What does it mean if more than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food last year?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
More than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food at some point last year.
Stunning - and very sad.
Government data shows that children in nearly 4 million households didn't have enough to eat at some point last year.
And almost 17 million Americans were at the borderline of not having enough to eat.
This means they had to eat less because the food they bought didn't last and they didn't have money to buy more.
People suffering from this condition said they found themselves in this situation for a few days a month for seven months of the year. That's a long time to be hungry.
The number of Americans in this category shot up by more than 800,000 from 2010.
Those finding it hardest to buy the food they needed include women living alone, blacks and the poor.
With numbers like these it should come as no surprise that food stamp use is at record levels.
According to the government, 46.7 million people used food stamps in June. That's up more than 3% from a year ago.
In fact, food stamp use has stayed above 46 million all year long just as unemployment has stayed above 8%. That's some economic recovery.
And it's costing all of us... federal food stamp spending neared a record $76 billion last year.
Nonetheless, President Obama has pushed to grow the program - with the Department of Agriculture running radio ads encouraging more eligible people to enroll for food stamps.
Republicans want to cut back on food stamp spending.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean if more than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food last year?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
Jack, it means simply that their cellphone plan was too expensive.
It means that Charles and David Koch, Warren Buffett, Donald trump, bill gates, etc. Etc., are doing fantastic.
It means wages are too low. People often lose their jobs or are willing to work for a pittance because somewhere in the world there is a child willing to do the same work for 50 cents a day. We need significant tariffs on offshored goods being brought back into the country. High enough to make it more profitable to hire Americans. A little corporate patriotism wouldn't hurt either.
It means GOP animals shipped jobs to china, India etc and congress animals did not pass JOBS-BILL. Understand????
It all goes back to the job market Jack. We don't have jobs we can't purchase food. When working I would grocery shop and any time there was a sale, I would stock up and give to our local soup kitchen or church. I can't afford to do that anymore. So my job loss has affected not only my family but those I donated to. it's a vicious circle Jack, a very vicious circle.
With high gas prices here to stay, people may not be able to afford gas to get to the store. After all, many are making near minimum wage. After eggs and milk a lot of items have to be transported a great distant pushing up prices. Look for home gardens to reemerge.
If companies would hire......................then the folks would have money = food.
Those that have the $ could help those that do not= help for humanity.
Those that do not help= greed.
Could congress actulay do something????????you know a "jobs bill"???????????
If not ......why are they there?????????????????????????????????????
It means the New Deal and he Great Society didn't work.
It means the reported 8% unemployment rate is understated if 17% of our population can't afford food. Think about how broke you have to be in order to pass on the purchase of food. We need to get people back to work.
It means the economy stinks – food prices are up and incomes are down and jobs are scarce. It also means that food stamps and charitable/religious food pantries are busy keeping most of these folks from starving. I don't think things would be so bad if Hillary had won. "Brother, can you spare a dime?"
It means that Commodity speculators who pay off people like the clintons, inflate the costs of food and starve and make people so desperate that we will begin stealing food to survive.to hell with the middlemen actinglike they are a pillar of the community getting tax breaks from both parties and subsidies to increase profit for non workers
First of all I don't buy what you're selling.
Those same people have plastered to their ear a $500 smart phone and their kids are running all over the place wearing a pair of $150 Nike's on their feet.......................so let's be real here Jack.
That the fabulous "Trickle Down" economics that's been preached and practiced by the GOP is in reality "Flood up" economics – the money is obviously rushing up to those who really don't need it (the 1%). A perfect example of the Greed that is disguised as "Free Market Economics".
It means that there is little suport for the common good. The country is turning into a me first and the hell with everybody else situation. A nation should be judged by how well it takes care of its seniors and people in poverty not how it polices the world.
Since we've outsourced everything including food production/processing, we have to compete with the hungry world on the 'open' market. Open market pricing means more money for the heartless greedy corporations that run ruin the government (and less for the actual domestic producers).
It means that there is little suport for the common good. The country is turning in to a me first and the heck with everybody else situation. A nation should be judged by how well it takes care of its seniors and people in poverty, not how it polices the world.
Jack;
It is a cryin' shame !!
GITMO detainees get free gourmet meals prepared by the U.S. government and served by the U.S. government. The U.S. government even washes the dishes and sweeps the floor.
Gregory Turman
Noonday,Texas
Part of the answer is poor planning and priorities. Some healthy food is the cheapest -- beans, peanut butter, oatmeal, eggs, dry milk.
Another answer is people have not adjusted to this weak economy, with high
gas prices and fewer jobs.
The answers are many and complicated.
As my Brother's keeper, it means that our collective tax dollars needs to step in and help out until they get back on their feet.
In a world where only the rich matter, at least they're eating, and the rest of us get trickled on. No biggie.
It means that middle class America is bringing home 1990 paychecks to make basic, life-sustaining purchases in a 2012 economy. It doesn’t do much good to get a job if you’re not getting paid enough to eat. It also means that produce companies saw rising prices in other industries and thought it was a great time to climb on the bandwagon. Mostly, it means that government needs to control both food pricing AND the healthcare industry. I live in an agricultural state. I have never seen such UGLY produce for such steep prices. Lately, I can buy my meals at a take-out counter and pay less than cooking it at home. Something is wrong with that picture.
Jack: People who live on minimum wage can not afford to pay rent, day care, and buy food for their family. Plus they can not get another job, because there aren't any. Any time Congress talks about increasing the minimum wage the Republicans go wild. Oh by the way, they can pay the power bill some months. Life is very hard for the working poor in this country. Food stamps only last so long, and food banks also run short of food. But believe it or not the working poor are consumers. Consumer economics might pull this nation out of this recession.
I will take a wild guess at this one. The GOP pretty much tank the United States, over a period of 8 years (but if you consider the damage that began with Reagan's "trickle down" theory, you'll have to add more years, but I digress.), and President Obama has been trying to clean upo their mess for 3.8 years.
