More U.S. Success Story, Hungry & Homeless Increase 12-14-2004

[dmcowen674]

12-14-2004 Hungry, Homeless Figures Increase in U.S.

Louisville, Ky., and its metropolitan area experienced the greatest spike in demand for emergency food, with requests rising 32 percent. Food needs rose 31 percent in Salt Lake City, 26 percent in Miami and Phoenix, and 24 percent in Los Angeles.

The study also found:

_Requests for food assistance by families with children increased by 13 percent.

_Fifty-six percent of people needing emergency food were members of families.

_Twenty-three percent of requests for emergency shelter by homeless people were unmet due to lack of resources.

The cities surveyed are Boston; Burlington, Vt.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; Denver; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Providence, R.I.; St. Paul, Minn.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Francisco; Santa Monica, Calif.; Seattle; and Trenton, N.J.

 

[BBond]

This being the Christmas season, I can't help relating this to "It's A Wonderful Life" and thinking Bush has turned Bedford Falls into Pottersville.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: BBond
This being the Christmas season, I can't help relating this to "It's A Wonderful Life" and thinking Bush has turned Bedford Falls into Pottersville.

Actually can't throw the blame on Bush this time as it's a reoccuring trend (higher each year) for the last 20 years.

But, I guess we would rather spend billions on places like Iraq than to try to help our own.....but it's not welfare when we blow up and then rebuild Iraq, is it?

 

[StageLeft]

We should cut our losses and send them to labour camps, where they can be fed and clothed, but made to work.

 

[Steeplerot]

Whats really sad are the homeless vets panhandling with freshly missing limbs on the streets of san francisco! bastages!
I bet chimpy is eating a BIG dinner right now while his soldiers eat rations in some hellhole in iraq and our vets are tossed on their ass for the second war now.

 

[BBond]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: BBond
This being the Christmas season, I can't help relating this to "It's A Wonderful Life" and thinking Bush has turned Bedford Falls into Pottersville.

Actually can't throw the blame on Bush this time as it's a reoccuring trend (higher each year) for the last 20 years.

But, I guess we would rather spend billions on places like Iraq than to try to help our own.....but it's not welfare when we blow up and then rebuild Iraq, is it?

I don't know, I think I can blame Bush. Poverty has definitely increased under Bush.

Poverty rates from 1959 to 1998:

Poverty Rates by Age: 1959 to 1998

Poverty under Bush:

Poverty USA: The State of Poverty in America

For the second consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number of Americans living in poverty both rose from the prior years. Since 2000, the number of poor Americans has grown by 3 million. The official poverty rate in 2002 (the most current year for which figures are available) was 12.1 percent, up from 11.7 percent in 2001. Total Americans below the official poverty thresholds numbered 34.6 million, a figure 1.7 million higher than the 32.9 million in poverty in 2001. (U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty in the United States: 2002, Current Population Reports, September 2003.)

On average, one out of every three Americans - 34.2 percent of all people in the United States - are officially classified as living in poverty at least 2 months out of the year. (U.S. Census Bureau, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty 1996-1999, July 2003.)

The number of Americans living in severe poverty - with incomes below half of the poverty line - increased by 600,000 in 2002, to 14.1 million. (U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty in the United States: 2002, Current Population Reports, September 2003.)

Since 1999, the number of poor Americans suffering from "food insecurity" and hunger has increased by 3.9 million - 2.8 million adults and more than one million children. In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity - that is, not enough food for basic nourishment - compared to 33.6 million in 2001 and 31 million in 1999. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States, 2002, October 2003.)

The Midwest experienced the greatest increase in poverty rates, rising from 9.4 percent in 2001 to 10.3 percent in 2002 - yet the American South still had the highest poverty rate at 13.8 percent. The South had a disproportionately large share of those in poverty: 40.6 percent, compared with 35.6 percent of all people. And the American suburbs saw the highest rise in poverty, from 12.1 million and 8.2 percent in 2001 to 13.3 million and 8.9 percent in 2002. (U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty in the United States: 2002, Current Population Reports, September 2003.)

