One thing that should not be cut from the Stimulus Plan: Food Stamps Increase

[Dis]

Gee. I can't imagine why some of are so "cruel and heartless"... Couldn't be because we're tired of seeing people buck the system and get as much as they can for nothing, and think nothing of it other than how much more they're owed.

 

[Andrew2382]

here is my take.


Everyone who is on welfare and collects food stamps must do everything they can do obtain a job and must pass a monthly drug test to collect benfits


In before crying liberals calling me heartless

 

[RodISHI]

The same goes for unemployment insurance Care. People can't just collect without actively seeking work even if there is none available.

Know how many of those people go looking for work they *know* isn't available to them because they decided they make more sitting on their ass collecting unemployment?

I actually get applications that flat out state "I am applying for this job as part of an unemployment claim, and asking for wages of $18.00 to $25.00 per hour minimum during the hours of 8-4, Monday through Friday." knowing full well the job they're applying for pays $8 an hour, and that nights and weekends are required.

Were they making $18.00 to $25.00 an hour prior to being unemployed?
That is the difference when it does come to unemployment benefits a person does not have to take a job for $8.00 an hour. That is why it is called "unemployment insurance".

I am sure you do get people that are applying simply in order to fulfill their requirements. Heck when I ran my company I would flat out ask any ap, "Are you just looking to fill your quoted for unemployment for the week?" Some were some were actively seeking employment. We'd have one position and three hundred apps at times. It does not mean those people are not actively seeking work in their field of expertise. Would you expect an out of work attorney to take your $8.00 an hour job and work at night. I know I sure wouldn't.

 

[Dis]

The same goes for unemployment insurance Care. People can't just collect without actively seeking work even if there is none available.

Know how many of those people go looking for work they *know* isn't available to them because they decided they make more sitting on their ass collecting unemployment?

I actually get applications that flat out state "I am applying for this job as part of an unemployment claim, and asking for wages of $18.00 to $25.00 per hour minimum during the hours of 8-4, Monday through Friday." knowing full well the job they're applying for pays $8 an hour, and that nights and weekends are required.

Were they making $18.00 to $25.00 an hour prior to being unemployed?
That is the difference when it does come to unemployment benefits a person does not have to take a job for $8.00 an hour. That is why it is called "unemployment insurance".

I am sure you do get people that are applying simply in order to fulfill their requirements. Heck when I ran my company I would flat out ask any ap, "Are you just looking to fill your quoted for unemployment for the week?" Some were some were actively seeking employment. We'd have one position and three hundred apps at times. It does not mean those people are not actively seeking work in their field of expertise. Would you expect an out of work attorney to take your $8.00 an hour job and work at night. I know I sure wouldn't.

I wouldn't expect them to waste their time APPLYING for it if they have no intention of working it, ESPECIALLY in a field that has NOTHING to do with what they do. Therein lies the difference - I won't waste someone elses time, and I would appreciate it if they didn't bother wasting mine.

 

[editec]

Overall I agree with this. However, it still bothers me when I see someone using food stamps who is driving a brand new Cadillac. We all know what I'm talking about. No, not everyone on food stamps drives a nice brand new car, but you know what I'm talking about.

I live in one of the poorer places in America.

Something like half the kids in our schools are eligble for lunch, meaning that something like half their families are eligble for food stamps.

They're all White people.

Is that who you mean? Poor White People?

Cause if that's who you mean, you are wrong, at least as it relates to Maine.

They don't drive new Caddies...the men mostly drive newer gas-guzzling trucks and their wives and children mostly drive gas-guzzling old junkers.

No kidding!

But how do you know if they are on food stamps?

If I am at the grocery store, in line at the cashier, is there a way for me to note the person in front of me is on food assistance? I don't believe they are actually food STAMPS anymore and they are using something like an atm card????

Because I have lived in this town for nearly 20 years, I shop in the same grocery stores when they use their foodstamp credit card, and I know their kids, that's how I know.

For all i know, everyone at the grocer is on food stamps?

Maybe you ought to start paying attention then.

