2013-10-29

Got Guns?

You might need them if you live in an area with heavy welfare dependency.

MORE NEEDING FOOD STAMPS MAY BE NEW NORMAL
During the 2003-07 expansion, the SNAP case load, -- in a break with historic trends -- rose 24 percent, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College reported. CRC economists Matt Rutledge and April Yanyuan Wu said one reason is a change in the longstanding correlation between poverty and the unemployment rate.

Poverty used to fall in tandem with the jobless rate, reducing the need for food stamps but the researchers found poverty did not decline as the economy grew in the mid-2000s -- and in the recovery following the Great Recession, the number of people receiving food stamps kept rising.

The assumption has always been a stronger labor market would reduce the need for food stamps, the economists said, but the new trend suggests rising employment might no longer be enough.
The big question for economists is whether this is a pause or a major shift. There was a similar pause during the Great Depression, when farm productivity gains left many people in transition. The Internet and global trade are taking their toll today, as well as shifting demographics. Whether the problem is short-term or long-term may be a smaller issue if the money runs out first.

Food Bank CEO Suggests Welfare Cuts May Spark Riots
Margarette Purvis, the president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, told Salon.com that the expiration of stimulus funds, which will see the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program reduced by $5 billion dollars, will have an “immediate impact” and represent a recipe for civil unrest.

“If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the same way: when people cannot afford to eat food,” said Purvis, adding that families face the “daunting” prospect of losing a whole week’s worth of food every month.
The U.S. will eventually cut funding for everything because the math doesn't add up. If the number of people on welfare rises and rises, it's a recipe for catastrophe.

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