DC Is Food Stamp Capital Of US With 22% Of Residents On Dole

States With The Most People On Food Stamps

 

 

 

 

 

” With grocery bills priced as high as $1,300 per month as of late, some American workers simply cannot afford all of their groceries on top of everything else they already have to buy. This is why the government offers food stamps.

  The USDA Food and Nutrition Service reports that as of September 2014, there were around 46.5 million individual food stamp recipients (22.7 million households) receiving an average benefit of $123.74 each (around $257 per household).

  To be eligible, a household has to earn a gross income amount that’s less than 130% of the poverty level, or a net income amount (gross income minus deductions) that’s less than 100% of the poverty level for their family size.

  This means, a single person can be eligible for food stamps if his or her gross monthly income is under $1,265 ($15,180 per year), and a family of four can be eligible if they gross less than $2,584 per month ($31,008 per year). The applicant also can’t be a wealthy person who simply doesn’t have a steady income source. So, if the applicant has thousands of dollars sitting in the bank, for instance, they won’t apply as cash assets are considered as well.”

 

 

And the “winner” is … our nation’s capital …

 

 

” 1. District of Columbia

• Number of food stamp recipients: 144,768

• Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 21.97%

• Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $18 million

• Estimated cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $27.19 per person “

 

 

   Our nation’s capital is a true study in contrasts , the highest percentage of food stamp recipients along with the richest suburbs in the nation .

 

 

 

 

For those unfamiliar with the surrounding counties of DC , here is a map …

 

 

 

 

 

Read more at USA Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Change: Over 46 Million Enrolled In Food Stamps For Past Three Years

Food Stamp Beneficiaries Exceed 46,000,000 for 37 Straight Months

 

 

 

 

” The number of beneficiaries who receive compensation from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 37 straight months, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

  In September 2014, which is the latest data from the USDA, there were 46,459,998 Americans who received assistance from the SNAP program. The number of beneficiaries has exceeded 46 million since September 2011, a total of 37 months, or more than three years.

  In September, the number of beneficiaries was down from the 46,476,410 beneficiaries there were in August, a decline of 16,412. During that same time frame, the number of families receiving SNAP benefits increased from 22,724,624 in August to 22,750,019 in September, an increase of 25,395.

  Households on food stamps in September got an average of $252.69 during the month, and the program benefits cost taxpayers $5,748,809,023.

  In 1969, the average participation in the SNAP program stood at 2,878,000. In 2014, average participation grew to 46,536,000 showing an increase of 1516.96 percent.”

 

Thanks to CNS News

 

    To put those numbers in perspective in 1969 one out of every 73.6 people was dependent on the State for supplemental food stamps while today after nearly fifty years of fighting the “war on poverty” the ratio is one out of every 6.8 people . Well done … God Bless The State …

Total spending to date on the “war on poverty” has exceeded sixteen trillion dollars and all we’ve gotten for that “investment” has been a larger and larger dole .

 

 

   The numbers for SNAP spending during the past six years of the Obama administration from the CBO reflect a massive increase in dependency on the State :

 

 

 

 

” Almost two-thirds of the growth in spending on SNAP benefits between 2007 and 2011 stemmed from the increase in the number of participants. Labor market conditions deteriorated dramatically between 2007 and 2009 and have been slow to recover; since 2007, both the number of people eligible for the program and the share of those who are eligible and who participate in the program have risen.

  About one-fifth of the growth in spending can be attributed to temporarily higher benefit amounts enacted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The remainder stems from other factors, such as higher food prices and lower income among beneficiaries, both of which have boosted benefits.”

 

Heck of a job Barack …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Michelle’s “Let’s Move” Campaign Funded By Barack’s Food Stamp Cuts … But It’s The Republican’s Fault

Obama Using Food-Stamp Cash To Fund Michelle’s ‘Let’s Move’

 

 

 

” As you dig into your Butterball with all the trimmings this Thanksgiving, remember that millions of famished schoolkids around America may be forced to forgo classic turkey — and chow down instead on vegan black-bean patties and organic locavore quinoa salad.

On Nov. 1, sizable cuts were gouged into the federal food-stamp program (or, as it’s now called, SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which feeds 47.6 million people, or nearly one in six Americans. In the city, 1.9 million folks get the bulk of their Jell-O and Campbell’s Soup from stamps.

But news has spread among the poor, like leafy green vegetables, that it wasn’t heartless Republicans who triggered the cuts.

Rather, some of the food-stamp cash was snatched to pay for Michelle Obama’s pet project, Let’s Move. What?

It’s come to this. Some 76 million meals a year will vanish from this city — poof! — partly because the president diverted money from SNAP to the first lady’s signature program, part of her Let’s Move anti-obesity initiative — the bean-sprout-heavy, $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.”

 

Illustration by Dickie Neely

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Louisiana EBT Looters To Be Stripped Of Benefits

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Strips Food Stamps Looters Of Their “Benefits”

 

 

 

 

” On Oct. 12, 2013, the food stamps (Electronic Benefits Transfer or EBT) computer system went down in several states, including Louisiana.

What happened was not pretty. The food-stampers went into a buying looting frenzy, stripping the stores’ shelves by the end of the day.

Now, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is holding the looters accountable.

“Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his administration took steps late Wednesday to strip food stamp benefits from those who loaded up their shopping carts knowing they had insufficient funds in their Electronic Benefits Transfer accounts during a system failure in October.” “

 

Finally , someone decides to hold government-sponsored thieves to account for their actions . Way to go Gov Jindal .

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About Those “Draconian” Food Stamp Cuts

The One Statistic The Media Won’t Report About That ‘Draconian’ Cut To The Food Stamps Program

 

 

 

 

 

” Over and over, the media will treat your eyes and ears to the cut in food stamps that will apparently throw America in a zombie apocalypse and destroy the entire galaxy. They love to repeat over and over the size of the cut to the program – $5 billion sure sounds like a lot.

In most of the news articles about the supposedly draconian cut, there’s little mention of the size of the budget, which seems to be pretty important context. In 2012, we spent $78,437,000,000 on the program, meaning that a $5 billion cut amounts to about 6.3%. Extrapolated for the growth in the program until June (the last month for which numbers are available), America will spend about $81 billion in 2013.”

 

 

 

   Since , as the government asserts , there is no inflation , there should be no harm in reducing food stamp funding back to 2011 levels … right ?

 

 

Read it all from Soopermexican and IJR

 

 

 

 

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Welcome To Dependency , USA

The New Normal: Welfare Is Now America’s Most Popular Occupation

 

 

 

” New data has revealed what is perhaps the most depressing economic statistic of the year: More people in America are on welfare than have full-time jobs. Yes, you read that correctly. Welfare is now America’s most popular occupation.

From the U.S. Census Bureau, reported by Investor’s Business Daily:

At the end of 2011, the last year for which data are available, some 108.6 million people received one or more means-tested government benefit programs — bureaucratese for welfare.

Meanwhile, there were just 101.7 million people with full-time jobs, the Census data show, including both the private and government sectors.”

 

 

This aspect of Obama’s “Hope & Change” can only end badly , for as Alexis de Toqueville said : 

 

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe

the public with the public’s money.” 

   It would appear that we’ve reached the endgame , which has been the progressive goal all along . A nation of dependents will continue to elect those that dole out the “entitlements” but another wise , departed soul had the last word on government largesse …. Lady Thatcher’s famous quote immediately comes to mind as we tumble headlong into insolvency : 

 

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

For those that haven’t noticed , we’ve run out of other people’s money .

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Tipping Point : Government Dole Denizens Out-Number Full Time Workers

Census Bureau: Means-Tested Gov’t Benefit Recipients Outnumber Full-Time Year-Round Workers

 

 

 

 

” Americans who were recipients of means-tested government benefits in 2011 outnumbered year-round full-time workers, according to data released this month by the Census Bureau.

They also out-numbered the total population of the Philippines.

There were 108,592,000 people in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2011 who were recipients of one or more means-tested government benefit programs, the Census Bureau said in data released this week. Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, there were 101,716,000 people who worked full-time year round in 2011. That included both private-sector and government workers.

That means there were about 1.07 people getting some form of means-tested government benefit for every 1 person working full-time year round.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I Want My EBT !

Computer Glitch Blamed For Nationwide EBT System Shutdown On Saturday

 

 

” People in Ohio, Michigan and 15 other states found themselves unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards on Saturday, after a routine test of backup systems by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure.

At about 9 a.m. Saturday, reports from across the country began pouring in that customers’ EBT cards were not working in stores.

“While the electronic benefits system is now up and running, beneficiaries in the 17 affected states continue to experience connectivity issues to access their benefits. Technical staff is addressing the issue and expect the system to be restored soon,”  Wasmer said. “Beneficiaries requiring access to their benefits can work with their local retailers who can activate an emergency voucher system where available. We appreciate our clients’ patience while we work through this outage as quickly as possible.”

Wasmer said the affected states also included Alabama, California, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Interests Take One On The Chin In Rare Defeat Of “Farm” Bill

K Street Stunned At Farm Bill Defeat

 

 

” The angst among farm lobbyists contrasts to the glee expressed by opponents on the left and the right who opposed the bill.

Citizens Against Government Waste sent out a press release exclaiming “holy manure!”

“In a city known for catering to the whims of well-heeled special interest groups, the farm bill consistently manages to stand out for its parochialism, log-rolling, and corporate welfare,” it said. “That alliance broke down this afternoon, resulting in an extremely rare Farm Bill failure, one that represents a major victory for taxpayers and consumers.”

Heritage Action and Club for Growth, which both urged no votes, said they want food stamp funding severed from farm subsidies, a solution that sends shivers down the spine of farm lobbyists who have seen farm bills pass with the support of urban lawmakers backing the food stamp program.

“Now that the House has defeated the farm bill, we should finally discuss real reform,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “We need to put farm subsidies on a path to elimination and we need to devolve food stamps to the state level where they belong.” “

 

 

     We have to side with the Dems on this one and while we doubt that their motives match ours , a defeat for the agri-businesses is a defeat nevertheless . The voting lines give some truth to the progressive mantra that the GOP is in the pocket of special interests . Bravo to the sixty republican reps that voted against this special interest pork-fest .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farm Bill Facts

 

 

THE 2013 FARM BILL

 

 

 

 

” The Farm Bill is currently moving through Congress, and it’s bigger and more bloated than ever. This year’s version will spend nearly a trillion dollars on broken food and farm welfare over the next decade. Unfortunately, Congress is poised to rubber-stamp this bloated welfare bill known as the Farm Bill.

Americans For Prosperity strongly encourages Capitol Hill to consider real reforms and meaningful savings to the 2013 Farm Bill.” 

 

 

Related articles :

 

Members of Congress Get Millions in Farm Subsidies

Rural Broadband Program in Farm Bill is Woefully Broken

No Farm Bill? No Problem

Update on the Farm Bill: Good News and Bad News

What savings? 2012 Farm Bill is agribusiness as usual (The Hill)

New farm bill: Welfare in disguise (POLITICO)

End direct payments to find spending savings (Real Clear Policy)

Farm Bill is Welfare Bill (Des Moines Register)

The Farm Bill is Bloated (Billings Gazette)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Massachusetts Funds The Dead

 

Massachusetts Audit Finds Dead Welfare Recipients Collecting Millions Of Dollars

 

 

” In some cases, recipients began receiving benefits for the first time after their deaths.

The audit, issued Tuesday, covered cash, food stamps, and other benefits intended for low-income families, and found millions of dollars in irregular benefits and an urgent need for improved anti-fraud security.

In 1,164 cases, deceased recipients continued to receive a total of $2.39 million in benefits up to 27 months after they had been reported dead. The state Department of Transitional Assistance also paid out at least $368,000 benefits to 178 guardians who claimed deceased persons as dependents, and $164,000 to 40 individuals being claimed by more than one guardian.”

 

 

 

Related articles

• Massachusetts audit finds more than 1000 dead people on welfare (rare.us)
• State Audit: 1,164 Dead People Received Welfare Benefits (boston.cbslocal.com)
• Auditor: Welfare dollars went to dead people (bostonherald.com)
• State: 1,100 dead people got welfare benefits (wcvb.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Food Stamps – The One Crop Farmer Obama Can Grow

Morning Bell: A Bumper Crop of Food Stamps

 

” Where do food stamps come from?” 

 

 

 

” They come from taxpayers—certainly not from family farms. Yet the “farm” bill, a recurring subsidy-fest in Congress, is actually 80 percent food stamps and other government nutrition programs.

It has become the norm that Congress lumps billions—even trillions—of dollars in taxpayer-funded programs together into huge bills. This allows them to sneak in plenty of special-interest pork.”

 

 

 

Illustration by Glenn Foden

 

 

 

 

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37% Of Puerto Rico Receives Food Stamps

U.S. Gives 1/3 Of Puerto Rico Food Stamps

 

” The USDA does confirm, however, that an average of 1.37 million people received food stamps in Puerto Rico each month in fiscal year 2012. The island, which is a U.S. territory, has a population of 3.7 million, which means that 37% of Puerto Ricans get food stamps from Uncle Sam. Though the figure of 47.7 million in the U.S. shatters records, it still marks only 15.2% of the nation’s population of 313 million.”

 

 

 

 

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More On Tsarnaev Welfare WMD’s … State Paid Them Over $100K

Tsarnaev Family Received $100G In Benefits

 

 

 

” The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section 8 housing from 2002 to 2012, the Herald has learned.

“The breadth of the benefits the family was receiving was stunning,” said a person with knowledge of documents handed over to a legislative committee today.

The state has handed over more than 500 documents to the 11-member House Post Audit and Oversight Committee, which today met for the first time and plans to call in officials from the Department of Transitional Assistance to testify.”

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Related articles

• Tsarneavs Received Over $100K in Government Handouts (patterico.com)
• Did U.S. Taxpayers Finance The Boston Marathon Bomb Attack? (warnewsupdates.blogspot.com)
• Tsarnaev Terror family got $100G+ in tax $, including cash, food stamps, Section 8 housing (riehlworldview.com)
• 500 pages of welfare records handed over on Tsarnaevs (bostonherald.com)
• Marathon bombers’ family received welfare, food stamps (boston.com)
• After probe, pol asks gov: Are more perps on welfare? (bostonherald.com)

 

 

 

 

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Fraud And Cronyism Rule The Food Stamps Program

 

Corporations Profit From $75 Billion Tax Payer Funded Food Stamps Program

 

 

 

” On Friday “Boomtown 2: The Business of Food Stamps” Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon exposed how politicians and corporations have used the country’s food stamps program to profit on the backs of tax payers.

