If you live in a sheltered suburban bailiwick at the other end of the country, you might not be familiar with what goes on in the states in my neck of the woods. So let me clue you in on this fact-filled story about how the ravages of Bushism have affected Ohio.
A record number of Ohioans - some 1,100,000 people - now have to live on food stamps. This accounts for 10% of the state's population. The food stamp caseload has nearly doubled since 2001.
All this after the government made it much harder to get food stamps - so you know the situation is even worse than this makes it appear. And food stamps don't even go as far as they used to.
The unemployment rate in Ohio also soared from 4.4% to 5.3% just since 2001. If only they'd compile separate statistics for underemployment, we'd really see a bleak story.
Officials blame low wages, the bad economy, the destruction of manufacturing jobs, and rising costs of fuel and food for the food stamp caseload increase.
The GOP/DLC oligopoly talked about "ending welfare as we know it", but they never uttered a peep about "ending poverty as we know it." This is the result.
(Source: http://www.fox19.com/global/story.asp?s=8055505)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Ohio sees record food stamp use
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Employer income taxes, which are among the highest in the country, are sending companies and jobs out of Ohio. It looks like we're going to see another round of tax increases, so it's not going to turn around soon in this state.
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