There’s a dispiriting AP story today about the economic pressures facing American families who live paycheck to paycheck. (thanks to R.K.)
The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.
Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It’s starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.
Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.
The AP pointed to Michelle Grassia, who lives with her husband and three kids in Brooklyn, as an example. Grassia will sometimes skip breakfast and lunch to make sure there’s enough food for her children. She cooks with a hot plate because gas is too expensive. And, the AP noted, “she depends more than ever on the bags of free vegetables and powdered milk from a local food pantry.”
It reminded me of the president’s approach to food pantries, articulated earlier this month.
The president held a town-hall forum in Lancaster, Pa., a few weeks ago, at which a woman asked Bush why he tried to eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
BUSH: Well, where do you get most of your food from in the food bank? Private donations, right?
Q Well, we’re fortunate, yes.
BUSH: Yes. That’s the way it ought to be. Food banks ought to be supported through the generosity of individuals.
After noting how hilarious it is that he has no idea what the CSFP is, Bush demonstrated his commitment to “compassionate conservatism” by explaining why the food program deserved to be eliminated.
Q The supplemental commodity food program — there’s nothing to replace it with. Food stamps aren’t going to work and we’re talking about folks who live in poverty —
BUSH: Right.
Q They already made all the mistakes which they can’t fix —
BUSH: Yes, look, if somebody is poor, we want to help them. And the fundamental question is what’s the proper balance between federal help and private help. And when it comes to food banks, look, I don’t know the program. Maybe I shouldn’t make this admission, maybe I should try to bull my way through. I don’t know the program; I’m sorry. I’ll be glad to look into it. But just from a philosophical perspective, one of the wonderful things about the country is when there’s a need, the average citizen steps up and helps fill the need through private charity. And your program, I suspect, really functions well because the food bank is a dear cause for people. People say, how can I love my neighbor? Well, one way to love your neighbor is the food bank.
And the truth of the matter is I suspect that if seniors are suffering here in Lancaster County and you put out the call, people are going to help.
This is what the White House used to call the “ownership society.” If you’re a low-income senior who needs food, you “own” your poverty, and it’ll be up to others who “own” food to give you a hand. If they don’t? You’ll “own” your hunger, which no one can take away from you.
It’s not just Bush. The Republican response to conditions facing families like the Grassias is to oppose S-CHIP, oppose the minimum-wage increase, and fight for more tax cuts for millionaires.
And then they marvel at the foolish people who dare to question the strength of the economy.