Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries

[DaemonSeid]

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 16, 2007; A13

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) stood before the refrigerated section of the Safeway on Capitol Hill yesterday and looked longingly at the eggs.

At $1.29 for a half-dozen, he couldn't afford them.

Ryan and three other members of Congress have pledged to live for one week on $21 worth of food, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. That's $3 a day or $1 a meal. They started yesterday.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), co-chairmen of the House Hunger Caucus, called on lawmakers to take the "Food Stamp Challenge" to raise awareness of hunger and what they say are inadequate benefits for food stamp recipients. Only two others, Ryan and Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.), took them up on it.

"All of us in Congress live pretty good lives," said McGovern, who ate a single banana for breakfast yesterday and was going through caffeine withdrawal by midday. "We don't have to wake up worrying about the next meal. But there are a lot of Americans who do. I think it's wrong. I think it's immoral that in the U.S., the richest country in the world, people are hungry."

McGovern and Emerson have introduced legislation that would add $4 billion to the annual federal food stamp budget, which was $33 billion last year and covered 26 million Americans. The proposal could be incorporated by Congress into the new farm bill.

"We're trying to get this debate going," McGovern said. "There are more working people today getting food stamps than six years ago. . . . There's not a member of Congress that doesn't have hunger in their district."

According to the rules of the challenge, the four House members cannot eat anything beside their $21 worth of groceries. That means no food at the many receptions, dinners and fundraisers that fill a lawmaker's week.

At yesterday's weekly lunch meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, McGovern was mesmerized by an attractive roast beef sandwich with cheese. He noted the potato chips came in two flavors: sour cream and plain. But his own lunch consisted of some lentils he cooked for himself and brought to work in a plastic container.

This morning McGovern is hosting a fundraising breakfast for his reelection at Bistro Bis, the restaurant in the Hotel George. The catering charge is $20 per person for the breakfast -- nearly McGovern's entire food budget for this week -- but he won't be eating any of it.

And tonight he is to attend a fundraising dinner for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) thrown at the Georgetown mansion of oil heir Smith Bagley. "I guess I'll just drink tap water," McGovern said.

McGovern and his wife, Lisa, did their food shopping for the week with help from Toinette Wilson, a D.C. resident and mother of three who relies on food stamps. Wilson gave him some tips, but it was still a struggle, he said.

"No organic foods, no fresh vegetables, we were looking for the cheapest of everything," McGovern said. "We got spaghetti and hamburger meat that was high in fat -- the fattiest meat on the shelf. I have high cholesterol and always try to get the leanest, but it's expensive. It's almost impossible to make healthy choices on a food stamp diet."

The McGoverns have exempted their two children, ages 5 and 9, from the challenge. "I'm lucky when they eat anything," McGovern said.

At the Safeway, Ryan seemed to grow depressed as he realized the limits of his budget. "It's unbelievable," he said, filling his small grocery basket with peanut butter, jelly and bread. He bought a big bag of cornmeal that he says he'll try to fashion into grits for breakfast and polenta for dinner. And he grabbed some canned tomato sauce and pasta on sale. No money for meat, milk, juice, fresh fruit or vegetables, save for a single head of 32-cent garlic to flavor the tomato sauce.

"I don't know if this is going to make it," said the third-term Democrat, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 215 pounds. "By the end of the week, I'm going to be eating cornmeal and strawberry preserves."

Both lawmakers will keep blogs about the experience, McGovern at http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com and Ryan at http://timryan.house.gov.

[Kevin]

I started reading, but will admit that I gave up when they started on the guilt trip about us being the richest country, etc. etc.

If you don't want to live on food stamps, get a job. If someone can survive on the current food stamp budget, power to 'em. The government should only provide the very basic minimum needs. If food stamp recipients want to be able to afford some cheese for those chips, they can enter the work force.

[OneTimeSBX]

kevin, kevin, kevin...

not everyone on food stamps has no job/has 18 kids/lives in the ghetto/is mooching off the system.

a lot of elderly people get food stamps. should they be allotted only a "minimum"? i worked as a teller for 2 years, and there were elderly getting social security checks for 500 bucks a month...you tell me where in the US you can live off of that! people who are laid off of very well paying jobs find themselves on them for a while. hell, i got laid off from Capital One (one of about 250 employees), had zero income, 800 dollar rent, and a car note, a child, and my unemployment was under a thousand a month. and guess what? i didnt qualify. not everyone can just up and find a job that pays more, or sometimes find a job at all. had i recieved them, (and only because of my child did i even go there...) i would have used them until a new job came along. i would have used them for what they were meant to do!

its not the people, its the system. it needs to be monitored more. i'm sorry, but there needs to be a system that handles things, like having a time limit for being on it, and maybe other programs that give out the actual food, not just the means to go get whatever you want...the ones who need it cant get it, the ones who dont need it, have it.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I started reading, but will admit that I gave up when they started on the guilt trip about us being the richest country, etc. etc.

