Food Stamps and Dependency

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Friday January 30, 2015 · 4:48 AM PST

2015/01/30 · 04:48

Via Roosevelt Institute here at Daily Kos, an important article by Jana Kasperkevic in The Guardian on Food stamps includes a brief reference to Paul Ryan which set me off. Kasperkevic contests the safety net as hammock theory

A large part of Ryan’s argument rests on the premise that federal aid weakens the ability of people to stand on their own feet. [skip]
But the census data released today defies a number of stereotypes about Americans who depend on public assistance.

I totally agree.

It is actually possible to assess the claim that food stamps contribute to a culuture of poverty and cause dependency.

There is convincing evidence that this claim is totally false.

http://angrybearblog.com/...

I summarize the evidence after the jump, but it is better to just click the link (then click another link to get to the actual research paper)

Poll

41 votes Show Results

Do you think that food stamps create dependency

41 votes Vote Now!

Do you think that food stamps create dependency

yes

6 votes

yes but the program is still necessary

5 votes

6 votes

just the opposite, they help people escape poverty

24 votes

Likely Voter Polls, Registered Voter Polls and the Power of Averaging

rjwaldmann

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Wednesday October 27, 2010 · 7:27 PM PDT

2010/10/27 · 19:27

Consider this post by Steve Singiser. Singiser looked up polls taken within one month of election day in 2006 and 2008 which reported results both for registered voter samples and likely voter subsamples. He found that the registered voter polls performed better

"THE FINAL SCORE: RV 32, LV 21, Ties 3"

rjwaldmann

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Saturday November 07, 2009 · 5:02 PM PST

2009/11/07 · 17:02

One of the things I like best about Kos is the additional opinion polling.

I think that it is possible to reveal truths that pundits and politicians (including many Democrats) want to hide by asking fair and balanced questions.

I would like to know what fraction of people in the USA and in key states prefer the bill emerginng in the Senate to the bill emerging in the House.

I think just asking which they prefer would not be useful as people don't know what is in the bills.

I'd ask questions on

Poll

5 votes Show Results

What and where would you poll ?

5 votes Vote Now!

What and where would you poll ?

Those four questions nationwide

4 votes

Those four questions in Maine, Connecticut, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana and Nebraska

1 vote

2 or 3 of those four questions and 1 or 2 others nationwide

0 votes

2 or 3 of those four questions and 1 or 2 others in those 6 states

0 votes

different questions nationwide

0 votes

different questions in those 6 states

0 votes

different questions in other selected states

0 votes

don't do additional polling

0 votes

Anyone but Evan

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 06, 2009 · 8:22 PM PDT

2009/04/06 · 20:22

I find that I would like a chance to donate to the Anyone but Evan Bayh pac which is dedicated to making sure that Evan Bayh never ever wins the Democratic Presidential nomination. The idea is that it saves the money unless he enters the race and then divides it among his opponents.

Probably a silly idea. What do you think ?

Poll

29 votes Show Results

The Anyone but Evan Pac is

29 votes Vote Now!

The Anyone but Evan Pac is

a good idea. I would donate.

15 votes

a good idea. I would keep my money

3 votes

a bad idea

2 votes

a circular firing squad

1 vote

the stupidest PAC I ever heard of

8 votes

You say I'm stupid and I'll make you end a sentence a preposition with.

0 votes

Welfare Reform "Not a Disaster"

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 19, 2009 · 8:02 AM PST

2009/01/19 · 08:02

Over at the main page, LithiumCola points out that Pieter Beinart is a fool. I would like to stress one point. Beinart wrote

"Older liberals remember .... They also remember the welfare reform debate of the mid-1990s, when prominent liberals predicted disaster, and disaster didn't happen."

