re: #167 goddamnedfrank

Not to mention that if the people who need food assistance get it, it leaves them with just a bit more income to spend on other things, which in turn has a stimulative effect on the economy. Brazil’s president knew this:

Brazil’s poor are rising to create a new middle class in the country and are contributing to the economic boom there. How has this happened? Rosenberg describes one social program that has made it all possible: giving money to the poor…The program, called Bolsa Familia (Family Grant) in Brazil, goes by different names in different places…The generic term for the program is conditional cash transfers. The idea is to give regular payments to poor families, in the form of cash or electronic transfers into their bank accounts, if they meet certain requirements.

Too bad the US is doing the exact opposite.