DO THE ARITHMETIC.
It doesn't mean anything to the politicians who have bankrupted this country. There are no more good paying jobs, and there is no more money left in the budget because 50% of the people pay 0 taxes but get 100% of the entitlements.
If those who claim to not to have enough to eat got rid of non-essentials like cellphones, internet access, and cable or satellite TV. And while they're at it quit playing the lottery, don't buy the 12 pack, and drop the cigarettes. There is easily a few hundred dollars per month extra.
People have had to put groceries back on the shelve in order to buy gasoline just to get to work if they are fortunate enough to still be employed. While the prices of groceries and gasoline continue to rise the take home pay is stagnate. People are living at or just beyond their means with no hope in sight. Meanwhile politicians are doing nothing to better the situation by changing policies to promote a recovery. Instead these same politicians are using the poor against the wealthy to get votes from the poor and campaign financing from the wealthy by blaming the other for the governments own failures.
As a certain billionaire said recently, they need to stop drinking and work harder.
Of course, she's Australian, but our 1% seems to have the same attitude about the 99% as theirs does.
Jack
It means that the middle class is disapearing and the "have" – "have not" divide continues to grow. Here comes the new Roman Empire. Bring on the gladiators.
Matt
Rockford
On the one hand ,that is a pathetic statement about what is being to the working poor in this country.On the other hand maybe they are not being poisoned as fast as the rest of us with genetically modified food. There are REAL PROBLEMS with this nation beyond war and jobs. For a bunch of supposed PATRIOTS some corporations are doing everything in their power to destroy this nation.
Jack: It the means the hidden industry of poverty is growing--and we are all ignoring it!
depends on who one is. Rich don't care, poor have to shift for themselves. Sad! But, niether candidate ever missed a meal, so they don't care!!!
It means that Food Stamps were cut too much in welfare reform (so that people could not use these as an alternative to the work requirements of TANF) and the truly needy are therefore being punished for Republican propaganda, with Democrats lacking the courage to stand up for the poor. Also, it is too hard for the working poor to get benefits as well. Too many holes in the safety net. It really is time to replace the whole thing with a refundable child tax credit that is enough to survive on, tied to either work, disability or education. Being able to feed yourself and your family should be automatic in a society such as ours.
It means the wheels have come off the wagon Jack. The once mighty American juggernaut has ground to a halt. 50 million represents about 16% of the population that are reliant on welfare or some other form of public dole. That is simply not sustainable and the ship of state is sinking.
Gary in Scottsdale, Arizona
It means that not only have we had a NET loss of 1.3 million jobs, we have had about a 7% drop in household income, for those who still have jobs.
That is the harsh reality of the Democratic Party seeking to take total control of America, in their subversive efforts to prevent any other party from challenging their position of dictatorship.
With Obama.......we didn't just get a typical welfare President, we got someone who wants government to control every aspect of our lives.
It means corn is going into the mouths of automobiles instead of the mouths of people which is ludicrous.
It means that the effects of eight years of George W running two wars on a credit card and leaving Wall Street police itself to the point of just about causing another Great Depression is still having effects on our economy. It also means these same people will suffer more if they elect another George W in the form of Romney who will make the middle class and the poor suffer even more while using them as a step stool to push the wealthy even higher into more wealth.
It means they were buying tea bags instead. This question is so sad and so loaded that it could drown an overloaded potato with political empathy (who approves that message?). There are many reasons and I believe every politician representing our great 50 states gets a slice of hunger pie.
What does it mean if more than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food last year?
Examples are : too much expenditure going abroad , wars, etc.; improper distribution of wealth
between the 'have/s' and 'have not/s" ; "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped
down your fields...the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the
Lord of sabaoth" (James 5: 4). The causes of unemployment need to be blotted out with
LOVE, and the people go back to work.
Wherever that is I don't think I could afford to shop there.
Jack, it means that 30 years of Republican economic policies have finally caught up to us. Those economic policies that favored the very rich in this country have kicked the legs out the middle class, forcing more and more hardworking people into poverty.
In the near-term, jack, it says that we have been through an economic crisis and area compassionate nation. But, in the long-term it says that we have failed those who are perpetually on food-stamps by not spending a lot of that money on means to get them out of poverty and off the program. If we continue to simply paper over the issue with nmore netitlements we will perpetuate a government-dependent underclass and seal our economic doom.
It means if congress doesn't do anything next year they will be eating and 100 million Americans will not be able to buy food.America needs to stop blaming this president put the ball where it belongs , in congresses court.
How come there is no shortage of money for Tattoos' drugs, booze and all the things that don't enhance ones life?
It means that Obama's plan of total government dependency is right on track.
It means that Bush and the Repubs destroyed America's economy, including milions upon millions of jobs, AND since then, the Repubs have roadblocked every serious effort to restore the economy and build jobs. Millions with no jobs, and millions more with extremely low-paying jobs, means millions more going hungry and applying for food stamps and welfare. And it will get worse, since the same people that destroyed those jobs now want to reduce welfare, food stamps, education, health care, and anything else that might help the nation recover. You get what you vote for.
It means employers would rather increase their bottom line than pay employees a living wage. It means profit over people, and it represents the the sinful gap between those that have and those that don't. Maybe Romney would like to open up that gigantic Mormon hoard that they keep for their own people and spread some of it around.
Aside from the drought, the middlemen, the grocery chains and all those connected with the food industry keep raising the prices. Getting foodstamps are becoming a necessity. The Repubs aren't empathic so naturally they'll want to cancel the food stamps. They should try using a food stamp themselves.
Americans can afford to buy food. After all, we waste 40-50% of the food we actually buy anyway. I live overseas amongst real poor people, not "poor people" who dont have enough money for cable TV or Red Bulls. Poverty in america by and large is a joke.
