Food Stamp Enrollment Expected To Drop By 1 Million Next Year

Here is what is key, "able-bodied childless adults enroll in job training or work 20 hours per week if they want more than three months of food stamps,,,for the past several years most states have received waivers from the time limit, which was first imposed with the 1996 welfare reform law." In other words, this is nothing new, the restrictions have just been on hiatus as the country recovers from from 8 years of Bush Jr and his allies. That is not to say that people are not going to be hurt by this:

"The loss of benefits will likely increase hardship for these 1 million unemployed Americans who rely upon SNAP to meet their basic nutritional needs," Bolen wrote on the CBPP's website. "With Congress unlikely to act, states need to begin planning for the reduction to ensure that clients and the many organizations and SNAP stakeholders that work with them are aware of the upcoming change and its effects."

Food Stamp Enrollment Expected To Drop By 1 Million Next Year

4 Things That Were Supposed To Happen By 2015 Because Obama Was Reelected | ThinkProgress

It’s now 2015, nearly two years after Obama took the oath of office for the second time. A few years ago, prognosticators were very confident about what would happen to America by now because of Obama’s reelection. Let’s check in and see how their predictions turned out:

1. Gas was supposed to cost $5.45 per gallon.

2. Unemployment was supposed to be stuck at over 8%

3. The stock market was supposed to crash

4. The entire U.S. economy was supposed to collapse

4 Things That Were Supposed To Happen By 2015 Because Obama Was Reelected | ThinkProgress

The War on the Poor and Working Families - YouTube

The "safety nets" will be first then minimum wage, IF this "war" is not stopped. How much time has been wasted raging against the ACA (50 repeal votes and counting)? How much time and energy has be squandered fighting against marriage equality? The list is endless, "teach the controversy" bills, "religious liberty" bills, anti-abortion bills. Where are the jobs in all that?

"They're waging a war against the poor and working class,,,when you're desperate, you will take what ever they're willing to pay you, even if it is next to nothing,,,Without extended unemployment benefits, a declining real minimum wage, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no education, job training, or jobs program and no union, you'll do exactly as they tell you, and that's fine with them."

The War on the Poor and Working Families - YouTube

Sunday Shows On Unemployment Benefits: _____________

Lawmakers are back in their districts this coming week. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he will push a three-month provision when the chamber returns. In the meantime, roughly 1.3 million Americans who had seen their benefits lapse in late December were left wondering if Congress would ever act.

[,,,]
The only mention at all was during Press Pass on "Meet The Press," when Peter Alexander noted in a question to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mich.) that right now “we have battles over unemployment insurance that appear for the moment to be going nowhere.” Ellison didn’t address the debate specifically in his response.

Sunday Shows On Unemployment Benefits: _____________

See also:
Republicans Explain They Filibustered Unemployment Aid On Principle

Other members of their party -- especially those among the half-dozen who tried to cut a deal to extend the insurance -- were more nuanced in their reasoning for blockading the Democratic bid to help the long-term jobless, about 70,000 of whom run out of benefits each week that Congress doesn't move to extend them.

But their reasoning still boiled down to principles that weighed heavier on their minds than thoughts of the people whose benefits they cut off, and who can't find jobs in the still-recovering economy. More than 1.3 million people who have been unemployed for over 6 months lost their federal benefits at the end of December. That number could rise to about 5 million by the end of the year if Congress fails to act.

Democrats initially proposed passing the aid without making cuts elsewhere in the budget, as the Senate has done repeatedly in the past. But with no Republicans willing to go along, they offered a compromise to pay for most of the cost by extending some sequestration cuts into 2024.

Mitch McConnell to Dems: Kill Obamacare if you want unemployment benefits | The Raw Story

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday moved to hold long-term unemployment insurance benefits hostage in an effort to delay President Barack Obama’s health care reform law.

As the Senate was set to vote on breaking a Republican filibuster and extend the benefits that had been cut off last month, McConnell came to the Senate floor on Tuesday with a proposal that Democrats delay the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate for one year.

“I’m sure that many on my side who would like to see these additional weeks of benefits extended, if like the Speaker of the House indicated he supported we could find a way to extend them without actually adding to the national debt,” the minority leader opined. “So to that end, I’d like to propose that we be allowed — my side be allowed to offer an amendment to pay for these benefits by lifting the burden of Obamacare’s individual mandate for one year and take care of our veterans who were harmed by the recently agreed to budget deal while we are at it in the same amendment.”

Mitch McConnell to Dems: Kill Obamacare if you want unemployment benefits | The Raw Story

Republican Rep. Joyce: Unemployment caused by drunk, high workforce not lack of jobs | The Raw Story

"And the trouble is, it's because they either can't find people to come to work sober, daily, drug-free and want to learn the necessary skills going forward to be able to do those jobs," he added.

