patrick.net

Food-stamp use jumped in the U.S. in December with more than 1 in 7 people receiving benefits, even as a program for disaster assistance related to Hurricane Irene came to an end.

This is more about food prices, and this administrations failure to address the commodity market and over speculation. This is a story about this administration, that works double time on figuring out how to keep people out of the work force and dependent on "Benefits".

The article tpb quoted says

Food stamp rolls exploded during the downturn, which began in late 2007. Even after the recession came to its official end in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high and those lucky enough to find jobs were often met with lower wages.

States also made changes to make it easier for residents to tap into the program, such as waiving requirements that limited the value of assets food stamp recipients could own.

Yes, I can see how it would be this administration's fault that the worst economic recession of our lifetime began in 2007 after a conservative republican administration was in office for eight long, long years.

Might I remind you that this administration took office in January 2009? And that the recession was a long time coming?

The food stamp program has been in effect since 1939. President Obama wasn't even born then. Blaming his administration is a lot easier than accepting that the social problem of poverty, homelessness and the inability to afford food belongs to all of us.

Yawn.

If we still had soup kitchens instead of food stamps, we'd be seeing very long lines.

elliemae says

President Obama wasn't even born then.

Ha! You admit that Obama wasn't even born! You played right into TPB's hands. That's why we need to see the original birth certificate and placenta. For all we know, Obama was hatched, not born.

The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rose to 46.5 million, or 15% of the population in December.

On a serious note, it's ridiculous that 15% of the American population are on food stamps, especially since food is cheap in this country compared to what our great-grandparents spent 100 years ago.

If 15% are on food stamps, how do they afford rent/mortgages, which are so much higher?

Dan8267 says

Ha! You admit that Obama wasn't even born! You played right into TPB's hands. That's why we need to see the original birth certificate and placenta. For all we know, Obama was hatched, not born.

Great - now all I have to do is share the secret handshake and I'm out of the club.

Damn it.

Dan8267 says

On a serious note, it's ridiculous that 15% of the American population are on food stamps, especially since food is cheap in this country compared to what our great-grandparents spent 100 years ago.

Yeah but at least back then the poor could go out into a field and bash gophers on the head and roast them up to perfection, with out the Liberal animal abuse brigade coming down on them.

And where in the hell are you shopping, cheap groceries?
Not even in the immigrant grocery stores.

Actually, the "Good Stuff" in meat is lacking: Omega-3s. Feedlot Beef and Chicken and Farmed Fish all have less of the "Good Stuff" and more of the "Bad Stuff" than "free-range" and "Wild Caught" food.

We can have lots of tasty beef, just get rid of subsidized commodity agriculture (Corn, Soy, Wheat). Ranches will replace them: Grassland was meant for bovines to roam anyway, it's the best use of the land absent hefty subsidies.

Feedlot cows have to have hoses forced down their throat. Seriously. Problem is, Ruminate Animals need to ruminate. The high starch corn diet turns their stomachs into gassy slimy mess; they don't get the roughage they would from their natural diet - grass and weeds, not just grass seed. Cows just aren't built to consume grass seed exclusively.

Also, the suboptimal conditions, the hormones, the antibiotics, etc. causes unbelievable stress on the animal, which makes cornfed beef taste bland as hell. It also makes the cows fart a whole lot more than they should, allegedly contributing to global warming. Finally, cows pooping in a field help the long term fertility of the grasslands... they naturally spread small amounts of manure over a wide range. The huge mass of shit produced in a feedlot can't generally be composted efficiently, and ends up running into river systems.

Stop subsidizing the suburbs (which forces out Market Gardens that provide fresh fruits and vegetables near to the city) and stop subsidizing commodity Ag. The reason we spend so much on non-solutions like Ethanol is the Commodity Ag industry desperately trying to find profitable outputs for their massive overproduction of grass seed.

Free the Cows! :)

TPB says

This is more about food prices, and this administrations failure to address the commodity market and over speculation. This is a story about this administration, that works double time on figuring out how to keep people out of the work force and dependent on "Benefits".

Are sun spots, tornado's, and hurricanes obama's fault also?

I just started Government Assistance myself, but not food stamps.

TPB says

This is more about food prices, and this administrations failure to address the commodity market and over speculation. This is a story about this administration, that works double time on figuring out how to keep people out of the work force and dependent on "Benefits".

thunderlips11 says

Feedlot cows have to have hoses forced down their throat.

Hey T-Lips. How else are we supposed to keep up with these hungry people ?

Have We been using "FATLOTS" since about 1400 ?

TPB says

And where in the hell are you shopping, cheap groceries?
Not even in the immigrant grocery stores.

