4 minutes ago, toolg said:

I am trying to tell you it is more efficient to feed children where they are present already. Which is in school.

More efficient than what alternative?  Children are already being fed in school.   They either a) bring in their own food , b) buy lunch from the cafeteria, or c) get lunch from the cafeteria at a reduced cost or free if they meet income eligibility requirements.

 

It's good news inflation is on the way down, though we may not feel it yet. Gas prices are also where they were before the pandemic. There is a 13 month record of continued job growth. Manufacturing is on the rise. I'd say we are headed in the right direction. 

2 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

It's good news inflation is on the way down, though we may not feel it yet. Gas prices are also where they were before the pandemic. There is a 13 month record of continued job growth. Manufacturing is on the rise. I'd say we are headed in the right direction. 

This was always the risk with trumpbots putting all their eggs into the "Economic Anxiety" basket. Once the economy begins to recover, all they're left with is insignificant culture war garbage that you can't win an election on, especially not with a mentally ill psycho who still can't figure out he lost the last election.

10 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

Gas prices are also where they were before the pandemic. 

13 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

It's good news inflation is on the way down, though we may not feel it yet. Gas prices are also where they were before the pandemic. There is a 13 month record of continued job growth. Manufacturing is on the rise. I'd say we are headed in the right direction. 

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W
 

Week ending 10Jul23 is $3.546.  The highest in 2020 pre-Covid was $2.578 for week ending 06Jul23.

3 minutes ago, RPeeteRules said:

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W
 

Week ending 10Jul23 is $3.546.  The highest in 2020 pre-Covid was $2.578 for week ending 06Jul23.

Ok. thanks.

38 minutes ago, toolg said:

I am trying to tell you it is more efficient to feed children where they are present already. Which is in school.

OK -- cool. End food stamps, reallocate that money to providing lunch to all public school kids. If kids want to eat, they have to go to school and not fail.

Works for me.

16 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

This was always the risk with trumpbots putting all their eggs into the "Economic Anxiety" basket. Once the economy begins to recover, all they're left with is insignificant culture war garbage that you can't win an election on, especially not with a mentally ill psycho who still can't figure out he lost the last election.

Exactly. They have no plans for the economy or how to combat inflation or lower gas prices.

22 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

This was always the risk with trumpbots putting all their eggs into the "Economic Anxiety" basket. Once the economy begins to recover, all they're left with is insignificant culture war garbage that you can't win an election on, especially not with a mentally ill psycho who still can't figure out he lost the last election.

That sounds like a challenge.

Ted Cruz Proposes Law That Would Allow Citizens To Know If Their Air Fryer is Spying on Them

https://www.mediaite.com/news/ted-cruz-proposes-law-that-would-allow-citizens-to-know-if-their-air-fryer-is-spying-on-them/

Quote

"One of the potential trade-offs is our privacy. In Texas, we’ve become very aware of that cost. The past few years, smart thermostats have allowed electric companies to control the temperature in your own home from afar in the name of conserving energy,” he said. "Furthermore, a lot of Americans don’t realize or expect that the growing number of smart household devices and appliances, have cameras on them, and microphones that can surreptitiously record families and transmit data.”

Tell us, Ted. Why are energy companies in Texas allowed to do that?

41 minutes ago, Phillyterp85 said:

More efficient than what alternative?  Children are already being fed in school.   They either a) bring in their own food , b) buy lunch from the cafeteria, or c) get lunch from the cafeteria at a reduced cost or free if they meet income eligibility requirements.

 

a) not if kids don't have any food at home
b) not if parents cannot afford it
c) not always an option

It's really simple. Get rid of the paperwork. Just feed the children at school. No application, no lunch accounts needed. 

5 minutes ago, toolg said:

a) not if kids don't have any food at home
b) not if parents cannot afford it
c) not always an option

It's really simple. Get rid of the paperwork. Just feed the children at school. No application, no lunch accounts needed. 

And again I'll ask:

a) why don't the kids have any food at home?

b) if parents can't afford it, there's already the SNAP program and there's already programs in place for reduced or free lunches

c) why is it not always an option?

You're trying to solve a problem before you even get to the "why" of the problem.  

1 hour ago, Phillyterp85 said:

So I'll ask again, if we already have programs to assist poor people in feeding their families, then why are kids going to school hungry as Toolg has presented?  It would seem to me the first thing that we should then do is examine why the existing program is failing to do what it's supposed to do before we just throw more money at the problem.  

"Poverty and dependence is cyclical."  And the goal should be to break that cycle. If the way we're doing things isn't working to break that cycle, then we need to ask why that's happening, and then change what we're doing to increase the chance that this cycle is broken.  The goal should be for people to get out of poverty, not live in it. 

The answer to your question is, they're poor and probably many are not the portrait of personal responsibility. If parents are poor and irresponsible, children should not suffer as a result. If you want to make me Emperor after Trump dies and I could change the entire system, I would favor food banks over the EBT system, but barring that, I don't see how such a thing gets through congress. 

43 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

This was always the risk with trumpbots putting all their eggs into the "Economic Anxiety" basket. Once the economy begins to recover, all they're left with is insignificant culture war garbage that you can't win an election on, especially not with a mentally ill psycho who still can't figure out he lost the last election.

Biden is old and if we re-elect him they will literally turn all of our children into transexuals when they go to school. Those are 2 good reasons right there!

Just now, Gannan said:

The answer to your question is, they're poor and probably many are not the portrait of personal responsibility. If parents are poor and irresponsible, children should not suffer as a result. If you want to make me Emperor after Trump dies and I could change the entire system, I would favor food banks over the EBT system, but barring that, I don't see how such a thing gets through congress. 

