A Tough Economy Hits Ohio Family Hard

I was on the road late yesterday afternoon and early evening. Old habits die hard and as is my wont, I turned the radio onto NPR's All Things Considered.

David Gold, a radio personality in the Dallas area when I lived there, used to call NPR "National Socialist Radio." The name has always stuck with me.

I listen because I hate most music radio stations and the trip always goes faster if something is on for me to listen to. I also have always figured it is a good idea to know what it is the other side is saying.

Last evening they did a feature on an Ohio family suffering from the downturn in the economy. They cannot find work, are unable to do the most basic things because of transportation issues, and can hardly afford food on their limited government stipends.

Today I was directed by Moonbattery to NPR's website and I was immediately able to better understand some of the problems facing this particular Ohio family.

This is not parody...it is for reals Nacho!

Nunez, 40, has never worked and has no high school degree. She says a car accident 17 years ago left her depressed and disabled, incapable of getting a job. Instead, she and her daughter, Angelica Hernandez, survive on a $637 Social Security check and $102 in food stamps.

Hernandez received her high school diploma and has had several jobs in recent years. But now, because fewer restaurants and stores are hiring, she says she finds it hard to find a job. Even if she could, she says it's particularly hard to imagine how she'll keep it. She says she needs someone to give her a lift just to get to an interview. And with gas prices so high, she's not sure she could afford to pay someone to drive her to work every day.

[...]

The rising cost of food means their money gets them about a third fewer bags of groceries — $100 used to buy about 12 bags of groceries, but now it's more like seven or eight. So they cut back on expensive items like meat, and they don't buy extras like ice cream anymore. Instead, they eat a lot of starches like potatoes and noodles.

I really am not posting this to ridicule the Nunez family, but I do think the article and picture help to display a few obvious failures of the socialist state.

Really, what more do I need to say?