Food-Stamp Use Climbs to Record 46.7 million, We are better off today.

Food-Stamp Use Climbs to Record 46.7 million, We are better off today.

By Alan Bjerga - Sep 4, 2012 10:34 AM ET
DRUDGEREPORT.COM

..
Food-stamp use reached a record 46.7 million in June, the government
said, as Democrats prepare to nominate President Barack Obama for a
second term with the economy as a chief issue in the campaign.

Participation was up 0.4 percent from May and 3.3 percent higher than
a year earlier and has remained greater than 46 million all year as
the unemployment rate stayed higher than 8 percent. New jobless
numbers will be released Sept. 7.
.
"Unemployment is stubbornly stuck," making it difficult to
significantly reduce the number of food-stamp recipients, Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview last month. "While people
are going back to work, and there are jobs being added, they aren't
being added at a clip that is as robust as anybody wants."

Food-stamp spending, which has more than doubled in four years to a
record $75.7 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2011, is the
USDA's biggest annual expense. Republicans in Congress have criticized
the cost of the program, and the House budget plan approved in April
sponsored by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's vice-
presidential nominee, would cut expenses by $33 billion over 10
years.

Cuts Planned

Reductions to the program have also emerged as a point of contention
in debate over a farm bill to replace current law that expires Sept.
30. The U.S. Senate in June passed a plan that would lower
expenditures by $4 billion over 10 years, while the House Agriculture
Committee the following month backed a $16 billion cut.

Today's report shows California with the most recipients, 4.012
million, a 0.8 percent gain from the previous month and 7.3 percent
more than the previous year. Texas had the second- highest number of
recipients, while down 0.4 percent from the previous month and 1.4
percent lower than a year earlier.

Louisiana and North Carolina, where Democrats are convening this week
to renominate Obama, had the biggest monthly gains in enrollment, 1.3
percent. Enrollment fell the most in Utah, down 1.4 percent from May,
followed by Idaho and Ohio.

Spending on what's officially called the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program totaled $6.21 billion in June, 0.4 percent higher
than the previous month and 2.8 percent more than a year earlier. The
record is $6.26 billion spent in September 2011.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Open Debate Political Forum IMHO" group.
To post to this group, send email to OpenDebateForum@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to OpenDebateForum-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/OpenDebateForum?hl=en