DUmmy deminks posts a typical NYT article about what an awful place America is:
deminks (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:14 PM
Original message
NYT: Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html?...
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.
Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.
With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.
About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.
Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.
(end snip)
So, whose economy is improving? Just asking.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7380943Did he say "poor people"? You know who that is going to attract!
stray cat (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:16 PM
Response to Original message
1. you can get a 5 ft by 4 ft apt in Tokyo that you can't stand up in for $650 per month
things are tough all over
bobbolink (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. Its called a "cell", right?
I'm sure that's how we homeless people will soon be stacked up.
Kinda like POWs in Vietnam.....
Kinda hard to equate the dirty, smelly wino bobbolink with American POWs.
bobbolink (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:16 PM
Response to Original message
2. Now that she will soon be homeless, maybe she will see homelessness differently.
If this happens enough, MAYBE attitudes about homelessness may change.
Not likely, but maybe.
Hopefully, everyone will soon be homeless. Then they will care about bobbolink. Of course, if all you have is a bunch of bums caring for you, youi're still in trouble.
tonysam (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:19 PM
Response to Original message
6. I hated the remark of the Republican in the article
He was just a total asshole. If he wants to get people "off the dole," then the s.o.b. should propose job creation programs.
Right. There is no way to get people to work, except on government make-work boondoggles.
deminks (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-02-10 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. I got mad at that part, too. Typical rethug response, though. nt
