The Great Depression 2008 | No April Fool's
We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.
The increase – from 26.5 million in 2007 – is due partly to recent efforts to increase public awareness of the programme and also a switch from paper coupons to electronic debit cards. But above all it is the pressures being exerted on ordinary Americans by an economy that is suddenly beset by troubles. Housing foreclosures, accelerating jobs losses and fast-rising prices all add to the squeeze.
Emblematic of the downturn until now has been the parades of houses seized in foreclosure all across the country, and myriad families separated from their homes. But now the crisis is starting to hit the country in its gut. Getting food on the table is a challenge many Americans are finding harder to meet. As a barometer of the country's economic health, food stamp usage may not be perfect, but can certainly tell a story.
- Nathaniel's blog
- 16 points
It is time for a great RETHINKING of what The United States was intended to be by our founding fathers. A government, BY THE PEOPLE. It is no longer this. We are simply given the illusion of choice. Right now, only one Candidate for president would truly represent THE PEOPLE, and it is a long muddy road to his BIG speech ....and believing one man from Illinois is going to change all that has been squanders for 100 years, and all will be milk and honey again is the most naive of ideals. Ironically, I just had to roll $8.00 in change to get milk and eggs for my families' breakfast for the week....and I could not afford to buy the local honey I usually begin taking daily for my allergies, in April. THINGS ARE MUCH WORSE THAN THEY APPEAR, AND HEADING DOWN HILL!
I pledge, as those great men once did, my life and fortune, to do my part in affecting a process keeping our representatives in check, or out of office.
Many think that government is both the problem, solution, and fall back when times get rough. The problem is, our government only has the capacity at this time to be ONE of the aforementioned, and I say it should be THE SOLUTION! AND WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT!
Please read my past posts on pledging, and ask yourself what you can pledge to accomplish for the common good this year. A good start would be a pledge to help me start this interesting nonprofit organization.
I believe such an organization once existed, though never took off. I would be interested in getting involved, as always.
For Those Who Need Their Stimulous check to pay for fuel oil......
Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis. Welfare programs can be greatly abused, and I don't consider handouts a gauge of an economic collapse. Now, if unemployment ever rises over 20%, then it can be safe to say that were in a great depression. Though, considering that unemployment has dropped in the U.S. for the past two years and is currently hovering around 4.8%, I'd say we still have quite a bit to go before even crying the sky is falling.
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