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- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -8/+75A high-ranking politician learning the cost of a loaf of bread.
That can't be a bad thing. - Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -6/+48@coolestkidalive
Are you kidding me? While what you've described can certainly "feed" you for under $50 a month, eating that crap has nothing to do with dignity. I can guarantee you that in 15 or 20 years, you'll be in such poor health from your "food" that $21/week for food will be the least of your problems.
Part of the issue that I have with food stamps is that an individual, much less a family, cannot purchase the proper sustenance for such a measly sum. Kulongonski doing this for only a week really tells him nothing about what it's like to live on food stamps. Try it for a year when eating the crap he's purchased has a chance to catch up to him. By then he'll be lethargic, tired, cranky, depressed, etc., from the lack of proper nutrition, then he'll have to use his crappy ass Medicare to try to gain some sort of normalcy. It's an endless cycle. - catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+45Food stamps are meant to augment low-income families' shopping funds. They are not meant to be used as a sole source of food indefinately. People who aren't working also get welfare payouts, but even then they are expected to be looking for jobs.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30Every Professional Politician should do this once a year. And I would add, live on minimum wage for a week too.
- rnwen2750, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22Good for the gov! Stepping out in other's shoes could help solve a lot of problems in this world.
- hoppdawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1815% of Oregonians (about 300k) are on food stamps. -The Oregonian
Not saying its right or wrong, but that is a ***** load of people. - jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21At 14 living on minimum wage you would have been sheltered, fed, insured and cleansed using your parents living to subsidize what you couldn't afford. Try being 30 years old, losing your job in an industry moving over seas and having to start all over! You wouldn't likely have the luxury of infinite savings to keep you sheltered long and your lifestyle sure won't adjust to minimum wage.
- austenw, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22They're watching it on the radio stations here in Portland. The guy is virtually starving. I hope this knocks some sense into those giving out the food stamps. $21 for a week of food is rough.
- halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22@austenw
He's also gaining a LOT of low income voters in the process. Whatever his true motivations may be, this is a shrewd and clever political move. - wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17How about being able to relate to those who you Govern?
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20The quoted $21 Average is for families.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Here's an interesting comparison of the cost of a loaf of bread in the US compared to other Nations.
What's up with this?
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lab_wor_tim_to_buy_bre-labor-working-time-buy-bread - VinceNoir, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@nstrupp
At 19, I worked at McDonald's for two weeks when my hours were reduced at my primary job (a library where the pay was MUCH better as well as the treatment). I can say this with certainty. Working at McDonalds sucks ass in the biggest possible way. You aren't treated with respect especially if you're new. The "lifers" seem to have it in for you if you're coming down from a better position. They look at you like "college boy" with derision and envy and they treat you like you have no right to their respect at all. The managers are nearly the same.
I remember one particular incident. We were between the breakfast and lunch rushes. I had just efficiently cleaned the entire kitchen area up and there was literally NOTHING TO DO. No customers in line (I only worked in the kitchen because I was so new). Nothing needed to be cooked as many things were already prepped. Everything was ready for the lunch rush. So the manager (who was the son of the owner and was a year younger than me) comes in from farting around in his car with his girlfriend. He sees me standing there in the kitchen just waiting for something to happen. He grabs the mop and the ignorant bastard says, "If you got time to lean, you got time to clean". The floor WAS already clean, but I guess he wanted busy work. So off I go over everything with the mop. Five more times until lunch rush. What a ***** waste. Thankfully, my boss at the other job managed to scam me more hours so I was back up to 36 hours a week from 12 and I was able tell McDonalds to ***** off.
Believe me, there is no "upward mobility" at fast food restaurants or any other low paying job. You might get lucky once and find something that gets your from minimum wage to something approaching a living wage, but that's rare. In my case I was better off working at the library for $9.20 an hour (in 1989) 36 hours a week compared to $4.75 an hour for 24 hours a week. And in the long run there WAS upward mobility at the library. Today I work in IT and get more like $60 an hour but that's all purely by luck. No plan. Just pure, dumb luck. And that's the best anyone can hope for when it comes to making a living in our sick society: luck. - ubuwalker31, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15$21 in food stamps will buy a ton...at least 5 or 6 bags of fresh fruits and veggies at a farmer's market, enough to feed a whole family for a week. I personally shop for 2 people, and I am able to fill an entire refrigerator with fruit and veggies for about $25. You can get 5lbs of potatoes for a dollar, for cryin out loud. $3 a day is enough for a family to get by...if they spend it carefully.
@hppypnts
What about those unemployed people's children? They shouldn't eat because of the sins of their parents? - boxmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I also survived college on totinos microwave party pizza. I don't think I could do that now.
