Compare and Contrast Module 5
In October 2013 the media reported about a possible government shut down which would effect WIC benefits, Food Stamp benefits, and military personnel not getting future pay if the government did not come to an agreement.
Once the government shut down it affected a lot of government employees and military families. Military pay was being threatened due to the shut down. If the shut down had continued, soldiers would not get their pay. Which means they could not support their families or pay their bills. Although, soldiers did get paid, it was a situation where you had to figure out what if they did stop the pay. WIC and Food Stamp benefits were being threatened by the shut down as well. If WIC ran out of money that would mean a lot of pregnant women, babies and small children would lack a resource they all need. The same with Food Stamps, there are people who need these benefits. People started to resort to food banks for assistance. The people were using food banks prior to the shut down, but it seemed like more people were looking to that resource once the shut down started and it seemed like it was not going to end.
During the shut down it did cause the main source of where military families go to buy their groceries to be closed. Prior to the commissaries being closes down because the employees were all government employees, the lines were wrapped around the store with soldiers and wives shopping for groceries, clearing out shelves. The commissaries had to sell all their produce and vegetables. When the commissaries were closed for the brief period, major stores such as Sam’s Club and BJ’s offered free membership to military families to they could shop at those stores. This helped a great deal because not everyone who is associated with the military wants to shop at a wholesale club to save money on groceries when in reality they save more money shopping at the commissary.
The media did miss some information...