USDA Reports Stunning Rise In Number of Hungry In America
By Susie Madrak Tuesday Nov 17, 2009 4:00pmI can just hear Rush Limbaugh now: "If they're so hungry, how did they get so fat?" And our side's not much better, because of course they're going to agree with the Republicans that the best way to handle the problem is with tax cuts and deficit reduction.
I think I need to bang my head against a wall now:
The nation's economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track, according to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people -- including almost one child in four -- struggled last year to get enough to eat.
At a time when rising poverty, widespread unemployment and other effects of the recession have been well documented, the report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides the government's first detailed portrait of the toll that the faltering economy has taken on Americans' access to food.
The magnitude of the increase in food shortages -- and, in some cases, outright hunger -- identified in the report startled even the nation's leading anti-poverty advocates, who have grown accustomed to longer lines lately at food banks and soup kitchens. The findings also intensify pressure on the White House to fulfill a pledge to stamp out childhood hunger made by President Obama, who called the report "unsettling."
The data show that dependable access to adequate food has especially deteriorated among families with children. In 2008, nearly 17 million children, or 22.5 percent, lived in households in which food at times was scarce -- 4 million children more than the year before. And the number of youngsters who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.
I thought this was the most important finding:
The report's main author at USDA, Mark Nord, noted that other recent research by the agency has found that most families in which food is scarce contain at least one adult with a full-time job, suggesting that the problem lies at least partly in wages, not entirely an absence of work.
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Clearly the only way to solve this problem is by reducing the captial gains tax.
Of course, libruls will say that we need to readjust the "poverty line" to more realistic territory, or increase the "minimum" wage.
Pffft. What this problem needs is some free cheese.
universally available instead of having a complete underclass with no food security.
Or just another regular right wing republican ....
Bush reduced every type and kind of tax he could to give to the elite and these Global Monopolies and it was suppose to trickle down..
The only trickling down it did was from one hand to the other of the financial criminals.
We see what reducing capital gains tax and other tax which the wealthy and Global monopolies enjoy is a totally bunch of BS when it comes to trickling down...
Find another toy to play with...
Like starting another war for Oil , gas or just for your control..
.
You trying to say that ""Different Anonymous""" was cheerleading the liberals..
i'm not trying to say anything other than what i wrote...
Addendum to post for Pete:
[/snark]
New message for Pete:
Whoosh...
He's from Betelgeuse.
"They don’t have sarcasm on Betelgeuse, and Ford Prefect often failed to notice it unless he was concentrating."
Ford was one of the most sarcastic people in that series.
Oh yeah. You fall apart so fast, people get hit by the shrapnel.
home of the hungry
Eat the rich.
and too many artificial ingredients.
.
Yuck!
What if we called it Soylent Green?
... and I am sold!
you want to eat a regressive republican? I guaranree the worst indigetion you will ever have.
How about this:
SOYLENT GREEN
NOW with MORE Girls!!!
You no longer have any idea what you are eating..
They put anything and everything them can in the food now to make a profit..
Bush and Republicans were busy stripping these regulation while paying no attention to Bin Laden or the protection to our country's security and we see what happen .... 911 ...
was not made of people. That was just a Hollywood invention.
..it's got to be better than Soylent Kraft Dinner™ day in and day out. Not to mention Soylent Peanut Butter on Soylent Wonder Bread™.
Wealth inequality in Amerika is at an all time high.
End the wars, end the state of perpetual war and machinery that goes with it.
End imperialism.
Get the $14 trillion back from the Banksters.
Enact a WPA 2.0.
There is a real strain on private food banks as the number seeking help is increasing.
When my family was on welfare in the 1970's to early 80's we got the full govt free food - the cheese, honey, dry milk, peanut butter - and those items came in handy at some point in the month between food stamp arrival.
I think we need to go back to the govt giveaways.
We have this trillion dollar military and these miitary actions to defend us from what exactly?
We are a nation of the sick and hungry because we have to spend half of every dollar to defend us from Al Qaeda/Taliban/Islamic extremists?
Um - Whiskey - Tango - Foxtrot?
Keep people jumping at shadows so you can keep getting rich and fat off military contracts. The people can starve to death or die from all kinds of sickness and disease, that way they're too weak to think straight and will keep voting for the weasels who will keep your money flowing.