Nine out of ten Americans believe the federal government has a responsibility to alleviate poverty. A strong majority believes that government should do more, not less, to help people move from welfare to work by providing skills needed to be self-sufficient. (Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, January 2002.)

 

[Engineer]

Nine out of ten Americans believe the federal government has a responsibility to alleviate poverty. A strong majority believes that government should do more, not less, to help people move from welfare to work by providing skills needed to be self-sufficient. (Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, January 2002.)

Shouldn't that number be 49% for vs 51% against the Federal Government having the responsibility? 😉

 

[Taejin]

Wait dmcowen! Just wait for the party faithful to come out with something more optimistic!

Remember, under President Bush, even the blatantly bad can be discounted and spun into gold and flowers ^^.

 

[catnap1972]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
We should cut our losses and send them to labour camps, where they can be fed and clothed, but made to work.

Better yet, ship em over to Iraq so they can be shot up and disposed of...everyone (well, all of the "right") knows they're nothing but a useless burden on society anyway so why prolong the inevitable?

:roll:

 

[GoPackGo]

You all should be ashamed of yourselves....

Instead of complaining or placing blame...we all should make an effort to donate a little extra to help these people out.

My local grocery stores have bags of food pre made up for donation to the local food shelter and they cost either 5 or 10 dollars...I think I am going to stop down this week and buy a couple.

 

[irwincur]

Funny that we only see homeless and poverty articles when a Republican is in office. I almost thought for a while that during the Clinton administration the homeless people all dissapeared, and all of the poor were making $50/hr.

 

[BBond]

Originally posted by: irwincur
Funny that we only see homeless and poverty articles when a Republican is in office. I almost thought for a while that during the Clinton administration the homeless people all dissapeared, and all of the poor were making $50/hr.

I see articles on homelessness and poverty regardless of who is in office. But please see the links I provided above. Poverty did decrease under Clinton, and it did increase under Bush. If the facts condemn Bush's record on poverty and homelessness, and they do, then so be it.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: BBond

Originally posted by: irwincur
Funny that we only see homeless and poverty articles when a Republican is in office. I almost thought for a while that during the Clinton administration the homeless people all dissapeared, and all of the poor were making $50/hr.

I see articles on homelessness and poverty regardless of who is in office. But please see the links I provided above. Poverty did decrease under Clinton, and it did increase under Bush. If the facts condemn Bush's record on poverty and homelessness, and they do, then so be it.

Don't more of the facts need to be taken into consideration and not just those you choose to present? Facts are that, under Bush, the average poverty level in the US is still below the average of Clinton's terms. Besides that, poverty levels decreased under Clinton no thanks to anything he enacted. It was purely dumb luck and 'right place, right time' for him. The tech boom reduced poverty levels, not Billy Boy. Considering the potential rebound from the tech bubble burst, Bush hasn't done that bad overall. Of course, to come to that conclusion you have to take more metrics into consideration than just decreases or increases.

 

[BBond]

Why does the discussion always turn to Clinton when Bush's clear failures are the subject? If you have some infoto refute the info I posted, by all means post it. If there are "more of the facts" out there then post them. Until them I'll take the facts as they stand.

Poverty under Clinton...down.

Poverty under Bush...up.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: BBond
Why does the discussion always turn to Clinton when Bush's clear failures are the subject? If you have some infoto refute the info I posted, by all means post it. If there are "more of the facts" out there then post them. Until them I'll take the facts as they stand.

Poverty under Clinton...down.

Poverty under Bush...up.

Erm, maybe it turns to Clinton because you brought up the comparison in the first place?

Just a guess. 😉

 

[BBond]

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: BBond
Why does the discussion always turn to Clinton when Bush's clear failures are the subject? If you have some infoto refute the info I posted, by all means post it. If there are "more of the facts" out there then post them. Until them I'll take the facts as they stand.

Poverty under Clinton...down.

Poverty under Bush...up.

Erm, maybe it turns to Clinton because you brought up the comparison in the first place?

Just a guess. 😉

Wrong guess. The comparison was an answer to Engineer's remarks about poverty being on an upward trend over the past 20 or so years.

