EIGHT YEARS UNDER BARACK OBAMA SAW THE GREATEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH TO THE RICH SINCE PRIOR TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
ALSO DURING OBAMA'S REIGN, 2/3 OF ALL JOBS WENT TO FOREIGN BORN, BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL.
Study on food stamp
distribution and theft underscores hunger crisis in Illinois
By Jessica Goldstein
28 July 2017
28 July 2017
A study published
earlier this month seems to indicate a correlation between a drop in thefts
committed at grocery stores in Chicago and the implementation of an Illinois
policy change in the disbursement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program
(SNAP) benefits, also known as food stamps. The study, conducted by Jillian B.
Carr of Purdue University and Analisa Packman of Miami University, found an
overall drop in grocery thefts after Illinois implemented a staggered
disbursement schedule for SNAP benefits starting in 2010.
The study points to
the desperate conditions faced by millions of Illinois residents every day,
including those forced to subsist on meager food stamps benefits. Faced with
the choice to starve or shoplift in order to obtain food, an increasing number
of households reliant on food stamps are left with few choices other than food
theft to survive.
The new Illinois
policy implemented changes to the schedule of state SNAP benefit disbursement
that spread payments throughout the month. Where previously over 60 percent of
benefits were distributed on the first day of the month, under the new plan
more benefits were disbursed between the second and 23rd days of the month. The
study found that theft rates dropped by 15-20 percent at grocery stores in
Chicago after the new disbursement policy went into effect. In total numbers,
incidences of all crimes reported at grocery stores dropped by some 500 cases
per year.
The study
demonstrated that grocery store thefts are more likely to occur in the week
before benefit disbursement, when financial resources are running low and
recipients are pushed to the brink of desperation. Thefts are also more likely
to be committed by women during the final week of the benefit cycle, pointing
to a desperate attempt to feed their children.
The study suggested
the motive behind grocery theft by SNAP recipients. “Because half of all
families receiving SNAP exhaust their SNAP benefits in two weeks,” the study
states, “recipients may face a scarcity of resources during the remainder of
the month. In response to this scarcity, they may turn to crime to meet
nutritional needs.”
Cook County, which
encompasses the city of Chicago and the area on which the study is focused, has
one of the highest rates of food insecurity and food stamp usage of any county
in the US. Some 16.8 percent of Cook County residents rely on food stamp
benefits, compared to 13.1 percent of the total US population—still a
staggeringly high number for the wealthiest capitalist country in the world. A
family of four must earn no more than $3,342 per month in gross income to
become eligible for food stamp benefits in Cook County, a rather paltry amount
considering the high cost of living in the Chicago area.
As income inequality
and the cost of living continue to skyrocket, more and more residents are
applying for food assistance in the county each year. In the past year, Cook
County has seen a 10 percent increase in households receiving food stamp
benefits. The crisis has been exacerbated by layoffs, slow economic growth and
declining wages.
The maximum food
stamp benefit for a family of four in Cook County is $649 per month, a mere
$162.25 per person. Even at the maximum, a person would need to skip meals and
consume the bare minimum amount of calories per day in order to survive. It
should come as no surprise that those in such a dire situation might feel
compelled to steal food.
It is not clear
exactly why the new Illinois policy was implemented. The study points to
possible reasons, including the desire to curb incentives for grocers to raise
their prices during the first week of the month in order to take advantage of
the influx of business from food stamp disbursement. This idea, however, was
eventually proven to be false in a 2016 paper published by Goldin et al., that
found that grocery store prices do not fluctuate in response to perceived
patterns of benefit distribution.
Reports also suggest
that a staggering of food stamp benefits leads to lowered grocery store theft
because of its impact on first-of the-month “income shocks.” These shocks,
which come from the disbursement of other state benefits such as disability
insurance, unemployment benefits, Medicaid, as well as wages from work, can
lead recipients to exhaust their resources early on in the month when benefits
come. The study suggests that the smoothing of disbursement leads to a more
even consumption pattern over the course of the month.
In all events the
study concludes with proposals that are entirely conventional and accept the
starvation level of social assistance in the US. Thus the authors recommend
states consider staggering the disbursement of other state-issued benefits as
well as wages in order to further decrease the amount of retail theft in
communities.
Bipartisan cuts to
the federal SNAP program carried out since 2008 by the Obama administration
have resulted in dwindling benefit amounts year after year, as the number of
those forced to depend on federal food assistance continues to grow. At the
height of the so-called “economic recovery” in 2013, a record 20 percent of
American households received SNAP benefits. That same year, the Obama
administration announced a draconian $11 billion cut to the food stamp program
to be implemented over the next three years.
The ruling class has
no progressive answer to the hunger crisis in the US. Even as the stock market
continues to soar, millions of workers face hunger and devastation in their
daily lives. Policies like the one implemented in Illinois are an attempt to
temporarily stave off mass opposition to the cuts being implemented at all
levels—state, federal and local. At the same time benefits are being slashed
and billions are being poured into the financial markets to meet the insatiable
greed of Wall Street.
In May, the Trump
administration signed into law a bipartisan budget plan that hacks away another
$2.4 billion from the national SNAP program through September 30, creating an
even more desperate crisis for the millions of Americans who face hunger every
day. The problem of hunger will not be solved by the political representatives
of the ruling class, but by an independent movement of the working class in the
fight for socialism.
Maps:
Sanctuary Cities, Counties, and States
Updated
March 23, 2017
The sanctuary jurisdictions are listed below. These
cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions,
policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield
criminals from ICE — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from
complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer
acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise
impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and
federal immigration officers.
A detainer is the primary tool used by ICE to gain
custody of criminal aliens for deportation. It is a notice to another law
enforcement agency that ICE intends to assume custody of an alien and includes
information on the alien's previous criminal history, immigration violations,
and potential threat to public safety or security.
The Center’s last map update reflected listings in an ICE
report published on March 20, 2017.
Map
data ©2017 Google, INEGI
City
County
State
Removed from List
Map
Satellite
Source:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Data
Click on Points to View More Information
View Map in Full Screen - View Image of Map - View Sanctuary Cities Topic Page
Click on Points to View More Information
View Map in Full Screen - View Image of Map - View Sanctuary Cities Topic Page
Map 2: Sanctuaries at Risk of Disqualification From Federal
Law Enforcement Funds
Updated July 27, 2017
The Department of Justice announced yesterday that
sanctuary jurisdictions will lose access to certain federal law enforcement
grants in 2017 if they prohibit officials from communicating with ICE, if they
block ICE from interviewing jail inmates, and if they fail to notify ICE of the
pending release of criminal aliens ICE is seeking to deport. These particular
grants, known as the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, are the largest source of
federal criminal justice funds for state, local and tribal authorities.
Map
data ©2017 Google, INEGI
Sanctuaries at Risk of Disqualification
From Federal Law Enforcement Funds
Click on Points for More Data
From Federal Law Enforcement Funds
Click on Points for More Data
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To Be
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Sanctuary Cities List
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