See, this is how communism is born. Just watch.
Tango Uniform?
Dear (ConservaDem) {insert title, name and state here];
You are cordially invited to a Hawaiian-style luau in [state capital] on the 21st December 2009. The purpose is a combination of campaign fund-raising, rubbing elbows with local in-state chambers of commerce, and meeting with some prominent voter constituency, who are hungry for news from Washington. Come early, stay late. Admission is free, and there will be an open bar.
Thanks for your service.
RSVP
Dear [insert state here] Progressives;
You are cordially invited to a Hawaiian-style luau in [state capital] on the 21st December 2009. The purpose is to re-acquaint your [state] voter constituency with your Corporatist bought-and-paid-for Congress Critter, [insert title and name here], for an exchange of views. Come early, stay late. Admission will be two (2) bottles of barbeque sauce and one (1) bag of charcoal per adult. Bring your appetites, and your family (optional). Entertainment may include “Pin The Tail” and similar games.
Thanks for your support and your votes.
Torches, pitchforks, and firearms are all optional.
RSVP
/snark
I've for a long time advocated harvesting our surplus of lawyers as a source of protein for the Third World. It is hardly a stretch to extend this to our lawmakers (virtually all lawyers by training). They have to be good for SOMETHING!
Never hear about that money extraction racket either much in any of this do we.
They're easy to hate - until you need them. Then they're your heroes.
It's the fucking corporate lobbyists and insurance industry vampires who should be served up on a stick.
we wouldn't need lawyers.
junk food laced with appetite stimulants.
country. Any one dispute that?
Bill Moyers said it. Obama's appeasement to corporate interests, while singing lovely, progressive rhetorical lyrics, proves it.
where starving people eat non-nutritious but filling substances. Classically here in the US, it used to be maids and laundresses eating starch. We've seen it in Haiti as a mix of clay, fat, and salt. It is almost food, but not for long. Here and now, it is junk food. Fat and carbohydrates that add weight but no protein to build muscle. In inner cities, this may be the only food available. Just think how toned you'd be if all you could find to eat was Cap'n Crunch and Cheetos.
isn't getting proper nutrients complete the equation.
we're allowed to hawk their junk in schools during the 80's and 90's.
Why have a decent lunch when a Pepsi and Candy-Junk Food machine was available.
I can't comment on the article above; I have to keep control of my blood pressure.
I agree with nothing that the Religious Right speaks, but I agree wholehearted with one aspect of their philosophy. They are not afraid to hold people's feet to the fire.
That is what we progressives need to start doing. Beginning with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barak Obama, we need to look at their every word and action and ask all three "why?" -- and then be prepared to lower the boom in terms of time and effort in the campaign AND donations to incumbents and the national party.
We also need to keep out eyes open for good, viable candidates willing to put it all on the line to remove the Blue Dogs and other Republican syncophants from office. Not only that, we all need to find good video of these people, post it, and absolutely DEMAND that "Fox Lite" post these videos for people to see. If they can broadcast clips of Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, and O'Reilly, then SURELY they can come up with bandwidth for worthy Progressive video.
I have had it with Harry Reid. He whinnies like a drunken horse that he needs more "Democrats" to get stuff enacted. If he doesn't have the moxie to lead, I will be more than glad to help see that he has more Republicans to fight.
The Democrats' biggest problem is their ineptitude. If they can;'t get their program into law, even with majorities in both houses AND one of their own in the White House, then I truly wonder if they are capable of governing.
TOTALLY
I had some typos in my previous message, so I clicked on it to edit it. I got the response "Access denied. You do not have access to this page".
Gee. And here I thought that Mickey Mouse did not go anywhere across the Disney property line!
That's 'cause someone already responded. Once you get a response, you can't edit the message. Pretty standard, actually.
Thanks, Excelsior. I wasn't aware of that fact. Next time I'll know better.
There is no doubt that our government wants some of us dead. Whether for inaction or design, we have scum rising to the top again.
time for a re prioritization of the money spent. The idiots in the capitol don't understand. Their time is over. They just don't realize it.
