food stamps

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Gingrich: Obama So Terrible Blacks Will Vote for Us

Gingrich doubles down on 'food stamp' president jab

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich once again called Barack Obama “ the food stamp president ” yesterday, and said Obama has been so bad for black voters that they could jump to the GOP. Last time Gingrich tried the food stamp line—in which he touts himself, by contrast, as the “paycheck...

Food Stamp Abuse Shows Perils of &#39;Big Government&#39;
Food Stamp Abuse Shows Perils of 'Big Government'
OPINION

Food Stamp Abuse Shows Perils of 'Big Government'

Number of recipients surging, along with fraud: James Bovard

(Newser) - The number of people on food stamps has risen from 26 million to 44 million since 2007, and abuse of the system is running unchecked, writes James Bovard at the Wall Street Journal . The federal government is more interested in getting people signed up than helping states curb fraud, he...

We Depend on Uncle Sam's Cash More Than Ever

Wages lagging as source of income

(Newser) - Americans relied on government programs for more of their personal income last year than at any previous time in history. According to a USA Today analysis of federal data, Social Security, unemployment, Medicare, and food stamps made up 18.3% of the national income last year, while wages accounted for...

14% of Americans Use Food Stamps
14% of Americans Use
Food Stamps

14% of Americans Use Food Stamps

43.6M need help to buy groceries

(Newser) - A sizable number of Americans—about 14%, in fact—continue to need government help to buy groceries, the Wall Street Journal reports. A new Labor Department survey says 43.6 million people in the US were signed up with the food stamp program as of November, an increase of 14....

NYC Seeks to Bar Soda for Food Stamp Users

Mayor to city's poor: Drop weight

(Newser) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to add sodas to the list of items New York City's 1.7 million food stamp users can't buy with the stamps. The mayor, as part of an aggressive anti-obesity campaign, has asked federal authorities for permission to ban food-stamp purchases of sugared drinks, the New ...

Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid
Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid

Record Number Enrolled in Medicaid

One in 6 Americans now in federal anti-poverty programs

(Newser) - The recession has sent a record one in six Americans into federal anti-poverty programs, according to a new USA Today survey. More than 50 million are now enrolled in Medicaid, a number that has jumped 17% since the recession’s official start in December 2007. “Virtually every Medicaid director...

Food Critic Now Turns to Food Stamps

Unemployed writer describes his adjustment

(Newser) - Ed Murrieta used to be a food critic for the Tacoma News Tribune with a $1,300 monthly expense account and a "middle-class salary." Today, however, "I eat on the fringe of the food business, hungry for work and living on the dole, one of 6 million...

Hipster Defends Using Food Stamps

 Hipster Defends 
 Using Food Stamps 
OPINION

Hipster Defends Using Food Stamps

Why the backlash over access to healthy food?

(Newser) - There's been quite the backlash against hipsters buying fancy organic fare with their food stamps, but one such hipster argues that “cheap food is the real extravagance.” Gerry Mak—a subject of the recent Salon article —points out that "a whole rabbit at Lexington Market is...

Hipster Foodies Turn to Food Stamps

Stimulus package makes more young people eligible for benefits

(Newser) - Food stamps are for the poor, no matter if you’re a single mother or a destitute hipster. Salon checks in on the growing number of young, unemployed, college-educated foodies who qualify for stamps and use them for organic delicacies along with staples. One UChicago grad says he “used...

Income=$0, and Some Food Stamps
 Income=$0, 
 and Some 
 Food Stamps 
TROUBLING TRENDS

Income=$0, and Some Food Stamps

States seeing double-, triple-digit growth among those with zero income

(Newser) - The recession has pushed millions from their homes and jobs, but there's a rising new class of economic victim—the American with zero monthly income surviving on food stamps alone. The New York Times examined states' data, and found that some 18% of food stamp recipients were in households with...

As Food Stamp Use Explodes, Stigma Fades

Americans 'who never thought' they'd use aid are relying on it

(Newser) - With one in eight Americans now using food stamps and 20,000 more signing up each day, "nutritional assistance" is becoming a normal part of American life rather than a shameful secret, reports the New York Times . In analyzing local data, the paper found that in 239 counties—as...

Half of US Kids Will Get Food Stamps at Some Point

Figure hits 90% for black children, study finds

(Newser) - Nearly half of all US children and 90% of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say. The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and bolsters other...

Food Stamps Make You Fatter
 Food Stamps Make You Fatter 

Food Stamps Make You Fatter

Limited budget may promote unhealthy choices

(Newser) - Barack Obama might like to think that the down-and-out are using food stamps to buy arugala at Whole Foods, but as Science Daily reports, people tend to gain weight on food stamps. The average benefit of $81 a month doesn't go a long way toward nutritious foods, researchers suggest in...

Record 34M Americans Use Food Stamps

About 600K people a month have been added recently

(Newser) - The number of people receiving food stamps surged by 1.2 million people in March and April to a record 33.8 million Americans, Reuters reports. Roughly one in nine US citizens were enrolled in the program in April, the most recent stats available. That marks five straight months of...

Food-Stamp Funding Boost Gives Economy Quick Lift

Money gets spent fast; $5 in stamps yields $9.20 in activity

(Newser) - The boost in food-stamp funding included in President Obama’s stimulus bill is pumping cash into the economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. In April, families of four on food stamps started getting about an extra $80 a month. Every $5 spent in food-stamp money means a quick $9.20...

Welfare Rolls Soar Along With Unemployment

Many make shift as jobless benefits run out

(Newser) - Welfare rolls are on the rise nationwide for the first time since President Clinton signed a bill overhauling the system in 1996, the Wall Street Journal reports. Welfare recipients’ ranks fell in some areas at the beginning of the recession, but now 23 of the 30 biggest US states are...

US Aid Rules Perplex Needy in Downturn

(Newser) - Hobbled by the recession, millions of Americans are struggling to navigate benefit programs that dispense aid in often arbitrary and frustrating ways, the New York Times reports. In many cases, it's all about geography. Need food stamps? It's better to live in Missouri than California. Unemployment? The lucky live in...

Record 32.2M Get Food Stamps

(Newser) - More than 32 million people in the US are now receiving food stamps—a full tenth of the population, Reuters reports. The record enrollment in January marks the third time in 5 months the total has increased. Numbers rose in all but four states. Recipients got an average of $112....

Child Services Probed Octuplet Mom

Police have visited home eight times; family plans to move

(Newser) - A pre-octuplets Nadya Suleman was investigated by LA’s Department of Children and Family Services, TMZ reports—and cops have been called to her last two homes eight times for reasons ranging from a missing child to a feared break-in. DCFS visited the home in July after a neighbor complained...

Stimulus to Bulk Up Food Stamps

Caseloads up dramatically; bill to offer $16B to $20B in support

(Newser) - The stimulus package set to pass Congress contains a measure to boost food stamp benefits by billions of dollars, reports NPR. The $16 billion to $20 billion increase—which would mean up to $79 more a month for a family of four—is a response to a drastic rise in...

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