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#1 2008-07-20 1:29 pm
Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
... like this family right here:
A generation ago, the livelihood of Gloria Nunez's family was built on cars.
Her father worked at General Motors for 45 years before retiring. Her mother taught driver's education. Nunez and her six siblings grew up middle class.
Things have changed considerably for this Ohio family.
....
The rising cost of food means their money gets them about a third fewer bags of groceries — $100 used to buy about 12 bags of groceries, but now it's more like seven or eight. So they cut back on expensive items like meat, and they don't buy extras like ice cream anymore. Instead, they eat a lot of starches like potatoes and noodles.
Its really hard to sit around from a decent economical position and speculate on the hardships others struggling to survive are going through. Some times you just have to see it to believe it. From the article it seems like every day is a conflict to stay afloat in todays world.
The article states some of what this family has done to improve their position in life, but clearly it simply isnt enough. What should be done to help this family return to a lifestyle that they were formerly accustomed to? What government programs should be created to assist them with their troubles?
Just like back in Saigon! Eh, slick?
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#4 2008-07-20 3:42 pm
- Jdude
- Surfing on waterboarders
- From: Home is where the war is
- Registered: 2003-02-03
- Posts: 2702
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
So they already live in subsidized housing. They are getting food stamps. One of them is physically disabled and incapable of work. The rest? According to the article, they are mostly unemployed.
What exactly do you want to do, krypto, to help these people?
The only thing they don't have subsidized is cable tv.
Sometimes before replying to a topic, I think to myself: I am just so original!
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#5 2008-07-20 4:00 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
My point is that he is attempting to generalize a single circumstance to the overall concept of social programs.
Did I even say that I thought these particular people should be "helped"?
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#6 2008-07-20 4:14 pm
- Jdude
- Surfing on waterboarders
- From: Home is where the war is
- Registered: 2003-02-03
- Posts: 2702
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
I read your sentence as having the primary emphasis on the second half.
Sometimes before replying to a topic, I think to myself: I am just so original!
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#7 2008-07-20 4:31 pm
- bratboy
- laden with emotion
- Royal Wombat
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2003-01-19
- Posts: 34106
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Har har har, they're FAT.
I heard this story. I don't recall it talking about this family "going hungry" nor about how Steyr needs to shell out to help them.
"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."
--Paul Krugman
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#8 2008-07-20 5:14 pm
- ShnickyShnack
- ::: title edited due to Satanic influences :::
- From: Rockin' out
- Registered: 2001-05-25
- Posts: 22237
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
HA HA
Note: please delete this post.
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#9 2008-07-20 5:32 pm
- Hank Rearden
- Watch your step
- From: Republic of Western Canada
- Registered: 2001-04-18
- Posts: 7044
- Website
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Other than "paying for gas" and the real estate item, I have a sneaking suspicion that that graph would have looked pretty similar a year or two ago.
The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual. -John Muir-
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#10 2008-07-20 5:48 pm
- ShnickyShnack
- ::: title edited due to Satanic influences :::
- From: Rockin' out
- Registered: 2001-05-25
- Posts: 22237
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
And ha-ha, am I right?
Note: please delete this post.
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#11 2008-07-20 6:17 pm
- Farmerkev
- Official Dementor
- Moderator
- Registered: 2003-01-03
- Posts: 18617
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Hank Rearden wrote:
Other than "paying for gas" and the real estate item, I have a sneaking suspicion that that graph would have looked pretty similar a year or two ago.
Hell, 10 years ago I'd guess.
Do your part to combat global warming.
Eat a cow.
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#12 2008-07-20 7:16 pm
- bedstuy
- Archimandrite, Eastern Elite
- From: King Cole Bar, St. Regis Hotel
- Registered: 2003-09-20
- Posts: 13623
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Not only are they monstrously obese, but their last names end with "-ez" so you know what that means.
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#13 2008-07-20 7:24 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
I've got the government program: a fat tax on all junk foods products, similar to those on tobacco and alcohol. All revenues going to fund socialized medicine. Oh my god, it would pay for itself overnight!