Extreme poverty, quite simply, is extremely hard to find in the US. Go overseas and see real poverty. Here, you can buy a weeks worth of groceries at a Walmart for less than $100. Get a job and in two days you have that money.
It means the policies pushed by the Republicans and articulated by Alan Greenspan—namely pushing globalization and off-shoring to reduce inflation—has worked.
Globalization was exerting a dis-inflationary impact.
Chapter Eleven, "The Nation Challenged", The Age of Turbulence (2008), p. 22
It means that Obama’s presidency is a dismal failure, or the previous dismal failure of a presidency dug the hole much, much deeper than anyone realized – or both. My money is on both. Unfortunately, Obama focused on his Obamacare legacy instead of jobs, leaving us in the lurch. Had he made the wiser choice, he would have killed two birds while buying time for himself as he worked on his place in history. Now we may be stuck with the Romulan.
What does it mean? Simple: with corporate profits at an all-time high and Wall Street at a near all-time high and after ten years of tax cuts for millionaires, I mean job creators, this situation tells me that "trickle down economics" don't work. If trickle down economics did work, we are not having this conversation, because economic food scraps would have trickled down and the need for food stamps wouldn't exist.
Jack,
If the Party of No would quit the crap they are pulling and do something to help the general public then we might see more people getting off of Food Stamps because they have jobs. It is Congress and its policies that affect the economy, not the President. Get the Republicans to stop the sabotage of the economy and compromise on a solution and we will see the need for government assistance start to go down.
I Think its unfair to say Republicans want to just cut back on food stamps spending. Republicans are just as compassionate as Democrats or anyone else. Republicans want to create jobs which will reduce the need for food stamps. The president has spent the last four years demonizing the very people we need to create those jobs so who can blame them for just standing back to see whats going to happen.
It means Jack that we desperately need some jobs in this country!
South Carolina
A group here tried to teach poor people how to garden in the community garden. They refused to learn. Apparently they were not all that hungry. Most Americans rely on processed food and precooked entrees, at least some of the time. Poor people have no idea how to roast a chicken, cook a roast, make a pot of ham and beans. And they don't want to learn how, either. Apparently they are not all that hungry.
means obama has made ti too easy to get on welfare without no work requirments i mena i seen now hiring sighs ak kmart, mcdonalds hey a paycheck is a paycheck your earning money not milking the taxpayers i do agree thet many need to be in welfare but nor nearly 50 million somethign is fishy here
It's very said that there so are many people in need in this land of plenty. What's even more sad is that multimillionaires like mitt romney would pull the safety net out from under people who have nothing. They meaning the gop doesn't seem to grasp or understand the plight of poor people. I don't really think they care.
American politicians are stinking rich. How can these millionaires possibly understand the plight of the poor in America?
Your politicians own the companies and seemingly want to keep half the population needy and poor. After all, a desperate workforce is a compliant and cheap source of labor. If 50 million poor souls have been kicked off the food wagon under the Obama administration, just imagine what's going to happen if Romney wins in Novemer.
We can feed the poor, reduce the fraud, and help our nation's farmers in one fell swoop. Replace the program with one that uses specified vouchers that allow them to buy meat, vegetables, bread, milk and cheese. People argue that taking away recipients choices is demeaning and cruel, but I don't think there is anything wrong with offering good, nutritional food instead of chips and pop, to our nations' poor.
That the more things change, the more they stay the same, People have been hungry since civilization began. My grandmother received an orange as her Christmas gift in 1905. Bobby Kennedy asked a black child in MS if she had had lunch that day in 1967. The President should be praised, not criticized for Increasing the food stamp allotment. Am I not my brother's keeper?
It means that what you're saying is a lie, Jack.
Didn't you know that the recession ended three years ago?
– A, SF, CA
It means that 30 years of "trickle down economics" has been a complete and abject failure. It means that corporations (or as the supreme court refers to them: people) are making record profits and paying the American workers that they have actually kept on the payroll wages that cannot feed a family. It means that they have taken away good paying American jobs and pay slave labor overseas, while making billions at the top. God help us if we elect a Republican, we will all be making $8 an hour and there will be no public programs to assist families.
free stuff is democrats plan to fix the economy. thats 50 million votes for mr. obama 2012. pam in texas
WHere are the Pundits getting enough specifics of the Romney Tax plan to tell the rest of us how it will affect us? No one is talking fact but Pundits somehow know details.
Fifty thousand closed factories since Bush II. More and more jobs being sent overseas. Gasoline, housing,clothing, medical insurance costs are through the roof. The cost of basic food items have doubled since Bush II. Bread, $3.50 a loaf! Tomatoes, $1.99 lb. Don't even look at chicken or hamburger w/pink slime!! Jack...Where are the jobs that Boehner promised? Isn't that what the teabaggers ran on... Where are the jobs? But, all is not lost.....thankfully for our SOCIALIZED economy. our hired help get the best pay and medical for themselves and their families. Does Mitch McConnel think for a second that his constituents would put out of pocket for his entire salary and benefits? Or, would Boehner, Cantor, West, Bachmann. Walsh and the rest of the teapots would they get their same salary if their constituents were paying? I think not. It's high time that our hired help work for us and not their our special interests........the ones with money to burn. Be careful in who you vote for.
Republicans, as you said, want to cut this program. They have theirs; now these folks have to pull themselves up by 'their bootstraps' and take care of themselves. Get a job!! They 'like' living off the government according to Republicans. I'll stick with the Pres!! Everybody deserves a chance. We need to take care of our nation. If all these rich guys donating to political PACS were to use that money for FOOD for the poor, we would be better off. No negative ads and people would be fed. What a creative idea!!! I'm just saying........
It means that a country where people go hungry while almost $2 BILLION will be spent on this presidential campaign has its priorities really SCREWED UP!
