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Old 09-12-2018, 06:49 AM
 
Location: Ossipee, NH
385 posts, read 342,624 times
Reputation: 984

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I moved to a small rural town (from a crowded suburban neighborhood) and we rarely - and I mean rarely - talk politics. We're too busy stacking wood, working our gardens, listening to music at the local open mic night, hiking, snowmobiling, skiing, baking for the historical society's bake sale, talking about our old historic houses and their histories, riding horses, helping neighbors with this or that, working at our jobs, etc. There is SO much life to be lived and we choose to live it. That keeps us pretty darn busy and very happy. We are very much a live and let live community as long as you practice the same. (That said, local "politics" abound but it's not left-right type politics really, it's more about local squabbles and the like. Very easy to avoid that sort of stuff.)
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Old 09-12-2018, 07:34 AM
 
Location: equator
11,011 posts, read 6,549,520 times
Reputation: 25452
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
Politics affects some people directly. I have an old friend on SS and Medicare. A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had surgery and chemo. Expenses not covered by Medicare ate all his savings. He's barely keeping the lights on with SS. The SNAP cuts means he no longer is able to buy enough food to survive. A charitable food pantry helps, but he is unable to carry bags of groceries from the pantry home. He is 5' 10" tall, and down to 123 lbs. He's an artist who sells paintings, but if nothing sells that month he has to go about a week without food. At 69 years of age, he is slowly starving to death. I send him care packages, because Congress told him to shut up and die.
Kudos to you for saying this, Larry. The vast majority of Americans refuse to acknowledge what's happening. I am so sorry for your friend!
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Old 09-12-2018, 08:20 AM
 
375 posts, read 316,603 times
Reputation: 631
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
Politics affects some people directly. I have an old friend on SS and Medicare. A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had surgery and chemo. Expenses not covered by Medicare ate all his savings. He's barely keeping the lights on with SS. The SNAP cuts means he no longer is able to buy enough food to survive. A charitable food pantry helps, but he is unable to carry bags of groceries from the pantry home. He is 5' 10" tall, and down to 123 lbs. He's an artist who sells paintings, but if nothing sells that month he has to go about a week without food. At 69 years of age, he is slowly starving to death. I send him care packages, because Congress told him to shut up and die.
This is probably very bold but can you send me his address or suggest how I could help Your friend?
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Old 09-12-2018, 12:31 PM
 
6,844 posts, read 3,920,915 times
Reputation: 15849
Although I voted for Obama you have to recall he signed and praised this bill because the Snap cuts were limited to about 4% of recipients. Even if your friend is one of those who got hit, the average food stamp benefit for a single person is $4.50 a day. Now if you are starving on $4.50 a day in food stamps you don't know how to cook a pot of rice and beans or chili, or grill hot dogs, microwave hot pockets, cook a meat sauce and spaghetti, or make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You haven't said anything about what your friend has done to get free food other than he can't carry the bags home. But he can he carry a couple of loaves of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly?
Years ago I used to marvel at old people in the news who were eating canned dog food, when for three dollars you could cook enough rice and dried kidney beans with a bit of pork in the chili to last about a week (which I did when I was unemployed for 6 weeks living in a one room apartment with a mattress on the floor in LA and a 2 burner hot plate). Today you could still do that for $12.
If a man is 125 lbs at 5'10" it isn't because he doesn't have money for food while he is getting food stamps. Something else is going on. It could be Cachexia which is associated with cancer and other chronic diseases where sufferers lose weight and experience decline of their overall health. If it is it will be fatal unless he puts weight back on. I'm pretty sure his doctors (you said he is on Medicaid) have more of the story than you do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
The SNAP cuts were in the 2014 farm bill. You remember, the deal the Republicans pushed through by threatening a government shutdown?

Last edited by bobspez; 09-12-2018 at 12:48 PM..
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Old 09-12-2018, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,586,362 times
Reputation: 25230
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobspez View Post
Although I voted for Obama you have to recall he signed and praised this bill because the Snap cuts were limited to about 4% of recipients. Even if your friend is one of those who got hit, the average food stamp benefit for a single person is $4.50 a day. Now if you are starving on $4.50 a day in food stamps you don't know how to cook a pot of rice and beans or chili, or grill hot dogs, microwave hot pockets, cook a meat sauce and spaghetti, or make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You haven't said anything about what your friend has done to get free food other than he can't carry the bags home. But he can he carry a couple of loaves of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly?
Years ago I used to marvel at old people in the news who were eating canned dog food, when for three dollars you could cook enough rice and dried kidney beans with a bit of pork in the chili to last about a week (which I did when I was unemployed for 6 weeks living in a one room apartment with a mattress on the floor in LA and a 2 burner hot plate). Today you could still do that for $12.
If a man is 125 lbs at 5'10" it isn't because he doesn't have money for food while he is getting food stamps. Something else is going on. It could be Cachexia which is associated with cancer and other chronic diseases where sufferers lose weight and experience decline of their overall health. If it is it will be fatal unless he puts weight back on. I'm pretty sure his doctors (you said he is on Medicaid) have more of the story than you do.
Yeah, all he needs is a case manager. I don't know where you are getting your numbers, but his food stamp benefit is $62/month, about $2/day, not $4.50/day.
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Old 09-12-2018, 05:29 PM
 