Oh didn't it ?
Try telling it to the severely poor

Beinart is a lazy fool, as I argue after the jump.

rjwaldmann

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Monday September 22, 2008 · 12:00 AM PDT

2008/09/22 · 00:00

Henry Paulson promises that he will spend the 700,000,000,000 of our dollars over which he wants total control wisely. I say he be required to put his money where his mouth is. Ask him how much he expects them to be worth after he has spent them on mortgage backed assets and tell him he pays 1/1,000 th of losses beyond that up to 10 million (he has them) and gets 1/1,000 th of all profits (that is if we end up with more than $ 700 billion he keeps one one thousandth of the difference.

He would get even paler if his money were on the line.

Also, I think if any firm sells stuff to the treasury, the officers of that firm should be required to put up 1% of the money and get 1% of the revenue generated by the assets their firm sold and 1% of proceeds from sale of those assets.

That way, if they are good stewards of their shareholders wealth, they will still dump their worst junk on the treasury (and pigs will fly). Otherwise they will try to unload at fair value (if they make a profit they get sued. If they make a loss for the treasury they hurt their pocket books).

Poll

28 votes Show Results

Do you agree with my proposal

28 votes Vote Now!

Do you agree with my proposal

no. A plan without such incentives would be better.

1 vote

no let the banks fail.

7 votes

yes

6 votes

yes for bank officers not for Paulson

1 vote

yes for Paulson not for bank officers

0 votes

1% hell make it 10%. I want to see them sweat.

13 votes

the Jed527

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 24, 2008 · 11:26 AM PDT

2008/08/24 · 11:26

I think liberals' biggest mistake so far this year was to shut down 537s when Obama asked them to do so. That's not the way it works. He denounces the 527 and gets credit and it keeps broadcasting attack ads and destroys McCain.

I think the world needs a JedReport 527 to put www.jedreport.com videos on the air where they can reach everyone. Matthew Yglesias once mentioned that, while there are a lot of excellent McCain vs McCain videos on YouTube the intersection of YouTube surfers and McCain voters is probably roughly empty.

Now no one can force Jed of JedReport to set up a 527 and put his videos on the air, but if enough people ask, I bet he will. I just want to find the paypal tag to click to send him money.

Poll

45 votes Show Results

Should there be a JedReport 527 ?

45 votes Vote Now!

Should there be a JedReport 527 ?

yes

32 votes

3 votes

No there should be a Bravenewfilms 527 ?

1 vote

What about TheRealMcCain.com ?

0 votes

Does anyone know if there is a difference between the last two ?

0 votes

Give the money to the first of them who sets up a 527

2 votes

Ask them to merge and set up a 537.

4 votes

demand that they merge and set up a 527

3 votes

Fannie and Moral Hazard

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday July 13, 2008 · 3:22 PM PDT

2008/07/13 · 15:22

Bailouts and Moral Hazard

Here we are again, just into a Bear (sterns) market and we have to face the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are waaaaay to big to fail. A strong case can be made that a bailout will cost relatively little and failure to come to their assistance will cost a lot even when distracted by Gover Norquist's absurd arguments. Here is the video. In defence of the BBC, the accents have gotten a lot better since 1945, no striped trousers on the broadcast at all.

OK so we have to bail out the FM's. However, it is irritating that the people who made this mess obtained tens of millions in compensation doing so. I can translate my populist rage into gametheoryspeak noting that bailouts create moral hazard problems. The US government can't let Fannie or Freddie or even the medium size bad Bear fail. It shouldn't make executives decide to run risks only because they know that if they roll snake eyes, the treasury or the fed will bail them out. So What is to Be Done ?

Poll

16 votes Show Results

When the US thinks it has to bail out a financial institution

16 votes Vote Now!

When the US thinks it has to bail out a financial institution

we should think again. We should let market selection work

1 vote

We should think again. Don't bail out banks bail out poor people

7 votes

What a Republic's gotta do a Republic's got to do. Hold you noses and bail them out

1 vote

OK but only if the CEO pays as proposed in the post

3 votes

OK but only if the CEO pays as proposed in the post plus his left testicle

1 vote

ditto or left Ovary for Carly Fiorina

3 votes

The Effect of Poverty may be Mistaken for an Effect of Race

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 25, 2008 · 2:01 AM PDT

2008/06/25 · 02:01

It is a general pattern in the empirical literature that researchers find that, not only to African Americans act like poorer people than White Americans but that race has an independent effect even when they control for income.