It means that we not only have to invest in opportunity as Julian Castro urged but we need to improve short term solutions to feeding Americans so that we can all live to realize the opportunities. You know Jack up until the 1990s you could see the ratio of wages to revenues grow during recessions and shrink during booms. It led to more stable communities than we enjoy now and less need for government invention to bail out failing companies.and hurting people. Maybe new management is simply not as smart as some old-timers were.
I'm sure the answers you get will run the gamut from "People just want to play the system." to "It's our right as Americans." What it truely means is that we not only have a free market economy -which is okay- , but that we also have a free market society, where it's okay to comsume too much or even deny others a fair share as a part of a game of haves and have nots.
It means that the Republican side of the House needs to sign President Obama's Job bill so more people can have jobs. We were in the same shape when Reagan was in office. My husband's factory closed leaving him with 19 years of service and when Bush one was in my husband's next job closed, he had 9 years of service. Again what kind of pension can you get with 9 years of service? He was told at job service that no one would hire him because he was too old. I hope Romney doesn't get in as he doesn't understand that people do struggle through life, but I would rather struggle with Prez. Obama. He at least knows some of what we go through.
It means that Congress recieved another raise andare thinking only of themselves.
It means that a greater number of the so-called middle class have now become poor and are in need of any help they can get to eke out a living. If the government keeps giving only the rich tax breaks and cuts (which Mr. Obama wants to stop), that in the next 10 years or so, there will be no middle class ... only the very rich and the very poor.
It is odd that obesity in this country is growing by leaps and bounds at the same time that hunger and food stamp use is growing. I don't like it but I do know it will not end with a chiding comment about this nations economic recovery. People know that the food stamp program is bought and paid for with tax dollars just like the latest smart bombs and fighter jets are bought and paid for with tax dollars. If the republicans slash the food stamp program to the extent that they would like my question is; Will the CEO's of grocery store chains begin screaming just as loud as defense contractors and neocons scream when defense spending is cut? Or will they just raise the cost of food to compensate for the lost revenue brought in by the food stamp program? "An Army travels on its stomach" and the Republicans want to keep it that way and that way alone.
That people right here in the USA are in need of some serious help. OOPS we can't help them we need to spend money on wars and send billions to other countries. How pathetic. I can believe it but by looking at many people in public they must be eating something.
What it tells me and the reason I have left not only the Republican Party but also the SBC, Trickle down doesn't work. When the party that claims "God blesses the rich" so join the band wagon. They have failed the working class by sending jobs overseas and brings their crap back to us to purchase. My God doesn't work that way. My God, the "God of Abraham" tells us to care for the poor, the elderly, orphan, sick and the stranger in a strange land. And they have both failed..."We the people". The church and government have robbed both God and man. By giving to the Rich who worship the god of capitalism and give our tithe money to lobbyist who work for themselves and government, And not to honour my God...they will suppress the poor etc., and give entitlements to the rich and call the poor and unemployed lazy. The United States does not need another republican president to take us back to 2000 but a good old fashioned Revival...
It means, the US political system, which should address the major problems of its citizens, is not working. Yes, it is costing, but the Republican alternative amounts to the advice to "borrow money if you have to from your parents" or from somebody else. So here's my question: Can I borrow from Mitt Romney?
It means that the Republicans have succeeded in creating the country they want. 99% starve so that 1% can eat double portions of caviar. State aid has been cut more than federal aid has increased, and the Republicans want to cut federal aid as well. What part of recession and more people out of work do they not understand? Are they just indifferent to the suffering of the hungry in this country? Or do they actually enjoy seeing people suffer?
OReilly says it's because they are too lazy to work hard so they can't get a decent job.
What does it mean if more than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food last year ?
Answer : (with a Question) What percentage of these people attend professional football & baseball games practically every weekend in these packed stadiums and fields ??
Unfortunately, it means the political blame will go on. Neither side is willing to compromise to help American citizens. But the truth is that Obama created 4.6 million jobs after he got rid of the job declines, courtesy of the Bush administration, within 12 moinths. Only going on on this path will prevent another trickle down Great Depression or Great Financial Crisis.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away! It sounds like we should expand the food stamp program. Good nutrition is the key to good health, and if we don't spend money to feed the people and our youth, it will cost us later in higher medical bills.
Also, the human anatomy develops the most at the younger ages, and depriving our youth of food could be extremely costly as they grow up, and it could very well affect the development of the brain, and this could affect their learning ability and lower the skills that they should develop and will need when they enter the work force as they grow older.
What does it mean if more than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food last year?
The Great recession is actually the Great Depression part 2.
It means all of the above and then some. I've been unemployed for 5.5 years now. I've had no health care for about 12 years now. I spent all the retirement income I had saved now. I take care of my 85 yr old mother who has Alzheimer. Were it not for her social security checks, we would be going hungry now, too. At 61, almost 62, no one will hire me, besides which, there's no one else to take care of my mother. We can't afford nursing home or in home care givers. It wouldn't make sense for me to pay someone more money than I can make to take care of my mother while I go work. Social Services says we don't qualify. I grew a garden this year, as I do every year. It helps, but we can't grow everything in our climate, and it is quite difficult for me to do it all by myself. Our other family members have all passed on.
it means that President Obama should get at least 46.7 million votes.
It means that the Republican's ideology - every man/woman for himself - did more damage to this country than anyone first thought.
It means Republican obstructionism is real, and it's hurting the recovery.
Third World demographics here we come.
It means that the Republicans are achieving one of their ends of growing the defense establishment instead of providing for the least of our own citizens.
Republicans blocking bills. Thanks Mitch.
Hey Jack
It means, Americans are in need, Tax cut for wealthy has put Americans loose job, and on the food stamps. No one of top 1 % are on food stamp, because they have robbed country. It is time to put Romney in his dung in Switzerland, and Obama in the office again
It means people need to stop getting their nails done and stop buying their I phones, and start feeding their children!
WHAT? jack, if 46.8 million Americans are on food stamps, for 7 monyhs of the year.....Then how can unemployment only be 8.1 to 8.3 % Were moving to canada!