If you don't want to live on food stamps, get a job. If someone can survive on the current food stamp budget, power to 'em. The government should only provide the very basic minimum needs. If food stamp recipients want to be able to afford some cheese for those chips, they can enter the work force.

You started reading but FINISH reading...and it's not as easy as saying 'get a job' what about those who are TRYING to get jobs but for many reasons are turned away...what about those who are disabled? Can we just tell them 'get a job' ?

Now mind you I understand the frustration when we see able bodied folks out there how are taking advantage of the system BUT point is, we dont know what thier story is.

I sure would like to see u tell Katrina victims to just 'go get a job'...heck almost 2 years later sopme are still waiting for assistance that has yet to come.

Problem is, almost a century ago, the food stamp situation was supposed to be a temporary thing for folks coming back from wars and those whose businesses went under etc...BUT...it got institutionalized and more and more people that got on it...couldn't get off of it.... and yeah...the govt is taking step to try and curb the amount of people that get and stay on it but fact is, unless you are in that person's position....telling them to get a job is not as easy as it sounds.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I started reading, but will admit that I gave up when they started on the guilt trip about us being the richest country, etc. etc.

If you don't want to live on food stamps, get a job. If someone can survive on the current food stamp budget, power to 'em. The government should only provide the very basic minimum needs. If food stamp recipients want to be able to afford some cheese for those chips, they can enter the work force.

Did you notice the part of the article that said There are more working people today getting food stamps than six years ago? What do you suggest those people do?

[OneTimeSBX]

amen to that daemon!

now, dont get me wrong. i know girls who are in their 20's with 4 and 5 kids and are getting more $$ in food stamps than you would believe. and they have no intentions of ever coming off.

i also know 2 married women with 4 and 5 kids, whos HUSBANDS have skipped out on them, and cant seem to be tracked down to pay child support. im sorry, raising a truckload of kids as a single parent, even with a very good paying job, is difficult. these 2 women are embarassed to no end when they have to use their food stamps. the first one? she will brag about it until your ears fall off. that is where it needs to be monitored better! everyone needs help at times. dont take advantage of it.

not to even mention my cousin sells her food stamps for cash for crack. and the government continues to load her card up every month...kids sitting in the house with no food. hows that for goverment regulated??

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

Did you notice the part of the article that said There are more working people today getting food stamps than six years ago? What do you suggest those people do?

"get better jobs..."

**wink wink , nod nod**

Now...something else I heard this morning too...

A study shows that for those of us that are working full time job with benefits here in the US, do not get as much paid time off as other countries in the world.

The avg. time off for the American worker is 15.9 days annually...unguaranteed...

Whereas Finland has the highest, at least 39 days annually....guaranteed.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

amen to that daemon!

now, dont get me wrong. i know girls who are in their 20's with 4 and 5 kids and are getting more $$ in food stamps than you would believe. and they have no intentions of ever coming off.

i also know 2 married women with 4 and 5 kids, whos HUSBANDS have skipped out on them, and cant seem to be tracked down to pay child support. im sorry, raising a truckload of kids as a single parent, even with a very good paying job, is difficult. these 2 women are embarassed to no end when they have to use their food stamps. the first one? she will brag about it until your ears fall off. that is where it needs to be monitored better! everyone needs help at times. dont take advantage of it.

not to even mention my cousin sells her food stamps for cash for crack. and the government continues to load her card up every month...kids sitting in the house with no food. hows that for goverment regulated??

and the social services system are still bogged down with cases they can only hope to crack and they pay them peanuts...pretty soon...THEY will be on foodstamps too

Now...u kwow what I found fuuny...watching the clips of these congresspeople trying to eat the meal they got on foodstamps....

They had the nerve to be trying to eat healthy....a salad, some beans and a fatty burger.....

I wanna see a foodstamp family try to eat a salad for 30 days....LOL

21 buxs for most is called a case of ramen noodles, a bag of hotdogs, and some juice to wahs it down

uuuuggghhh.....this is brining back nightmares of undergrad food.

[OneTimeSBX]

i'll do you one better daemon.

i am expecting and i get a newsletter every few days about different pregnancy topics.

maternity leave in most every other country is a guaranteed full pay event. i believe australia offers 6 MONTHS of paid maternity leave.

i have a degree, i work 40 hours a week, i never call in, i work overtime, and i do not have maternity leave. i have short term disability that covers 6 weeks at 60% pay. i am having to skip all my vacation time (im due in November) and sick time and hope it covers that whole 6 weeks...

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

i'll do you one better daemon.

i am expecting and i get a newsletter every few days about different pregnancy topics.

maternity leave in most every other country is a guaranteed full pay event. i believe australia offers 6 MONTHS of paid maternity leave.

i have a degree, i work 40 hours a week, i never call in, i work overtime, and i do not have maternity leave. i have short term disability that covers 6 weeks at 60% pay. i am having to skip all my vacation time (im due in November) and sick time and hope it covers that whole 6 weeks...

