Post by The Great Aztec Joe on Jun 12, 2011 8:31:27 GMT -8
This program has grown totally out of control. This kind of thing seems to happen with government a lot.
More than 44 million Americans — 14 percent of the population — now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program, an all-time high, AND it is going higher with each passing month.
The number of recipients is up 11 percent from one year ago and more than 60 percent from just four years ago.
Nearly 21 million households are now reliant on the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The program cost taxpayers over $68 billion last year, twice as much as in 2007, and accounts for 67 percent of the USDA’s total budget, compared to 26 percent in 1980. I briefly worked for USDA. It seemed that everything was going into the Food Stamp program and money was short elsewhere.
The 2012 appropriations bill includes $71 billion for food stamps, a 9 percent increase from 2011 but $2 billion less than what President Obama requested.
Critics complain that SNAP hasn’t put a dent in poverty or hunger while taking away funds from other efforts that should be the main focus of the USDA, specifically agricultural programs, according to ABC News.
The food stamp program is also vulnerable to abuse. A Menominee, Mich., man was arrested recently and charged with food stamp trafficking. He allegedly used a food stamps card to buy $141 worth of lobster, steak and soft drinks and resold the items for 50 cents on the dollar.
The Republicans’ 2012 budget plan seeks to change SNAP from an entitlement to a block-grant program that would be tailored for each state. The proposal would make aid contingent on work or job training and limit funding for the program.
Block Grant Program?
?? Where is the oversight???
More than 44 million Americans — 14 percent of the population — now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program, an all-time high, AND it is going higher with each passing month.
The number of recipients is up 11 percent from one year ago and more than 60 percent from just four years ago.
Nearly 21 million households are now reliant on the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The program cost taxpayers over $68 billion last year, twice as much as in 2007, and accounts for 67 percent of the USDA’s total budget, compared to 26 percent in 1980. I briefly worked for USDA. It seemed that everything was going into the Food Stamp program and money was short elsewhere.
The 2012 appropriations bill includes $71 billion for food stamps, a 9 percent increase from 2011 but $2 billion less than what President Obama requested.
Critics complain that SNAP hasn’t put a dent in poverty or hunger while taking away funds from other efforts that should be the main focus of the USDA, specifically agricultural programs, according to ABC News.
The food stamp program is also vulnerable to abuse. A Menominee, Mich., man was arrested recently and charged with food stamp trafficking. He allegedly used a food stamps card to buy $141 worth of lobster, steak and soft drinks and resold the items for 50 cents on the dollar.
The Republicans’ 2012 budget plan seeks to change SNAP from an entitlement to a block-grant program that would be tailored for each state. The proposal would make aid contingent on work or job training and limit funding for the program.
Block Grant Program?
?? Where is the oversight???