Despite the fact that recession appeared to be easing in some places around the country, authorities classified about 45 million Americans as “food insecure” during 2009, and about 6.8 million as having “very low food security.”
“This is unthinkable. It’s like we are living in a Third World country,” food relief organization Feeding America president Vicky Escarra told the Washington Post.
Similarly, the number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in May, shortly before the program was cut by almost 12 billion in August, though those cuts will not go into effect until 2014. Food stamps received a large boost from the 2008 stimulus bill, both to encourage spending and to alleviate the worst of the recession.
Paradoxically, obesity rates also increased in almost half of the states in the same year, without decreasing in a single state, suggesting that a poor economy may be taxing not just the quantity, but the quality of the American food supply as well.
The group hardest hit by hunger appears to be young mothers raising children alone, as well as blacks and Hispanics, who were twice as likely to be food insecure as whites.
November 18th, 2010 @ 3:41 am
I have a problem with the overall premise of your article but I still think its really informative. I really like your other posts. Keep up the great work. If you can add more video and pictures can be much better. Because they help much clear understanding. 🙂 thanks Lavilledemirmont.
November 18th, 2010 @ 6:34 am
Tariff on Chinese goods will not make help American get jobs, rather lower American standard of living.
The average Chinese wage is only $300 a month. The average American wage is 720 a week or about $3,000 a month. (source: https://www.byebyeblighty.com/1/average-american-full-time-weekly-wage-720/).
By imposing 50% tariff increase on Chinese goods, the cost of Chinese goods we buy from Walmart will rise by 50%. We will buy less goods for the wages we get, thereby lowering American standard of living.
Yet we can make the same goods the Chinese are making because no Americans will work for the pay the Chinese are willing to work which is $300 a month or about $10 a day.
The solution is Reagan’s tax cuts. Reagan reduced personal taxes by 25%. Americans had more money in the pockets, which they use to buy goods, and which in turn stimulated growth in the economy. Individual income tax revenues rose from $244 billion in 1980 to $446 billion in 1989.
(Source: https://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/tx-grwth/reagtxct/reagtxct.htm.)
November 18th, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
Chito
times were different. Now China has infrastructure to manufacture everything and it costs a fraction of what it costs here. The loss of tax base in the U.S. and increase in spending for Social services for ones, who lost and losing their jobs is immeasurably higher, than what is gained by getting cheap junk from China