Sounds to me like were on our way to being a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY to many people
What does it mean when we have 50 million people on food stamps ? Simple question Jack. We need a new leader in this country that can get us into jobs and out of food stamps.
It means the wealthy few have hidden so much money in overseas tax shelters, that they are literally starving the American people and bankrupting our country. Greed and contempt for the poor are unAmerican and largely Republican characteristics.
Jack,
It probably means they're spending a ridiculous percent of their income on housing. I bet the cost of housing, compounded by perhaps taking on too much credit card debt, is the primary limiter of upward mobility. I don't know what can be done to reduce housing costs as they are typically dictated by local market conditions, but I am confident in saying that if people didn't have to pay so much for it they would be able to either save money for investment or retirement expenses or buy more stuff, both of which would be great for our economy.
It means that the Bush tax cuts and drug prescription program that had no money put aside to pay for them, has finally caught up and caused such a deficit that it will take years to fix..l think Pres. Omaba has the right approach...and the Republicans are already saying that will not raise taxes on the rich, so guess things won't progress as fast as they could and it will all be blamed on the Pres .
If the fat cats who control hiring in this Country would loosen their millions in profits and hire again, we would be down to 5% unemployment, instead they are trying to buy Romney the election. Won't work, President Obama will be re-elected in spite of them,
It means that putting 50% of the corn we grow in the US in our gas tanks is too much! It has driven the price of food through the roof and that as much as unemployment is why many Americans can't afford to go to the grocery store. Ethanol is helping the overall CO2 footprint anyway.
it means that huge amounts of money will be spent on campaign ads no one wants to see when, if it was donated to food banks instead, would pull in more voters than all the negative ads.
It means this country actually doesn't believe in Christian values. And it helps to illuminate the cause of lower test scores for some groups of students.
It means that our Congress has its priorities bass-ackwards! As usuall!
What it means is, this is NOT the time, in an allegedly civilized society, to cut back on social welfare protections. It all goes to the 'we're in this together' v. 'you're on your own' values question.
Jack – 50 million hungry people means that 14% of our entire population has no chance at the "American Dream".
It means that more and more people are falling under the poverty line and that the last thing we need is a President that can't relate and is not willing to relate to Americans that no longer can make it without any help. We also don't need or want a President that is going to cut programs that help the average American barely make it by the skin of their teeth.
I don't believe the numbers for a minute. I just don't see how obesity is a major health problem in this country while somebody tells me that 50 million are hungry. I would also ask why every restaurant I pass by is filled?
People might need to start taking charge and planting more gardens for themselves to supplement at least a portion of their own food cost. This is quite scary.
Perhaps they forego the new tattoos and trips to the tanning salon.
It means the system is broken just like everything else our government runs. I am student at Michigan State University and know several kids who have "bride cards" good for $200/month in aid. Funny thing is, most of these kids don't need it at all. Most are from well-off families. They are absolutely taking advantage of the clowns running this program. Why does a girl I know drive an $80,000 Hummer and receive aid from taxpayers? It literally blows my mind how dumb our government can be, Jack.
It means that we need a new President, because the one we have squandered any chance of reaching across the isle long ago when he said "Elections have consequences...I won"....
With the unemployed, underemployed and just plain given up, no wonder millions are on food stamps. We need a change at the top. Give someone else a chance to get this nation back on track.
Jack have you checked the prices on food recently? If they keeping up we all will need food stamps!! having a job would help but they are scarce. Congress must get their act together and help us out of this economy!!!!!
It means if the Republicans had their way those 50 million people would have starved. It is a great shame that many people are going hungry....and it behooves us to expand programs that help people who through no fault of their own are going hungry.
Food stamp program is one I have no problem supporting. Every American should have enough to eat. Food is expensive and times are hard. I don't begrudge anyone who qualifies the food assistance they need. Advertising the availability of food stamps is a caring and responsible thing to do. And it helps farmers.
That many people on food stamps means, Republicans screwed us up and nowRomney is tryin to do the rest.
It means that even though thanks to the Obama Adminisitration we could avert the most disastrous world-wide Depression ever seen (caused by Repubican special interests and corporate greed and deregulation) that the recession left in its wake will still take some time to recover from...
Duh!! It means food costs too much. When you reduce the subsidies to the few farmers that produce the food the prices go up. Subsidize the farmers that grow it or the millions of end users that buy it....most of which arent even looking for a job or getting paid under the table anyway.
This means the the republicans in congress needs to stop playing games and pass the jobs bill that was presented to them a year ago.
It means my Social Security check will be in my account on Wednesday morning and I'll be able to buy groceries, I don't think Romney and Ryan have any idea what it means to be hungry.
Knowing that those numbers are true and people are hungry in the most prosperous nation in the world, isn't it shameful, hypocritical, immoral, and wasteful for 2 campaigns and 2 conventions to have spent how many millions?? A lot of folks could have been fed on all that money. I rest my case!!
It obviously means something is going wrong, something that our nations politicians aren't understand. Lower class american's are paying more on taxes with the little money that they have. This leaves little room for food plus other necessities . I'm only 17, but when I see that my mother works hard to provide us with little food, some nights she doesn't eat, it breaks me into pieces.
It means that destruction of the middle class initiated years ago is proceeding as planned. The real question is what are we, the people, going to do about it?
I think it's inexcusable. It means we have a president who has done little for the economy. It means people may have jobs, but many are part time or low wage. If this is hope and change, then it's a sad state of affairs. Bottom line, unemployment is still over 8%. That hasn't changed and people need to be aware of that. The economy is not good nor is it going to get any better if we re-elect the joker currently in office.
I guess not everyone is better off than we were 4 years ago....
with the unemployed, under employed and just plain given up, no wonder millions are on food stamps. We need a change at the top. Give the contender a chance tol get this nation back on track.
