Tapsearch Com EditorIn Clinton years stocks boom, the invisible go hungry (LINK)
April 17th 2008 16:04
Bizarre Politics Reports:
Back to the Future- 1999 not 2008 - hunger
1990s - Low unemployment rate hides the invisible workers needing emergency food - during the Clinton Years, the American Dream was Reversed during the Clinton Years, the American Dream was Reversed. while the Clintons and Alan Greenspan were proclaiming prosperity.
This is from 1999 and not 2008. It is from the Clinton years when prosperity was being proclaimed. Hillary was there and said nothing.
* The stock market set historic marks nine years ago in April of 1999. Once we thought a rising tide lifted all boats but in 1999 , this being America in the '90s, it hardly seems strange to hear of huge demands on food banks.
For the second year, U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, a Democrat from Dayton, Ohio, sent out a survey to food banks around the country. He heard back from 117 of them in 40 states. Only one said , its requests for food were down. Requests were up 87 percent, even as money exploded all over stock traders and investors .
The huge demand for emergency food was nationwide. Hall's survey was released just as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nosing above 10,000. The United Food Bank of Mesa, Arizona reported it was supplying 40 percent more charities than the year before. The average increase was 22 percent.
" There are 25 to 30 million of these people, and they're invisible people" , said Hall. "You don't see them on the corner begging for food. They want to be invisibile. They don't want people knowing about them. Among the food bank recipients , two out of five are children. ( Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans later exposed a vast underclass and a silent depression residing in our land- but it was not reported this way in the media. ) There was and still is a vast group of workers missing in action from any kind of real reporting. The media insists on passing on statistics that do not match up with the evidence on the street. They also ignore the fact that only about 38 percent of all workers qualify for unemployment insurance back then and not much has changed since then.
In the 1990s, most recipients had someone in the family working - but not making enough to feed the family. The Bay Area Food Bank of Mobile, Ala., reported more people were working in the area, but at wages too low to cover expenses.
The feds saved lots of money by cutting food stamps - Intoxicated by the image of reducing rolls, state and local governments are discouraging - and certainly not assisting - workers whose minuscle salaries qualify them for food stamps. The Oregon Food Bank reported that 70 percent of its clients were receiving food stamps in 1997. In 1998-99 , it went down to 50 percent. It was called welfare reform but masses need food more than ever before.
I recall a top philanthropist sent a letter to President Clinton about more than 40 million people going hungry in the USA and saying he never received a reply.
Hall said " food is the least expensive - to help welfare reform - . Job training, transportation to work, child care, health care - are costly investments. Food is cheap. Hall said the government could adopt a more generous tax deduction policy on food contributions.
" It's not a priority in the administration, it's not a priority in Congress," Hall said. "Americans have to know that it is a problem. If they knew it was a problem, they'd do more about it." (However in 2008, the problem being ignored for such a long time, is now again is hidden in many ways. ) Back then, the Republicans wanted to cut the budget for domestic discretionary spending - including nutritution and education - by 18 percent in real dollars by 2002, and 30 percent by 2009. ( However, in 2008, the Republicans had to foster an economic stimulus pacake to revive the economy --- ) President Clinton proposed a budget that would cut 7 percent by 2002 and 13 percent by 2009 - However, he was elected on a promise to invest more in these areas of needs and not less.
This happened when Clinton was reporting buget surpluses --- they were make believe too. However this was American in the '90s, where everything seemed to be in reverse. President Bush was elected to challenge this facade but instead he started his pre-emptive wars while following in Clinton's footsteps in free trade and globalization. The two were one in the betrayal of workers everywhere.
* primarily by David Sarasohn - Oregonian of Portland, Ore, ( Newhouse News) with our own commentaries included - April 8 , 1999
This is from 1999 and not 2008. It is from the Clinton years when prosperity was being proclaimed. Hillary was there and said nothing.
* The stock market set historic marks nine years ago in April of 1999. Once we thought a rising tide lifted all boats but in 1999 , this being America in the '90s, it hardly seems strange to hear of huge demands on food banks.
For the second year, U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, a Democrat from Dayton, Ohio, sent out a survey to food banks around the country. He heard back from 117 of them in 40 states. Only one said , its requests for food were down. Requests were up 87 percent, even as money exploded all over stock traders and investors .
The huge demand for emergency food was nationwide. Hall's survey was released just as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nosing above 10,000. The United Food Bank of Mesa, Arizona reported it was supplying 40 percent more charities than the year before. The average increase was 22 percent.
" There are 25 to 30 million of these people, and they're invisible people" , said Hall. "You don't see them on the corner begging for food. They want to be invisibile. They don't want people knowing about them. Among the food bank recipients , two out of five are children. ( Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans later exposed a vast underclass and a silent depression residing in our land- but it was not reported this way in the media. ) There was and still is a vast group of workers missing in action from any kind of real reporting. The media insists on passing on statistics that do not match up with the evidence on the street. They also ignore the fact that only about 38 percent of all workers qualify for unemployment insurance back then and not much has changed since then.
In the 1990s, most recipients had someone in the family working - but not making enough to feed the family. The Bay Area Food Bank of Mobile, Ala., reported more people were working in the area, but at wages too low to cover expenses.
The feds saved lots of money by cutting food stamps - Intoxicated by the image of reducing rolls, state and local governments are discouraging - and certainly not assisting - workers whose minuscle salaries qualify them for food stamps. The Oregon Food Bank reported that 70 percent of its clients were receiving food stamps in 1997. In 1998-99 , it went down to 50 percent. It was called welfare reform but masses need food more than ever before.
I recall a top philanthropist sent a letter to President Clinton about more than 40 million people going hungry in the USA and saying he never received a reply.
Hall said " food is the least expensive - to help welfare reform - . Job training, transportation to work, child care, health care - are costly investments. Food is cheap. Hall said the government could adopt a more generous tax deduction policy on food contributions.
" It's not a priority in the administration, it's not a priority in Congress," Hall said. "Americans have to know that it is a problem. If they knew it was a problem, they'd do more about it." (However in 2008, the problem being ignored for such a long time, is now again is hidden in many ways. ) Back then, the Republicans wanted to cut the budget for domestic discretionary spending - including nutritution and education - by 18 percent in real dollars by 2002, and 30 percent by 2009. ( However, in 2008, the Republicans had to foster an economic stimulus pacake to revive the economy --- ) President Clinton proposed a budget that would cut 7 percent by 2002 and 13 percent by 2009 - However, he was elected on a promise to invest more in these areas of needs and not less.
This happened when Clinton was reporting buget surpluses --- they were make believe too. However this was American in the '90s, where everything seemed to be in reverse. President Bush was elected to challenge this facade but instead he started his pre-emptive wars while following in Clinton's footsteps in free trade and globalization. The two were one in the betrayal of workers everywhere.
* primarily by David Sarasohn - Oregonian of Portland, Ore, ( Newhouse News) with our own commentaries included - April 8 , 1999
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