So how does one know a person is on food stamps and driving a brand new cadilac with a ton on gold jewelry on them as others have stated?

Those others are full of shit, would be my guess.

HOW DOES ONE KNOW now a days?

By paying attention, Care.

 

[RodISHI]

Know how many of those people go looking for work they *know* isn't available to them because they decided they make more sitting on their ass collecting unemployment?

I actually get applications that flat out state "I am applying for this job as part of an unemployment claim, and asking for wages of $18.00 to $25.00 per hour minimum during the hours of 8-4, Monday through Friday." knowing full well the job they're applying for pays $8 an hour, and that nights and weekends are required.

Were they making $18.00 to $25.00 an hour prior to being unemployed?
That is the difference when it does come to unemployment benefits a person does not have to take a job for $8.00 an hour. That is why it is called "unemployment insurance".

I am sure you do get people that are applying simply in order to fulfill their requirements. Heck when I ran my company I would flat out ask any ap, "Are you just looking to fill your quoted for unemployment for the week?" Some were some were actively seeking employment. We'd have one position and three hundred apps at times. It does not mean those people are not actively seeking work in their field of expertise. Would you expect an out of work attorney to take your $8.00 an hour job and work at night. I know I sure wouldn't.

I wouldn't expect them to waste their time APPLYING for it if they have no intention of working it, ESPECIALLY in a field that has NOTHING to do with what they do. Therein lies the difference - I won't waste someone elses time, and I would appreciate it if they didn't bother wasting mine.

Lighten up Dis they are just filling the requirement they must meet while looking for a real job.

 

[RodISHI]

here is my take.


Everyone who is on welfare and collects food stamps must do everything they can do obtain a job and must pass a monthly drug test to collect benfits


In before crying liberals calling me heartless

I'd approve of that if we can do the same for anyone and everyone who makes a living off of the system. That would include lawyers, politicians, state workers, etc.... Heck just make everyone take a drug test once a month that will create some new jobs. We can have thousands of new blood suckers.

 

[Againsheila]

Last time I'll try to get you to understand. Both Dis and I showed multiple examples of how families could get the biggest bang for their grocery dollars, food stamps or not. You throw in some bromide that many poor only get a few hours sleep before their next shift. They need processed foods, which are expensive and nutritionally weak. Especially for blacks, with a predisposition to high blood pressure.

Even without the sleep problem, you seem to think they are incapable of making good decisions. I would characterize that as noblesse oblige.

They can do so, but you can't have a make all solution like yours and apply it to everyone where all the situations are different and not 100% sure it will work for everyone.

They are quite capable of making good situations. I commented on the fact the Cost of Living is growing higher and higher, while wages aren't at the same level. So what's going to happen? People are going to be at a disadvantage already.

That's why this 13% increase in food stamps for everyone is better. Everybody can afford not only better food but buy more food for their families. And the businesses make more money from the people buying the food which translates into both small and large businesses growing and perhaps even more jobs.

Honey,If Annie,Dis and I can all raise a family,work more then one job and keep a home running on a budget...so can everyone else. The poor you keep whining about already have extra help with food stamps and daycare. God you dems are greedy and whiny....

I am not a democrat, nor am I greedy or whinny....My husband and I have worked hard all our lives. Like I said, raise the minimum wage to a living wage and we won't need to worry about food stamps.

Some people's budgets, btw, are bigger than others. Especially in a day and time when minimum wage has the lowest spending power in history and when our income gap is bigger than it was in the gilded age. Our middle class is shrinking rapidly. Yes, some of them are entering the upper class, others are going into the lower class...too bad the upper class doesn't care a whit about the lower class, it would only take one small disaster to take them out of their place and put them in the lower class as well.

 

[Againsheila]

here is my take.


Everyone who is on welfare and collects food stamps must do everything they can do obtain a job and must pass a monthly drug test to collect benfits


In before crying liberals calling me heartless

I'd approve of that if we can do the same for anyone and everyone who makes a living off of the system. That would include lawyers, politicians, state workers, etc.... Heck just make everyone take a drug test once a month that will create some new jobs. We can have thousands of new blood suckers.

