs for miles, yet you run through small town after small town with kids ect. and poverty everywhere. I have seen this all through Georgia, SC, NC, Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi (my family is all southern), and no one seems to want to move either including my own family members.
On the opposite token the first time I was in a REAL poverty stricken inner city in New Jersey I was shocked too, some ruff stuff. Not a single business in the area that required more than 1 man at a cash register. It felt worse than the south at times because you could go 15-20 blocks and see what REAL 100 million dollar wealth looks like, it felt like an invisible barrier was placed in the middle of the city. And never shall the two meet.
The United States is the greatest country but we such a long way to go.
True. Take Target, currently advertising for $12/hr jobs. Can a person live on $24,000 a year? Maybe not on his or her own. But a couple together would make nearly $50,000. Tight budget? Definitely. Doable? Yes.
And say what.....not married? Well then find two roommates and rent a 3-bedroom townhouse for $1800 so your share would be $600, and babysit on weekends. That's what I did when I first started out and made a low income.
People are not entitled to earn an income that enables them to rent a 1-bedroom on their own. If they want to earn more money, they can always take advantage of free community college in the evenings and get a vocational certificate.
Nope, it's 100% true. Ever heard of the word "roommates?" There are numerous ways to cut living expenses: don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't use illegal drugs, don't bear children until one is financially secure, etc....
True. Take Target, currently advertising for $12/hr jobs. Can a person live on $24,000 a year? Maybe not on his or her own. But a couple together would make nearly $50,000. Tight budget? Definitely. Doable? Yes.
And say what.....not married? Well then find two roommates and rent a 3-bedroom townhouse for $1800 so your share would be $600, and babysit on weekends. That's what I did when I first started out and made a low income.
People are not entitled to earn an income that enables them to rent a 1-bedroom on their own. If they want to earn more money, they can always take advantage of free community college in the evenings and get a vocational certificate.
There are always greedy people who don't want to help other and think food stamps is a bad idea. Then they go pretend to pray to rich Jesus instead of the real one who wanted to help people.
They don't care about spending $1 billion for each bomber that was poorly made that the pilots can't see out from it, while aviation company executives are earning $100 million from it but they don't want to feed hungry people with money that will go back into the economy.
THIS is why Food Stamps is a bad idea...
Here's the damage Food Stamps and other means-tested government-provided free food/meal programs are doing...
Even the USDA has noticed there's a correlation between receiving Food Stamps and obesity. And the USDA OIG has recommended halting the overlapping of government free food services for the exact same daily meals.
The obesity rates of the poor on food stamps compared to the poor who aren't on food stamps, and compared to the rest of the population:
Income-eligible children on food stamps: 24%
Income-eligible children NOT on food stamps: 20%
Non-poor children who of course don't even qualify for food stamps: 13%
Kids who get Food Stamps (and free school meals, and who knows how many additional Nutrition Service benefits) have an 85% higher obesity rate than kids who don't qualify for those benefits.
Income-eligible adults on food stamps: 44% obese
Income-eligible adults NOT on food stamps: 33% obese
Non-poor adults who of course don't even qualify for food stamps: 32% obese
Adults who get Food Stamps (and who knows how many additional Nutrition Service benefits) have a 33.3% higher obesity rate than adults who qualify for those benefits but choose to not receive them.
Do the math, and recognize that this is a SIGNIFICANT problem.
Also, it certainly does appear that the children of poor and low-income families who receive free school breakfast, lunch, etc., program meals, regardless of whether they get food stamps, are being overfed.
And to confirm, the USDA OIG (Office of the Inspector General) has found that a full 59% of families on Food Stamps also double-dip and triple-dip, or more, free food benefits from major Federal means-tested free food programs for the exact same daily meals:
Let that sink in... A full 59% of families on Food Stamps also double-dip and triple-dip, or more, free food benefits from major Federal means-tested free food programs for the exact same daily meals.
Are we really doing the poor any favors by causing their obesity by letting them double-dip and sometimes even triple-dip or more government free food program benefits, thereby enabling their overeating and ruining their health? They are disproportionately obese, and cost us a lot more tax money to pay for their obesity-related health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes.
True. Take Target, currently advertising for $12/hr jobs. Can a person live on $24,000 a year? Maybe not on his or her own. But a couple together would make nearly $50,000. Tight budget? Definitely. Doable? Yes.
And say what.....not married? Well then find two roommates and rent a 3-bedroom townhouse for $1800 so your share would be $600, and babysit on weekends. That's what I did when I first started out and made a low income.