Jack: Perhaps if those 50 million hungry Americans became friends with 100+ million who eat too much, you could solve two birds with one stone if you convinced the obese to share with the hungry... all without spending a single (borrowed) government dollar.
Fr. Tim
Mattawa, Ontario
I think people are to lazy to work & why should they when gov.hands it out like its candy.I believe if you can fill out a form or have someone do it for you "with lies" you can get all kinds of welfare!!
Jack , it means the recovery is slow and painful for the least among us. Thank God for government and food stamps. Far batter than a reduction on these programs as the GOP wants done. Now is this where we want to be , absolutely not but this is what triclke down economics have done for us. By the time it gets down for the poorer of us , it is barely enough to substain them. GOP policies would make this far worse .
It means that the Bush tax cuts, the Bush wars, and the Bush Recession have increased income inequality to an obscene level.
50 million people can't afford to buy food, but the grocery stores have had record-breaking profits the past few years. It is criminal that grocery stores charge such exhorbitant prices for necessities. Obviously the job market has a lot to do with this problem. When we stop shipping our jobs overseas, Americans will again be able to afford to eat. Corporate greed to is to blame for the majority of our problems in the US.
Calm down, Jack. It mean's we're still recovering from the recession. As for the Republicans, they want unlimited spending to bomb other countries but don't want to take care of our own at home. For shame, for shame.
People need to get their priorities in order. First you need to cut down on luxury items, like $150 cell phone bills, $100 cable and internet bills, $200-$300 electricity bills from having your air condition blasting 24/7, etc. Second you need to shop smart. For me that means buying what groceries I can from places like Walmart and Costco. I bought a large deep freezer for meat and when I find chicken marked down 50% or more I buy a large amount. For vegetables, I pick ones which are in season or frozen. For grains I buy a lot of rice, the 20+ lb bags are a real bargain. With just cheap chicken and white rice, I know my family will atleast be fed. To allow your kids to go hungry is unacceptable. People be smart about it. If you have to choose between cable,internet, and cell phone or food. YOU CHOOSE FOOD!
republicans hate foodstamps and welfare so its so ironic they are the party that causes more people to need govt assistance. obama is doing a great job. if we keep him in office things will keep getting better. if the republlicans win thing will crumble as they always do when they are in office... stop voting for republicans and the democrats wont have to keep trying to clean there mess...
Jack,
I means that the GOP delivered Great Recession was a just heart beat away from being the second Great Depression. We didn't bounce back from that one in just 4 years and we won't with this one either. It's going to take more time to come back from this than most Americans with our "want it now" attitude are willing to give it. RK
It means that 17 million of us don't eat as well as Anne Romney's dressage horse.
After my company was caught up in the mortgage crisis and laid over 500 employees off in 2010. Me, being unemployed with diligent employment seeking and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from an Ivy League college was happy to receive the $77.00 of food stamps a month. Without those $77.00 I would have went to bed hungry. If the election take place and the Republicans win, I am afraid if I don't find a job and lose those 77.00 a month, I would go hungry. But, I would sacrifice my $77.00 a month for the millions of children who go hungry every night. The rise in food stamps, JACK, is not a result of Obama presidency, but the failed policy of the same Republicans who want to cut food stamps for people like me.
It means that we have to choose between food and prescriptons....no jobs, no insurance....no meals out, no new clothes, no presents for family or ourselves, no money for gasoline. we're prisoners in our little adobe in the woods loading up on cheap carbohydrates; our only "splurge" is a bundle that includes our principle contact with the outside world, the Internet. Beautifully Bohemian, splendidly sparse yet love prevails.
It means that we have forgot that WE ARE OUR BROTHERS KEEPER. If only more were more willing to help those who have less.
Jack, under previous Presudent we were reducing the number of Americans on food stamps through a strong economy that created jobs. We gave Americans the ability to find work and feed their families. America can not take four more years of the past four.
People do not have the money to buy food...t he Rich and the politicians enacted over decades self serving laws, corporations over decades refined their way of sucking as much money out of society that there is less and less to go around; if you suck all the blood out of a living organism the organism dies...
Money is the same to the economy as blood is to a living organism, if you suck trillions out of the economy to just put it on a big piles, the economy dies.
Jack – Perhaps spending is out of control but I'd rather give money to feed children that go hunrgy then continue to give wealth folks tax cuts. As the old saying goes.." For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink"...wait, thats a bible verse, isnt it? For a party that touts its self as Christian and value centered, Republicans seem fall real short on morals and values.
It means more people than we are comfortable to admit have been impacted by the Great Recession! How do we expect to compete in the world if we fail to ensure that the hungry of our nation receive the support they need? It is adolescent and insidious to play politics with this issue . . . people are hurting and need to eat!
It means we don't have enough money to feed the impoverished, but we do have enough money to feed the military-industrial which is armed to the teeth to fight a full-blown which is no where in sight.
Don't blame all of this on politics or politicians. The are lots of people recieving food stamps as well as other services that do not qualify. People are scamming the food stamp system just as much as they are any other part of the system. It simply means people need to get an education and get off the system. Stop blaming the politicians for our problems. We as american's need to take ownership of our own failings. We just simply have a lot of lazy people. We have a middle class house hold and we work hard for our salaries and we feel everyone needs to carry their own load. There are jobs but people don't have the education for the jobs. Anyone that thinks other wise is either scamming or an idiot! Everyone needs to listen to President Obama and move forward. People have been looking back too long.
It means that even with jobs Americans don't make enough to buy food! Let alone any product made by the companies they work for! How do you improve the economy when people earn less than what it takes to live in this country!
Maybe the corporations could take a lesson from a real American patriot: Christopher Ludwick, baker to the American Continental Army in the Revolution. This German-born gingerbread baker not only contributed money for militia muskets and powder, he fed the American troops, making 134 pounds of bread for every 100 pounds of flour because he believed it was unpatriotic ti make any profit from the war. He convinced Hessian prisoners that America was a much better place than 18th century Germany and got them to desert the British to become American citizens. During the Yellow Fever plague in Philadelphia he fed the poor freely. Yet for all his charity, he died rich and was able to endow schools and orphanages.
