More Texans turn to food stamps

[Judi Lynn]

Jan. 31, 2005, 6:32AM

More Texans turn to food stamps
Officials report 75 percent rise since 2000
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The past couple of months had been lean for Jorge Herrera, who got laid off from his construction job in November. He'd been looking for work, he said, but hadn't found anything. And he had a family to feed.

Raymond Carrizal listened intently from his corner table in the waiting room of the downtown San Jose Clinic. He handed the man a food-stamp application and showed him how to fill it out. A family of four can get as much as $499 a month to supplement their grocery budget.

"If anybody needs it, it's him," said Carrizal, an outreach worker for the nonprofit Families Under Urban & Social Attack who has spent the past three years getting hungry families signed up for the Lone Star Card, the state's electronic food-stamp program.
(snip)

"We are getting more and more phone calls here at our office," she said. "People are wanting to know where they can apply for food stamps, and it's not just people who have lost their jobs. It's people who are working and are falling below the poverty level."
Still, officials estimate that fewer than half the people who qualify for food stamps in Texas are getting them.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3016725
(Free registration is required)

[orthogonal]

1. Lazy theives!

They should work for a living, damn it!

I hear the Army's hiring.

[cthrumatrix]

14. this is the "bush doctrine".... slaves to the global elite

[Erika]

2. Yeah, go die for global corporatism

as Bush's achievement plan outlines.

[Sandpiper]

3. Fend for yourselves you "rugged individuals"

Government handouts are evil, remember?

[noahmijo]

4. Let em starve!!!

That's not what Jesus would want! Jesus would demand that they take care of themselves and not steal my hard earned tax dollars!!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. ironic the misery indexi is going up the fastest

in red states...

[Erika]

6. What's funny is Bush

He was born in Connetticut, attended elite New England prep schools, had a highly questionable service, had a friend buy him a ball team, lost an oil company and has never worked a day in his life. But he doesn't like freeloaders. What a joke.

[MADem]

44. AND...he doesn't give any of the production from his

RANCH to Second Harvest or any food pantry charities...but, oh, WAIT...he doesn't PRODUCE anything on that ranch!!! No pigs, no cows, no sheep....hell, let them eat brush, he cuts a LOT of that!

[LynnTheDem]

7. Lazy bastards, sucking up taxpayer's monies! Sure hope bush puts an END

to food stamp welfare Texans, like he & his republicans keep saying they will do!

And as for the US soldiers who are on food stamps, even worse! Are there not enough wars for them to be busy with??? Are they not FED when at war, and on the taxpayer's dollar???!

*the above is sarcasm, to liberals, and the true feelings of outage by rightwingnut assholes and to become RNC/Hannity/pigboy talking points soon.*

[BrightKnight]

8. Economic Girly-Man - n/t

[Ian David]

10. Economic Girly-Men... Jah...

[cyr330]

52. eeek

Who's that sow?

[Skittles]

9. it's gonna get like this everywhere

we are a one party rule now and that one party is anti-worker

[barb162]

38. I think it already is like this everywhere. But it's somewhat hidden

[ckramer]

11. Millions of working poor in this country need "Housing stamp" too

White House, we've got a problem!

[Sugarbleus]

19. Don't get me started....lol

WE HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS TOO. Who can afford to even buy a house let alone RENT one in the more populated areas?

It's odd, I see new houses being built in small vacant lots. The houses being built are tiny, close together, two story and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY EXPENSIVE!!! Who the hell are buying these things?

I also see, FOR SALE signs all over the place on used homes!! Do I see any affordable, decent clean rentals anywhere? HELL NO. Any clean, affordable used homes for sale? HELL NO.

Maybe, just maybe if I moved waaaaaaaaaay out to "Ruby Ridge" I MIGHT be able to afford a vacant piece of ground with no paved roads and not anywhere near a job. Oh cool, eh?

[MADem]

45. The people who buy those McMansions

...are idiots who like to sit on their crappers in the morning and have a friendly conversation with their neighbor sitting on THEIR crapper seven feet away. It reminds me of the old triple deckers you see up here in the northeast; they're packed together that closely. Only the old triple deckers have way more character, along with porches for everyone!