Despite Higher Food Prices, Percent of U.S. Income Spent on Food Remains Constant

As Share of Income, Americans Have the Cheapest Food in History and Cheapest Food on the Planet

Historically speaking, food in America is dirt cheap. It's largely unhealthy, but it's cheap. Now if only housing followed the same cost trends.

Maybe 10% of people that make over 80K a year.
But it's damn sure not 10% of your average workers salary, what a blind assertion crock of crap those graphs are.

necessities = essentials (food, clothing, and shelter)

Discretionary income = Gross income - taxes - necessities

This chart is a farce, when you consider the cost real food in most areas its just as expensive as ever anywhere. This chart just maps out our reliance of low grade processed shit that our great great grandparents would hesitate to feed to their livestock.

Besides i find a unquietly American disease to justify current deficiencies with past ones. Saying things are just fine and could not stand improvement as they are, in regards to any facet in our life, is actively standing in the way of human progress.

Look at any repugnicunt's speech as of recently, it always devolved down into "What Americans really need is to get off the state bottle and pry dry grass from the ground to stave off starvation, just like my fictional granddaddy in the depression." No thats what North Koreans get to do and is just what you want for most of us in this country.

This isn't THAT much of a surprise when you consider a few things.

1) Food can be established as a commodity. Various monocultures like corn, soybeans, wheat etc

2) There is money to be made as an economy develops

3) Post ww 2 independence for much of asia and africa led to higher production.

4) Higher efficiencies meant that automation could make things much more cheaper. Try making your own orange juice for the same price as a jug in the supermarket..probably cannot be done.

5) There are corners cut. There was no "pink slime" in the past or HFCS pre 1970s. But then again it all depends as to what "food" is.

Of course on a microlevel things can be totally different. The city of Detroit for example has no real full supermarkets. It's mostly convience stores. Although they are getting a Whole Foods pretty soon.

Danaseb says

This chart just maps out our reliance of low grade processed shit that our great great grandparents would hesitate to feed to their livestock.

If our great-great-grandparents would hesitate to eat our fast food, why is it that in every movie where people come from the past they LOVE fast food? (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, for example).I would submit to you that this is proof enough that our great-great grandparents would eat the shit up.

My reasoning makes as much sense as some of these graphs, if not more. You're welcome.

Danaseb says

This chart is a farce, when you consider the cost real food in most areas its just as expensive as ever anywhere.

That's like the inflation calculator the Obama spin team put up.
They reckon that since 1999 $5.00 still has the buying power of $6.83 in 2012 money. I guess that's why the Bernake keeps saying there is no real inflation.

Because that 1999 $5.00 can still buy $6.83 worth of computers and other hard goods, but they don't say anything about that 1999 $5.00 can't buy $15.00 in food or $15.00 in gas.

TMAC54 says

Hey T-Lips. How else are we supposed to keep up with these hungry people ?

Please read my post again - end commodity agriculture; most of the corn and soy we grow rots or burns, unsold and unconsumed, not used by humans as food or as byproducts for chemical purposes (Ethanol, Cosmetics, etc.), or even for feedlot animals. Big Agra pockets subsidies dependent on how much they grow, so they get paid whether there is a demand for the produce or not.

This ties up vast tracts of grassland better suited for raising cattle, which is what it would be used for if we didn't subsidize commodity agriculture.

The problem of "Growing enough food" is a false one. The problem is one of distribution, not production, like the Great Ethiopian Famine of the 80s, which was caused by Civil War and a "resettlement" policy of the then marxist-government, which decided to move peasants in the middle of the growing season.

One reason we have so many fat poor and working class people is because corn, soy, and starchy food products are dirt cheap, but fattening (fat in food != fat on your body). Whereas healthier shit like grass-fed lean beef, free-range chicken, apples, oranges, lettuce, broccoli, etc. is much more expensive -- because we've lost local produce to suburban sprawl and it all has to be imported. Many of these foods do not lend themselves well to large-scale machine-driven agriculture. Tomatoes are the best example. The varieties planted are chosen for their thick skins for transport, rather than their flavor. They're also picked green, and while the redden in transit they don't convert the cellulose inside into deliciousness because they didn't ripen on the vine.

Our diabetic epidemic is not explained by people eating too much meat. Meat doesn't make you produce insulin. Sugar and Starch does.

mdovell says

5) There are corners cut. There was no "pink slime" in the past or HFCS pre 1970s. But then again it all depends as to what "food" is.

Yes, prior to 2002, "Pink Slime" was fit only for dog food by the USDA.