It means that ppl are too dependents on gov and less ppl remember or have learned to grow small, home gardens to supplement their food budget.
Stop it! Take a walk in any Super Market, Shopping Mall, Wal-Mart, even churches. 85 % are obese! Not overweight, but obese. Where are they getting the food? If there's one thing this country has plenty of it's food. People not knowing how or being to lazy to cook anymore is the problem.
It means there soon may be peasants at the gates with pitchforks. I can just see Ryan saying "Let them eat cake!'
I am a white registered republican. However, I have a family with two small children. I lost my job and I my family was going hungry and food stamps saved my family from full time hunger. I think we should feed 3rd world America first. It saves people from going homeless. I am with Obama on this one.
Nashville TN
Jack:
It means that our country is being held for ransome by an intransigent congress that committed itself two years ago to limiting Obama to one term . . . even if 60 million of those who elected them into office should go hungry!! How audacious! Then they have the gall to turn around and blame Obama.
Food cost to much! They need to lower prices! Period!
Because my family and I aren't going hungry doesn't mean I don't have empathy for those Americans who are and to take away food stamps is just plain heartless and evil. It is a moral responsibility for any politician to serve the people and not be self-serving.
The problem with food stamps is the same problem with the entire welfare system. Too many people misuse the program and don't need it. I personally know a few people who use food stamps and then go buy other unneeded items with their money. These same people are also capable of working and have jobs available but don't want to work. It's not Obama's fault. Wake up America and take responsibility for your life and leave the welfare programs for those who truly need them.
A hungry kid cant get an education if they dont get an education they cant get abetter job so Obama is right to increase spending on programs like food stamps. Why do republicans want to put thier foot on the neck of the poor instead of lifting them up. Exactly the difference in this election.
It means there are not enough good paying jobs.....the middle class is slipping down the ladder to become known as the working poor.....they cant stay above water....and if the Repubs have their way, as they are in Red States now...all public agecies will be privatized, public employees will lose their retirement, and new employees wont have any benefits and lower wagers......until we get these politicains to really work at our problems we will continue to slip.....
Honestly, the state of the economy is depressing and annoying. I have been out of work for the past 8 months, despite my master degree from IVY league , and nearly depleted my retirement savings, yet, there is no end in site to this malaise. I wish to change course with the ruling political party, but Republican Party is not offering me a better alternative.
Jack, If I don't get job in the next 3 months, I will gladly relocate to Canada or Australia to start again. I am sure most people on food stamp wish they could turn the table, but have no alternative. Lets hope they have the fortitude to stand a little longer
It means we are still the type of country that don't let our children go hungry. I don't see how some think it's okay to let children starve here in America. I think taking away food stamps from the poor and hungry is the most heartless thing I can think of. What would Jesus do?
It means that too many people do need help but there is room for oversight in the system. I worked my way through college (when it was still possible to do so!) as a cashier in a grocery store. That job left me fully believing that food stamps should certainly be available but should not cover such items as soda, lobster tails, and imported food products. Waste, fraud and abuse are rampant. There is an absolute need, but the program could be run more economically by making healthy basic foods are available to more people by cutting the waste.
Mr. Cafferty:
Last month a figure was presented that 100 millions of people were on welfare. If the figure now is that 50 millions could not buy food....that is a 50% improvement no!? By the way, the 90 thousand jobs increase?...is that just a lot of french fries we don't need? Good jobs we need ! These jobs are called "gainful employment" but all we get is starchy potato fryer type jobs. SAD indeed !
When I was a child, my mother wanted to follow the Jewish high holidays even though we were Roman Catholic because she said Jesus was a Jew. A Jewish lady in our neighborhood told us we had to fast from sundown to sundown for Yom Kiippur. My mother response was "Is that all." We had experienced hunger longer than that. Hunger in America is not new. I am 70 years old.
Jack, We spend about 90 billion on war each year. What if we used 1 trillion dollars spent on war over the last decade to fight hunger for 50 milion in USA? That is $20000 per hungry American for 10 years. The hunger problem would have been nipped in its bud. Our country's priority list was simply ranked incorrectly and we are dearly paying for it now. I just don't see an end in sight for the hunger problem.
Take the $3 that we check on our tax forms for campaigns and use that for something more useful. The campaigns apparently don't need it when you see the exorbitant amounts spent on campaigns. Joan D in Great Falls MT
Jack, here's some food for thought... i bet you if you were to look further into that study you would find that the majority of those folks live in large cities where the cost of living is out of control.If you ask me i would say that not only is the economy bad when it comes to unemployment , but so is the cost of living in this country... No one seems to talk about that.All we here is the Government is to big and there's to many people on food stamps.. Jack how about bringing that up sometime soon. Thanks
I think we should immediately vote the millionaires their tax break like the Republican Party wants so they will be even richer and those poor people your article talks about will be even poorer. Pretty soon, if the Republicans have their way, will have a very wealthy class and a very poor class.
How much does 50 pounds of potatoes, 25 pounds of rice, and 50 pounds of beans cost? Not much. How long would it last a family of four? A VERY long time. Stop buying take out food, already prepared food, and start using the kitchen like the "old timers" did. People have become very LAZY. They want everything already prepared by somebody else (very costly), and handed to them paid for by the government.
The American Taliban (Tea Party) high jacked our government and shut down all progress on critical economic job creation proposals. These people are Un American and should be removed from office. Shame on them for their selective and self directed reading of the constitution. What kind of country do they really have in mind.
It means Jack Cafferty has another chance to try to raise hatred for the poor and promote the republican austerity agenda. Whatcha gonna do when children are dying on street corners, Jack? Toss 'em a stale bagel while you hurry by? Food stamps cost us 76 billion last year? Oooh. How much did the phony wars and tax breaks for the rich cost "all of us"? Keep on beating that dead horse though, if it ups your ratings. What is wrong with republicans anyway? Were they born selfish, or did they acquire the trait from their parents?
