Of course, it's only for a few weeks, to see how the other half lives.
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and his wife are going to live on just three dollars worth of food stamps a day raise awareness of what poorer people have to face in their everyday lives.
It sounds great I guess, but is it really an accurate representation? I mean, what car is the couple going to drive to the store in? When they get back from the store, what kind of house are they living in, what kind of bed, what kind of TV are they watching, how much money do they have in the bank if they need it for an emergency? When I was a little kid, my family was on food stamps for about a year, and I think a lot of other factors weigh in on what happens to you when you have to be on them.
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-26-2007 @ 1:03PM
Lizzy said...
I heard about this yesterday. At first I thought, "cool, our governor is really getting to the level of regular people." But not really. They won't be able to experience it completely. I guess he's trying, so that's good. Perhaps he should live in a shelter for a week with no car. That might be a little more of a real experience.
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4-26-2007 @ 1:55PM
Michael P said...
Oh, please, the point is to bring attention to the issue, not to see what it's really like. There's obviously a case to be made for "learning what it's really like", but that's a quest for a single person. This is a quest to raise awareness, and it's obviously working regardless of whether or not he lives in a mansion and uses a car.
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4-26-2007 @ 2:21PM
Rick Dobbs said...
I understand the other questions about their house and car and such, but he's doing something that he doesn't *have* to do, especially in a state where 1 in 10 kids goes hungry, it's very, very important.
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4-26-2007 @ 4:04PM
gomergirl said...
he just wants to look like he cares. if he really did, then he would do something about the astonomical taxes, business un-friendly atmosphere, and the legislature that says they are smarter than the population and go against popular votes all the time. sorry, but i think all he cares about is his aprooval rating, not the plight of those who can't affortd food and healthcare. (and yes i live in oregon)
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4-26-2007 @ 4:38PM
Karen said...
The problem with these "try it for a week" schemes (living on food stamps for a week, spending the weekend in prison, wearing a fat suit)is not that he has a nice car, nice house, etc. but that he knows the experiment will end.
The stress of living on food stamps, etc. is not having to make it work but the feeling of hopelessness that comes along with it.
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4-26-2007 @ 4:58PM
Tony said...
Some of those "astonomical" taxes just don't exist, gomergirl, like a sales tax. If we added that, knocked down minimum wage more toward the national level (not that I'm complaining, being a student employee whose pay scale is m.w.), there'd be more chance for employment and we wouldn't be--what is it?--#2 in the nation for unemployment.
But it is true: the legislature statewide is comprised of a bunch of idiots.
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5-01-2007 @ 2:03AM
Ellen said...
I'm a disabled grandmother raising two grandchildren I've had since their birth. They're now 12 and 14. There's an insane clause in the foodstamp benefits that says if you earn your income, you get more foodstamps. So I get less foodstamps than someone who can work. Also, in the summer when the kids don't go to school, food stamp benefits are cut. During school, they get two meals a day at school. In summer, they have to eat all three at home. My food stamp benefits are $256 a month during winter, less in summer. I wish the Governor could walk a mile in my mocassins! I hope that there will be some positive changes made through his week on food stamps.
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