These folks like huge useless entry hallways that cost a fortune to heat, windows that are enormous and too high to clean, and walls that you can punch through with a pissed off attitude and a few brewskis under your belt. But hey, they make a good SHOW, don't they?

Give me a well-designed, smaller home that is easy to care for. They don't make those any more. If you are buying new, you either have to buy one of those monstrosities, or build yourself, if you want a single family home. Otherwise, it's off to a condo for you, if you can afford them. Crazy...

[fasttense]

12. Stand by, we'll all be eligible for food stamps soon

But the program will be cut back and we wont get them. Things will just get worse and by B*sh's third year (or seventh, depending on how you count) bread lines will be the name of the game, especially if you're over sixty-seven.

[ckramer]

13. $499 a month is quite generous though

[Ian David]

15. Do they have Canada Geese in Texas?

We're up to our necks in Goose-poop here.

You can't keep the things off the golf course, playgrounds, and reservoirs.

Those Canada Geese are so un-afraid of humans that with a handful of breadcrumbs and a baseball bat, your family would have enough goose-meat to last forever.

Maybe the Republicans should suggest that the poor start eating geese.

The ones that are already wounded are easiest:

[Sugarbleus]

17. LMAO--->"We're up to our necks in Goose-poop here."

This thread is serious but this is too funny....

Strangely, Elmer Fudd comes to mind. lol

But seriously you all..go check the poverty groups in 'politics and Issues' forums. Lots of discussions over there on these types of situations...and more.

People in DU may not know they exist or we just forget that these issues need some loud drum beating. Lots of similar topics to be discussed in those forums......try it.

[Mizmoon]

20. This has already happened, I swear!

06/11/01
Coalition Asks Missouri Governor to Halt Goose Kill

Governor Bob Holden
Missouri Capitol Building, Room 216
PO Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0720

Dear Governor Holden:

The Coalition to Protect Canada Geese asks that the Missouri Department of Conservation withdraw both from the killing of Canada geese and the feeding of the potentially contaminated geese to the poor via the Central Missouri Food Bank. The Coalition has determined that both programs fail to meet legal considerations, not to mention moral considerations.

--------

MDC has no legal authority to feed geese to the poor:
The Missouri Department of Conservation appears to have no legal authority to deliver the Canada geese to the poor. The Department of Social Services has the authority to regulate food commodities supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture. But other donations of food are not regulated by the DSS. The US Fish and Wildlife Services have agreed to let the MDC feed the geese to the poor, but that only would only relate to the Migratory Bird Act. The US Fish and Wildlife Services has no authority to deliver (potentially contaminated) wild geese to the poor of Missouri or any other state.

The Coalition requested on May 30, 2001, that the MDC provide its statutory authority to delivery the (potentially contaminated) geese to the poor.

http://www.canadageese.org/news15.html

[Ian David]

27. The geese may be contaminated?

How contaminated and with what?

[saigon68]

40. DIOXIN

You will---"GLOW IN THE DARK"--- LOL

[NickB79]

54. Hmmm, eat possibly contaminated goosemeat

And die of cancer 20 yrs down the road, or starve to death in the next month. I think I'll take my chances with the goosemeat. Seriously, the geese that need to be harvested live on golf courses, parks, airports and wildlife preserves in and near major cities. Most don't even migrate in the fall anymore; they become permanent residents. If those geese are contaminated with chemicals from their environment, wouldn't that mean that people living in those cities would already be exposed to those same chemicals on a daily basis? I don't understand that logic they used, trying to say the geese are contaminated by living in the very same area the people currently live in.

They have a similar program up here in MN, where snow goose and deer hunters can recieve extra permits to shoot in areas where they are overpopulated and damaging crops. The meat is then donated to the food shelf for needy families. I didn't get a chance to go hunting this fall, but next year I am definitely going to, if just to donate the meat.

[Sandpiper]

50. Let them eat Canada Geese!

n/t

[Sugarbleus]

21. Generous?

It depends on how many mouths you have to feed and where you shop.

