10:27am October 20, 2013

➸ Truth: missgingerlee: We Speak For Earth: Remember that one time when the EBT...

fatpagan:

missgingerlee:

We Speak For Earth: Remember that one time when the EBT system went down for a day and there were people that were celebrating it?

bothersomeboredom:

missgingerlee:

Folks that were flat out gleeful that there were people that went to buy groceries & unless…

“The fact of the matter is that SNAP recipients are rarely the lazy moochers that people in favor of cutting the social safety net believe them to be. 66% of the people on SNAP are disabled or elderly [This number increases if you include children into the numbers, look below]. 58% of households without disabled or elderly people to care for have at least one person who works. More than 80% were working in the year prior to receiving SNAP benefits, and nearly 90% were employed in either the year preceding, or the year following, their receiving benefits.”

FRC’s Ken Blackwell Believes Keeping People On SNAP Is Un-Christian

This article is an excellent blend of facts and sermon.

(via robot-heart-politics)

“NO Facts, and None of the facts” Cruz, Ryan, and Paul.

(via iammyfather)

Some more REALITY FOR YOU.

76% of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. These vulnerable households receive 83% of all SNAP benefits.^{^[i]}

SNAP eligibility is limited to households with gross income of no more than 130% of the federal poverty guideline, but the majority of households have income well below the maximum: 83% of SNAP households have gross income at or below 100% of the poverty guideline ($19,530 for a family of 3 in 2013), and these households receive about 91% of all benefits. 61% of SNAP households have gross income at or below 75% of the poverty guideline ($14,648 for a family of 3 in 2013).^{^[ii]}

The average SNAP household has a gross monthly income of $744; net monthly income of $338 after the standard deduction and, for certain households, deductions for child care, medical expenses, and shelter costs; and countable resources of $331, such as a bank account.^{^[iii]}

Via Feeding America.

IF YOU STILL THINK THAT IT IS APPROPRIATE TO RESTRICT FOOD TO HOUSEHOLDS WHO WOULD STARVE WITHOUT SNAP BENEFITS, THEN YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON AND SHOULD LEARN TO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH.

Hang on.

If a family is still struggling to afford an adequate amount of reasonably healthy food at 130% of the poverty level to the point where they need government assistance to make up the difference,

Then shouldn’t the poverty level be redefined? I mean, to me, if you’re struggling to afford the food you need (without having to resort to a diet of all potato chips or whatever as the only way to get enough calories to survive without spending money you don’t have) then, um, isn’t that kind of a pretty essential component of what poverty IS?

I mean I already knew the way they define the poverty line in the US is messed up. (I don’t know a lot about it, but I get the sense that they don’t really sufficiently take into account how much of your income needs to go into housing and the way that housing costs can often go up a lot faster than the supposed inflation rate, especially if you’re living in a place like Washington DC or New York where housing costs are so very high.) But, any poverty line that allows you to be defined as technically still “above” the poverty line when you need assistance to afford FOOD can’t have been thought through very well.

Or are they defining the poverty line such as to disguise how many people are actually POOR in a more fundamental/absolute meaning of the word?

And, why am I afraid that the answer is, yes?

Yes the answer is absolutely yes. I’m just barely above the poverty line and I often have trouble getting through to the end of the month even with subsidized everything and food stamps and a lot of my food items paid for by Medicare because I’m tube fed. Especially with the cost of living going up. My friend is right on or barely under the poverty line and she’s so broke I have to help her with costs for various basics even though I can barely afford it myself.

(One thing you’ll find with a lot of poor people I’ve noticed, is that if you’re hungry we’ll share our last can of beans with you, while middle class people will claim they don’t have enough money to help *eyeroll*.)

Notes: