It's been a while since we've checked in with the student journamalists of the Iowa State Daily, that fine press organ (* snckkk, "organ!"* ) which gave us an inspired anti-chalk editorial and some very earnest tsk-tsking about Bruce Springsteenusing the rock and the roll to campaign for that Obama fellow. This week, the young fogeys of the ISD editorial board turn their attention to the timely issue of food stamps, and they manage a pretty neat trick: In an editorial titled
"These numbers are undeniably low. But, for those who effectively know how to live frugally, they hardly necessitate federal food assistance."
Yeah, like visiting every fraternity open house during rush week and loading up on the free snacks or sneaking into the dining hall using your academically-suspended buddy's unused meal plan card or cleaning up the frat house lounge every other day in exchange for lunch. And if all else fails, calling up your recent ancestors and whining until they deposit more money into your debit card account.
Yup, those SNAP families just need to be more resourceful.
Given the <a href="http:\/\/www.choosemyplate.gov\/downloads\/USDABlog-NutritionDoesntHaveToBeExpensive.pdf" target="_blank">USDA estimates</a> the average cost of a budget balanced menu providing 2,000 calories/day is $6.65 per person per day, that makes $798/mo for a family of four.
So tell me, Iowa geni-arses, where in America you can rent a 3-bed apartment for enough under $1,700/mo to still have enough left over for clothing, gas, utilities and minimal incidentals. Where?
ETA: Of course, I forgot about tax, because that $2,498 is gross income - even assuming a 0% income tax rate, there&#039;s still that 6.2% FICA plus 0.9% Medicare tax, which is going to eat $198/mo.
ETA2: And of course car insurance, and we won&#039;t even think about medical costs yet.
I&#039;m guessing the real intention of the authors is that &quot;poor people should not go to college&quot;, because clearly parental income is a good predictor of academic potential (it is a terrible indicator of academic potential), and therefore the economy is well-served by saying fuck the poor (the economy is very poorly served by saying fuck the poor), and BTW fuck upward mobility, what the hell are you talking about with this &quot;American dream&quot; bullshit anyway?
Neither of your examples involves SNAP. Nor do people receiving SNAP displace others (except if the Republicans arbitrarily cut the available funding).
Actually, I&#039;d probably be okay with excluding college students who are being declared as dependents on someone&#039;s taxes, but where food support is concerned I&#039;d otherwise prefer to err on the side of inclusion.
I actually saw that map linked from somewhere else, maybe ThinkProgress.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>If all else was equal, Americans living in cities with poor families more dispersed among mixed-income neighborhoods are more likely to climb the income ladder.</blockquote><br /><br />This is a completely inevitable result of the structure of the American public school system... plus some child psych stuff about the limited aspirations of kids who never get to see first-hand others achieving aspirational goals. Segregation is evil, basically.<br /><br />If I recall correctly, the apparently really strong upward mobility in that line up the middle of the country from El Paso-ish to North Dakota was partly explained by the fact that the gap from the bottom to the top was much smaller there; plus the gas rush, obvie.
It&#039;s less than some people&#039;s monthly cell phone bill.
&quot;These numbers are undeniably low. But, for those who effectively know how to live frugally, they hardly necessitate federal food assistance.&quot;
Yeah, like visiting every fraternity open house during rush week and loading up on the free snacks or sneaking into the dining hall using your academically-suspended buddy&#039;s unused meal plan card or cleaning up the frat house lounge every other day in exchange for lunch. And if all else fails, calling up your recent ancestors and whining until they deposit more money into your debit card account.
Yup, those SNAP families just need to be more resourceful.
Given the <a href="http:\/\/www.choosemyplate.gov\/downloads\/USDABlog-NutritionDoesntHaveToBeExpensive.pdf" target="_blank">USDA estimates</a> the average cost of a budget balanced menu providing 2,000 calories/day is $6.65 per person per day, that makes $798/mo for a family of four.
So tell me, Iowa geni-arses, where in America you can rent a 3-bed apartment for enough under $1,700/mo to still have enough left over for clothing, gas, utilities and minimal incidentals. Where?
ETA: Of course, I forgot about tax, because that $2,498 is gross income - even assuming a 0% income tax rate, there&#039;s still that 6.2% FICA plus 0.9% Medicare tax, which is going to eat $198/mo.
ETA2: And of course car insurance, and we won&#039;t even think about medical costs yet.
They&#039;re off making the listicles for &quot;Around the Web&quot; - it&#039;s hard work
I&#039;m guessing the real intention of the authors is that &quot;poor people should not go to college&quot;, because clearly parental income is a good predictor of academic potential (it is a terrible indicator of academic potential), and therefore the economy is well-served by saying fuck the poor (the economy is very poorly served by saying fuck the poor), and BTW fuck upward mobility, what the hell are you talking about with this &quot;American dream&quot; bullshit anyway?
Right at the sweet spot, in between <i>Investors Business Daily</i> and <i>Irritable Bowel Syndrome</i>
No face but about as bad. <a href="http://www.google.com/searc..." target="_blank">" rel="nofollow noopener" title="http://www.google.com/search?q=rush+limbaugh+ties...">http://www.google.com/searc...
I bet he was popular!
Neither of your examples involves SNAP. Nor do people receiving SNAP displace others (except if the Republicans arbitrarily cut the available funding).
Actually, I&#039;d probably be okay with excluding college students who are being declared as dependents on someone&#039;s taxes, but where food support is concerned I&#039;d otherwise prefer to err on the side of inclusion.
He was once described to me by another school&#039;s Model UN coach as \" a sycophantic ass-licker\". This was an accurate description.
The plural of anecdote is not data
I actually saw that map linked from somewhere else, maybe ThinkProgress.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>If all else was equal, Americans living in cities with poor families more dispersed among mixed-income neighborhoods are more likely to climb the income ladder.</blockquote><br /><br />This is a completely inevitable result of the structure of the American public school system... plus some child psych stuff about the limited aspirations of kids who never get to see first-hand others achieving aspirational goals. Segregation is evil, basically.<br /><br />If I recall correctly, the apparently really strong upward mobility in that line up the middle of the country from El Paso-ish to North Dakota was partly explained by the fact that the gap from the bottom to the top was much smaller there; plus the gas rush, obvie.
Seriously.. These damn poors, every other day, it&#039;s &quot;food&quot;, &quot;food&quot;, &quot;food!&quot;
Two Words: Student Loans
It&#039;s like Indentured Servitude, only they take away your fishing license if you don&#039;t pay...
Have to hand it to &#039;em, the application never once mentions race.
They do have a public interest, though, in tracking who has light skin, because skin cancer.
These kids, they should be forced to live on ketchup soup for three days, then re-write the editorial.