Report skews reality of our financial condition
To the editor:
The Review-Journal's story on "underbanked" Americans failed to note that the findings of a newly published FDIC report are drastically exaggerated ("Study: Banking not priority for low-wage earners," Thursday).
Seventeen million of the adults described as "underbanked" are in that category only because they have purchased a money order at the post office or a retail store. But this barometer makes little sense considering that the U.S. Postal Service charges $1.50 for a money order, compared to the $5 or even $10 fees you'll encounter at a mainstream bank. The truth is that a lot of the people whom the FDIC is calling "underbanked" would more accurately be labeled "thrifty."
A payday loan will put you in the "underbanked" category as well, implying that the FDIC thinks paying a short-term lender $15 to borrow $100 is worse than paying a bank $35 for a $10 debit card overdraft. There is little rhyme or reason as to what will get you relegated to the "underbanked" category.
To be fair, you would have to actually read the FDIC's report to learn that the dramatic numbers in the press release are inflated by 70 percent. But isn't that something reporters are supposed to do?
Sarah Longwell
WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE WRITER IS DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE CENTER FOR CONSUMER FREEDOM.
Love the lawyers
To the editor:
Every time the Democrats talk about health care, they always mention that the Republicans are aligned with the insurance industry. But they fail to mention that they are in bed with the trial lawyers.
You can't correct a bad situation without tort reform -- 220 pages sounds better than 2,000. The Democratic bill will just create thousands of pencil-pusher jobs, hundreds of bureaucracies and waiting lines for care.
JAMES FRIEDRICH
LAS VEGAS
Sleeping hungry
To the editor:
A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey reported 49 million Americans are "food insecure." But both the survey and your Nov. 23 editorial on the topic failed to paint an accurate picture of what is happening in our state regarding hunger.
The more than 270 nonprofit and faith-based agencies with whom Three Square Food Bank partners do not need polls or reports to tell us what we all already know -- that real people in Southern Nevada are struggling with hunger, and their numbers are increasing every day.
The reality in Nevada, which has the country's second-highest unemployment rate and was hit hard by the recession, is that use of both charitable and federal food assistance programs has increased in the past year. For example:
Among agencies Three Square works with, the average number of meals served by hot meal providers increased from 111,000 meals per month in 2008 to 155,000 meals per month in 2009; in July of this year food pantries had already distributed as much food as they did in the entirety of 2008; and case loads for eligibility workers on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program increased 53.1 percent between August 2008 and August 2009. Three Square itself will distribute at least 50 percent more food this year -- 16 million pounds -- than last year.
It is estimated that nearly 100,000 people in Clark County experience hunger, or "very low food security." This is not to be confused with the higher number -- 250,000 -- who experience "food insecurity," or, as it was described in the survey and your editorial, "worrying about running out of food." "Hungry" households actually reduce their food intake and skip meals. In addition, 45.5 percent of Clark County School District students receive free and reduced-priced meals; they qualify for this program because they reside in a low-income household. These children must find alternative sources of food on weekends and, when they're not in school, some don't.
The work of nonprofit agencies, the generosity of companies and individuals who donate their time and money, and government programs all work in conjunction to minimize as much as possible the issue of hunger.
We are a country of plenty, as you stated. But that plenty -- including affordable and accessible food -- is not available to everyone. Three Square, its agency partners and the hungry people of Southern Nevada are all the gracious recipients of the plenty of others in the form of donations and food. We remain grateful for the continued support of the community.
Hilary Westrom
LAS VEGAS
THE WRITER IS A MEMBER OF THREE SQUARE FOOD BANK'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Slow news day
To the editor:
In response to your Nov. 25 front page: So, Donny Osmond won a dancing competition. There has to be more going on in Las Vegas, the Western Hemisphere or the world than this.
One day before Thanksgiving, yet people are still homeless, homes are still being foreclosed on, unemployment is still in double digits (that's thousands of human beings out of work) ... but hey, Donny dances to a win.
The newspaper is for news, not to promote a phony TV show. I would expect to read the results in the National Enquirer, not the Review-Journal. Professionalism has sunk to a "Beavis and Butthead" mentality.
JIM EVANCHAK
LAUGHLIN
