Charitable Competition
One day after Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his anti-poverty plan, that would give tax credits to the city's working poor, members of the City Council announced plans to go into their districts and register people for food stamps.
The Council's plan was presented as an immediate and tangible supplement to Bloomberg's plan, which needs City Council approval and corporate funding.
Councilman Bill de Blasio, who will chair the City Council hearing on Thursday, sounded less than overwhelmed by the mayor's plan. "You start with an idea, but you need to implement it. You need oversight and pressure to make it come to fruition." (You can listen to de Blasio here.)
The council plan will go into effect almost immediately: this weekend, 10 Council members in four boroughs will hit the streets to register people for food stamps, and Speaker Christine Quinn said that Council members will be out every weekend signing more people up for the program.
-- Azi Paybarah
Why register people for more handouts from the government. IF they are not registering for food stamps, they must not really need them or they would have starved to death. Government in NYC just exists to take money from the taxpayers to be given away enthusiastically by the political class. So disgusting.
3:21
Where is your compassion? Despite what you think many working poor do not realize that they are eligible for Food Stamps and the little bit of cushion financially they get from the program may mean the difference between abject poverty and subsistence.
I think you should feel compassion for the staffers that will be out on the streets this weekend while the bosses are off.