The growing number of Americans using federal food assistance, or food stamps, to get by has changed the way America's largest retailer, Walmart, does business. Walmart executives say that they are seeing a surge in shoppers at the stroke of midnight on the first of the month. That's when a number of states replenish the debit cards people who qualify for federal food assistance use. Nearly 46 million Americans or roughly 15 percent of the U.S. population rely on federal food assistance. Rock Center's Kate Snow previews her report on the growing number of Americans on food stamps airing this Monday at 10 p.m./9 p.m. CT.
Midnight Run: Americans on food stamps line up to shop before sunrise
Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:36 AM EST
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Since my previous post was deleted: Below is the e-mail I sent to the producer of the Rock Show last night via Facebook. With, I might add, no reply.
Ma'am,
As the producer of the Rock Center, I ask you and am curious to know why my post on the Rock Center website was deleted? It was in regard to the piece tomorrow night on welfare. It is my understanding that public forums are protected by the 1st Amendment. There were no names, nor profanity on my post. Just my educated opinion on the choice for those that were interviewed. However, my assessment of said persons was NOT an opinion, rather it was court documented fact.
I am fully disappointed that NBC did not do a better job in assessing the persons interviewed. I am also disappointed my view on the piece cannot be seen or shared due to the deletion.
Miss Postma is a court documented unfit parent who DOES NOT have custody of her children except when it conveniences her (as when cameras are present). She has been charged with stalking and harassment on more than one occasion. She has extorted money from numerous men. She fraudulently receives food stamps....and the list goes on.
She claims not to have money to support her family, but her and her boyfriend have the newest cell phones, various computers, gaming units, attend college football games, and Justin Beiber concerts, but has failed to ever pay her portion of child care to her ex-husband.
Is this the type of person you want on National television?
My intent was not to bash NBC, but to rather open the possibility to interviewing those who represent the topic better than her. Those who are truly suffering and in need of assistance. Not those who fraudulent receive them. Her only intent in this is to brag about being on TV, and has made that very apparent with all those she knows.
I agree with you! I hate it when the Media only portrays a onesided story. They should show both sides. Meaning the true honest people struggling and the other side of the ones cheating the system! Then we can make our own judgements!
Glad to see a vibrant discussion here. This is obviously a provocative subject. We stand by the reporting in our story. Please watch our full report at 10pET/9pCT.
I think NBC should watch what they tape. You go into a house and video these people that have way too much to be crying the blues. Smart Phones, Computers, and even stating that they had dog food, but didn't have the food that they need to feed the family till midnight when their free food benefits come in...........WTH?
We should not judge these people just because they have a flat screen or a SUV. These people are hurting not because they want too, but because it just happens. It's not there fault that the economy is depressed. If we really want to blame someone maybe we should look at the bankers and the investment firms that were greedy. Maybe its a lot of things. But lets not blame these people because they need assistants. We may all be there one day. Never step on the people going up the latter of life because you may pass them on the way down that latter one day.
Do not judge but offer help when you can, because you don't someone judging you just by what they see either
Thank you NBC RockCenter and Kate Snow for telling us this story.
Ummm....no I won't be there because I spend with in my means! I don't have a flat screen or smart phone or suv! I don't feel sorry for them for making bad choices!
I've been reading and it seems there is a lot of anger at people who are receiving assistance. I don't know whether someone is taking advantage of the system or not but 13 dollars an hour before she lost her job wasn't a lot to live on. I think times are much different than they used to be and many people making judgements are people who think things are as they once were. In the early 70s people could pay rent with a minimum wage job and have only a HS diploma. There was no cable, cell phones and other things consider normal in this day and age. Flat screen tv's may look luxurious but you can get one very cheaply at WalMart. Perhaps they had the money when they bought the tv. Selling the tv wouldn't give enough money to the family to buy groceries for a family of three or eight for a month. I'm not on welfare or public assistance and never have been but I can understand how it could happen. I also don't have kids to support and I have a Masters Degree. Middle America tends to have less union jobs and lower salaries than the rest of the country and things that used to be covered cost a great deal more now. I do think people need to be more careful with how they spend but I don't doubt for a second that these families need the food stamps to feed their families. I am getting ready to take a job in the Middle East because I can't find a well paying job in the U.S. I don't want to go but have to. I'm sure these folks don't want to be on food stamps but have to....for now at least. We just do what we must until things improve.