I think almost all employers today require drug tests. Any federal or state employees here?

 

[Dis]

They can do so, but you can't have a make all solution like yours and apply it to everyone where all the situations are different and not 100% sure it will work for everyone.

They are quite capable of making good situations. I commented on the fact the Cost of Living is growing higher and higher, while wages aren't at the same level. So what's going to happen? People are going to be at a disadvantage already.

That's why this 13% increase in food stamps for everyone is better. Everybody can afford not only better food but buy more food for their families. And the businesses make more money from the people buying the food which translates into both small and large businesses growing and perhaps even more jobs.

Honey,If Annie,Dis and I can all raise a family,work more then one job and keep a home running on a budget...so can everyone else. The poor you keep whining about already have extra help with food stamps and daycare. God you dems are greedy and whiny....

I am not a democrat, nor am I greedy or whinny....My husband and I have worked hard all our lives. Like I said, raise the minimum wage to a living wage and we won't need to worry about food stamps.

Some people's budgets, btw, are bigger than others. Especially in a day and time when minimum wage has the lowest spending power in history and when our income gap is bigger than it was in the gilded age. Our middle class is shrinking rapidly. Yes, some of them are entering the upper class, others are going into the lower class...too bad the upper class doesn't care a whit about the lower class, it would only take one small disaster to take them out of their place and put them in the lower class as well.

Given it's mostly KIDS that are in high school, or just out of who have no job skills to speak of that are making minimum wage...just how much do you THINK minimium wage for filling grocery bags, or flipping burgers should be? You think the cost of a head of lettuce is high now? Raise the wages for jobs that have no business being raised...

 

[RodISHI]

I don't see all that many "Kids" or those "that are in highschool bagging groceries". Mostly mothers trying to feed their families or guys who are in lower management positions at the stores. Generally it is the cashier or a manager who bags groceries know days. Heck all they can do is put the groceries in bags and run an automated adding machine. They surely should not be able to eat a decent meal when they get home after standing on their feet all day serving the public now should they?

 

[Dis]

I don't see all that many "Kids" or those "that are in highschool bagging groceries". Mostly mothers trying to feed their families or guys who are in lower management positions at the stores. Generally it is the cashier or a manager who bags groceries know days. Heck all they can do is put the groceries in bags and run an automated adding machine. They surely should not be able to eat a decent meal when they get home after standing on their feet all day serving the public now should they?

Obviously, I'm going to have to take pics at my local grocery stores - all of them. The average kid bagging groceries is 17. The average cashier is 40-50. The average person working at McDonalds is 16-18, with the average manager being mid 20's to 30ish.

Maybe your grocery stores are small enough to warrant the cashier, or manager bagging groceries while ringing, but mine aren't.

That aside, you still haven't told me how much you THINK they should be making for running items across a scanner, and standing in front of a machine that counts the change, and distributes it back FOR them. That's right; they don't even need to know how to do simple 1st grade math. It's done for them.

How much should they be making again - in dollars, please?

 

[editec]

Honey,If Annie,Dis and I can all raise a family,work more then one job and keep a home running on a budget...so can everyone else. The poor you keep whining about already have extra help with food stamps and daycare. God you dems are greedy and whiny....

I am not a democrat, nor am I greedy or whinny....My husband and I have worked hard all our lives. Like I said, raise the minimum wage to a living wage and we won't need to worry about food stamps.

Some people's budgets, btw, are bigger than others. Especially in a day and time when minimum wage has the lowest spending power in history and when our income gap is bigger than it was in the gilded age. Our middle class is shrinking rapidly. Yes, some of them are entering the upper class, others are going into the lower class...too bad the upper class doesn't care a whit about the lower class, it would only take one small disaster to take them out of their place and put them in the lower class as well.

Given it's mostly KIDS that are in high school, or just out of who have no job skills to speak of that are making minimum wage...just how much do you THINK minimium wage for filling grocery bags, or flipping burgers should be? You think the cost of a head of lettuce is high now? Raise the wages for jobs that have no business being raised...

