More Americans Unable to Feed Themselves, Their Children, As Food Banks and Food Stamps Surge

Oh, you can’t eat now because you promoted a lunatic hoax that shut down the entire economy?

That sucks, bro.

Maybe you shouldn’t have believed in that hoax?

Wall Street Journal:

The number of Americans who say they can’t afford enough food for themselves or their children is growing, according to Census data, and it is likely to get larger now that some government benefits have expired.

As of late last month, about 12.1% of adults lived in households that didn’t have enough to eat at some point in the previous week, up from 9.8% in early May, Census figures show. And almost 20% of Americans with kids at home couldn’t afford to give their children enough food, up from almost 17% in early June.

The data come from weekly surveys conducted by the Census from April to July in which researchers asked respondents whether their households were getting enough to eat.

Food banks also say they have seen demand surge in the past few months. And the number of people receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, rose almost 16% between March and April, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a far more rapid increase than during the last recession, when the biggest one-month increase was 7.3% in September 2008.

“It is clear to me that there is a big problem here, and the problem seems to be worse than it was at the height of the Great Recession,” said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, a Northwestern University economist.

Wait, we’re back to comparing it to the Great Recession (of 2008)?

I thought we’d already agreed publicly that it was going to be much worse than the Great Depression (of 1929)?

That number is set to grow now that unemployed workers no longer receive an extra $600 in weekly federal benefits. Talks to extend the program broke down as Democrats sought to continue the $600 payments and Republicans wanted to spend less. President Trump is seeking to keep some of the money flowing through executive actions.

Katie Fitzgerald, chief operating officer at Chicago-based Feeding America, expects more people to show up now at the group’s network of 200 food banks or to apply for federal nutrition assistance. In most cases, the extra jobless benefits had pushed family incomes above the threshold of eligibility for food stamps.

“We have already responded in an extraordinary way to the elevated demand,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “Our fear is that we very much need federal supports to continue, because we may be struggling to respond if we have to go much higher than that.”

Feeding America has distributed 1.9 billion meals since March, about 50% more than normal, she said. The group expects to see demand for more than 14 billion meals through next June, more than twice the number it will be able to offer.

In Virginia, the Department of Social Services is bracing for a surge in SNAP applications, said Commissioner Duke Storen. He estimates about 33,000 households could become eligible for food stamps with the expiration of extra jobless benefits. A total of 384,686 Virginia households received SNAP benefits in June, up from 333,669 in February.

The $600 per week isn’t coming back, but something is coming back. They’re going to have to give people something. They’re letting the people squirm for a bit, but they will start giving them something again. Basically, the Democrat plan is to starve people out until the election, and then if they win, give people food money.

Probably, Donald Trump can force through a package before that – if Ben Sasse doesn’t manage to thwart him. You see, Ben Sasse has the True Constitution Values™ that tell him that even though it is okay for the government to tell you you’re not allowed to work, it is against the Constitution for the president to give you money for food. True Constitution Values™ mean you have to starve.

Ben Sasse of course doesn’t have to starve, because he’s a rich politician. That is also a part of True Constitution Values™ – politicians get to eat while the people starve because politicians took advantage of the True Free Market™ by getting massive campaign donations from private corporations. (Campaign donations are free speech.)

President Trump has a lot on his plate right now, but I’m pretty sure getting the food money is a priority, along with stopping mail-in voting. All of that of course comes after fighting the Chinese and bringing Democracy Freedom™ to Belarus.

But I think he’ll get around to feeding you.