Read the links. They prove poverty was on a downward trend during several periods and has in fact increased dramatically under Bush.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: GoPackGo
You all should be ashamed of yourselves....

Instead of complaining or placing blame...we all should make an effort to donate a little extra to help these people out.

My local grocery stores have bags of food pre made up for donation to the local food shelter and they cost either 5 or 10 dollars...I think I am going to stop down this week and buy a couple.

I give about 200 bucks to charity a month. I think Dave Mac is too busy posting FUD on Anandtech to do anything himself, though . . . 😀

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: BBond

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: BBond
Why does the discussion always turn to Clinton when Bush's clear failures are the subject? If you have some infoto refute the info I posted, by all means post it. If there are "more of the facts" out there then post them. Until them I'll take the facts as they stand.

Poverty under Clinton...down.

Poverty under Bush...up.

Erm, maybe it turns to Clinton because you brought up the comparison in the first place?

Just a guess. 😉

Wrong guess. The comparison was an answer to Engineer's remarks about poverty being on an upward trend over the past 20 or so years.

Read the links. They prove poverty was on a downward trend during several periods and has in fact increased dramatically under Bush.

It wasn't a wrong guess. You brought up Clinton. I expanded upon your narrow focus. Nor has poverty increased "dramatically" under Bush if you look at long-term trends of pverty in the US. Naturally though, you choose an abberation in our economy to use as a comparison point instead of normalizing the comparison. It's a very sloppy tactic and a lousy methodology you're using to come to a skewed conclusion.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: X-Man

Originally posted by: GoPackGo
You all should be ashamed of yourselves....

Instead of complaining or placing blame...we all should make an effort to donate a little extra to help these people out.

My local grocery stores have bags of food pre made up for donation to the local food shelter and they cost either 5 or 10 dollars...I think I am going to stop down this week and buy a couple.

I give about 200 bucks to charity a month. I think Dave Mac is too busy posting FUD on Anandtech to do anything himself, though . . . 😀

Interesting. I thought the FLL's were against Wealth Distribution?

Well, since I cannot even afford Health Insurance I am not one to be in position to be doling out $200 a month to Charity.

However of course if I was in a position to actually have disposable income which I'm sure your $200 is very much a part of, I not only used to give actual dollars to charity but also alot of my time in many Projects.

 

[ntdz]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
12-14-2004 Hungry, Homeless Figures Increase in U.S.

Louisville, Ky., and its metropolitan area experienced the greatest spike in demand for emergency food, with requests rising 32 percent. Food needs rose 31 percent in Salt Lake City, 26 percent in Miami and Phoenix, and 24 percent in Los Angeles.

The study also found:

_Requests for food assistance by families with children increased by 13 percent.

_Fifty-six percent of people needing emergency food were members of families.

_Twenty-three percent of requests for emergency shelter by homeless people were unmet due to lack of resources.

The cities surveyed are Boston; Burlington, Vt.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; Denver; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Providence, R.I.; St. Paul, Minn.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Francisco; Santa Monica, Calif.; Seattle; and Trenton, N.J.

You must be depressed because all you ever post here are negative things. How about posting something positive for once? It's not that hard. Not EVERYTHING Bush does is bad you know, and not everything that is bad is Bush's fault, so just chill and lay off a bit.

 

[GoPackGo]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: X-Man

Originally posted by: GoPackGo
You all should be ashamed of yourselves....

Instead of complaining or placing blame...we all should make an effort to donate a little extra to help these people out.

My local grocery stores have bags of food pre made up for donation to the local food shelter and they cost either 5 or 10 dollars...I think I am going to stop down this week and buy a couple.

I give about 200 bucks to charity a month. I think Dave Mac is too busy posting FUD on Anandtech to do anything himself, though . . . 😀

Interesting. I thought the FLL's were against Wealth Distribution?

Well, since I cannot even afford Health Insurance I am not one to be in position to be doling out $200 a month to Charity.

However of course if I was in a position to actually have disposable income which I'm sure your $200 is very much a part of, I not only used to give actual dollars to charity but also alot of my time in many Projects.

I think there is a difference between having the govt take it away and giving it away freely.

One is a choice, the other is not.