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There's a front page (though under the fold) NY Times article about how Mayor Bloomberg will open up food stamps to more people, by taking advantage of a federal waiver that allows makes it easier for "adults ages 18 to 49 who are not responsible for a child or incapacitated relative and are not physically or mentally unfit for work" to get stamps. The first thing we thought of when we just read the article's headline was how this seems to make Bloomberg's poverty polices more liberal than his Repubilcan vest would make him - and the article does a good job of summarizing how the Giuliani administration's tough stance on welfare was followed by Bloomberg, but now that's seems to be changing. Two weeks ago, the Mayor announced that welfare case loads were at a historic low, which might have been a factor in the Mayor deciding to go after the federal waiver. The waiver has been available for years, and other big cities have been using it. We wonder what other more liberal social policy the mayor will engage in now that's he's in his second term - perhaps a little evolution support?
The Mayor also created the Commission for Economic Opportunity (aka a taskforce to reduce poverty) last month.
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Why should able bodied adults not supporting children or a disabled relative be getting food stamps? That's just insanity, they want to eat, let them work, they don't want to work, let them starve, hunger is an excellent motivator.
OTC, you're an asshole. Five years ago I went through a lay-off, and as I was looking for work, 9/11 happened and made it even harder. My savings and lines of credit only kept me going for a little while, then I had to apply for food stamps so I wouldn't STARVE. I found a job in mid-2002 and am doing just fine. Remember, sometimes people go through unexpected bad patches in life, and do not have rich mommies and daddies to cover for them. I paid years of taxes to contribute, so I got back what I put in. Asshole!
OTC, have you never heard of the working poor? they are usually the people who sell you your clothes, cd's, groceries, etc. you know, the people who you hand over your money to every day. most of these people don't make nearly enough money (even from working 40 hours a week) to adequately feed themselves. and retail jobs usually make it very difficult to get a second job. think about that the next time the girl at duane reade gives you a little attitude. maybe she's hungry.
Remember when the PBA or some group mentioned NYPD recruits make so little they actually qualify for Food Stamps. (first year only, they make back to their regular NYPD salary after graduation)
Many people qualify for FS in this city, they don't apply due to the same old story. NYC makes it as difficult as possible.
If the IRS can make filing taxes on-line, so can this city make applying for FS on-line.
I just also want to add that not everyone who applies for government aid is a grocery bagger. You should've seen how many upwardly-mobile people were at the unemployment benefits office after 9/11, wearing stylish, expensive coats and shoes, with a somber look of humility on their faces. We all need help sometimes.
What the hell is the matter with you OTC? How did you get hung up on the crazy idea that people should be responsible for providing their own food?
Survivor knows the score - he would be dead right now if it weren't for FS. Sure, their are plenty of places where needy people can get food without going on FS, but Survivor is too cool to hang out with those grubby soup kitchen people.
And xnxox has the right idea - shouldn't the government just mandate what everyone earns and what everything costs? That worked really well in East Germany! Great point about those "hungry" Duane Read girls. Granted, most of them look 80 pounds overweight, but I'm sure they are really starving. Sort of like the kids in Africa with the bulging bellies, right?
And another great idea from Rev Pays! Online FS make perfect sense. We should also make sure that all these hungry people have wifi so they can order their FS while sitting in the park or hanging out at the beach.
Income restrictions for food stamps are tough. Has anyone checked the math? I, personally, suspect the food-stamp-eligible rookie cop was an urban legend. I think s/he'd need to have a big family.
BTW, whatever has become of the Mayor's Commission on Economic Opportunity since the announcements of its creation? Anyone hear tell of it since?
Even though I have a 6 figure job, I sometimes find it hard to make ends meet, with my lux Manhattan condo rent, expensive dinners, socializing with the ladies, I am really living paycheck by paycheck.
Obviously I can't qualify for foodstamps, but I help my grandma use up her monthly food stamp allowance for grocery and stuff. She doesn't eat much, and if you don't use it, you loose it.
Survivor knows the score - he would be dead right now if it weren't for FS. Sure, their are plenty of places where needy people can get food without going on FS, but Survivor is too cool to hang out with those grubby soup kitchen people.
Nola, are you kidding me? I've been working professionally for 13 years, and due to a combination of an economic recession, a layoff, and depleted savings, and a goddamned TERRORIST ATTACK that sent this city in a downward spiral, I needed help for only FOUR months, and this was while I was, in fact, intermittently temping at as many places that I could. I didn't have any family to back me. No uncle Bob to throw me a bone, no grandpa Tom to let me stay in the guest house. No brother who could hook me up with a good position at the firm. The aid relieved a bit of the pressure. I should not be subject to crawling on the ground, and waiting on line at a soup kitchen sitting next to crack heads just because employers weren't hiring in early 2002 when this country was in an al-Qaeda frenzy. The aid did exactly what it was supposed to do--to give only a BRIEF smidge of help to WORKING PEOPLE who do things for themselves. This is what I paid taxes for, for this INSURANCE OF WELL-BEING, and I only asked for just a little back. Do not fucking put me in the same category as soup kitchen crack heads. It was demoralizing enough just to call the government offices. It's so convenient for you to type up your narrow-minded opinion, but you obviously have NO concept of the unplanned shit that happens to real people, real salary earners in the real world.
Ben Smith at Daily Politics reports that D/M Linda Gibbs has just reversed the food stamp policy above on the theory that the hungry shouldnt eat.
Survivor - Maybe you should learn the difference between unemployment benefits and food stamps? Whatever it was you were on, thank goodness you didn't have to go near all that riffraff.
Asshole. I know the difference. I did both. Sigh, I have to spell it out for you, and why I am doing this for an obvious asshole is beyond me. I was out of work for about 16 months. For the first several months, I was too proud to get any assistance, so I used my lines of credit. Then, things started to get tight, and I noticed I was approaching my limit, so I applied for U.I. because I thought "hell, I paid my taxes, I should get my share back." I received a paltry amount of U.I. because of the way the state calculates benefits if you do contractual work. Anyway the measly amount U.I. I did get went directly towards rent. For a year, I alternated between working temp jobs and getting U.I., and used my own credit for the rest. Then, the credit lines maxed, so I had to severely ration everything, including food, for about four more months. This was the point where I had to get the food stamps, which by the way, has a 6 times longer and more complicated application process than U.I. I found work in the latter part of 2002, and have built myself back up, and I currently earn more than many people on this comment board. But I'll never forget the humbling experience. Do you think it's fucking easy to go through this?
So tell me, what the hell is your problem? Aren't people like me with my situations exactly what these programs were designed for? Not the welfare mom, not the mooch, not the crackhead, not the lazy artist. I'm talking about someone who pays taxes year in and year out, and once, just once got some of it back. You don't even know me. What glee do you get from condescending to me? Asshole.