We are living on a fixed income. I have three mouths to feed. I shop at a lesser store. My average grocery bill--including toilet paper, personal hygeine supplies, and razors (for example) comes to approx $200 every 10 days and I am careful what I buy at that! :shrug:

Luckily I still have the use of credit cards. For the first time I had to "charge" groceries last week.

[ckramer]

24. I think so.

$499/month can feed lots of kids in the family if you don't use these money buying drugs.

[Mizmoon]

25. You must think people can buy dope with food stamps

for over ten years people have used a credit card type of device, not physical stamps that can be traded for cash. It is now impossible to buy drugs with your card unless the store itself is shady.

[Sugarbleus]

28. ?? Where did drugs come into the article?

The man was laid off from his JOB. He wasn't a drug runner. You miss the point of the article I think. I just read another thread about poverty where a poster was discussing how even people in suburbia were having to use "food banks" because ends didn't meet.

We are talking about jobs, wages, and the cost of living skyrocketing...not drug addiction/use????????

If you know one shady character that does such a thing, it does NOT mean ALL food stamp users do that. Fercrissakes!

What the man got was a good thing, it beats zero. I was just saying it wasn't "necessarily" generous in todays economy. Do you have any idea what a loaf of bread costs? Plus there are necessities one cannot purchase with "food" stamps.. geez

[Chancellor Burr]

46. You are correct Sir

One may not buy smokes or alcohol with the Lone Star program and I'm almost certain that every other state rules the same way.

[prolesunited]

29. Yes, I'm sure these people are *ALL* buying drugs

instead of feeding their families — that is when they're not driving up to the grocery store in their fur coats, getting out of their Cadillacs and buying steak and lobster with your hard-earned tax money.

I hope that some day you experience the life of all these "lucky ducks" so that you can see how they live in such luxurious comfort. :eyes:

[DrWeird]

31. drugs? you mean penicillin, birth control, and children's tylenol?

I sure hope so.

[ckramer]

34. Take it easy people.

No offense to people using food stamps. I might be one one day so who knows.

What i'm saying is 500 dollars can feed a family of 4 or 5 quite nicely if the money be spent only on the grocery. Is that not true?

[Mizmoon]

37. yes you are correct

and it's especially true because the money can only be spent on food itself, i.e. no toilet paper or coffee filters, etc.

The drug comment got to me because I was once was on food stamps and I, like all the people I knew then, used them for food. The "food stamps spent on drugs" story is such an annoying red herring.

[Judi Lynn]

49. Hmmmm. Maybe costs are lower where you live. Real low. n/t

[Spacemom]

30. I'm not sure how you define "generous."

I guess it would be, if you consider feeding children crap like white bread and mac and cheese.

We are a family of 4 and there's no way I could make it on $499 a month for groceries. I shop at a "cheaper" store and buy generic whenever possible. But then again, I like to feed my children stuff like fresh vegetables and whole wheat bread. Go figure. :eyes:

[ckramer]

35. I don't know

I spent less than $300 a month for a family of 3 on grocery items so this is from my own experience. I do have vegetables plus meat for each meal and I have enough milk and bread everyday for the kid. We have snacks and drinks too. Toilet papers are included. I think I'm quite well fed and I eat healthy with that amount of money every month. I live in Massachusetts and shop at Shaws.

[Heddi]

43. You can't buy non-food items with Food STamps

meaning, you can't buy the following with food stamps:

Toilet Paper
Soap
Tampons
Shampoo
Clothes Detergent
Laundry Soap
Diapers
Clothing

FOOD stamps.

F-O-O-D.

[yellowcanine]

16. "Red States sucking on the Blue State Tit once again. But at least they

have low taxes - lousy schools, but low taxes.

[gratuitous]

18. Texas voted to re-elect Stupidhead by 62-38

So you have to figure that out of the folks mentioned in the story at least half of them voted for Stupidhead. This IS what they wanted, wasn't it? To lose their jobs, get food stamps, and be told they're a worthless drain on society? It's the Republican way!

Naturally, all these folks thought they were included in the 5% of the populace the Republicans actually service, not noticing that 62% is a mite bigger than 5%.

