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Food Stamp Use Soars Across U.S., and Stigma Fades (Feds want to enroll 16 million more people)
New York Times ^ | November 29, 2009 | Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff

Posted on 11/28/2009 5:27:37 PM PST by reaganaut1

With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.

It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples [...].

Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. [...]

While the numbers have soared during the recession, the path was cleared in better times when the Bush administration led a campaign to erase the program’s stigma, calling food stamps “nutritional aid” instead of welfare, and made it easier to apply. That bipartisan effort capped an extraordinary reversal from the 1990s, when some conservatives tried to abolish the program, Congress enacted large cuts and bureaucratic hurdles chased many needy people away.

...

[T]he program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day.

There are 239 counties in the United States where at least a quarter of the population receives food stamps

...

In more than 750 counties, the program helps feed one in three blacks. In more than 800 counties, it helps feed one in three children.

...

Although the program is growing at a record rate, the federal official who oversees it would like it to grow even faster.

“I think the response of the program has been tremendous,” said Kevin Concannon, an under secretary of agriculture, “but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: foodstamps; welfare
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To: I_Like_Spam
I think in CA the bank savings or money mkt whatever has to be under 3,000 dollars. Some of the minorities use lock boxes to get around this. Even if they work , and make under a certain amt, and show no savings over 3K, they can get the food stamp card.
61 posted on 11/28/2009 6:42:10 PM PST by Achilles Heel
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To: wally_bert
I am way overdue a laptop (mine is 4 years old and looks older)

I hear you. I'm posting on a six year old HP desktop.

62 posted on 11/28/2009 6:48:29 PM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: Achilles Heel
I know it was that way several years ago in Cali. The Vietnamese "refugees" had so much cash, the other Viets were doing home invasion robberies....

Just incredible :^(

63 posted on 11/28/2009 6:52:59 PM PST by investigateworld (Abortion stops a beating heart)
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To: buccaneer81

A 6 year old HP laptop? Mine is a Staples Averatec that hasn’t given a bit of trouble since I bought it. I was on the road today and stopped at Panera’s Bread to grab a bite and some wifi. In the daylight, it looks really decrepit and the display is going. It will become a glorified file uploader when it gets replaced, hopefully this month. I am apparently going to be travelling a lot more on business. I saw a few good deals at BB for a basic travel machine. All I need is internet, DVD RW, and decent performance.


64 posted on 11/28/2009 6:53:41 PM PST by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: Squantos

What year? And were scanners/food stamp debit card used?

What does that link have to with anything.


65 posted on 11/28/2009 6:55:00 PM PST by autumnraine (You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it out!)
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To: wally_bert
A 6 year old HP laptop?

Desktop.

66 posted on 11/28/2009 6:56:36 PM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: reaganaut1

Who would bite the hand that feeds them?

If it is free then it must come from benevolent sources, right?

Your freedom is in good hands, Americans.


67 posted on 11/28/2009 6:57:49 PM PST by Boucheau
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To: buccaneer81

It’s late and I’m slipping a bit. My tower is 5 years old but has 3 year old guts in it and with 2 GB of RAM, runs just fine though. I am glad I can fix my own gear.


68 posted on 11/28/2009 6:59:01 PM PST by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: RangerM
I think those on any type of welfare should lose their right to vote for the duration they are on welfare.

I also think those that are felons should lose the right to vote.

The Founding Fathers cared about the QUALITY of the vote, not the quantity. They wanted those with a poker in the fire to vote, which is why they developed a republic instead of a flat out majority rules democracy. The reason is they knew it wouldn't take long for the lazy to vote themsleves a bunch of "free" things.

69 posted on 11/28/2009 7:00:00 PM PST by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy Saints surrounded)
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To: reaganaut1

Isn’t there a 5-yr lifetime limit to food stamps? In other words you can not receive food assistance for more than a total of five years in your life. No? I heard that somewhere...I think!


70 posted on 11/28/2009 7:02:35 PM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (LIBERTY)
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To: Kimberly GG

and they have no respect for themselves
they even laugh at the thought of getting handouts


71 posted on 11/28/2009 7:03:57 PM PST by manc (Marriage is between a man and a woman, end of. -end racism end affirmative action)
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To: 1010RD

I agree. Thank a Democrat for the destruction of The Black American Family. I lay the devastation at their feet.


72 posted on 11/28/2009 7:05:20 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I say: "Vote, Yes! Vote, Yes! Vote for Independency!" ~John Adams)
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To: reaganaut1
a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme

It still is!

73 posted on 11/28/2009 7:05:45 PM PST by kcvl
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To: MrB
While responsible people are buying hamburger helper, the welfare queens are buying steak and shrimp on their dime.

And so welfare queens won't be 'stigmatized' they are using cards that look like a regular credit card. I don't see them slowing up on dropping more kids who automatically become another generation of welfare cheats.

Liberals have created a birth to grave welfare mentality that keep people on the liberal plantation their entire lives.

74 posted on 11/28/2009 7:10:23 PM PST by kcvl
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Milton Friedman called it back in 1980 in his Free to Choose series.


75 posted on 11/28/2009 7:10:28 PM PST by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: VanDeKoik

In PA at least, there is a program whereby welfare recipients can get a free cell phone.


76 posted on 11/28/2009 7:14:14 PM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (LIBERTY)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
You are correct, and I'll go so far as to say we are way overdue for civil rebellion, war if it becomes necessary.
We will have to be the ones to put a stop to it.Does anyone think that the recipients of free living are going to stop taking it voluntarily? Does anyone think that politicians who derive their power from promising free handouts are going to stop providing them? What percentage of the politicians running this country right now care one damn bit about this nation over their own power and position? This so called “healthcare bill” should speak volumes about the real intent of the elitist liberals running this country.
We don't have a lot of time ,either. Slipping into an old Soviet-style government WILL be the result of inaction, and we may never get out from under the oppression that will bring.
77 posted on 11/28/2009 7:16:18 PM PST by Quickgun (As a former fetus, I'm opposed to abortion. Pray for Obama,Psalms109:8)
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To: 1010RD

Loved the man!

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.” ~ Milton Friedman


78 posted on 11/28/2009 7:16:50 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I say: "Vote, Yes! Vote, Yes! Vote for Independency!" ~John Adams)
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To: reaganaut1

Just looked up PA’s food stamp program. It’s called SNAP (supplemental...nutrition...something!) You have to sign up for some kind of employment seeking program. Workfare.

The rule book is many, many pages.


79 posted on 11/28/2009 7:18:25 PM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (LIBERTY)
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To: Quickgun

Yep. It’s pretty important that people wake up. Luckily, we have a Pres__ent that is bringing our blood to a boil...and quickly!

Conservatives always seem to need a swift kick in the backside to get moving, LOL!


80 posted on 11/28/2009 7:20:32 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I say: "Vote, Yes! Vote, Yes! Vote for Independency!" ~John Adams)
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