The Huffington Post: on Welfare & Poverty


Donald Trump: Suspends some SNAP limits; may still curtail eligibility

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it will comply with a recently passed law suspending limits on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for unemployed adults for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. There are two other SNAP cuts pending, and USDA spokespeople declined to say whether the department still planned to finalize an eligibility change that would shrink enrollment by about 3 million.
Source: Huffington Post on Trump Administration Mar 24, 2020

Howard Schultz: FoodShare: Distribute unsold Starbucks items to food banks

In May, coffee giant Starbucks made headlines by announcing it would stop throwing out unsold food items and instead, redistribute the unsellable-but-still-edible products to nearby food banks in refrigerated vans. According to the goals of the new program, called FoodShare, Starbucks would provide five million meals in the first year and nearly 50 million by 2021, when it expects to reach a 100 percent donation rate. It's great that Starbucks is trying to reduce food waste, because the amount of food we Americans toss out has become a national epidemic.

Food waste is a national epidemic. Approximately 40 percent of food in the U.S. gets tossed out. It's is also an environmental issue: more than 97 percent of food waste ends up in landfills--33 million tons of food each year. Food waste is a pocketbook problem, a poverty, hunger, and health problem.

Source: 2016 Veepstakes: Huffington Post, "Reducing Food Waste" May 9, 2016

Jeb Bush: If you're born poor, the odds are stacked against you

Bush threw cold water in the face of conservatives who espouse a strict up-by-the-bootstraps doctrine of individual responsibility, and who ascribe failure only to personal failure. Life, he said, is increasingly more difficult for those who aren't born with built-in advantages. "It is not a validation of our conservative principles if we can only point to the increasingly rare individual who overcomes adversity and succeeds in America," Bush said. "Here's reality: if you're fortunate enough to count yourself among the privileged, much of the rest of the nation is drowning.

"In our country today, if you're born poor, if your parents didn't go to college, if you don't know your father, if English isn't spoken at home, then the odds are stacked against you. You are more likely to stay poor today than at any other time since World War II," he said.

Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Huffington Post Mar 15, 2013

Joe Biden: Americans don't want handouts, just to be given a chance

Biden said members of the middle class are not defined by their wages, but by a values set:

"Middle class means you get to own your home. It means you get to send your kid to a decent school, that if they do well and they want to go to college, you can afford to send them to college. It means being able to take care of your parents if they get sick. It means maybe being able to save enough so you hope your kids never have to take care of you."

The vice president responded to "pollsters" who he said claim the middle class no longer cares about owning a home or sending their kids to college: "The American people have not stopped dreaming. The American people have not walked away from what they believe they are entitled to. Just give them a chance--no handout, just give them a chance," Biden said. "Once you give Americans a chance they have never, never, never, never ever let their country down."

Source: Huffington Post 2014 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Sep 1, 2014

Newt Gingrich: Fight crisis of secularism with church-based charity

In a Gingrich White House, America would battle a "crisis of secularism" that has degraded the nation's moral character. Freedom of religion would survive, but the nation would need to reclaim its Christian heritage. Government wouldn't solve the problems of the poor, but perhaps community groups and churches could.

The themes are akin to many of those he struck as Speaker of the House. Then, his major proposal was a dramatic dismantling of government welfare. In its stead would come private charities, many of them faith-based, that he said did a better job of uplifting the neediest. It was public vs. private, secular vs. religious.

In part because of Gingrich's own efforts, the promotion of religious groups and faith-based services is now built into the highest levels of government. Gingrich led Congress to enact a major welfare reform law, which included a historic provision allowing faith-based groups to win government contracts to run social service programs.

Source: Jaweed Kaleem, Huffington Post, "Church, State" Dec 12, 2011

  • The above quotations are from Columns and news articles on the Huffington Post blog.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Welfare & Poverty:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Aug 04, 2024