General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYou’ve got plenty to do. Starving the poor isn’t one of them.
SNIP
Cmon, Congress, you want to deprive the underprivileged, the destitute, and their children of sustenance? Then you want to make them work twice as hard? Instead of spending time for 39 votes on Obamacare, how about spending a few hours on job creation? How about putting some money into fixing our crumbling infrastructure. See how quickly that makes unemployment numbers drop and the need for food stamps along with it.
You are a year behind on veterans medical benefits and health care. How about some effort to fix that? Veterans health claims are still being serviced by hand instead of computers Reward our brave returning soldiers with jobs. Bring veterans affairs departments into the 21st century.
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/06/20/feed-the-rich-starve-the-poor/
The Working Poor: Invisible in America is a 2004 book written by Pulitzer Prize winner, David K. Shipler
It is not just that the working poor do not have the proper capitals, but it seems society does little to help them to escape poverty. Often, households that are considered to be working poor are headed by mothers. Frequently, when mothers could not find inexpensive and proper child care services, they have to quit their jobs and remain on welfare.[2] Though caring for their children will help to bring next generation of workforce to our society, it seems that these mothers are unpaid for their work and penalized for doing care work. This is a phenomenon known as care penalty. Often, single mothers cannot afford the replacement cost for child care, so they have to stay home to take care of their children, and pay the opportunity cost by forgoing their opportunity to earn income for care work. As the United States have grown more industrialized, the price for services such as child daycare is increasing, as production of goods is becoming relatively inexpensive. This social phenomenon is known as the Baumol effect, and many of the working poor are at the short end of this effect as they have to spend higher percentage of their incomes for services.
In the chapter Importing the Third World, Shipler explores some flaws of comparative advantages. One such case is that clothing companies hire contractors who hire illegal immigrants who the contractors could pay under the minimal wage to work in atrocious sweatshops for hours exceeding legal limit.[3] Additionally, some American companies go overseas to acquire cheaper labor. Because of these flaws, markets - often for the sake of saving money and for efficiency - hire workers who accept wages, working hours, and working conditions not on the standard set by the U.S federal government. As more companies go overseas to capture the upside of foreign trade, they provide no jobs for American working poor, which ultimately increases inequality gap between the poor and the rich, and contributes to economic inefficiency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Working_Poor:_Invisible_in_America
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)sheshe2
(84,173 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)sheshe2
(84,173 posts)The scandal de Jour is far more thrills than the working poor.
Sad but true!
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)Cha
(298,354 posts)That's why the bill went down.. because that clump of teabaggers in Congress want to get rid of SNAP altogether. It would have been VETOED by Pres Obama but are they insane?!
It's really hard to wrap my head around the reality of Reps in Congress voting to cut away Food Stamps from those who barely get by but keep voting to make sure the very wealthy are being better fed.
Thank Goodness we have President Obama.. there I said it again.
sheshe2
(84,173 posts)They are soulless, Cha.
They are dead inside. This is how they go through life. They should all have their vacations rescinded until they do the job that the people ask!
I too am glad to have this President!
Thank you...
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,120 posts)A single person get $200
A couple gets $350
With kids it is something like $75 per child. (I do not have kids so that may be off. but that is what I heard)
And people must remember that it is for the whole month. The card gets re-credited on a certain day of the month. And you MUST make it stretch for the whole month till it is your day again.
So you are looking. if a single, roughly $6.50 to eat three meals off of a day.
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.