Agricultural News
Food Stamps Handed Out at Record Levels in 2012- GOP Congressman Calls President Obama the Food Stamp President
Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:08:26 CDT
Recent numbers released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that food stamp enrollment reached an all-time high of 46.7 million individuals or 22.4 million households in June 2012. Enrollment is up 3.3 percent over a year prior and up 46 percent since January 2009. Food stamps- or what is now known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) cost American taxpayers 2007 $30 billion, when 26 million Americans received food assistance, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The dramatic increase in spending on the SNAP program came about as the unemployment numbers in the US has risen over the last five years. The nation's stubbornly high employment rate and temporary increases in aid provided under President Obama's recovery act helped send costs rising to all time record levels.
David Rogers with Politico says there are politics embeded into the Food Stamp debate. "The White House deliberately increased monthly benefits in 2009 by about $20 per person as a way to pump stimulus dollars into the economy. And in this post welfare-reform crisis, strapped governors have sought to maximize food stamp dollars as a cheap way to help families without tapping state funds." Regarding the state governments trying to play the rules to boost food stamp handouts- Rogers writes "conservatives complain that about 16 states are now abusing the system by distributing token federal low-income energy assistance in order to maximize the food stamp benefits allowed their citizens. To read the full article from David Rogers of earlier this year as the food stamp battle was escalating, click here.
Meanwhile- fast forward to sixty days before the November general election- and you have Freshman Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp of the Big First District in Kansas calling President Obama the "Food Stamp President."
Huelskamp in a news release adds "The sad thing is that is the way he wants it. It shores up his base to hand out more of other people's money. President Obama would much rather Americans be dependent on the government to feed their families than on a paycheck. It is a testament to the failure of the Obama Economy that 14.7 million Americans have been added to the food stamp rolls since he took office. In addition to becoming the Debt King, by adding $5.3 trillion to the national debt, President Obama has also put more Americans on food stamps than any other President.
"With imminent expiration of the 2008 Farm Bill, Washington needs to have a grown-up conversation about the unchecked pace of food stamp enrollment. The uptick is due in large part to the failure of the Obama Economy, but also to the ideology that more people dependent on government is better. Congress must put down its foot and stop President Obama from exploiting the Farm Bill for his own political gain."
Barack Obama, January 2009-August 2012. Time in Office: Three years, eight months; Increase in Food Stamp Recipients: +14,686,657; Increase in National Debt: +$5.3 Trillion.
George W. Bush, January 2001-January 2009. Time in Office: Eight years. Increase in Food Stamp Recipients: +14,333,073; Increase in National Debt: +$4.9 Trillion.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
