Food stamps in Johnson County

I was puzzled when I first read about Catholic Charities’ concerns that people in Johnson County were not signing up for food stamps, even though they were eligible. The reason is obvious: They do not think they need them, even if they are entitled to them.

Most of us would think this commendable. Apparently, people whose job it is to give out government money find this difficult to understand.

It makes me wonder why an organization dedicated to helping people should think there is something wrong with people who don’t want to become dependent on government handouts. And why Kansas wants to spend money to promote such dependency. Maybe it’s just the embarrassment of evidence that hunger in Johnson County is not the severe problem some people think it is.

Robert Reimers
Gardner

Comments

[Engineer]

Irishguy
BTW, my figures were for "after Bush arrived".

[Engineer]

Irishguy
The upper 25% paid 83% of the Federal Income Tax and recieved 64% of the income. In any evebt, allowing someone to keep what they have earned is not a "handout" So what were "all the "handouts" given to the rich and powerful"? You make statements about taxes but give no figures to back up your contentions. A year or so ago The Sun printed an editorial about how the "regressive" Kansas incone tax system took advantae of the poor. The article quoted figures on family income and total taxes paid by the family. I checked the Kansas and Federal income tax forms and found that, based on what was quoted as income and tax paid, the family would not be liable for any State Income Tax and would have recived a EITC cash payment in excess of the amount the article said was paid in other taxes.

[irishguy]

Engineer, the top 25 percent of taxpayers also earn a disproportionate share of income in the U.S. Of course they pay a higher share of the income tax burden, or at least did until Bush arrived.

Under a progressive tax system the burden should be borne by those most able to afford it, and I fail to see anyone in the top 25 percent of all taxpayers really straining under the burden of income taxes.

But in reality, by cutting income taxes across the board and provided the biggest benefits to those at the top, the tax burden gets shifted to other regressive forms of taxation that are not based on ability to pay. These include payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes.

When all these forms of taxations are added up, you'll find the wealthy paying a far smaller share of their incomes in taxes than the middle class, or even the poor, whether or not they receive an EITC or not.

[Engineer]

Solomon
You are right, we are getting quite a distance fron food stamps in Johnson County.
But you ask me to answer a question you asked yesterday ""by what right does the US exist?". The UN would say that every existing nation recognized by that body as a nation has a rigth to exist and to maintain it's borders. But perhaps there is no "right". Nations have risen and fallen throughtout history. So, ultimately, perhaps we exist through our power, strength and will to maintain our existence. If any one of those qualities falter enough we may cease to exist.

[solomon]

engineer, please go to my question on yesterdays Immigration and answer it here. i'd really like to hear your answer. thanks

[solomon]

engineer, by the term illegal, i include those walking across the border with those from the middle east, russia (large #s but no publicity), britain, continental europe and africa. to me they are all the same. when you focus on the ones walking across the border you are not really focusing on the problem

the food and service industries seem to employ many hispanics. ask a roofer who has lost work.

great thread....this one actually started with food stamps in ks

[Engineer]

Solomon
I think we can control our borders if our elected representatives have the will to do so. But as to the "average immigrant", how do you define that person? Some say that a large number are those who have overstayed their visas. I don't think that as a rule you will find those people engaged in farm work or doing menial factory jobs. You apparently are thinking mainly of poor Hispanics/Latinos walking across the southern border. And I must admit that is the group that causes the most concern and seems the least likely to assimilate. As to my reference to "average immigrant" perhaps a better choice of words would have been "law abiding". But if you are in this Country illeagly and working, you are breaking two laws, one by being in the Country, the other by working. If you are doing so using a false SS# you are committing a felony. If you are driving without a license you are breaking another law. If you are driving without insurance you are breaking still another law.

[solomon]

and judging by the number of illegals vs legal immigrants, i'd say the illegal immigrants are the higher %, which would make them the average immigrant

[solomon]

forgive if the term "rant " is too strong. i was refrring to your close the border comment from yesterday evening,...my point is that as long as there's work here for large corps', they'll continue to flood into our country, and it is unavoidable. US companies move their operations to central america and pay them crap, which is as bad as any military invasion. remember, there is work for a segment of an occupied country if your willing to take it(iraq). or you can run to the greener grass next door. that is the history of the world

[Engineer]

Solomon
I am opposed to illegal immigration. But could you refer me to where I have "ranted" against the average immigrant? I am opposed to criminals and law violaters. I think we should know just who we are harboring. Based on what I know of the actions of a large segment of the illegal population it seems to me they are resitsting assimilation and that, to me, is troubling. Perhaps a change in their status would help in that regard, but we need to be able to control who enters this country.

[solomon]

"don't they employ alot of people?"...i know the big food co's employ alot of those aliens you rant against.

[Engineer]

Irishguy
" all the "handouts" given to the rich and powerful". Could you list some of these, please? The upper 25% of income tax filers pay over 83% of the Federal Income Tax, the lower 50% pay less than 4%. And this is before adjusting for the cash payments made under EITC. In addition, there are many who do not file. Of course, just what this has to do with food stamps is anybody's guess. But what is your solution? Get rid of all the "greedy" companies? Don't they employ a lot of people?

[solomon]

to just thinking,..re: nutrition... and totally ignored. food companies don't make their money on food, they make it on processing and packaging

[Just Thinking]

Nutrtion, especially for children, is particularly important.

[irishguy]

One of the clever ways that the rich manage to stay in power is by convincing the middle class that the real "enemy" is the poor, who are draining the national treasury through a variety of "handouts."

One would hope that some day the middle class would wake up and start totalling up all the "handouts" given to the rich and powerful instead of worrying about such relatively penny-ante programs such as food stamps.

As the author mentioned, one of the reasons more Johnson County's poor aren't applying is because they are working poor --- just like the vast majority of food stamp recipients --- and can't take time off work.

Another reason alluded to is that food stamp benefits have been slashed because of the fear that the poor are getting something that the middle class is not. Sometimes, it's just not worth it.

Rather than a "handout" that a person becomes dependent upon, food stamps are far more often a "hand-up" that sustains a person at the bottom of the economic ladder on their way up. Like all the programs we once lumped into "welfare" the truth is that the vast majority of recipients receive them for a relatively short time -- under three years --- as they work themselves out of poverty.

But instead of focusing on that, all we hear about is the tiny minority who are permanently stuck in welfare -- for reasons far more complicated that we would like to admit -- and thus "dependent" on the government.

[solomon]

the real problem with food stamps is that they are promoted and lobbied for by big biz. Con Agra is the largest lobby for them. think about it, poor pepople and people living on the financial bubble of choosing food or heat are not the one's in washington keeping this system of handouts alive. i heard dick gregory years ago railing against the big business interests profiting from stamps, largely because they want to sell their high priced "packaged food products". he said the rational alternative if the government wanted to really benefit people was a "nutrition" stamp, this could be used for fruit, beans, cereals, vegetable, fish, meat and nuts...raw food that people would actually get value for the costs and be much healthier than the preservative laden packaged foods...the food co lobbiest argued that that would be discriminatory because it took away food stamp recipients right to eat what the rest of america was able to buy. look whose point of view one out. big biz talking about discrimination, thats who. there's a big vote coming up next year in washington and the food companies are once again spending huge dollars to expand this system where we pay for everyones"lean Quisine and hungry man dinners"