60 Minutes: Hard Times for American Children

Hidden poverty (4.00 / 2)

"Usually we eat macaroni, or we don't or we drink water or tea."

"My mom will sometimes make food and then she won't have enough so at night we'll just eat cereal or something. Other times, my parents will fight about money 'cause they don't have enough money to pay the food."

"We have to sometimes take food from a church. It's hard because my grandmother's also out of work and we usually get some food from her."

"It's kind of embarrassing because the next day, you go to school asking kids if they want this, or if they want that. If they have cereal and they haven't opened it yet, you go ask them if they want their cereal."

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 03:28:59 AM UTC

I just came across this interview... (4.00 / 2)

with Scott Pelley.

Q: What did you like about Destiny Corfee and Jacob Braverman?

A: What I absolutely loved about them was neither was whining. They answered our questions about what it's like to be homeless, but each of them went out of their way to say things would get a lot better and we'll be fine. Destiny says, 'When we get back on our feet, we'll be able to help others.' Jacob says, 'You can get through anything as long as you have your family together.' Those are both ideas we put in the piece that said so much about the character of those kids.

Q: What surprised you most about the piece?

A: One of the things that surprised me is how unseen this is. You could pull behind a school bus and never notice that what you're seeing in front of you is 40 kids coming out of a motel and getting on a school bus. Those families are living in a single room week to week because they cannot afford housing. They could lose it in a week. This is happening all across America. This astounding estimate that 25 percent of kids will be living in poverty suggests how out of sight this problem is.

Q: Do you have any suggestions about what viewers should do?

A: In every county, there is a person like Beth Davalos, the [Seminole] school-district coordinator for homeless kids. She said to me, 'What do you do about this? If you have a job to give, call the homeless child coordinator in their district and say give me a family that has fallen on hard times.' That was her suggestion.

Q: Will we see more stories from you about the Great Recession?

A: Absolutely. The Great Recession has been an incredible story to cover, because so many Americans are hurting. We're told the recession ended in 2009. This is a jobless recovery we're in. Millions and millions of people are hurting. It grinds on and on and on. We're raising a generation of kids in hard times. These are formative years for these kids. They know this time as a time of hunger and homelessness. You talk to a lot of older Americans who grew up in the Great Depression who say that it made them better. I wonder if we're doing the same thing.

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 04:04:48 AM UTC

obvious response (4.00 / 2)

So the obvious response is to cut WIC, lay off teachers, fire school nurses...

Last week my daughter-in-law finally lost her job at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland, which has suffered two years of severe funding cuts. She still has a part-time job as a counsellor at a school she likes, and they like her but they've been jerking her around for months about whether they'll be able to make her full time permanent.

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by: count @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 04:39:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's infuriating, right? (4.00 / 2)

And disgusting.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 05:09:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Evil Prevails when Good Men Fail To Act" (4.00 / 2)

Where are the good?  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 05:13:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Republican rationale (4.00 / 2)

The Republican take on this is that poverty is a great motivator.

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by: count @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 13:25:37 PM UTC

No government rationale (4.00 / 2)

When the Republican minority runs the government for two years it cannot be considered a Republican rationale. The silent Democrats get at least as much credit.  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 13:46:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes yes (4.00 / 2)

Democrats share credit, but the Dem rationale probably differs.

Speaking of which, what the heck is the Democratic rationale? Fiscal responsibility?

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by: count @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 14:49:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Democratic rationale (4.00 / 2)

Or fundamental reasons for their existence, the basis of the Party leadership as it stands now is to create a facade, to pretend that this is a nation with a Two Party system.

They are The Fifth Column.  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 15:40:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Fundamental reason for existence... (4.00 / 1)

You forgot job creation.  For themselves and their cronies, at least

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 16:30:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I also forgot insuring that the free market... (4.00 / 1)

stays subsidized.  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 16:32:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

free market... (4.00 / 2)

stays rigged.

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by: count @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 16:46:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, we wouldn't want... (4.00 / 1)

...Atlas to shrug, now would we?

Also!  We all need to 'sacrifice.'  Except for Our Betters, of course.  because FSM forbid they should "lose confidence."

Shock Doctrine comes to America.

You know, I really hate being a cynical bastard but ughh.  Look around.  Our Democratic president is torturing an American soldier on American soil right now, and before he's even been tried for anything (as if that makes any difference, but still), and what's that sound?  Crickets.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 16:53:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I just woke up (4.00 / 2)

and this little diary is still on the rec list at Daily Kos.

This comment is the one I found most impressive;

What's even more remarkable is

The government considers a family of four to be impoverished if they take in less than $22,000 a year. Based on that standard, and government projections of unemployment, it is estimated the poverty rate for kids in this country will soon hit 25 percent. Those children would be the largest American generation to be raised in hard times since the Great Depression

That's assuming that $22,000 will actually meet the needs of a family of 4. It doesn't; certainly not in Florida or in most urban areas.

The poverty line is an arbitrary number that has no basis in what it costs to live today. It was created in the 1960's by Social Security Administration employee Mollie Orshansky for a particular report, and then repurposed shamelessly since.

How is it calculated?

[Orshansky] noted that food was roughly 1/3 of a family after-tax budget. So, she used USDA's Economy Food Plan guidelines to put together a shopping cart of groceries for various family sizes, multiplied that by three, and voila! A figure for a minimium income.

That number, scaled by the CPI each year, is the number used today. Never mind that food is a lower percentage, that housing and health insurance have skyrocketed, and that the CPI is lower than it might be because washing machines and computers are cheaper than ever - expenses that people at the poverty line don't have.

On the plus side, washing machines come with awesome cardboard boxes.

by elfling

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 13:43:10 PM UTC

Or the logic (4.00 / 2)

But adding to the deficit to help these children would be a burden on the children!

Cut back on their parent's safety net, strip their education to the bone, take away food assistance programs and close down after school education projects while cutting the hours at their libraries so we don't place a burden on children.

Only politicians can look out for children that way. Children growing up hungry and in fear.  

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 13:58:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I just checked Google news (4.00 / 2)

And there are more links to be found about the Christopher Hitchens segment than these suffering American children.

Priorities.

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 15:02:15 PM UTC