- Stiffler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14@halleyscomet
I live in Oregon and saw this on the news. I also viewed it as simply a political stunt but then he gave this quote (which is also in the article):
"I don't care what they call it, if this is what it takes to get the word out," Kulongoski said, in response to questions about whether the food stamp challenge was no more than a publicity stunt. "This is an issue every citizen in this state should be aware of."
He's absolutely right. It doesn't matter if it's a "stunt" or political move. It's the awareness that it's bringing that's important. We should not forget that no matter the motive behind his actions. - Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19@drinkxredxbull
We should all be entitled to eat the proper nutrition regardless of whether the government is picking up the tab or not. Just as we should all be entitled to dignity whether we have to ask the government for a hand or not.. - Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15@dagonthehauge
You are right. We, as a country, are a bit too egocentric for our own good. We could learn a lot by looking at the way other countries, such as yours, handle these same socio-economic issues. While I applaud the Governor's attempt at this, it just aggravates me to no end that it's still an issue... - killinger777, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11And yet, 97% of "poor" households in America have a color television and 62% have cable... Being poor sucks, but the poor in America have it damn good.
- luther70, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15@drinkxredxbull living in your parents basement doesn't count.
- andshewas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9So what is his plan with this? Give them more food stamps? Find them better paying jobs? What?
- thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -10/+17if you dont have a job you should have plenty of time to clip coupons and find deals. hopefully while working on your resume and looking for employment.
- ryanknapper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@drinkxredxbull"
"I used to live just that. I rode my bike to my 5.20/hr McDonald's jobs. I lived in a ***** basement apartment. I had tons of fines to pay off."
Fines? How about you don't do whatever that was and have some extra cash? - DRINKxREDxBULL, on 10/12/2007, -12/+18@Greg
I used to live just that. I rode my bike to my 5.20/hr McDonald's jobs. I lived in a ***** basement apartment. I had tons of fines to pay off. The ONLY form of entertainment I had was going to the pawn shop and buying a $5 game for my N64. That was it. I didn't need a ***** handout. I worked my ass off to get out of that situation.
Don't cry to me about dignity. Tell me, how much food have you donated to the food shelf? - wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8It would help to have a couple politicians who arent millionaires. Regardless of this experience, the system is broken to exclude normal people.
There should be a 4th branch, a People's Congress Randomly select 2000 people to attend this congress a couple times a year, and give them some kind of veto power.
That'll shake things up. - indyhouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5My family went on food stamps in Florida for about four months when both my wife and I lost our jobs the same day (corporate downsizing, yay!). It took us four months to get back on our feet, but during that time, the state of Florida gave my family of three $500 PER MONTH in food stamp benefits. When we applied, we expected to get the basics to hold us over until we found the new jobs, etc... We were floored when our approval letter came in the mail with our benefit amount. I even called to make sure the number was right. We ended up buying what we needed for our family and using the rest to help three other families in our church that lost their jobs from the same place we did.
- Klinky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@nighttrain2007
A lot of jobs available to those in poverty are not going to get them further ahead than being on government programs. In fact people can be worse off. There are certain income requirements & deductions made. Say you get a monthly welfare grant, food stamps, low income housing & medicare. Well the moment you start working, those are severely reduced or completely cut off. Meanwhile now you're working 40 - 50 hrs a week in a dead end job with no benefits & no chance of any better of a life. I am not saying people should sit around and just collect a check for doing nothing, but people should realize that this society should have more incentive to becoming a productive member of society. It seems people think that shaming someone into getting a job is a better idea than actively working with people to make people feel like a valued member of society. This goes for a lot of places, even a person working hard at McDonalds is scoffed at by someone working down the block at print shop or law firm. If you think hogwash of this and that you have to work your miserable job or had to work many many miserable jobs & you feel "that's how it should be" , well then I feel sorry for you & your miserable life.
There can be a balance in life, instead of having a population with %1 being incredibly wealthy, overly pampered people, we could have a population with %99 being happy, productive people. But in the end greed, ego & consumption get in the way. - InferiorWang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I two years ago I did a full school year on $15 a week food money. It's really not hard to do. Water and cheap green tea to drink. Lots of chicken and rice/noodles/etc combinations. I can make chicken Parmesan for 4 for $8. PB&J is great for snacks and ramen noodles are awesome during the winter months. There are plenty of ways to get by on the cheap. And if you do it right and eat healthy, then fast food looks not only expensive, but unappetizing, and sit-down restaurant food looks ridiculously overpriced. Plus, cooking can be a lot of fun once you get over the novice hump.
