Dollar Store Nation

Don't you wish this is how the economy looked?

With so many people subsisting on food stamps these days, (46,220,000) it's no wonder that businesses that accept EBT cards are doing much better than before.

Who says government can't create jobs.

Since getting people in the door is the number one objective of a retail business, clever retailers have come up with all sorts of giveaways and gimmicks like "buy one- get one free" as one way to entice customers. Having what the customer needs is another, and since so many people are buying food with help from uncle Sam, more retailers are accepting EBT cards than ever before.

Everywhere you look you are starting to see signs posted of “EBT accepted here” meaning those with food assistance can use their debit cards in the stated location.  Food stamps now labeled “SNAP” are typically the last rung on the economic ladder for millions of Americans.  With the latest round of information we see that we are in record territory for those receiving food assistance.

How is it that we supposedly exited the recession in the summer of 2009 yet continue to expand the number of Americans on food stamps?





Dollar store stock might become the new Microsoft

 With food stamps on the rise, so too are business expansions that accommodate the EBT market. Locations like Family Dollar are up over 23 percent in the last year even though the overall stock market was flat for 2011.  This is why you are seeing EBT signs popping up everywhere.  These are locations that will accept the Electronic Benefit Transfer debit cards.


With so many people qualifying for food stamps, many republican controlled states are coming up with some mean spirited ways to punish people for being poor. They see the increase in food stamp participation as yet more evidence that America has become a nanny state, and poor people are just gaming the system. Rather than address the problem of a terrible economy, these republicans are raising the bar to make it impossible to qualify. Some are requiring drug testing applicants, and in Pennsylvania's case, means testing - where people applying for EB cards can't have more than $2000 worth of "assets".

And that includes a car. So unless you are driving a complete junker, and have no savings for emergencies, you might be one of the lucky ones to be granted help with food assistance, otherwise you are considered too wealthy- so tough luck buddy.

The asset test under consideration would bar anyone under 60 from receiving food stamps if they have more than $2,000 in savings or assets subject to the rule. The limit would be $3,250 for households with someone who is over 60 or disabled.

Currently, Pennsylvanians can get food stamps if they make 160 percent or less of the federal poverty level - or about $35,300 for a family of four - which puts it in the middle of the pack of states in generosity.
Since the December 2007 official start of the recession, the number of enrollees in what is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has grown about 50 percent in Pennsylvania.

And Republican Gov. Tom Corbett intends to nip this entitlement party in the bud. Stating the reason behind the assault on being, the level of dependence being unsustainable over the long term. Which means Pennsylvania is running short of cash, and the only way to fix the mess is to punish the poor and lower taxes on the rich.

So if you are a senior citizen living in Pennsylvania and were saving for that funeral and burial plot, well, better scratch that idea because you have too much money. But don't expect Pennsylvania to chip in for your burial, because that's not the way the free market works.

Could be worse- just ask Cook County.


Republicans apply the same tired reasoning behind every inhumane action they take against people who have hit hard times, all under the same tired talking point of stopping waste, fraud and abuse.


They should know about those traits - that's how they get elected.

 Compassionate cconservatism has a new definition, it means,

"Gotta kick em while they're down- before they get back up again."

ickenittle