Nonsense.

The numbers do not support that myth.

A lot of people in the USA are working at or very near minimum wage.

While I cannot find the mean and median incoems with standard deviations which would answer your question precisely, if one looks at household incomes one can easily see that millions and millions and millions of American MUST be working at or near minimum wages

In 2006, there were approximately 116,011,000 households in the United States. 1.93% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $250,000 ,[5] 12.3% fell below the federal poverty threshold[6] and the bottom 20% earned less than $19,178.[7]

Do the math... if your FAMILY income is less $19,178, that means your entire family are making less than $10 per hour assuming a 2000 hour work-year.

And many of the families in the upper quintiles have multiple breadwinners (who are probably both working at or near the minimum wage) too.

But since they have more than one income, they can end up making about 40,000 a year at $10 per hour. (FYI, that's still not doing all that well, is it?)

If you are truly interested in how American are doing, (as opposed to blaming the victims, which I understand some of you must do to feel good about yourselves) and you do not want to depend on the propaganda you've been fed, you might want to start right here:

Household income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In my opinion, based on NET WORTH figures (I posted them yesterday, FYI on this board) roughly 60% of Americans are poor.

Not lower middle class, that's just a nice way of saying WORKING AND POOR.

Because those people are basically one or two paychecks away from insolvency and by my standards, that means POOR.

 

[RodISHI]

I don't see all that many "Kids" or those "that are in highschool bagging groceries". Mostly mothers trying to feed their families or guys who are in lower management positions at the stores. Generally it is the cashier or a manager who bags groceries know days. Heck all they can do is put the groceries in bags and run an automated adding machine. They surely should not be able to eat a decent meal when they get home after standing on their feet all day serving the public now should they?

Obviously, I'm going to have to take pics at my local grocery stores - all of them. The average kid bagging groceries is 17. The average cashier is 40-50. The average person working at McDonalds is 16-18, with the average manager being mid 20's to 30ish.

Maybe your grocery stores are small enough to warrant the cashier, or manager bagging groceries while ringing, but mine aren't.

That aside, you still haven't told me how much you THINK they should be making for running items across a scanner, and standing in front of a machine that counts the change, and distributes it back FOR them. That's right; they don't even need to know how to do simple 1st grade math. It's done for them.

How much should they be making again - in dollars, please?

As much as an HR person that merely has to sit on their ass all day and look at papers someone else filled out.

 

[Dis]

I am not a democrat, nor am I greedy or whinny....My husband and I have worked hard all our lives. Like I said, raise the minimum wage to a living wage and we won't need to worry about food stamps.

Some people's budgets, btw, are bigger than others. Especially in a day and time when minimum wage has the lowest spending power in history and when our income gap is bigger than it was in the gilded age. Our middle class is shrinking rapidly. Yes, some of them are entering the upper class, others are going into the lower class...too bad the upper class doesn't care a whit about the lower class, it would only take one small disaster to take them out of their place and put them in the lower class as well.

Given it's mostly KIDS that are in high school, or just out of who have no job skills to speak of that are making minimum wage...just how much do you THINK minimium wage for filling grocery bags, or flipping burgers should be? You think the cost of a head of lettuce is high now? Raise the wages for jobs that have no business being raised...

Nonsense.

The numbers do not support that myth.

A lot of people in the USA are working at or very near minimum wage.

While I cannot find the mean and median incoems with standard deviations which would answer your question precisely, if one looks at household incomes one can easily see that millions and millions and millions of American MUST be working at or near minimum wages

In 2006, there were approximately 116,011,000 households in the United States. 1.93% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $250,000 ,[5] 12.3% fell below the federal poverty threshold[6] and the bottom 20% earned less than $19,178.[7]

Do the math... if you're FAMILY income is less 19,178, that means your entire family are making less than $10 per hour assuming a 2000 hour work-year.

And many of the families in the upper quintiles have multiple breadwinners (who are probasbly both working at or near the minimum wage) too.

Bus since they have more than one income, they can end up making about 40,000 a year at $10 per hour.

