mouse_rants (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mouse_rants) wrote2006-02-15 09:07 pm
mouse_rants) wrote2006-02-15 09:07 pm
Entry tags:
back to ranting
if i were to believe the administration had any sinister intent in the entire cheney shooting thing, it would be that they did it to distract attention from more important things - like the budget. but i don't believe this white house is competent to organize such a thing, and people seem to be ignoring the budget without any help.
i'm going to limit myself to one small item that i found in the middle of my local paper (although it was an ap story). headline: "bush plan would end food program. program that helps feed nearly 500K poor elderly could be replaced."
the program in question is a commodities program - they call it "nutrition in a box". basically, they put together boxes of nutritious food - fruits, vegetables, cereal, pasta - and give them to the elderly - nearly half a million of them. they even deliver the boxes to some people. the program cost $111 million last year - or about $220 per person. the administration proposes replacing this with food stamps. which is nice - except it seems elderly people are reluctant to use food stamps. only 28% of the elderly who are eligible for food stamps actually use them.
now, we can argue about making people less ashamed of accepting food stamps for help - but the thing that struck me was that they deliver the boxes. in other words, the recipients don't have to go down to the store to get food - as they would have to with food stamps.
this may seem minor, but for many elderly people, the effort to make such a trip can be appreciable. you may perhaps have heard of meals on wheels - it's a program to deliver hot meals to the elderly, who might not get such things other wise.
so our great and good administration is going to leave these people at risk of malnutrion, to save $111 million. sounds like a lot of money - until you look at how much we are spending each day in iraq. and actually, it will be less than that - the money for the food stamps has to come from somewhere. they are going to start by giving them $20/month...which would be $240/person/year. so maybe no savings at all - unless they are counting on people not using the food stamps? the budget continues to include funding for weapons to fight enemies that don't exist, for military programs that don't work, for tax cuts for the wealthy - but it doesn't have room for poor old people.
man, nothing like living in the richest, strongest country in the world....
i'm going to limit myself to one small item that i found in the middle of my local paper (although it was an ap story). headline: "bush plan would end food program. program that helps feed nearly 500K poor elderly could be replaced."
the program in question is a commodities program - they call it "nutrition in a box". basically, they put together boxes of nutritious food - fruits, vegetables, cereal, pasta - and give them to the elderly - nearly half a million of them. they even deliver the boxes to some people. the program cost $111 million last year - or about $220 per person. the administration proposes replacing this with food stamps. which is nice - except it seems elderly people are reluctant to use food stamps. only 28% of the elderly who are eligible for food stamps actually use them.
now, we can argue about making people less ashamed of accepting food stamps for help - but the thing that struck me was that they deliver the boxes. in other words, the recipients don't have to go down to the store to get food - as they would have to with food stamps.
this may seem minor, but for many elderly people, the effort to make such a trip can be appreciable. you may perhaps have heard of meals on wheels - it's a program to deliver hot meals to the elderly, who might not get such things other wise.
so our great and good administration is going to leave these people at risk of malnutrion, to save $111 million. sounds like a lot of money - until you look at how much we are spending each day in iraq. and actually, it will be less than that - the money for the food stamps has to come from somewhere. they are going to start by giving them $20/month...which would be $240/person/year. so maybe no savings at all - unless they are counting on people not using the food stamps? the budget continues to include funding for weapons to fight enemies that don't exist, for military programs that don't work, for tax cuts for the wealthy - but it doesn't have room for poor old people.
man, nothing like living in the richest, strongest country in the world....