Unskilled, non-unionized workers make a lot of mistakes, and meatpackers wanted to sweep their mistakes off the floor and put it back in the beef

One other question is, how do they control for minced brains and anuses that fall on the factory floor and separate it from the other "lean beef trim" when they sweep it up?

Try to buy some healthy food, not genetically modified or hormone saturated crap - and then tell me if you still think it got cheaper!

DaveM_Renter says

Try to buy some healthy food, not genetically modified or hormone saturated crap - and then tell me if you still think it got cheaper!

Quoting because I can't +100.

TPB says

hat a blind assertion crock of crap those graphs are.

Danaseb says

This chart is a farce, when you consider the cost real food in most areas its just as expensive as ever anywhere. This chart just maps out our reliance of low grade processed shit that our great great grandparents would hesitate to feed to their livestock.

Like I said,
Dan8267 says

Historically speaking, food in America is dirt cheap. It's largely unhealthy, but it's cheap.

The fact is that for all the evils of factory farming (animal suffering, pollution, unhealthy food), the fact remains that Americans today spend far less of their income on food than our grand-parents did. Every single study ever done has confirmed this.

Factory farms and mass produced food has economies of scale which allow us to grow more food with fewer farmers. There are many problems with our food system, but cost is not one of them.

DaveM_Renter says

Try to buy some healthy food, not genetically modified or hormone saturated crap - and then tell me if you still think it got cheaper!

You're comparing apples to oranges. Even in the early 20th century, farmers used pesticides. Now, if you want to compare the cost of organic milk in the 17th century to organic milk in the 21st century, our organic milk is still cheaper.

Of course, you're still paying a premium due to the marketing of organic milk that has nothing to do with its cost of production or its health benefits. Simply put, you are being taken advantage of by marketers who are preying on your irrational fears of genetic engineering and anything "artificial".

Now, if we compare regular milk today versus the price in the 19-teens, we can see that milk is way cheaper today. The price of a quart of milk was about $0.10 during the 19-teens according to the Monthly Labor Review, July 1919. This translates to about $1.98 in 2010 or twice what you would pay for a quart of milk today.

Now, the data is based on average cost of living, not unusually expensive places like LA or NYC. But the cost of living adjustment for those places should be applied to both costs to make a fair comparison, so it's a wash.

We can repeat this experiment with just about any food and get the same result. People today have no idea how expensive food was in the past. They think the past started in the 1950s with refrigeration, frozen food, electricity, the HTS, and all the other modern inventions that keep food cheap.

Food used to be one of the largest costs of living, and in some places and times it was the largest cost exceeding even shelter. Today, shelter, healthcare, education, and transportation (purchase, maintenance, fuel, insurance) are the largest costs of living.

thunderlips11 says

One other question is, how do they control for minced brains and anuses that fall on the factory floor

Those ingredients are placed on a vise-like apparatus and squeezed until a paste is expressed. Those contents are then forced into sheaths, usually intestines. Finally, the assembled links are put into packages and eventually become what's known as "Teapublicans".

Hope this helps!

CL says

Those ingredients are placed on a vise-like apparatus and squeezed until a paste is expressed. Those contents are then forced into sheaths, usually intestines. Finally, the assembled links are put into packages and eventually become what's known as "Teapublicans".

Oh, Man. LOL

Dan8267 says

Factory farms and mass produced food has economies of scale which allow us to grow more food with fewer farmers. There are many problems with our food system, but cost is not one of them.

That's called cornering the market, and NO it's not a good thing. That's how you get $2.00 5lb potatoes and a $3.00 tomato.

CL says

Those ingredients are placed on a vise-like apparatus and squeezed until a paste is expressed. Those contents are then forced into sheaths, usually intestines. Finally, the assembled links are put into packages and eventually become what's known as "Teapublicans".

Someone needs to tell Patrick that we need an "I really, truly, absolutely with all my heart & soul LOVE that post!"

Have you seen the bumperstickers that say, "Don't renig..." about Obama? I hope he thinks they're as funny as I do. Offensive, inappropriate and did I mention offensive? But it made me laugh.

thunderlips11 says

Yes, prior to 2002, "Pink Slime" was fit only for dog food by the USDA.
Unskilled, non-unionized workers make a lot of mistakes, and meatpackers wanted to sweep their mistakes off the floor and put it back in the beef
One other question is, how do they control for minced brains and anuses that fall on the factory floor and separate it from the other "lean beef trim" when they sweep it up?

Isnt Technology wonderful... ever eat Italian Tripe, British Spam, Chicken Feet, Pig Feet, Snout, Brain, Goose Liver ( French Foie gras) and the filipino favorite balut.

If you can handle balut ?

