The Cellar - Feeding America

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanaC (Post 695917)

I'm putting this in the politics forum, because I believe poverty is a political issue. It could just as easily go into the philosphy section, as the roles of charity and government are both political and philosphical.

Anyhoo...

I am on the mailing list for the BreastCancerSite.com Pink Ribbon campaign. Today I got an update and a request for donations which is clearly aimed particularly at their American subscriber base. Amongst the schemes the e-letter was promoting was the Feeding America charity:

That's quite a stark picture; and whilst I understand that fundrasing letters are likely to egg the pudding a little, I also think it's likely that they are highlighting a genuine issue.

Does this suggest that it might be time to reassess the social safety nets currently in place?

Do you believe that this is a problem which should be tackled by the Government, or are you happy to see it stay in the hands of charitable benevolence?

I am not so sure our government social services are in any worse position than yours there., or at any rate quickly sinking to our,Oliver Twist, level of grubby little hands beseeching for more.

I would be suspect of any funding letters, btw.

This is from a nice UK website, I just stumbled upon and it reminded me of this thread.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...fare-cuts.html

Quote:

They also back further reductions of the £195 billion welfare budget in preference to cutbacks in defence and education as ministers step up their assault on Britain's record budget deficit.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that three benefits claimed largely by the elderly and the sick face being cut in this month's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in which all Whitehall departments face reductions in spending of around 25 per cent over four years.

Quote:

"We know people often face a stark choice about whether to heat their homes or to eat. The Government should be doing all it can to support people and help them avoid having to make such cruel choice."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...ud-system.html

Quote:

The warning comes as fears grow that the cuts, which will leave hundreds of thousands of middle-class families worse off, will encourage many women to pose as single mothers in order to carry on claiming the payments.

Women cohabiting with the father of their children stand to lose the benefit if he is a higher-rate tax earner.

That could provide an incentive to defraud the system by claiming to be a one-parent family in order to continue to be in receipt of the benefit, which is worth almost £2,500 for a mother with three children.