The way to stop people from making poor decisions isn't to reward them for doing so. It's to make them feel the consequences of those poor decisions. We keep incentivizing the least capable among us to reproduce at the fastest rate, and then we wonder why society overall is getting dumber. Idiocracy wasn't a comedy movie, it was a prophecy. 

3 minutes ago, Phillyterp85 said:

And again I'll ask:

a) why don't the kids have any food at home?

b) if parents can't afford it, there's already the SNAP program and there's already programs in place for reduced or free lunches

c) why is it not always an option?

You're trying to solve a problem before you even get to the "why" of the problem.  

There are gaps in the SNAP and free/reduced lunch programs. Food insecurity. Look it up: https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/food-insecurity

Quote

Facts about poverty and hunger in America

• According to the Census, in 2021, nearly 38 million people lived in poverty.
• Food insecurity and hunger are economic issues. The most common cause of food insecurity is a lower income.
• Making ends meet with a lower income is more difficult if you are unemployed or employed in low-wage work, experience a financial emergency, have limited savings, and rent rather than own your home.
• Communities of color, especially Black communities, experience hunger, poverty, and unemployment at much higher rates than white people. This is because of long-standing racial injustice that leads to barriers in education, employment, housing, and more.
• People with a disability and chronic conditions are also more likely to experience hunger and lower incomes. Living with a disability or chronic condition may lead to higher medical costs, prevent people from working regularly, or make grocery shopping more difficult. And people living with disabilities face discrimination in employment.

 

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

The way to stop people from making poor decisions isn't to reward them for doing so. It's to make them feel the consequences of those poor decisions. We keep incentivizing the least capable among us to reproduce at the fastest rate, and then we wonder why society overall is getting dumber. Idiocracy wasn't a comedy movie, it was a prophecy. 

Feeding students school lunch isn't a reward for being poor. It's the right thing to do.

Idiocracy is right.

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

The way to stop people from making poor decisions isn't to reward them for doing so. It's to make them feel the consequences of those poor decisions. We keep incentivizing the least capable among us to reproduce at the fastest rate, and then we wonder why society overall is getting dumber. Idiocracy wasn't a comedy movie, it was a prophecy. 

Maybe we are having 2 different discussions. What is possible versus how it should be. Telling people they're irresponsible louts and we are taking all of your benefits away generally isn't a winning formula to getting elected. Just ask Mitt Romney. Telling people that poor people will change their bad behavior once their children suffer for a while probably isn't going to be a winning message either. Like I said, the MAGA morons might like it, but I don't see it really catching on. There's tons of waste to go after that's far more palatable for the average voter before trying to tackle this. Politicians don't like going after wasteful spending period unless its something of a political football. Maybe no food for trans kids might work. 

1 minute ago, toolg said:

Feeding students school lunch isn't a reward for being poor. It's the right thing to do.

Idiocracy is right.

As I said, go ahead and feed the kids in school. But end SNAP, Welfare and Medicaid (for adults). Deal?

Just now, Gannan said:

Maybe we are having 2 different discussions. What is possible versus how it should be. Telling people they're irresponsible louts and we are taking all of your benefits away generally isn't a winning formula to getting elected. Just ask Mitt Romney. Telling people that poor people will change their bad behavior once their children suffer for a while probably isn't going to be a winning message either. Like I said, the MAGA morons might like it, but I don't see it really catching on. There's tons of waste to go after that's far more palatable for the average voter before trying to tackle this. Politicians don't like going after wasteful spending period unless its something of a political football. Maybe no food for trans kids might work. 

See post above -- feed kids, not the adults. And yeah, of course none of this will happen. People will keep voting for the people that promise to give them the most free stuff so they don't have to confront the failure that is their existence. We passed the Rubicon on that in the late 1960s. But we can at least try and avoid doing even more of it.

I am OK with government programs for children, but not for their irresponsible parents. 

Even Trump, the moron that he is, has this figured out. He's running on a platform of no social security or medicare cuts. People love their free ish. They just don't like seeing people that they don't like getting free ish. 

 

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

As I said, go ahead and feed the kids in school. But end SNAP, Welfare and Medicaid (for adults). Deal?

I am under no authority to make this deal... But now you want to deny health services because kids are being fed in school? Makes no sense. 

Just now, Gannan said:

Even Trump, the moron that he is, has this figured out. He's running on a platform of no social security or medicare cuts. People love their free ish. They just don't like seeing people that they don't like getting free ish. 

 

Welcome to another reason why I don't have children. This country is irretrievably screwed as we have no one willing to stop the vote buying insanity. The party that is supposed to be fiscally conservative is just as profligate as the liberals.  

1 minute ago, toolg said:

I am under no authority to make this deal... But now you want to deny health services because kids are being fed in school? Makes no sense. 

I want to end Medicaid because it is terrible policy. People have no right to health insurance. I'd end: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid (for adults), SNAP, Welfare, and Obamacare. I'd also cut military spending and taxes. My platform would be called "you are responsible for your own damn life."

I'd get like 4 votes.

Just now, vikas83 said:

Welcome to another reason why I don't have children. This country is irretrievably screwed as we have no one willing to stop the vote buying insanity. The party that is supposed to be fiscally conservative is just as profligate as the liberals.  

We could probably create a good separate thread about this. I've heard arguments about how deficit spending doesn't matter, and the world economy is based on major countries buying U.S debt so none of it ever matters. Someone could probably write a good book about what would happen if we went to war with China or if the cold war escalated to the point where China stopped buying our debt and forced us to rethink our spending.