Mexican cuisine.. Is it any different ?

Cabeza - is a Spanish language word meaning literally "head", used in Mexico to describe the meat from a roasted head of a cow, served in a taco or burrito. In Mexico, typically, the whole head will sit on a steamer or grill, and optimally, customers may ask for particular parts of the head meat they favor, such as ojo (eye), oreja (ear), or mejilla (cheek).

Lengua - Beef tongue literally the tongue of a cow. Widely used in certain types of ethnic cooking, such as German cuisine and Mexican cuisine, often seen in tacos and burritos. Beef tongue is nearly pure muscle and therefore is very high in protein and low in fat, however it requires long cooking times at low temperatures to render it tender enough to eat.

Chapulines - is a Spanish language word for grasshoppers of the species Sphenarium. They are considered a delicacy by many Mexicans. They are collected only at certain times of year. They are thoroughly cleaned and washed out, then fried with chiles, garlic and lemon juice, to create a sour-spicy-salty taste that is a good complement for beer...

Escamoles - are the larvae of ants of the genus Liometopum, harvested from the roots of the agave (tequila) or maguey (mezcal) plant in Mexico. In some forms of Mexican cuisine, escamoles are considered a delicacy and are sometimes referred to as "insect caviar".

Sign in NY Deli: "Our Tongue Sandwich's speak for themselves".

elliemae says

Yes, I can see how it would be this administration's fault that the worst economic recession of our lifetime began in 2007 after a conservative republican administration was in office for eight long, long years.

George Bush a conservative republican? Seriously?

gromitmpl says

George Bush a conservative republican? Seriously?

Bush is a social conservative, i.e., bigot. Bush is not a fiscal conservative. Few Republicans today are.

Dan8267 says

a social conservative, i.e., bigot

O great. Social conservative = bigot. That itself is a fairly intolerant position.

Bush was conservative in some respects but he was a bit squishy on many social issues. Not all that conservative.

gromitmpl says

O great. Social conservative = bigot. That itself is a fairly intolerant position.

Acknowledging the truth is never an intolerant position. But in case you have been sleeping the past two hundred years, let's take a look at what social conservatism has meant in America from 1789-2012.

Social Conservative Beliefs

1. The negro is an inferior race and should be enslaved to the white man as god intended. 1789 to 1865

2. The negro is three-fifths of a person and should be counted when assigning delegates but not allowed to vote. 1789-1870

3. The federal government has given negros the right to vote. But there should be a poll tax to discourage them from doing so
1890s

4. Men should beat their wives if they are disobedient. 1789 to 1960s.

5. No black man should be allowed to marry a white woman. 1789 to 1980.

6. No gays or lesbians should be allowed to marry a person of the same sex. 1990s to 2012.

7. Homosexuality is an abomination and the bible says that we are to kill homosexual men. 1789 to 1950s.

8. Homosexuality must be punishable by law. 1950s to 1990s And it only stopped due to federal hate-crime laws and anti-discrimination laws.

9. Black and whites must be segregated in restaurants, water fountains, bathrooms, and schools. 1865 to 1950s.

10. Interracial marriage may be allowed because of federal laws, but there should be no interracial romance on television or the movies. 1950s to 1970s

11. All Muslims are all terrorists. 2001 to 2012

12. People foreign sounding names can't be president. 1789 to 2012

13. Mexicans are inferior just like blacks were. 1960s to 2012

14. Going to war to steal resources from dark skins and Muslims is OK. 2001 to 2012

Need I go on? Social conservationism has a very long and detail history of bigotry and xenophobia to the point of being nothing but an euphemism for bigot.

And the south was wrong about slavery, the Civil War, poll taxes, interracial marriages, segregation, and gay bashing. It just can never admit it was wrong.

Where I live everyone is on the take one way or another. Your neighborhood may vary.
My friend built a legal granny unit and his tenant recently got sec. 8 to pay her rent for her. She got laid off, she's about 50 and got financial aid to UCSC. Her father recently died, so she got an inheritance. She told me she got FOOD stamps because they only considered her income not her net worth. I was astounded and she said so was she.
Meanwhile my friend raised her rent because Sec. 8 pays it. He also has two kids in college for free at UC and they are lurching through, 23 and 21 years old. He reports no income from his business since it's mostly cash and paypal. He loves doing his taxes so he gets the "earned income credit" meaning he is paid by US about $4000 CASH by Uncle Sam. To his credit, he is not on food stamps.
My other friend's girlfriend is on food stamps. She works part time under the table.
Another girl I know ran away to Santa Cruz when she was about 17. She has never worked. She got mixed up in Mexicans and drugs, which resulted in her being put into the system. She is now on SSI because she said she is "bipolar". Funny, I know others who work and have lives but have this same diagnosis.
Another woman who was my friend's ex girlfriend is on everything: she has SSI, and lives in a nice apartment in Capitola for "seniors" since she is over 50. She was diagnosed somehow as a nut because she flipped out when her younger, rich and successful boyfriend dumped her.
Her older brother is unemployed and is going to get SSI for his "bad back" because he is unable to find another job. He evidently hurt his back from his previous desk job.
Of course, I won't go into all of my illegal alien friends who use their ITIN and file for the earned income credit and therefore get all of their withholding returned to them, so they pay no income tax.
The giant welfare state is growing and will consume our economy if it isn't cut off.

