America needs another Jacob Riis about now. I expect the damned Republicans would claim he photo-shopped the pictures. Thing is, the same scenes would be 'still-enacted' (to be reenacted would require that the cycle of poverty came to a stop at some point, but it hasn't).

The notion that anyone deserves riches or poverty results from an under indulgence in thinking. Interesting in terms of its other purpose though which seems to be that regardless your economic status, somehow you deserve it, implying that you had choices to begin with. However, even people who had choices can wake up finding themselves with none.

The following from Wikipedia

"History

The world's first food bank was the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance in Arizona, founded by John van Hengel in 1967. [4]

In 1965, while volunteering for a community dining room, van Hengel learned that grocery stores often had to throw away food that had damaged packaging or was near expiration. He started collecting that food for the dining room but soon had too much for that one program. He thought of creating a central location from which any agency can receive donations. Described as a classic case of "if you build it they will come", [7] the first food bank was created with the help of St. Mary's Basilica.[8]

Food banks quickly spread across the United States. By 1976, the precursor to Feeding America was established. Their network of 200+ foodbanks provides support for 90,000 projects. Other large networks exist such as Ample Harvest which lists some 33,000 food pantries that can utilise overproduction of fresh produce. Following the 2008 worldwide financial crisis, there has been an increase in the number of folk requesting help from food banks. According to a 2012 UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study, there has been a 40% increase in demand for Californian food banks since 2008, with even married couples who both work sometimes requiring the aid of food banks. [9]
In the 1980s, Food banks began to appear all around the world. The first european Food bank was founded in France during 1984. Food banks were soon established in South America, Africa and Asia. In 2007, The Global FoodBanking Network was formned. [4]"

The meaning of the above is quite clear: Governments do not have the ability (will?) to feed their own people. And they won't until such time as money is redirected from weapons expenditure.

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It amazes me that the hang-up being touted by the Democrats about Romney is whether or not he was the operating CEO of Bain for a few years when he said he's wasn't. The greater issue should be his off-shore banking practices. Why vote for a man who values money more than he values his country or its citizens?