People are not entitled to earn an income that enables them to rent a 1-bedroom on their own. If they want to earn more money, they can always take advantage of free community college in the evenings and get a vocational certificate.
On paper that makes sense.
Where do you live while you save up for the deposit on that three bedroom townhouse? Most of the time, for a house, the deposit it the equivalent of a month's rent. So you'll need at least $1,200 apiece. Oh and you'll need to save up for utility deposits too. And all three of you will have to qualify to be on the lease. I work in property management, so I can tell you even for class C properties, the landlord is going to want a credit score in the 600s.
How do you get that job at Target so you can save up for that deposit if you have no phone they can call to ask you to come in for an interview? How do you interview if you have no place to take a shower, no money for a haircut, no address to put on the application?
But let's say you overcome those obstacles and you get the job.
Now you need money to buy the tan pants and red shirt Target employees have to provide. And you need somewhere to wash them.
Oh, and how do you get to that job at Target that you need so you can afford that deposit on that townhouse if you have no vehicle? Maybe you're lucky and your town has a good public transportation system and you can afford a bus pass. Maybe someone gives you an old bike. Maybe it's in walking distance.
So you live in a shelter and walk or bike or bus to work while you save for everything and you find two roommates and a landlord takes pity on you and lets you sign a lease and lucky you the townhouse comes with a fridge. And there's also a grocery store within bus/bike/walking distance. Then maybe you won't need food stamps.
Of course at no point in this process do you ever get sick or injured or have anything unexpected come up.
I'm not suggesting I have the answers to anything. But the answer isn't always as easy as "just go get a job". It's hard to go from nothing to self sufficient without any help from anyone, ever.
Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickle and Dimed" is a great look at what it really means to get by on minimum wage.
Where do you live while you save up for the deposit on that three bedroom townhouse? Most of the time, for a house, the deposit it the equivalent of a month's rent. So you'll need at least $1,200 apiece. Oh and you'll need to save up for utility deposits too. And all three of you will have to qualify to be on the lease. I work in property management, so I can tell you even for class C properties, the landlord is going to want a credit score in the 600s.
There's no legitimate reason why anyone's credit score should be below that. Even with costly medical bills, a monthly payment plan can be arranged. Just don't miss any payments.
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How do you get that job at Target so you can save up for that deposit if you have no phone they can call to ask you to come in for an interview? How do you interview if you have no place to take a shower, no money for a haircut, no address to put on the application?
That's all available for ridiculously cheap prices.
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But let's say you overcome those obstacles and you get the job.
Now you need money to buy the tan pants and red shirt Target employees have to provide. And you need somewhere to wash them.
Oh, and how do you get to that job at Target that you need so you can afford that deposit on that townhouse if you have no vehicle? Maybe you're lucky and your town has a good public transportation system and you can afford a bus pass. Maybe someone gives you an old bike. Maybe it's in walking distance.
So you live in a shelter and walk or bike or bus to work while you save for everything and you find two roommates and a landlord takes pity on you and lets you sign a lease and lucky you the townhouse comes with a fridge. And there's also a grocery store within bus/bike/walking distance. Then maybe you won't need food stamps.
Of course at no point in this process do you ever get sick or injured or have anything unexpected come up.
I'm not suggesting I have the answers to anything. But the answer isn't always as easy as "just go get a job". It's hard to go from nothing to self sufficient without any help from anyone, ever.
Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickle and Dimed" is a great look at what it really means to get by on minimum wage.
I'm seeing a HELL of a lot of excuses, there. ALL are inexcusable as they can easily be circumvented.
There's no legitimate reason why anyone's credit score should be below that. Even with costly medical bills, a monthly payment plan can be arranged. Just don't miss any payments.
That's all available for ridiculously cheap prices.
I'm seeing a HELL of a lot of excuses, there. ALL are inexcusable as they can easily be circumvented.
I don't know what a person's credit score would be if they had no credit history.
If you have 0 dollars, it doesn't matter how ridiculously cheap anything is.
I guess you used to live in a box under the overpass and became a millionaire through only your own hard work and nothing bad ever happened to you, and no one ever helped you ever in the course of your life. That's awesome! Good for you.
And before you decide that I must be a dirty lazy welfare cheat, I've never been on any kind of public assistance (fortunately), because I've had friends and family able to help me get a start in life, and a restart when things went wrong.
Not everyone has those resources. Fellow human beings on hard times deserve sympathy, not scorn.
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