For example Mattyew Yglesias notes "studies show that race exhibits a substantial, income-independent influence on school achievement,"
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.c...
(don't blame Matt. He's just the messenger).

This sort of result probably gives comfort to racists and causes some discomfort to normal people who talk about culture and stuff. However, all it means is that current income is a poor measure of average income over long periods of time, which is what matters.

But you know what else ? Race exibits a substantial, income-independent influence on consumption -- Black households consume less than White households with the same income.

The simple explanation of how little these facts tell us is below the fold.

Poll

14 votes Show Results

Do you think this diary shows

14 votes Vote Now!

Do you think this diary shows

Blacks are more prudent and patient than Whites

2 votes

Social Scientists mislead the public because they don't know jack about statistics

10 votes

Robert Waldmann doesn't know the literature

2 votes

Robert Waldmann is White and Racist

0 votes

Robert Waldmann is Black and Racist

0 votes

Tax Progressivity Discussed on CNN !

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 12, 2008 · 1:47 PM PDT

2008/06/12 · 13:47

David Kurtz notes that CNN actually presents US voters with some useful information.

Clear as a bell indeed.

For CNN it is outstanding, but I have complaint after the jump.

update: youtube embedded

Poll

13 votes Show Results

who is to blame for my total confusion

13 votes Vote Now!

who is to blame for my total confusion

Robert Waldmann

0 votes

Robret Waldmann's mamma

0 votes

CNN which is afraid to say just how much better Obama would be for the non rich

12 votes

The Tax Policy Center which guilded a lilly by using the individual income distribution

1 vote

The racists who suggest that it is good to be lilly white

0 votes

How about stained ebony instead of guilded a lilly ?

0 votes

That's like the snow calling the sand white.

0 votes

Two Can Play That Game

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 29, 2008 · 4:16 AM PST

2008/02/29 · 04:16

TPM reader ER explains that McCain benefits three times when he denounces the scurrilous insults a supported directs at Obama. First the insults are inserted in people's minds, second they are re-inserted by McCain's denunciation, and third he manages to temporarily convince people that he is a mensch.

OK so how can Obama denounce slanders of McCain ? My first attempt (I'm pretending to be Obama. Don't sneer I bet you do too when no one is watching).

Poll

5 votes Show Results

Would Obama be wise to read this script ?

5 votes Vote Now!

Would Obama be wise to read this script ?

yes

2 votes

no because he can't risk offending the New York Times and its readers

1 vote

no because he can't risk offending the National Enquirer and its readers

0 votes

no because people will be pissed if he says "pissed"

1 vote

He won't in any case, because he is too nice

1 vote

He won't in any case, because he is not a total twit

0 votes

RJWaldmann Vs The White House

rjwaldmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 17, 2007 · 10:47 AM PDT

2007/08/17 · 10:47

Getting to the horcrux of the matter -- Dan Froomkin notes that someone using an IP adress in eop.gov (the White House) edited the wikipedia entry on horcruxes. I too have made guesses about possible horcruxes right here.

Quite frankly, I think I did better than whoever was at the EOP (big surprise eh).

Details and spoilers below

Poll

5 votes Show Results

RJWaldmann is

5 votes Vote Now!

RJWaldmann is

smarter than someone in the White House

0 votes

Wastes even more time that the laziest slacker in the White House

2 votes

smarter than everyone in the White House put together

1 vote

a twit

1 vote

all of the above

0 votes

secretely working in the executive office of the president

1 vote

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Food Stamps and Dependency

Likely Voter Polls, Registered Voter Polls and the Power of Averaging

Possible Polls

Anyone but Evan

Welfare Reform "Not a Disaster"

Skin in Paulson's Game

the Jed527

Fannie and Moral Hazard

The Effect of Poverty may be Mistaken for an Effect of Race

Tax Progressivity Discussed on CNN !

Two Can Play That Game

RJWaldmann Vs The White House