6,844 posts, read 3,920,915 times
Reputation: 15849
That was the average monthly award for an individual in 2018. The largest is $192 per month. See table 1 the following link. Lower than average payouts are based on income, cost of housing, etc.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-a...y-and-benefits

But even if your friend only gets $62 a month and SS, you are ignoring all the issues I brought up regarding accessing free food, his rapidly declining health, etc. If all you are focusing on is his Snap payments you are not going to do him any good, because you can't change it. There's got to be ways for him to use his resources as limited as they are, and available free food and meal programs, to supplement his food budget. He even said he couldn't utilize free food because he couldn't carry bags of groceries. What about a cart? Even the homeless with no income find a way to eat. If he is starving to death, he's not doing all that can be done to save himself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
Yeah, all he needs is a case manager. I don't know where you are getting your numbers, but his food stamp benefit is $62/month, about $2/day, not $4.50/day.
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:33 AM
 
Location: Vermont
9,266 posts, read 5,029,229 times
Reputation: 17463
Quote:
Originally Posted by ansible90 View Post
A suggestion: stop watching the news so much. Or if you do watch (listen, read, whatever), try different news outlets. If you only pay attention to one side, you are not getting the full story. Variety will give you a more balance view of what is going on.
I agree. BBC World is one I like. The American media seem more to me like gossip and entertainment shows. The newscasters seem compelled to spin everything and stories are told staccato style in 2 mins and they move on to the next thing. Frenetic, like they are falling all over themselves. Ratings? who knows, but it's not attractive, to me anyway. I would rather read the news on the internet or listen to the BBC.
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Old 09-13-2018, 07:39 AM
 
Location: Vermont
9,266 posts, read 5,029,229 times
Reputation: 17463
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
Politics affects some people directly. I have an old friend on SS and Medicare. A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had surgery and chemo. Expenses not covered by Medicare ate all his savings. He's barely keeping the lights on with SS. The SNAP cuts means he no longer is able to buy enough food to survive. A charitable food pantry helps, but he is unable to carry bags of groceries from the pantry home. He is 5' 10" tall, and down to 123 lbs. He's an artist who sells paintings, but if nothing sells that month he has to go about a week without food. At 69 years of age, he is slowly starving to death. I send him care packages, because Congress told him to shut up and die.
I agree with all that has been said about your friend making better use of the resources that are available to him for food and medical care.
But you know, I have to wonder, why is he living only on SS and Medicare? Did he not plan for his future/retirement/old age? I don't mean to sound harsh, but I see a lot of this where I live and the people are complaining and want the government to take care of them now that they are old and without many resources. I'm not sure SS and Medicare were meant to be the end-all when one retires or ages.
And when did Congress tell him to shut up and die?
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Old 09-13-2018, 09:32 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,857 posts, read 30,947,424 times
Reputation: 47199
I live in a small metro in northeast TN. We're a poor, but fairly insulated and self-sufficient area. It's conservative, but you really wouldn't hear that much about national politics if you didn't seek out.

It's definitely much more "in your face" in major cities.
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Old 09-13-2018, 11:45 AM
 
20,956 posts, read 8,587,397 times
Reputation: 14048
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamjedlicka View Post
And when did Congress tell him to shut up and die?
Well, effectively many are steered by government policy. For example, the retirement age is constantly being raised or being threatened to be raised. Yet our life spans are stable.....not growing and in some cases declining!

Doesn't that mean, in effect, Congress has decided to enslave you for more years? I mean - having a 65 year old commuting to the salt mines and working the typical 45-50 hour weeks most companies require isn't as easy as you might imagine for many.

65 is almost the exact age where a lot of health problems often occur. So, yes, in effect Congress is saying that you are due fewer and fewer years of a potentially healthy retirement. Other government and corporate policies have done away with the 40 hour work week, pensions and a lot of other such benefits.

If you look at the stats you will see we each produce almost 3X what we did 40 years ago, yet make the same wages for it. Many make less....but the averages are skewed by the wealth at the top.
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