[GiovanniC]

32. There's a Flaw in That Logic

It is certainly possible that these people voted for Bush, but you have to consider the fact that if they were experiencing tough times, they might have, in fact, blamed Bush for their economic miseries. These people may have been Kerry voters. In any event, they are in dire straits.

[gratuitous]

39. Well, it's Freeper logic

So I guess a flaw is inevitable. Certainly folks in Texas or anywhere are in dire straits when they qualify for food stamps -- it's just frustrating when people don't draw a line from their need for food stamps with what they may have done in the voting booth on November 2.

That being said, I'd surely like to see more of my tax money spent for food stamps and assistance workers who help people to navigate the entitlement system than I would for bombs, guns, bullets and tanks and the folks to wield them.

[snippy]

22. Why can't they eat cake? n/t

[Tyrone Slothrop]

23. GD Texan Welfare Queens!!! n/t

[Ian David]

26. Yeah, and it's we in the Democrat Blue States paying their welfare

This is not a smear on the good Democrats of the red states, or even of the poor.

It just bugs the crap out of me that the people who espouse self-sufficiency and decry liberalism are the first to suck the money from our taxes using liberal social programs.

They vote against their own economic self-interest and we ALL pay for their mistake.

See:
Red States Feed at Federal Trough, Blue States Supply the Feed

Monday, September 27, 2004

The Tax Foundation has released a fascinating report showing which states benefit from federal tax and spending policies, and which states foot the bill.

US 50 States MapThe report shows that of the 32 states (and the District of Columbia) that are "winners" -- receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes -- 76% are Red States that voted for George Bush in 2000. Indeed, 17 of the 20 (85%) states receiving the most federal spending per dollar of federal taxes paid are Red States. Here are the Top 10 states that feed at the federal trough

States Receiving Most in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:

1. D.C. ($6.17) BLUE
2. North Dakota ($2.03) RED
3. New Mexico ($1.89) BLUE
4. Mississippi ($1.84) RED
5. Alaska ($1.82) RED
6. West Virginia ($1.74) RED
7. Montana ($1.64) RED
8. Alabama ($1.61) RED
9. South Dakota ($1.59) RED
10. Arkansas ($1.53) RED

More:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/1169123

See also:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/ff/taxingspendingupdate.html

[Megahurtz]

33. Oh come on,

not EVERYONE in the red states voted for Dimwit.:eyes:

[yellowcanine]

41. But it is a fact that red states get more money from Feds than they pay

in through Fed income tax while the opposite is true for blue states. That's what we are talking about. Probably true within most states as well that the red counties get more state money than the blue counties do. As (I believe) Harry Truman said. You want to live like a Republican, you have to vote Democratic.

[BrightKnight]

53. Actually, Texan's pay more money than they get back.

We don't have a stat income tax in Texas. Texas residents can not write that money off their federal income tax. Much if the lost revenue is made up for by increased sales tax. Since the neocons came into power Texas has ranked near the bottom in per capita spending on social programs.

I think that there must be something wrong with the $499 number quoted. I see a lot people using the food cards because I shop at night. Many people are too embarrassed to use them during the day. I have noticed that their grocery selections are basic and very sparse.

The best welfare is a job. I would never want to be subjected to that indignity of welfare.

I agree with the Truman quote.

[apple_ridge]

36. They can all join the Army and get 3 FREE squares a day.

[JNelson6563]

42. Bingo!

That's part of the plan! Soon there will be no organized labor to worry about breaking. The only jobs will be the army, Wal-mart and jail/prison. No unions there.

Ugh.

Julie

[Judi Lynn]

48. You bet! There IS a pattern. n/t

[oasis]

47. Just a preview of George Bush's "Ownership Society". (n/t)

[cyr330]

51. Hmmm

I wonder how many of those fools applying for food stamps voted for the Chimpanzee? For each one who DID vote for Bush*, I say tough shit; life is hard.

[area51]

55. Free registration

Anyone who doesn't want to register their personal info to read an article can go to http://bugmenot.com & get free logins/passwords.

---

"Prosperity is just around the corner." -- Herbert Hoover
"The economy has turned a corner." -- GW Bush

Herbert Hoover = GW Bush

Neither man cared about the Depression their economic policies created.