Wondering why is it that these conservative assholes always place the blame for our social ills on the poor and working class. If I was daring, I could interpret his words as meaning: Those lazy brown and black people smoke weed and drink. They collect welfare, unemployment and food stamps. They don't want to work. They just want everything given to them by big government. But see the reality is there are more of us white folk on the dole than black and brown.

Contrary to the welfare queen stereotype that President Reagan fostered in the late 70s (you remember the Chicago woman with 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and tax-free cash income is over $150,000) of the 46 million people living in poverty in the US in 2010, the U.S. census revealed that 31 million were white.

Personally I don't care about skin color, the stats should just read 46 million Americans live in poverty. But what we are seeing with statements such as Joyce's is a re-mix of the ole Southern strategy of the 60s. That race is a powerful tool in securing the white vote, even if it means convincing working-class whites to vote against their own economic interests. Again referring to Reagan, it was he that appealed to disgruntled working-class whites across the South and in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, Reagan fed suspicions that Democrats were purveyors of welfare economics. The black welfare queen image he touted only served to strengthen the resolve of white voters who considered themselves social conservatives.

"3.9 million jobs go unfilled in this country each month," said Christyn Keyes. "Rep. Joyce sees that as an enormous problem and to fix a problem, you must accurately diagnose it,,,"

The key is accurately diagnosing it and Joyce's anecdotal observation(s) doesn't quite fit the bill, especially when one takes into account the there are 3.1 applicants for every job opening. The biggest problem IMHO is not a skills shortage; rather, it is a persistently weak economy where businesses do not have sufficient demand to justify adding employees.

Case in point, the factories here where I live run on what is called a lean manufacturing model or JIT (Just In Time). Inventory, both supplies and final product, are kept at the bare minimum. When business dictates, they will beg for workers (hire) for 3-4 months out of each year (usually from March -June). Come July 4th those "new" hires are then laid off again. The demand for their product is just is not there for these companies to maintain a strong workforce. The economy is too weak, no one is buying, compared to 15-20 years ago when the factories where working 24/7 with mandatory OT.

Also one must bare in mind that 3 million+ job openings might sound like a lot, it is still below the pre-recession average, in 2007, of 4.5 million openings a month. It is also far lower than the 5.2 million openings in December 2000.

Another point that Joyce seems to ignore, the disparity of opinion between CEOs and HR personnel responsible for hiring. CEOs say that schools are failing to give workers the skills they need, and the people who actually do the hiring, say the real obstacles are traditional ones like lack of on-the-job experience. Add to that employers tend to wait for the perfect match, their criteria for jobs are to exacting; or they are too tightfisted with pay packages.

What I find disconcerting about Joyce's comment(s) as a whole, the apparent disconnect between his assertions and reality. Both the economy and pay need to be improved. This so-called skills gap, that does not exist IMHO, will not help. It is all a smokescreen to avoid what really needs to be done.

Republican Rep. Joyce: Unemployment caused by drunk, high workforce not lack of jobs | The Raw Story

Being Unemployed For Over Nine Months Is The Same As Losing Four Years Of Experience | ThinkProgress

There is reason to believe that the long-term unemployed face discrimination when they try to get a job. Now some Swedish economists have tried to quantify exactly what that penalty looks like. They found that for someone applying for a medium or low-skill job after being jobless for more than nine months, interview requests drop by 20 percent, which is about the same as losing four years of work experience from their resumes. While the research was conducted in Sweden, the authors argue that they likely apply to the U.S., which has a somewhat similar job market.

,,,short-term unemployment seemed to be a boon for those seeking low-skill jobs, possibly because they could start immediately. The problem also didn’t impact those who were looking for jobs that require a college degree.

[,,,]
The National Employment Law Project has also collected the individual stories of unemployed workers who say they were told by prospective employers that they wouldn’t be considered for a job opening because they were unemployed, including those who were told it was because they had been unemployed for a specific period of time.


Being Unemployed For Over Nine Months Is The Same As Losing Four Years Of Experience | ThinkProgress

For Unemployed Americans, Yesterday WAS The End Of The World | Addicting Info

Let me tell you what scary is. Having a few hundred dollars (if you’re lucky) in your bank account, a fridge half full of food, worrying about heating your home in the dead of winter, and even paying for your kids school lunches. And knowing that as of yesterday, Saturday, December 29th, you have received your last $400-ish per week unemployment check. For two to three million unemployed people, this issue is a bit more than the “headache” described by ABC News. Of the approximately 12 million Americans who are unemployed. 40 percent of those have been out of work for more than 27 weeks and are receiving extended unemployment benefits from the federal government. Unfortunately, these people are the least likely to find sustainable jobs quickly. Businesses are in the sweet position of having the luxury of being very selective.

For Unemployed Americans, Yesterday WAS The End Of The World | Addicting Info