Numbers jump for receiving Florida Food Stamps

Fertilizer For The Seeds Of Deception

Originally posted by soficrow
....If you really were concerned about truth majic - you wouldn't find it necessary to flame someone who's trying - you would help and teach.

The headline for this thread -- the very first words in it and the first thing anyone sees about this story - is a lie.

This lie is also the only thing someone who browses the forums will see unless they read the thread and find out it's a lie.

The only "trying" going on here is a deliberate intent to deceive ATS members.

I pointed that out.

Doing that leads you to suggest I am not concerned about the truth?

Pointing out a deliberate violation of the T&C is flaming?

Screw that.

Such thinking leads nowhere but down. That sort of rationalizing has no place in an honest mind.

I don't like being lied to by anyone, I don't care who. That's my opinion and I am expressing it here.

And I'm being 100% honest about it.

Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. If you want credibility, don't lie, and don't defend lies.

I recommend opposing them, rather than justifying them with quibbling and Denying Ignorance by doing so.

I might be happy to discuss a topic like this under other conditions, but never under a banner of falsehood.

I came to this thread specifically because I was shocked at the idea that over half of Floridians are on food stamps.

But it was all a lie.

I was deliberately deceived, and I'm not happy about that.

Most Floridians Are NOT On Food Stamps

This thread is tainted by deceit from its inception.

Honest discussion cannot take place under such terms.

If a mod can't or won't change the headline, then this lie will continue to label the discussion and poison it.

If you seek my confidence and respect, don't insult me or my motives, and don't support deceit on these forums.

If you want to earn my distrust, carry on with sowing deceit and attempting to justify it.

Why dgtempe Is A Liar

For the definitionally-impaired, from Merriam-Webster Online:

Main Entry: li·ar
Pronunciation: 'lI(-&)r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lEogere, from lEogan to lie -- more at LIE
: one that tells lies

Is anyone here going to try to tell me that the headline of this thread is not a lie?

dgtempe is one that tells lies. dgtempe is a liar.

What Over The Top Really Is

Originally posted by dgtempe
ARE YOU HUMAN? If you were, you'd care if "our" children were being properly nourished- I guess you dont. (that makes you worse than a liar) [...]

YOU CAST THE FIRST STONE AT ME. A "Liar" is a pretty strong word- I dont know who you think you're talking to, I dont particularly care for your personal attacks.

This post speaks for itself.

Am I human? Yes. Very human, in fact. A human that recognizes that none of us are perfect, not you, me or anyone else.

Had you not attempted to justify your lie, thus proving it deliberate, I probably wouldn't have said anything at all.

Am I worse than a liar? I guess that depends on what relative values you place on truth and falsehood.

You try to paint me as some sort of inhuman bad guy for calling you on a lie. That's worse than a liar, because you are defaming me as well.

As for how much you may care about what you falsely label “personal attacks”, I assure you that I care for them even less.

Especially when a liar posts a lie, then calls it a “personal attack” when I point it out. You are a liar, by definition. Or are you going to accuse Merriam-Webster of lying, too?

Telling The Truth About You Is Not A Personal Attack

Had you not deliberately changed the headline of this article to a false one, I would have never had cause to point out the lie, nor the liar who posted it.

It's not my fault you lied. Attempting to blame me for your wrongdoing is immoral and pathetic.

Responding to my post this way confirms what I would otherwise only suspect.

“Liar” is a strong word. And for one who lies, it is also a very accurate word.

Yes, dgtempe, you are a liar. You are also a liar who flames those who point out your lies.

This sort of behavior is deserving of nothing but contempt. There is no interest in truth or its pursuit here. You have worked hard to earn my distrust, and have regrettably chosen to continue doing so.

Enough Is Enough

I stand by my post, and urge those who value truth and honesty to condemn this sort of dishonest, childish garbage.

Those who seek to deceive themselves are free to do so, but if you lie to me and I find out, you better damn well believe I'm going to tell you what I think about it.

This stinks, and those who are defending this shameful misconduct smell no better.

The lie was bad enough, but the bullfeces following it is infinitely worse.

Am I mad? You're damn right I'm mad, and I'm done donating points to this bogus thread.

DGTEmpe is a liar.

And you're a pompous ass drama queen.

MODS: I made a mistake in the title of this thread. I couldnt change it.
If you start at the beginning of the thread you will see the vicious personal attacks i've endured today by your scholar, Majic.