It's not surprising when you consider the fact that the GOP has blocked or stalled any chance of repairing the economy. The GOP is acting like a disgruntled spouse that doesn't want to pay child support out of spite! The fighting has to stop, just as in an actual family all it does is hurt the children ( The population of this country ). To me the choice is clear elect Mitt Romney ( Gordon Gekko ), or reelect President Obama ( William Wallace), working for the common people while being backstabbed by the nobles, and the rich.
In order to lower the cost of food, we need to lower the cost of transporting that food. Every time we get close to $4/gallon it drives the proce of food through the roof. We need to convert diesel trucks to natural gas (either LNG or CNG) and the cost of food will plummet.
It means that this 54 year old woman cried in the social services parking lot after qualifying for $200.00 per month foodstamps......it means she was flushed with a self perceived shame the first time she paid with her EBT card.......it means that 3 years ago she was making $55k a year and was now making under $1680.00 per month (to qualify for that $200/month in foodstamps) working a part time job......it means she is abundantly grateful for extended family who have helped pay her $1200.00 rent and kept a roof over her and her 2 young adults daughters' heads.......it means she is intelligent to know that the economic collapse was corp America's opportunity to downsize wages because lower payrolls mean more profit for the top......it means that food prices that skyrocketed along with oil prices when Bush was in office, never came back down and are increasing like everything else except wages........what it means the most though Jack, is that people like me used to be people like you – we earned our living and provided for our families........Obama understands that and will protect the safety net needed as the economy continues its slow, but steady pace forward.....
It means that we have to improve our behavior as we throw away about 40% of all food here in the US. Enough to feed an additional 120 million people!
It means you need to go to Fox Network Jack...your continued bashing of the president of the United States is unflattering and unpatriotic and leads to nowhere but down. Perhaps if the GOP and yourself had spent half as much time supporting the president, things would be very different now...
tampa, fl they went to the dr or bought medicine instead?
I'd like to say that the program isn't big enough, but it is a chicken and egg problem. No jobs, no food. No jobs, no taxes paid. No taxes paid, no money for food stamps. The problem is exacerbated because hungry people vote with their stomachs, not their heads, and voting to expand these programs do nothing to add jobs to the economy.
The problem with jobs streatches back to the eighties, with the leveraged buyout boom that pressured companies to find cheaper ways to make goods, which was exacerbated in the nineties with Clinton opening up trade to China at the behest of Walmart, which led to the wholesale exodus of American llight manufacturing to China, cheaper labor to the LBO kings (like Bain capital) to supply goods to Clinton cronies (like Walmart). So here we have two beneficiaries of those sea changes, Obama running on the Clinton legacy of charm and plantation politics, and Romney running on his capitalist experience.
With those two running, what hope does the common man have?
Imagine how many more will go hungry when Romney does away with social security,welfare,and foodstamps. The churches of America will go bankrupt!
Jack,
It means the pie is only so big and look who has most of the money.
It means the so called risk takers / job creators would rather sit on there trillions in cash instead of spending in and on the The United States.
It means to americans like myself that the higher powers that be are doing just what they always wanted to separate the country as a whole no more middle class, just the rich and the poor. Without jobs in this country, more and more people will be asking for assistance.
It means a lot of folks should be shedding some pounds. Sadly, tho, little to no $ means eating more dollar menu items at the fast food joints and that means more heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and the higher health care costs that go with that. Repubs better factor that into their lean, mean plans!
Maybe we should stop buying Nascar , football, baseball, concert, and all other prioritie tickets for awhile.
It means that while Corporate profits are at an all time high employee compensation is not. We're working longer and harder for less pay. Yep, the rich do get richer. Elect Romney/Ryan and the problem will be much much worse.
If the unemployment rate continues to stagnate, as some economists predict, and if the food stamp program is eliminate without the availability of other viable resources, potentially, 96 million people will not be able to buy food in 2013. Not the way to go. Besides, food prices, along with most other necessity type consumer products, continue to rise.
Rent is increased every year, despite the economy. It's not the loss of jobs, it's the increases every year by landowners maintaining an increasing profit margin in annual increments over a decade without ceasing for a breather..outta my mouth and into their pockets.
There was a drought this year and last year. Food prices have gone up. It effects everybody whether you pay cash or food stamps the food costs the same. Our dollar doesn't buy what it used too. And also people cut back unfortunately on food to pay other bills. Like keeping a roof over there heads. Otherwise the homeless statistics would go up! Can't do a thing about the weather. But I am sure this years drought will make prices even higher.
It's hard for some millionaires to understand that a person actuablly cannot go to the supermarket and throw in the basket what they need to feed their family. It's real and it happens. Food prices have risen and wages for some are stagnant and for some gone completely. Republicans are frustrated with programs that do handouts to the poor. Can they really go to sleep at night knowing some family goes to bed hungry because they just can't do anything about it?
It tell me that if they can't afford food then they probley can't afford healthcare,rent,utilities, or have to choose which they can go without,and are worse off than we imagine but out of sight out of mine in this country. I thought we we'er suppose to be the greatest country on earth,but it sure doesn't sound like it.But we do have the BIGGEST military,countless boondoggles for the politicans and corporation,and the greedy.
It means that people are struggling to survive to the point that its difficult even to provide basic needs for their families. It has nothing to do with race or politices. The struggle can be attributed to so many factors such as flat salaries for low income earners, inflation, cost to manufacture goods and the ginormous profits U.S companies are reporting as a result.
It means that the political class just doesn't give a darn.
I'm not sure how they came up with this number as I look around at Americans and see some of the most overfed people in the world.
It means that 4 times that number of Chinese have lifted themselves from poverty into the middle class at their expense.
It means we need another tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. Agree, right wingers?