Poor Dan you must hate living in the south.

clambo says

She is now on SSI because she said she is "bipolar"... Another woman ...was diagnosed somehow as a nut because she flipped out when her younger, rich and successful boyfriend dumped her... Her older brother is unemployed and is going to get SSI for his "bad back" because he is unable to find another job. He evidently hurt his back from his previous desk job.

The system isn't perfect and yes, some people do get benefits when they're not truly disabled. However, being mentally disabled is an actual disability. You can't fake "bipolar" unless you've go physicians who lie for you and the hearing judges are stupid. Being bipolar is a real disease - and unless it's treated with meds you're completely unemployable. With medications you might be able to hold a job, but since the meds and treatment are so expensive the only way to get them are to receive Medicaid and SSI.

Many people with back injuries work. Many can't, and probably never will again.

One of the SSI cases I had that totally pissed me off was a child molester discharged from prison after a 10 year sentence, 61 years old, who was approved for SSI simply because he was unemployable. There was nothing wrong with him other than his obvious love for children... He received public housing in a senior building, SSI and Medicaid. This was in the 80's during the Reagan years.

There are diseases that render people unable to function much of the time, yet they can appear just fine at times.

clambo says

The giant welfare state is growing and will consume our economy if it isn't cut off.

We should take another look at all types of welfare - including corporate welfare and military spending.

But to assume that you know or understand someone's disability is rather mean, considering that you don't live inside their bodies.

Dan8267 says

Acknowledging the truth is never an intolerant position. But in case you have been sleeping the past two hundred years, let's take a look at what social conservatism has meant in America from 1789-2012.

Social Conservative Beliefs

1. The negro is an inferior race and should be enslaved to the white man as god intended. 1789 to 1865

2. The negro is three-fifths of a person and should be counted when assigning delegates but not allowed to vote. 1789-1870
........................

Slow down hoss. You are really rewriting history there. What a load of crock. I don't know what history books you are reading but the democratic party and liberalism in particular is the ideological forfather of most of those ills you mention. Yes - the deep democratic south of old. You need to speak to the former democrat Senator, grand KKK dragon wizard, Robert Bird.

I would say nice try but your so far off base in lala land that its not even a good attempt at tracing the lineage of conservatism.

I think really your just trying to bring up the homosexual issue. Equating being black with being a homosexual. Un freaking believable!!!!!

Ill educate you a bit on that issue. Conservatives recognize that same sex "sex" is immoral. We also recognize that hatred of other people is immoral. So no - conservatives do not (insofar as they are being conservative) hate anyone, we do not hate homosexuals. We do hate how the left lies though and we are willing to educate others about the immorality of certain things, including homosexual sex.

By the way - did you know that throughout history homosexual sex has been considered a crime by just about every civilized (and uncivilized) nation or other political entity. As a historical matter it is only the tiniest minority of people who have ever argued that sexual interaction between two people of the same sex is "OK" let alone "good".

If you want to argue the homosexual sex is a good the burden is on you my friend.

clambo says

Poor Dan you must hate living in the south.

I don't live in the south. I live in south Florida, which is the north. North Florida is the south.

Florida's a microcosm of the United States, but flipped upside down. Miami is more like NYC than it is like any city in the south. The pan-handle, however, is just like Georgia.

But yes, I would probably hate living in the south because of all the close minded bigotry, xenophobia, corrupt small town sheriffs that hate outsiders, and small-town gossip.

However, I do have a great appreciation for red-neck engineering. That's kind of cool. And I do listen to country music.

http://www.GLsyM2Crhew

http://www.smokersclubcomedy.com/redneck/rnalarm.jpg

http://funstufftosee.com/images/redneckalbum/ATT2.jpg

http://funstufftosee.com/images/redneckalbum/ATTB.jpg

http://www.4gg5cBdAsR4

http://www.q4LyxdPQqRA

And my favorite...
http://www.4dpwzPVrYXA