And it continues. My guess is that Magic is working really hard at trying to crack me so that i'l say something that will get me banned.

I hae a suggestion. Close the thread please. God forbid someone should point something out about this government- they make minced meat out of you here now.

So much for denying ignorance.

Okay, there has been enuf sniping and plenty of T&C violations by everybody. This will stop now. I have changed the title of the article as dgtempe was unable to do so as she was out of the two hour edit window.

This is an interesting topic and I do not want to close it as it has merit and the large percentage increase over the last 4 years should bear some scrutiny.

So all sides need to cease going after each other and back to the interesting topic at hand.

Okay Back on Topic: How does Floridas numbers compare to the other states? Where do the rank in terms of citizens on food stamps??

Originally posted by lmgnyc
I just quickly reviewed the state-level stats, but it seems that Texas, Louisiana, Tennesee, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, and Arizona had the biggest increases. I might have missed some, but the link is above. Any ideas?

Interesting link. Lots more states had big increase, some almost doubled. The Carolinas, Indiana, Illinois. SOme didn't have the hig numbers, but you should take into account population densities.
Let's see.... a big reason I see is loss of jobs. Outsourcing. NAFTA. Mergers and lack of competition, driving small business out-of-business.
I gotta think the increase in food stamps is related to unemployment.

well besides the hurricanes being a contributer
Florida's economy relies heavily on the service industry which isn't a high wages type of job. If you educated or specialize in a certain field, the jobs of course will be lowest paying ones and so more people live close to the poverty level mark.

and Soficrow I am not blaming the victims, but there are simply too many people who abuse the system.

Here's some more info and links:
Facts on Food Stamps

The typical food-stamp family grossed $640 a month and received $185 a month in food benefits, as of fiscal year 2003. A family of three could receive a maximum of $393 in food-stamp benefits while a family of eight could receive up to $898.

On average, 21.3 million people nationally living in 9.2 million households received food stamps each month in fiscal year 2003.

51 percent of recipients were children. Another 9 percent were age 60 or older.

More than one-fourth of families worked. Less than 17 percent received traditional welfare, or cash assistance, from the government. That's down from 42 percent in 1990.

and
Food aid recipients increasing
State stamp system up 53% since 2000

Officials with the state, which administers the federal food program, tout the increase as a sign of progress. They point out that federal and state legislation extended food stamps' availability to groups such as legal immigrants, who used to be excluded from the program. Meanwhile, outreach -- a publicized statewide help line and prescreening by phone -- has made slogging through the bureaucratic process more tolerable. And common-sense changes, such as combining the food-stamp application with other federal nutrition programs, has cut down on the paperwork families must fill out.

But others worry the upswing in recipients reflects a stagnant economy that has left some families scraping pennies to buy food.

"Since 2001, we've got a pretty weak economy," said Ellen Vollinger, legal director for a national public-policy center on food and nutrition. "Some of the increase in the [food stamp] caseload, hopefully, is that we're reaching some of the eligible. But it's probably also that we have a larger pool, in part because there's such a strong need."

An average of 21.3 million people in America -- more than half children -- received food stamps each month in fiscal year 2003, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Yet 36 million people, including 13 million children, went hungry or worried about where their next meal was coming from, Vollinger said, quoting a federal hunger report.

like I said before there are many reasons for the rise in the florida welfare system, but again I am glad to see that people are getting the help they need.

www.centeronhunger.org...


In 2003, 12.6 million households (or 11.2% of all U.S. households) were food insecure. Over 36 million people (12.7% of all Americans) lived in these households.
During the 12 months preceding the 2003 survey, 3.9 million households experienced hunger. Over 9.6 million adults and children lived in these households.
In 2003, over 13 million children under age 18 lived in food-insecure households (18.2% of all children).


I am checking to see if there are any posted for 2004 . Obviously the trend is on the increase.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 19, 2004
CONTACT:
Ellen Vollinger 202-986-2200 x3016
James Weill 202-986-2200 x3010
Number of Hungry and Food Insecure
Americans Rise for Fourth Straight Year

36.3 Million Americans Live in Households
Unable to Purchase Adequate Food

WASHINGTON, DC – The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) announced today that a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report based on Census Bureau surveys shows another rise in the number of hungry and food insecure Americans. The total number of people living in food insecure households in this country – with or without hunger – went up to 36.3 million in 2003. This number included 23 million adults (10.8 percent of all adults) and 13.3 million children (18.2 percent of all children.)