The fraud of the food stamps program has grown since EBT cards were issued in 2002, which gave no reason for either government or corporations to look to reform the system or limit the fraud.

J. P. Morgan, which administers many of the EBT cards, like other companies, gets a cut from each transaction provided via the food stamps program. The entire system is a fraud and immoral.

Not only do corporations profit from this corrupt system, but companies like Coca Cola and Kraft Foods have “lobbied against laws” that would make sodas ineligible to purchase with food stamps Schweizer said.”

 

Related articles

• “The Rise of Crony Capitalism” by Peter Schweizer (stateofglobe.com)
• Boomtown 2: Only 100 Federal Employees Tasked with Monitoring EBT Fraud (breitbart.com)
• $4 billion went to soda makers… (breitbart.com)
• War on Poverty Has Cost Taxpayers $15 Trillion (visiontoamerica.com)
• BOOMTOWN 2: Fast Food Giant Lobbied to Get into Food Stamp Game (breitbart.com)
• Food Stamp Fraud Soars To $750 Million Each Year (12160.info)

 

 

 

 

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American Food Stamp Nation … The Size Of Spain And Growing By 11,269 Daily

Food Stamp Rolls in America Now Surpass the Population of Spain

 

 

 

” Since taking office in 2009, food stamp rolls under President Barack Obama have risen to more than 47 million people in America, exceeding the population of Spain.

When Obama entered office in January 2009 there were 31,939,110Americans receiving food stamps.  As of November 2012—the most recent data available—there were 47,692,896 Americans enrolled, an increase of 49.3 percent.

Furthermore, between January 2009 and November 2012 the food stamp program added approximately an average 11,269 recipients per day.”

 

 

See Also …

 

Food Stamp Nation – WSJ.com

USA becomes Food Stamp Nation but is it sustainable? | Reuters

Food Stamp Nation – FrontPage Magazine —

 

   The above links date from the past few months as each month brings a new record in the percentage of families newly dependent on government handouts . The ZeroHedge link below is from yesterday and is offered as a companion piece to the featured story .

 

 

Households On Foodstamps Rise To New Record

 

” While hardly presented by the mainstream media with the same panache dedicated to the monthly ARIMA-X-12 seasonally-adjusted, climate-affected, goal-seek devised non-farm payroll data, the three month delayed Foodstamp number is according to many a far greater attestation to the “effectiveness” of the Obama administration to turn the economy around.

 

Here is the “money” quote , pun intended … 

 

” The cost to the government to keep these 23 million households content and not rising up? $281.21 per month per household.”

 

    Well , you say , it’s a mere $281 a month , which was our initial thought as well but if you do the math , the number , constantly on the rise mind you , is significant . We’ll save you the trouble of digging your cell phone out of your pocket to get to your calculator app and tell you that $281.21 times 23,000,000 households adds up to a whopping $6,467,830,000 per month in SNAP payments alone . That’s right … nearly six and one half BILLION dollars per month in benefits .

   Here is a page directly from the Congressional Budget Office with projections for the next ten years . Note that they show a peak enrollment in 2014 with a steady downward trend from then to 2022 thus reducing benefit outlays( theoretically) , yet administrative costs never falter on their journey skyward . Why is that ?

 

 

Click The Graphic For The Full Sized PDF At The CBO

 

 

 

   The page below corroborates the endless upward growth in administrative costs of the SNAP program in somewhat greater detail .

 

 

 

Click The Graphic For The Full Sized PDF At The CBO

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Food Stamp Rolls in America Now Surpass the Population of Spain (blacklistednews.com)
• 5 Reasons Poor People Don’t Eat Healthy (dumbsainthood.wordpress.com)
• Food Stamp Rolls in America Now Surpass the Population of Spain (visiontoamerica.com)
• Sure Sign of Economic Recovery – Food Stamps Hit All-time High (theburningplatform.com)
• Obama Statistics: 841,000 jobs, 17.3 million new food stamps and disability recipients (bluegrasspundit.com)
• Obamanomics: 20 New Food Stamp Recipients for Each New Job (pjmedia.com)
• The Nanny State of the Union (thehill.com)
• Number of Americans on Food Stamps Hit Another Record High (conservativeread.com)
• Sad: One in four kids in the US were on food stamps in 2011 fiscal year (bluegrasspundit.com)
• It’s A Food Stamp Nation (youviewedblog.wordpress.com)