We already HAVE bread lines people

[TwixVoy]

this is not the early 1900s where government food aid takes the form of a freaking bread line.

We have these things called food stamps now which are at an all time high for those not keeping track. If you took away ALL food stamps today and forced people to go in to lines to get food we would see food lines across the country.

We have bread lines today. They just aren't visible the way they used to be.

[Taverner]

1. We need to double Food Stamps - include the underemployed as well as the unemployed

[Deja Q]

10. Bull.

We need middle class paying jobs so people can sustain themselves AND for their futures.

(You didn't expect that answer. But do be surprised if any pro-blind-offshoring trolls start to tapdance in...)


A clarification: For those who genuinely need assistance, no problem. But I think offshoring has contributed more to the problems than other factors, apart from stagnant wages.

[Taverner]

11. Dude, it is going to be tough the nest 5+ years

Even if you have a job, may not mean you can support a family...

Think of the kittens, man!

[Donnachaidh]

2. but but - I haven't seen that on my iPhone!

[CoffeeCat]

3. Also, were there food pantries back in 1930?

Food pantries are over run with families looking for necessities.

The media likes to downplay what is happening.

We must remember that the only started calling this "a recession" in Nov 08.

We don't need the media to define what most of us know and feel...is a situation that is
deteriorating into a Depression.

[DJ13]

4. Food stamps dont apply to enough people

Im on permanent disability, my wife had to get a job after I got hurt, and after 5 years on the job she makes 50 cents over minimum wage (and business is slow, so now she's down from 40 hours to 20 hours), and as food prices rise our budget is near the breaking point.

I checked the online calculator for food stamps yesterday and we STILL dont qualify.

[lady raven]

7. On top of that...

When I was pregnant with my first child, my (now ex) husband wouldn't work. Since I was in a high risk pregnancy and couldn't work and he wouldn't, we couldn't get food stamps. All able bodied (as defined by social security) adults in the household have to work or no food stamps.

So you have to work, but according to your situation, if you get paid for it, you can't get food stamps.

My family probably needs them, but we don't qualify. We have 3 kids. I have sporadic small consulting jobs and can't do more than that right now because I'm breastfeeding twins. My husband works full time and makes more than minimum wage (but not nearly what we need).

It's ridiculous that most who need them don't qualify but should.

[moundsview]

5. Out of sight, out of mind

Maybe part of the problem is that we don't have "stamps" anymore. Most people that qualify now get a "debit card" instead. The person in front of you at the checkout line may be using "food stamps" without anyone being aware.

Maybe if more people were made aware of the seriousness of the problem, more pressure would be put on our government to do something.

[deadmessengers]

6. there's a flipside to "out of sight out of mind"

Look at the "cheese sandwich" debates of the last couple of weeks around here. The flipside to "out of sight out of mind" is the fairly public humiliation of the poor.

[mrcheerful]

9. Oh the wing nuts know who is using a debit food stamp card and

who isn't. Some stores you have to announce that your buying by state aid debit cards. You can actually see wing nuts straining their necks to see what type of card you swipe.

[jwirr]

8. Add to that food shelves and real soup kitchens which still exist and

food clubs like SHARE and things are very bad. I have said for a long time that if we did not have what is left of the safety net (food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Income and income maintenance programs) we would have bread lines a mile long with no one to supply the food.

Edited to add free school lunches and WIC to the list of programs today that keep people out of the breadline.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. True. In California they get these food stamp debit cards. In the old days

you knew the person in line in front of you was using food stamps. Not anymore.

[Maru Kitteh]

13. Excellent point. Thanks for articulating this so clearly.

What you say is indisputable.

Unemployment benefits were also unavailable then. We already see long lines of people, hoping for any kind of job. If we did not have the unemployment system in place, this too would be orders of magnitude worse, just as we saw in the 30's.