- JimV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This is such *****. My wife was going to college here in Oregon, and was getting about $140 per month in food stamps. Also, you get all the food stamps for the month at one time, not weekly. So Ted would have had about $80 (I don't know how they figured that low anyway) to spend for a months worth of groceries for himself.
I heard somewhere the other day that for families it's supposed to be $3/day per person in the family. So a 4 person family would be $12 per day, or $360 per month. If you don't buy expensive junk food, that's more than enough to get by. - Akronos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7True that, and if he is doing it for the right reasons, he's definitely got my respect. Even if he isn't, he is still raising awareness.
Finally, a politician that cares about the poor. - JimV, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6First of all, people get more than this ass clown is claiming. $80 per month? What the hell? I live in Oregon, and no one I know who is on the program gets that little. And secondly, you should see what people buy with these food stamps...candy, cookies, chips, soda...I have a (single) friend who goes to school at the UO and uses food stamps to go buy junk food. I used to work in a grocery store and I hated ringing up a bunch of junk food and then seeing them pay with food stamps.
If he really wanted to make the program better, he'd advocate limiting the kinds of food that people can purchase on the programs. - libertao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@halleyscomet (#6362948)
How is walking in your constituents shoes a bad political stunt? Compared with most photo ops that every single politician does constantly, this is great. - VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@killinger777:
A lot of people who say they're poor, myself included, really just have spending issues that put them in a bad spot. - killinger777, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs."
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm - teaguehopkins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@cptn_cardboard (#6364591)
Yeah that's a brilliant idea. Let's make being a politician something that only the independently wealthy can afford to do. That will definitely get us the best politicians. - cptn_cardboard, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11I personally believe all politicians should earn their states minimum wage, unless you work for the federal government...
..at which you should make the NATIONAL minimum wage :P - JimV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@littlebylittle
"The quoted $21 Average is for families."
Oh really? That's interesting, because the Oregon Department of Human Services reports that "The average monthly benefit was about $160 per household."* Household can mean one person or a family.
*http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/assistance/foodstamps/foodstamps.shtml#overview - elcaminos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I used to cashier at a grocery store here in Portland. I suspect Kulongoski will fit in with 80% of the people I saw using food stamps; well dressed people of varying ethnicities who drive nice cars and appear to be very well off. I suspect the majority of them work under the table so their income is low enough on paper to qualify for all the government services they can get their hands on.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@DAGONthehauge
I can't start the business without knowing why this will be the case. - DRINKxREDxBULL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ryanknapper
I never said it was someone else's fault. I said that I still got out of the rut I was in IN SPITE of those fines. - HaroldHupmobile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I was listening to the William Shatner cover of "Common People" by chance as I read this and couldn't help but think that it was an appropriate soundtrack.
- RomeyRome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What a ***** dog & pony show...
1) 2 of "her" kids are foster kids that only visit on the weekend.
2) Husband can't find work for a year? I think someone has a pride problem. He used to be a construction worker.
3) She makes 30-36k a year with full benefits & a pers pension.
3) There are 3 adults in the household. The other mystery person is unknown. (deadbeat son?)
4) She probably knows better than anybody about how to game the system.
5) Judging by her weight, she's not starving.
6) They picked Fred Myers because it's more "union friendly" instead of going to Food4Less or Winco which are generally cheaper.
7) Back when I made 25k in Oregon, we got $250/mo is food-stamps with just my girlfriend & daughter. I was working full time graveyard & went to school during the day full time.
Sources: Oregonian, Salem Statesman Journal.
I have no problem the state helping people, but not deadbeats with no drive and those that aren't entitled to it.
Get ready for more taxes Oregon. They don't call him "Ted Tax-And-Gouge-Me" for nothing.
So I glad I left that broke ass state. - f0dder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh the hardship the governer faces driving from his gated community to the supermarket and back.
/hope he's sincere about this. Not a John Kerry "hunting" trip. - thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4stealing leftovers from the dunken donuts dumpster isnt cheating.
- wmarkusen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That's our GOV. Good job Ted.
- scabbers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4That's not so easy if you come back from Iraq with no hands.
- RomeyRome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Like spitting in the face of voters & signing gay marriage even thought the voters voted it down twice?
- dt40, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4My guess is that he's not gonna be buying a lot of bottled water.
That said, at least his chances of filing workers' comp claims due to obesity will be significantly reduced. - VinceNoir, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@Trister0
Glad to hear you're making $5.50 an hour now! Congrats! You'll be on the fast track to millions in no time!!! Yessir, gotta love that American spirit!!! - DRINKxREDxBULL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@killenger
I would rather be poor in America or Europe then rich anywhere else. -
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