In the State of Minnesota, the food stamp is called EBT which is like a debit card. I work part-time at a gas station and grocery store. I have personally seen these so called poor people with the latest iPhone using the EBT to get cash for booze/smokes and buy $75 worth of sushi! Some even drive new cars. SO I know it is not a sob story for all on EBT. There are tons that abuse the System. I see it everyday! Based on ringing up customers with EBT, I think more abuse it than others who need it! Unfortunately, since I WORK two jobs at minimum wage (grocery store I make more due to the Union) I don't qualify for EBT. I know a lot of these customer can work. SOme I see routinely that buy stupid junk food! I hate it how the Media just uses the few feel sorry cases! What ever happened to the undercover investigations on how these people steal from the taxpayers?
Hi Mike in Minnesota,
I lived in Mineapolis Minnesota and noticed people who seemed to take advantage of the system as well. However, I don't think everyone does. I'm all for people investigating for fraud but I wouldn't want people (especially children) to suffer when there are programs to help their families eat on a regular basis. I wouldn't want one child to go hungry to punish the bad apple. If the State can find the bad seeds by all means. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to find one job let alone two. I admire your diligence and hard work in a tough economy but the reality is there are less jobs that there were when the recession started in Dec. 2007. There will be people who are squeezed out during the downturn and once they've been unemployed for a time many employers do not want to hire them. It's discrimination but for some reason it has been deemed acceptable. The young couple would likely just be beginning their careers. When there are less jobs available young people can't break in to the job market. There are already more qualified people they could hire for the same money. I just think we need to cut people some slack. Things are tough right now.
y
I agree you should never judge a book by its cover however, I feel NBC's choice of families will not help any situation this "depressed economy" is in. If you didn't know you could get free ice cream every day, and then someone tells you that you can, you're probably going to do it!
46 million people?!?! Are you serious? Talk about failure of the schools, poor family planning by low income families, and a serious miscalculation of what poverty is.
If you didn't spend $110+ on a cell phone, over $100 on DirecTV/Internet, or $30 per month on magazines/Starbucks/McDonalds (grossly underestimated for an entire month period) you may be able to afford a few trips to the grocery store.
Hi Ben,
Did I miss something. Where in the story did they buy magazines, Starbucks, etc? They did have a phone but many people use cells as their only phone. I would imagine most Americans would consider their cell phone a necessity for safety reasons, etc. and not a luxury. I'm one of the few people I know who does not currently have one but I do at times think I should buy one for security reasons and to make life easier. It's very easy to imagine what people are doing but none of us live with them and I would be very surprised if there is a Direct TV in their home when they can't pay the full utility bill. I could be wrong but I have as much chance of being right as you do.
Bridgette,
I was referring to the masses, many people take these things for granted and pay for them because they could not live without them (or so they think). I was just so astonished at the number of people on the food stamp program (I might remind you again, that number is a disgusting 46 million Americans), that I thought I would offer a bit of advice from a friend I received the very day this aired.
I graduated college 2 years ago with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering. Came out of school with a very competitive salary, and began to rack up debt. Mind you I make all the necessary payments (truck, DirecTV, Verizon, rent, various utilities) and still have the money available for food, gas and leisure, however I do occasionally over spend, which is how I got into debt.
I reviewed my financial situation, and tapped the best source I knew of for advice, my peers. One of those peers, about 15 or so years older than myself, told me that it was nothing new to him. He told me about how his family got through hardships on a single salary, children in the house, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt not counting a mortgage. He did not run to the government for assistance, rather he budgeted him and his family so strictly that for an entire year, the total amount of frivolous spending money was $20. He mentioned they cancelled TV, cell phones, magazine subscriptions, etc.
