Paycheck to paycheck in the Clown's 'America.'

Carpetbagger Report:

There’s a dispiriting AP story today about the economic pressures facing American families who live paycheck to paycheck. (thanks to R.K.)

The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.

Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It’s starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.
It reminded me of the president’s approach to food pantries, articulated earlier this month.

Check this out:

The senior stuck to the point: “With a half-a-million seniors who rely on this food, and the food stamp benefit for seniors who live in poverty, it comes nowhere near this benefit that they receive — how do we make sure that our seniors have the food that they need?”

BUSH: Well, where do you get most of your food from in the food bank? Private donations, right?

Q Well, we’re fortunate, yes.

BUSH: Yes. That’s the way it ought to be. Food banks ought to be supported through the generosity of individuals.