This number compared to 34.9 million in 2002, 33.6 million 2001, 33.2 million in 2000, and 31 million in 1999. 11.2 percent of US households ( 12.6 million households) experienced either food insecurity or hunger in 2003.

9.6 million of these individuals lived in households that experienced outright hunger.


Here's 2004 hunger situation.


www.frac.org...

I am looking for something that has the food stamp reports.

Number of food stamp recipients increases







By Brian C. Rittmeyer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, January 23, 2005


Shelia Weaver never imagined she'd need food stamps.
But after a series of medical problems and a divorce, Weaver, 48, of Moon, has relied on food stamps for two years to keep her and her 12-year-old son, Chris, fed.

"I just couldn't keep up with everything, and I ended up having to apply for food stamps," she said. "I guess it's a classic story."

The "classic story" has many other characters. After declining for seven years, the number of people receiving food stamps has risen sharply nationally, statewide and in the Pittsburgh region since 2000.





Nationwide, food stamp rolls have increased by nearly 24 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Pennsylvania, 917,377 individuals received food stamps valued at $900 million in 2003-04, up about 22 percent from 2000-01.

The percentage is higher in the area including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The number of people receiving food stamps rose by about 29 percent from 2000 to 2004, according to data from the state Department of Welfare.

Having trouble with this link


[edit on 13-2-2005 by dgtempe]

.... and superlative quantifying adjectives jump too!

(in joke).





Not funny, on reflection, after the contribution of Majic.

I believe dgtempe made an honest mistake too. There are few people at ATS that follow the numbers perfectly and plenty more who swallow or abuse the numbers as statistics addicts; dgtempe would not be guilty of that!

[edit on 13-2-2005 by MaskedAvatar]

From 2003 to 2004, Charlotte County, devastated by Hurricane Charley, had a relatively small increase in the number of people on food stamps--5.3 percent. Compare that to Collier and Lee counties, where there was less damage: the number of people on food stamps in Collier was up 29.7 percent and in Lee, it jumped 35.9 percent.

You can hardly use that to compare. Damage is in amounts of dollars. One fancy schmancy home can be a million bucks and I doubt that family will go on food stamps, while that same million is 20 homes in another area…putting twenty families on food stamps. There are too many variables here to even guess at that…

...For all the rebuilding and repairs going on - Floridians should be just raking it in. But they're not. Instead, the use of food stamps has gone up 53%.

...Hmmm. Why I wonder? Not like there's no work. Hey! I have an idea! Let's blame the victims! We could just say they're lazy and they don't want to work. Problem solved. No muss. No fuss. No bother.

Are you saying that picking up debris or rebuilding (when unskilled at it) pays better than an architect on unemployment, who’s firm (and employer) was leveled, and so now he’s looking for a better job?

Again, too many variables…

Having recently been on unemployment myself (first time in my life, and for a month, about a year ago), I know too well how that goes. Sure, I could have gotten a job flipping burgers, but for less pay than the unemployment, plus I wouldn’t have had the time to go pounding on doors for a decent job, which I thankfully ended up with…

Hate to keep promoting myself and my work - BUT - I was working on a piece about Wal-Mart and unions - then because of THIS THREAD - completely changed the direction of what I was doing...

Here's the lead and the link - the article puts a new perspective on Food Stamps and what's happening in America. Please check it out (it got bumped off the whiteboard really fast).


US Government Assists Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is facing legal troubles on several fronts, from organized opposition. Critics say Wal-Mart subsidizes its business with Food Stamp, Medicaid and other government programs, and bypasses laws that protect employees. Announced today: details of the settlement agreement negotiated by the Bush administration for a Wal-Mart labor dispute. The company was charged with child labor law violations and allowing minors to use dangerous machinery, including chain saws, forklifts, and cardboard balers. Under the federally negotiated settlement, Wal-Mart will pay only $135,540 to settle charges of 24 child labor law violations in 3 states. The agreement also prevents future "wage and hour" Labor Department inspections without 15 days prior notice. On another front, Wal-Mart is facing a class action discrimination lawsuit by 1.6 million American women. If it passes, the so-called "Class Action Fairness Act" now before Congress will prevent this and future class action lawsuits from getting to court. In addition, Bush's budget proposals remove Wal-Mart's "hidden" government subsidies - with cut-backs to needed programs - leaving employees with below poverty level wages, no benefits and no back-up.



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