Walmart: Welfare Queen

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assitance, class, debt, employment, entitlement, Food, Food Stamps, Healthcare, job, middle, Politics, poor, Poverty, SNAP, taxpayer, Wal-Mart, Walmart, Welfare, working

Fact: “In December 2006 the Tacoma News Tribune reported that new numbers from the state showed that Wal-Mart still accounted for the largest number of workers receiving benefits from the state’s Medicaid and Basic Health plan. The number for Wal-Mart was 3,194–far ahead of number two McDonald’s with 1,932.”

Fact: “In March 2006 the Philadelphia Inquirer published a report on data it obtained from the Department of Public Welfare on the percentage of workers enrolled in Medicaid at the ten largest employers in the state. Wal-Mart was at the top of the list, with 15.8 percent of its workforce (7,577 individuals) enrolled. Giant Food Stores was second with 11.8 percent (2,244 workers).”

– full list of states from goodjobsfirst.org

Claim: “Paying Wal-Mart workers a living wage more would kill jobs and/or raise prices unsustainably.”

Video: What if Wal-Mart paid employees enough to avoid food stamps?

More information: Food Politics blog

King County’s homeless families await help, as backlog grows | The Seattle Times

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2-1-1, 211, Catholic Community Services, Committee to End Homelessness, Family Housing Connection, Gates Foundation, homeless, King County, poor, Seattle, United Way

Seattle has a ridiculous number of homeless people and it seems the new intake systems is only highlighting the problem. What can we do to help these people? Or, better yet, what can we do to reduce the number of people who are homeless in the first place?

King County’s homeless families await help, as backlog grows | Local News | The Seattle Times.

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person… | OCCUPY WALL STREET

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oppression, Peggy McIntosh, poor, race, white privilege, working class

You are poor or just scraping by. Your are uneducated. You may have never had a snowball’s chance in hell of making it because life got you down from the start. But you are white, so yes – you are still privileged. I know it can be hard to think about and even harder to accept, for myself as well. But it is true.

White privilege and racial oppression are very difficult topics with white people of the poor/working class because despite their whiteness they still suffer. When non-whites bring up racial discrimination/oppression/white privilege it seems like they are making an excuse for their circumstances. They are trying to find an easy way out. To take advantage of their non-whiteness to gain an upper hand.

White people may think “I am white and I deal with the same shit.” Such is the way of the poor and working class – we are trained to be obedient, to fight among ourselves, to unquestioningly seek out the same fame and fortune that is the cause of our oppression as a class. As white poor and working class we deny that our race gives us any advantage because it justifies our poorness. It prevents us from thinking other people have to work even harder and deal with even more crap just to live the same struggle as us.

I urge anyone who identifies as white and from the poor or working class to consider what “white privilege” means to you. Think about it then check out this article from the Occupy Wallstreet movement.

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person… | OCCUPY WALL STREET.

I would also take a peek at Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” mentioned in the article. Or perhaps engage another non-white person of the same economic status in conversation. You might learn a lot – I know I have.

Unbelievable: An Ohio Walmart asks for food donations to help its employees eat | Washington Post

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charity, donation, Food, hunger, hungry, insecurity, institutional, low-income, oppression, poor, Poverty, systematic, Walmart

Unbelievable: An Ohio Walmart asks for food donations to help its employees eat | Washington Post

A SNAPshot of Food Assistance

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congress, entitlements, Food, Food Stamps, government, H.R. 3102, insecurity, Policy, poor, Poverty, S. 954, SNAP, social safety net, Welfare

Working in a Food Bank means I am learning a great deal about different government assistance policies and initiatives in addition to the work of private organizations. One of the most important government program in food-related assistance is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Previously known as Food Stamps, SNAP is the fundamental method for providing government assistance to those in need of food support. As of the June 2013 estimate, SNAP serves about 48 million Americans in the 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

SNAP is the modern result of extensive changes throughout a long history of governmental food assistance. SNAP serves a number of vulnerable populations including children, the disabled, the elderly, and low-income workers. Over 80% of SNAP recipients have a gross household income below the poverty rate and about 42% of recipients have a household income less than half the poverty rate!

SNAP benefits are determined by a number of factors including household size and income. One of the most controversial and difficult challenges of entitlement programs are their effect on incentives and the need to work – SNAP addresses these challenges by utilizing an earnings deduction as well as gradual reduction in benefits when earnings are increased. This structure ensures that SNAP does not remove the incentive to work (the deduction means that increasing earnings will increase overall welfare, not just reduce entitlements) while mitigating problems such as earnings barriers (limits to maximum and minimum income a recipient would want to achieve in order to continue receiving benefits) and removing the exclusive purchase requirement of the previous food stamp programs.

To completely describe SNAP is beyond the scope of this post and well beyond my expertise. Read more SNAP facts from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, our check out their series “Setting the Record Straight on SNAP.” This is especially important now, as Congress debates the legislation that authorizes the funding of SNAP. The 2008 farm bill would have already expired if not for an extension to September 30th. Now both houses of congress have passed their respective versions of the bill and will begin negotiating a final bill to send to the president. 

House: H.R. 3102: Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013

Senate: S. 954: Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013

Based on the 217:210 vote in the House (no Democrats voted Yay and only 15 Republicans Nay) it is clear Republicans will be demanding cuts to SNAP in the final version. Also, check out the so-called “SNAP Challenge” 26 members of Congress are taking to highlight the need for SNAP funding. To note: of the 26 congressmen/women participating, zero are Republican.