Ho Eyo He Hum
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#14 2008-07-20 7:41 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Metacell wrote:
I've got the government program: a fat tax on all junk foods products, similar to those on tobacco and alcohol. All revenues going to fund socialized medicine. Oh my god, it would pay for itself overnight!
A taxation on sugar would cause riots.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#15 2008-07-20 8:20 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Jdude wrote:
I read your sentence as having the primary emphasis on the second half.
I think your Sarcasmotron might have had a hiccup for that one -- he was definitely making fun of Stybaby.
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#16 2008-07-20 8:55 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Metacell wrote:
I've got the government program: a fat tax on all junk foods products, similar to those on tobacco and alcohol. All revenues going to fund socialized medicine. Oh my god, it would pay for itself overnight!
What is considered "junk food"?
When I started eating fattier foods I lost weight, since fattier foods tend to make me feel more full for a longer time and so I eat fewer of them. The bigger problem is calories. Much fat-free food and "diet food" has very very many calories.
It seems that most people don't have a good understanding about what food is good for weight, and many conceptions about what is healthy and what is not are not necessarily correct.
An entire can of Olestra pringles has fewer calories than many meals(490). Pasta contains a serious number of calories.
If you want to tax something, I think taxing high-calorie foods would make more sense than taxing high-fat foods. That would mean taxing things like soda and sugar, but it would also mean taxing things like pasta, rice, many breads, nuts, juice, dairy products, potatoes, and many other "staple" foods.
Unfortunately, many of these foods can be consumed in moderation, so taxing these products will mean taxing people who do. It will also mean a big increase in the cost of these staple foods, when the cost of food has already risen dramatically within the last few years.
Don't worry; through taxation, soon we'll get the entire country to live off of tuna sandwiches(~200 calories if the right bread is used) and pickles(so few calories that they're allowed to put '0' on their nutrition facts).
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#17 2008-07-20 9:04 pm
- Jdude
- Surfing on waterboarders
- From: Home is where the war is
- Registered: 2003-02-03
- Posts: 2702
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Daniel wrote:
Jdude wrote:
I read your sentence as having the primary emphasis on the second half.
I think your Sarcasmotron might have had a hiccup for that one -- he was definitely making fun of Stybaby.
I shall replace it as soon as possible.
Sometimes before replying to a topic, I think to myself: I am just so original!
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#19 2008-07-20 9:13 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Isn't that a tax on a lack of personal responsibility?
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#20 2008-07-20 9:54 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Where did you get that, the Caesar Chavez School for Revisionist History?
Last edited by Daniel (2008-07-20 9:55 pm)
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#21 2008-07-20 11:18 pm
- bratboy
- laden with emotion
- Royal Wombat
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2003-01-19
- Posts: 34106
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Thankfully for Steyr there isn't a tax on intellectual dishonesty.
What government program does this story advocate? Does it claim that they're going hungry?
"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."
--Paul Krugman
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#22 2008-07-20 11:36 pm
- JakeTheTall
- Cargo Cultist
- From: In Permanent Opposition
- Registered: 2003-03-13
- Posts: 9611
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
Step 1: Absurdly framed, exaggerated story.
Step 2: Read about said story on a conservative / fascist blog
Step 3: Post on MiniThink. Feel smugly superior at anyone who challenges the red herring
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit !
Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
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#23 2008-07-20 11:38 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
bratboy wrote:
Thankfully for Steyr there isn't a tax on intellectual dishonesty.
Yeah - minithink would lose all of its posters, none of us would be able to afford a computer, let alone a net connection.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#24 2008-07-20 11:39 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
JakeTheTall wrote:
Step 1: Absurdly framed, exaggerated story.
Step 2: Read about said story on a conservative / fascist blog
Isn't this story a fine example of NPR reporting?
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#25 2008-07-20 11:56 pm
Re: Economic crunch means some Americans go hungry
bratboy wrote:
Thankfully for Steyr there isn't a tax on intellectual dishonesty.
What government program does this story advocate? Does it claim that they're going hungry?
mm indeed. Like the intellectual dishonesty of asserting that I said anything about the story making those claims
Just like back in Saigon! Eh, slick?
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