When we Geezers were young, our moms got us to clean our dinner plates by telling us to think of the "poor starving kids in China." I wonder what the growing middleclass Chinese now tell their kids to get them to clean their plates today? Embarassing what 8 years of conservative rule have left us, isn't it? Hope we don't end up needing foreign aid.
we already base our economy on the 'foreign aid' of those countries who are still willing to buy our debt: chiefly Japan and China.
Look for this friendly sign at a compassionately conservative town near you.
Katrina exposed the rotted underbelly of a country torn apart by unregulated capitalism. A nation that worships war & pretends to be a Christian Nation is a fraud...a hoax...imitation plastic beliefs. Corporate owned politicians that comprise the entire GOP & all the repackaged Republicans called Blue Dogs do their utmost to destroy the hopes of ordinary Americans. The two-major parties are corrupted beyond redemption. Consider Independent U. S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Senator Sanders is that rare politician who isn't corporate owned. It shows in every spoken word & vote. The key word when explaining Senator Sanders is "RARE". Hungry, homeless, jobless, hopeless American's ranks increase everyday. What is it going to take to regain control of our government...our country?
The religion as practiced in large parts of this country is exactly everything that Jesus preached against: greed, selfishness, nationalism, fearmongering, hypocrisy, victimization, bigotry. If you sat down and tried to design an opposite version of Christ's teachings, you could not possibly invent a better one than the travesty that calls itself "Christianity" in America today. It's like they're TRYING to piss of their supposed savior.
Me, I hope it works. Nothing would please me more than seeing those fat, self-satisfied, hateful fuckers get a lightning bolt straight up their asses.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:49 KJV.
But they would all be so shocked and offended by:
http://notes-from-offcenter.com/wp-content/up...
> It's like they're TRYING to piss of their supposed savior.
> Me, I hope it works. Nothing would please me more than seeing
> ose fat, self-satisfied, hateful fuckers get a lightning bolt
> raight up their asses.
I've gotta agree with you there. I actually have done a fair amount of study of theology. On paper, Christianity is a beautiful faith. In practice, however -- well, I don't think I'll go there.
All religions are alike. Just as all Muslims are not terrorists, likewise all Christians aren't Fundamentalist goons. But somehow, it is always the case that the thugs destroy the reputations of the saints.
Christianity was the worst thing ever to happen to Jesus' message of peace and tolerance, and I'm pretty sure He would agree with me.
If the FSM allows such things, it will be fun watching these bastids trying to get passed St. Peter, when the time comes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbflkF_1zY
There is only one constant and that is change , we have changed and are changing for the worse . Mexico is the new model for the USA as far as our politicians and their corporate and Wall Street masters are concerned . These will be looked back on as the good old days the way it's going .
and I have no doubt it will, sooner or later, expect see those dreadful numbers about hunger and lack of health care rise concomitantly.
This problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Every one of you please put a can of food, or another easy to prepare, but healthy item, in your grocery store's food drive bin each time you go shopping. If your grocery store does not have one ask that they get one.
Just because you work 60 hours a week, doesn't mean you should have health care or be able to afford food.
Free market baby!
G** damned bleeding-heart librul' socialist fascist panzies!
I trained at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, so it's not as if I suffered from some sort of sheltered base of experience -- but now, for the first time in my medical career, I'm seeing cases of significant weight loss that aren't cancer, or some chronic infection, or any other sort of disease, but the social disease of hunger. Even the poorest of the poor in this country (well, at least the urban poor) used to be able to at least get enough to eat, and the truism we lived by in American medicine was that all of our nutritional problems were problems of too much to eat, not too little to eat.
In The World!!!
"I can just hear Rush Limbaugh now: 'If they're so hungry, how did they get so fat?'"
In case you've never been there, obesity can come from more than just being a
Rush Limbaughswine. It can also come from a low-quality diet, which is just about all people in poverty can afford. When you have little or no income, a few dollars to spend on food and you don't know when you'll be able to afford to eat again, you say hell with nutrition and gto with something that's going to fill you up. Dietary considerations are secondary to that gnawing in your gut, and you'll stuff yourself with what you can buy. Any nutritionist will tell you that the quality of your diet is more important than its quantity, but when you're hungry, you just want that empty feeling to go away for a while.Login or Register to post comments.