Reporting on the economy Arianna Huffington writes today,
"1.1 million people received food stamps in November, an increase of 13 percent from a year earlier.
In Arizona, there's been a 100-percent increase in the number of people seeking social services from the state.
In Contra Costa, California, 40,000 families applied for 350 available affordable-housing vouchers.
In San Francisco, food banks report a 30-percent rise in demand for emergency food assistance. In Lehigh Acres, Florida demand is up 75 percent.
If, as it now seems likely, unemployment hits 9 percent, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the number of Americans driven into poverty will rise by 7 to 10 million -- on top of the 37.3 million currently living below the poverty line (and while that number is the latest from the Census Bureau, it's from 2007, before the worst of the downturn).
Making matters worse -- much worse -- is the fact that the growing need is being met by a decrease in government programs and charitable services.
18 states cut their welfare rolls last year.
The number of families receiving government financial assistance is at a 40-year low.
In South Carolina, low-income women under 40 with breast or cervical cancer have had their treatment cut.
In Nevada, the state's largest public hospital has stopped providing outpatient oncology services.
In Arizona, programs to prevent child abuse and lower the number of children in foster care were slashed.
In Florida, home services for poor seniors are on the budget chopping block.
In Utah, 20,000 poor people face being removed from the state's primary care health network."
I don't think it's even necessary to comment, the stats say it all. But I will say, perhaps redundantly, that our government has committed a crime against us. Their policies have benefited the rich and powerful, meanwhile they work like robber barons against the poor. Every safety net has been stripped. It's sad---
see the full article at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/darkening-clouds-silver-l_b_172339.html3
