Sometimes it's easier to hide in a fantasy than to confront the obvious truth.

The cold truth is that one in 10 Americans do count on food stamps for daily meals. Their need is genuine, not imagined, but there's been no shortage of leaders retreating into a fantasy world and pretending the problem doesn't exist.In a report on food stamps just released, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said use is at a record high, with roughly 10 percent of all Americans relying on the program to fill their plates.

No matter where one falls on the political spectrum, this new portrait of our American family catches the eye. Whether you're sympathetic to social programs or resent paying for them, that one in 10 figure must scream at you.

But is it enough to make enough of us holler for our representatives to start looking homeward?

We tsk at empty shelves in the Soviet Union - and our representatives devise plans to help solve that problem. But hunger at home goes virtually unnoticed, except by the hungry and those who feed them.

Too many people right in everyone's hometown already know what only now seems to be dawning on Washington: the U.S. economy isn't getting the job done.

We continue to be asked to believe that prosperity is right around the corner, while every day we witness events that justify pessimism. Westinghouse lays off 4,000 nationwide. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank distributes 1.3 million pounds of food in October - more than any other time in its 11-year history. Across America, millions are out of work, millions more out of unemployment benefits.

Just about a year ago, when congressional seats were up for grabs, the White House urged us to, in effect, ignore those working-class people in the food lines. We weren't in a recession. How could we be? We had a bipartisan deficit reduction plan to avert disaster.

Wrong.

More numbers released during the past bleak week showed the deficit for the past fiscal year was another all-time high: $269 billion. We're headed for $348 billion this year.

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Despite all evidence, the White House continues to insist a recession won't last more than a few quarters.

And, oh yes, they've started tackling that nasty food stamp figure.

The chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger says the Bush administration is considering rules to make it tougher to qualify for food stamps and reduce benefits for those who do.

With that quality of thinking it should be no time at all before we clear the books of our economic problems - even if we don't clear the food banks.

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