Just don't get pregnant for another 4 or 5 years mmkay? *wink*....LOL

[OneTimeSBX]

i know right? i may have to dip into that 401k for a while...our government is so screwed up...i would do better (money-wise) quitting my job and getting on welfare! it is not supposed to be that way!!

one of my childhood friends has 3 girls. her girl's father is serving a nice chunk of time at our local prison. she nets over 2k a month in daycare help, food stamps, section 8, medicaid, and just a good ol fashioned welfare CHECK... i know for a fact that if she were paying out of pocket for what she is getting, she would have to work 3 jobs.

...and i think this may be the last baby for me! cant afford anymore!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

kevin, kevin, kevin...
not everyone on food stamps has no job/has 18 kids/lives in the ghetto/is mooching off the system.

It does happen though.

a lot of elderly people get food stamps. should they be allotted only a "minimum"?

I'm assuming that they're going to use that food stamp money in conjunction with their social security benefits. So yeah, the minimum works for me. For anything above poverty, it's their responsibility to save for retirement, not mine to pay for it.

i worked as a teller for 2 years, and there were elderly getting social security checks for 500 bucks a month...you tell me where in the US you can live off of that!

Again, not my problem. Also, clearly, the elderly you were dealing with were living somewhere and not starving to death.

people who are laid off of very well paying jobs find themselves on them for a while. hell, i got laid off from Capital One (one of about 250 employees), had zero income, 800 dollar rent, and a car note, a child, and my unemployment was under a thousand a month. and guess what? i didnt qualify.

You'd have probably qualified for TANF. I looked over the requirements, they must have determined that you had sufficient resources to not require food stamps. From the literature I found, $2,000 in "household resources" or above cuts you out of TANF/food stamps.

not everyone can just up and find a job that pays more, or sometimes find a job at all. had i recieved them, (and only because of my child did i even go there...) i would have used them until a new job came along. i would have used them for what they were meant to do!

Food stamps were meant to keep people from starving. Apparently, you nor your child starved.

its not the people, its the system. it needs to be monitored more. i'm sorry, but there needs to be a system that handles things, like having a time limit for being on it, and maybe other programs that give out the actual food, not just the means to go get whatever you want...the ones who need it cant get it, the ones who dont need it, have it.

Well, those sorts of things sort of exist. There are tricks, however, to reset the clock. TANF, I believe has a three year limit if you have less than a HS education and less than 6 months of work experience, only one of course if you're college educated. A lot of people fill out applications and occasionally take jobs at places only to quit and have their clocks reset.

Welfare should be a hand up, not a way of life as it has become for so many.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Kevin

It does happen though.



I'm assuming that they're going to use that food stamp money in conjunction with their social security benefits. So yeah, the minimum works for me. For anything above poverty, it's their responsibility to save for retirement, not mine to pay for it.



Again, not my problem. Also, clearly, the elderly you were dealing with were living somewhere and not starving to death.



You'd have probably qualified for TANF. I looked over the requirements, they must have determined that you had sufficient resources to not require food stamps. From the literature I found, $2,000 in "household resources" or above cuts you out of TANF/food stamps.



Food stamps were meant to keep people from starving. Apparently, you nor your child starved.



Well, those sorts of things sort of exist. There are tricks, however, to reset the clock. TANF, I believe has a three year limit if you have less than a HS education and less than 6 months of work experience, only one of course if you're college educated. A lot of people fill out applications and occasionally take jobs at places only to quit and have their clocks reset.

Welfare should be a hand up, not a way of life as it has become for so many.

And Keving you know as well as I do a college education doesn't guarantee you a job to put you in a lifestyle where you wouldn't have to worry.

And with the amount of kids graduating now already in debt with staggering student loans, 1/2 of thier paycheck from the first post grad job, may very well have them running out to go get them stamps and stay on that ramen noodle diet for a little longer.

[OneTimeSBX]

Originally Posted by Kevin

A lot of people fill out applications and occasionally take jobs at places only to quit and have their clocks reset.

oh yeah, ive seen that happen! i was rather shocked when i saw it and figured out what was going on...shouldnt that equate to some sort of fraud??

and as far as the elderly, not everyone had the type of job that offers a decent retirement. i am black and live in the south. not that it matters much, but where i live it makes a difference. my grandmother was a cook in a kitchen for 40 years. she had 8 children. in the small town she lives in, there were no decent jobs for blacks in the 30's and 40's. you cant very well move with 8 children either. especially since all 3 of their fathers were deceased (dont ask, cause i dont know!!) there was no 401k, stock options, etc.

i think the elderly in the next decade coming up will do better and better. but there is still a group who will never be able to make it, no matter what kind of preparation was done.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

i think the elderly in the next decade coming up will do better and better. but there is still a group who will never be able to make it, no matter what kind of preparation was done.

I don't know...not with the govt always threatening to close out Social Security benefits and trying to raise the retirement age...