So the comments were directed at more people than these two families, just an assessment of how people can get through hardships without receiving government assistance. There are many people that deserve these programs, but there are many who don't. There are people who make a living finding ways to scam the government out of money, and the government allows it.
I mentioned in my post I think there is a "serious miscalculation of what poverty is". That is what I am referring to.
Well, some interesting discussion to say the least. I guess the number one thing I walked away with from this segment was don't judge a book by its cover! Fortunately, I was able to relate to these two couples as far as receiving assistance. Had it not been for Medicaid when my twin daughters were born, my husband and I would probably still be paying $10.00 a month on the medical bill, and they are now 22 years old. But you see, in my opinion, it's circumstance verses lifestyle. I never felt guilty for being able to qualify for government assistance, because at the age of twenty-five I had worked for eight years after graduating high school. I wasn't raised in the system, so I perceived it as a way to obtain quality medical services for an unexpected, but certainly blessed pregnancy. The original plan when I found out that I was expecting, was to have a homebirth with a midwife that also provided prenatal care. A much more inexpensive way to go when one doesn't have health insurance. Just before becoming pregnant, my husband had changed jobs, and with the job change, came a temporary loss of health insurance. We had two boys (ages 4 and 1), and I was fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home mom. After the birth of the girls, we continued to obtain food stamps, WIC, and Medicaid (Thank God!). So you see, our story is similar, yet different to those people that get stones and arrows thrown at them, and that feel that they have to hide the use of their government issused card. After the girls were old enough to get into a federally funded program, better known as Head Start, I was offered a job to work in the program as well. The staff in this program earnestly cared about our well-being. They nurtured our family in countless ways. They encouraged me to go back to school to further my education, and with higher education, in most cases, comes a higher rate of pay. Eventually, we were able to make it on our own and leave the welfare assistance behind us, but being ever so grateful for the use when we were in need. Living on welfare can certainly be a humbling experience. It gives one insight to those that can truly benefit from assistance and those that have been reared in the system, that know no other way of life. I for one, wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. It made me who I am today. Perfect by no means, but empathetic for those that are living it every day.
Why are these families in this situation - poor choices? They chose to spend their money, before the need for assistance, on items which many of us do without so that we can SAVE for that "rainy day". Maybe we need to offer budgeting classes with the monies sent to these needy families. As a taxpayer, I should not be penalized by higher taxes because a family chose a new TV over putting the money in a savings account in preparation for any future financial hardship.
I think the whole story is a classic piece of work. I can ignore all the luxury items these folks choose to enjoy before paying for their own food, but in the last portion of the piece I cannot ignore...when the hard working gentleman stated he did not want to earn too much money because he may qualify for less assistance. Classic. Lord forbid you actually used your own money to pay your way. Oh wait, I need that money to pay for my data plan for my touch phone. By the way...I don't qualify for food stamps, but I could never afford to pay anywhere close to the money being provided to those on food stamps. Regardless of the fraud in the program and also those unwilling and too lazy to make their own way, why is so much money provided. I walk down the meat isle in the store and get a healthy diet of hamburger...those on food stamps are checking out with T-bones! Final question...how much ramen could have been bought with the money spent on her salon hair cut and dye job?
The truth is that these children (the second family) are not in "need" in this particular case. I know this because I am their father(of 3 of them) and I am the primary care giver. The children live with me (going to their mothers every other weekend).
I agree you can have a cell phone for an emergency but you do not need a "smart" phone.
Brian there is a trend starting to appear that is rather disturbing!! You guys in the news media tell us of a product that is potentually dangerous and then say check it out on the internet!! WOW wake up Brian there is a ton of people out there that watch you to get this info that does not have access to the internet! Please don't tell me that you, like the people in Washington have lost contact with the REAL USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!