If you are truly interested in how American are doing, and do not want to depend on the propaganda you've been fed, you might want to start right here

Household income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In my opinion, based on NET WORTH figures (I posted then yesterday) roughly 60% of Americans are poor.

Not lower middle class, that's just a nice way of saying POOR.

Beccause those people are basically one or two paychecks away from insolvency and by my standards, that means POOR.

I'm still waiting for an exact DOLLAR figure you think that someone unskilled should be making.

Then you can tell me how much we're going to raise the wages of those that ARE actually skilled in something.. For instance...

Teachers - how much of a pay raise do their skills warrant?

Construction workers - they actually phhysically bust their asses every day for up to 10 hours a day. How much of a pay raise are they entitled to if we raise minimum wage?

Executive positions - They've likely paid for schooling to get where they're at.. How much of a raise should we give them?

Or, would you just like everyone making the same amount of money no matter the job being done, or the striving to get ahead in life?

 

[AllieBaba]

Raising the minimum wage does nothing to improve things, all it does is give inflation a huge sky rocket ride.

We don't need more money in the food stamp program. You can be at 185 percent of the federal poverty level and qualify for fs....I qualify, if I'm not receiving child support. It is the one program that is available to almost anyone who has ever considered it. Generally, if you're actually thinking fs might help you out, chances are, you qualify.

The standard is $176/per month per person, with the amount being a little less in a multiple-person household (people who eat in groups need less money to eat per person). A family of 4 with one person working full time and one person receiving another source of income (say child support, or SSI) receives about $377. If they are all unemployed, the amount is greater.

Adults in a household receiving food stamps are required to participate in job-seeking programs for a set amount of weeks per year. This includes a mandatory number of job contacts, meeting at least weekly with a contractor to facilitate work-force preparedness...workers do have the option of exempting clients who, for whatever reason (homeless, no transportation, children under 5 in the home) are not likely to be successfuly, or who have good reasons for not wanting to participate.

In addition, the people who participate in the program receive a stipend for gas/transportation. Whether or not they walk, get a ride, drive their own vehicles, use the bus, whatever.

If we're going to throw money into a program, throw it into medical. I turn the working poor away every day because there just isn't a program available for them even to buy into. They could afford a small premium....but we don't have one.

 

[Truthmatters]

We can do both.

Foodstamps are the best return in stimulus dollars and food prices have risen.

 

[AllieBaba]

Why do both if you don't NEED both?

Where do you think all this money is coming from?

 

[Truthmatters]

Same place all the money for the Iraq war came from.

Remember all those pallets of hundrerd dollar bills that just disappeared?

 

[Dis]

I don't see all that many "Kids" or those "that are in highschool bagging groceries". Mostly mothers trying to feed their families or guys who are in lower management positions at the stores. Generally it is the cashier or a manager who bags groceries know days. Heck all they can do is put the groceries in bags and run an automated adding machine. They surely should not be able to eat a decent meal when they get home after standing on their feet all day serving the public now should they?

Obviously, I'm going to have to take pics at my local grocery stores - all of them. The average kid bagging groceries is 17. The average cashier is 40-50. The average person working at McDonalds is 16-18, with the average manager being mid 20's to 30ish.

Maybe your grocery stores are small enough to warrant the cashier, or manager bagging groceries while ringing, but mine aren't.

That aside, you still haven't told me how much you THINK they should be making for running items across a scanner, and standing in front of a machine that counts the change, and distributes it back FOR them. That's right; they don't even need to know how to do simple 1st grade math. It's done for them.

How much should they be making again - in dollars, please?

As much as an HR person that merely has to sit on their ass all day and look at papers someone else filled out.

Then I suggest they go and get an education in HR, and put those skills to use in order to make that particular amount of money. But here's the fun part.. They don't get to pick the hours and days that they work - they actually have to get their tails out of bed, likely when it's still dark out, make themselves look presentable, and get to work on time, leaving the pissy attitude at home, and acting in a professional manner at all times.

Oh, and you know as well as I do that HR employees don't just "look" at papers all day. They possess office skills, policy knowledge, etc.