Website review: USA 2008: The Great Depression - Am...
Someone discovered this in Capitalism
•15 reviews since Mar 31, 2008
capitalism, economy, usa
•independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/usa-200...
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Reviews of this website
Alde rated 3 months ago- The handwriting was on the wall. A great power turned its back on the hard earned lessons of 4th grade maths. Forgetting what a percentage is, the great press of the United Kingdom misrepresented the information at hand and continues to sell Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. As a percentage of US citizens, less than 9% receive Food Stamps. Compare this to 1998 when 8% received Food Stamps, and then 1988 when 7% received food stamps, and 1978 when 7% received food stamps. 1968? there were no food stamps. (http://bp0.blogger.com/_CQyU4ayBifw/R_HO0TiMMGI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/P5qDT1BkuN8/s1600-h /food+stamp+rate.JPG) The great Independent news paper then went to claim that record numbers of people died last year, and that a record number of babies were born last year as well. Also front page news, a record number of applicants were denied admission to Harvard, that Guinness had a record number of glow-in-the-dark pages in their world records book this year. But the Independent fails to note that the Farm Bill of 2002 substantially expanded the food-stamp program. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site notes, that legislation made legal immigrants eligible for food stamps, increased benefits for larger households, and expanded food-stamp eligibility for people leaving the TANF (welfare) rolls. In other words, the government has made a conscious effort to expand the number of people on food stamps. Accordingly, the number of people on food stamps has expanded. And journalists are misconstruing government largesse as a sign of economic distress.
- aliasinkhorn rated 3 months ago
- The handwriting was on the wall. A great power turned its back on the hard earned lessons of its grand-parents' era - and pampered and babied itself beyond its means. A nation of intelligence became a country of stooges. From the page: "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." And as the price of everything goes up, and budgets strain, the Congress is waiting to increase taxes after the the elections.
- mlselby rated 3 months ago
- From the page: "The US Department of Agriculture says the cost of feeding a low-income family of four has risen 6 per cent in 12 months." Blame ethanol for that one. Corn prices are skyrocketing and more of it is going in people's gas tanks than onto their tables. The article seems to tell a differnet story from the headline. Ease of use of food stamps in bank card form and the reduced stigma in using them are noted as likeliest cause for the increase. A scary headline just sells the story better. Yellow Journalism is alive and well at The Independant. As for all the depression talk of late we can wait for the numbers to tell their own story. Guessing at a future depression before it is fact is purely is political maneuvering and self aggrandizing by doomsayers that want to sell a story. Lest we all forget "The Great Depression of 1990" by Dr. Ravi Batra. Didn't happen did it? And he was doctor of economics. Still, he did sell a hell of a lot of books and I'm sure he appreciates the panicky idiots of 1989. We should always keep an eye on such indicators as unemployment, home purchases and even food stamps but this article is betrayed by a headline that lies to the readers.
- michelle5928 rated 3 months ago
- Michigan has been in its own mini-recession for years as its collapsing industrial base, particularly in the car industry, has cast more and more out of work. Now, one in eight residents of the state is on food stamps, double the level in 2000. "We have seen a dramatic increase in recent years, but we have also seen it climbing more in recent months," Maureen Sorbet, a spokeswoman for Michigan's programme, said. "It's been increasing steadily. Without the programme, some families and kids would be going without." But the trend is not restricted to the rust-belt regions. Forty states are reporting increases in applications for the stamps, actually electronic cards that are filled automatically once a month by the government and are swiped by shoppers at the till, in the 12 months from December 2006. At least six states, including Florida, Arizona and Maryland, have had a 10 per cent increase in the past year. In Rhode Island, the segment of the population on food stamps has risen by 18 per cent in two years. The food programme started 40 years ago when hunger was still a daily fact of life for many Americans. The recent switch from paper coupons to the plastic card system has helped remove some of the stigma associated with the food stamp programme. The card can be swiped as easily as a bank debit card. To qualify for the cards, Americans do not have to be exactly on the breadline. The programme is available to people whose earnings are just above the official poverty line. For Hubert Liepnieks, the card is a lifeline he could never afford to lose. Just out of prison, he sleeps in overnight shelters in Manhattan and uses the card at a Morgan Williams supermarket on East 23rd Street. Yesterday, he and his fiancée, Christine Schultz, who is in a wheelchair, shared one banana and a cup of coffee bought with the 82 cents left on it. "They should be refilling it in the next three or four days," Liepnieks says. At times, he admits, he and friends bargain with owners of the smaller grocery shops to trade the value of their cards for cash, although it is illegal. "It can be done. I get $7 back on $10." Richard Enright, the manager at this Morgan Williams, says the numbers of customers on food stamps has been steady but he expects that to rise soon. "In this location, it's still mostly old people and people who have retired from city jobs on stamps," he says. Food stamp money was designed to supplement what people could buy rather than covering all the costs of a family's groceries. But the problem now, Mr Enright says, is that soaring prices are squeezing the value of the benefits. "Last St Patrick's Day, we were selling Irish soda bread for $1.99. This year it was $2.99. Prices are just spiralling up, because of the cost of gas trucking the food into the city and because of commodity prices. People complain, but I tell them it's not my fault everything is more expensive." The US Department of Agriculture says the cost of feeding a low-income family of four has risen 6 per cent in 12 months. "The amount of food stamps per household hasn't gone up with the food costs," says Dayna Ballantyne, who runs a food bank in Des Moines, Iowa.
- Jeremy87 rated 3 months ago
- Stupid articles.
- caroaber rated 3 months ago
- Nevermind recession--we are likely facing a depression.
- onreact-com rated 3 months ago
- "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."
- FaaB64 rated 3 months ago
- 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.
- milzika rated 3 months ago
- "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 â€" from 26.5 million in 2007 â€" 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."
