The number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of private sector workers in the U.S.

[EXTXOILMAN]

I'm pretty sure this isn't what the founders meant by "the pursuit of happiness"...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

101M Americans Get Food Aid from Federal Gov’t; More Than the Number of Private Sector Workers
July 8, 2013 - 11:32 AM

By Elizabeth Harrington
(CNSNews.com) – The number of Americans receiving subsidized food assistance from the federal government has risen to 101 million, representing roughly a third of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.

That means the number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of private sector workers in the U.S.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 97,180,000 full-time private sector workers in 2012.

The population of the U.S. is 316.2 million people, meaning nearly a third of Americans receive food aid from the government.

Of the 101 million receiving food benefits, a record 47 million Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. The USDA describes SNAP as the “largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.”

The USDA says the number of Americans on food stamps is a “historically high figure that has risen with the economic downturn.”

SNAP has a monthly average of 46.7 million participants, or 22.5 million households. Food stamps alone had a budget of $88.6 billion in FY 2012.

The USDA also offers nutrition assistance for pregnant women, school children and seniors.
The National School Lunch program provides 32 million students with low-cost or no-cost meals daily; 10.6 million participate in the School Breakfast Program; and 8.9 million receive benefits from the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program each month, the latter designed for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, as well as children younger than 5 years old.

In addition, 3.3 million children at day care centers receive snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

There’s also a Special Milk Program for schools and a Summer Food Service Program, through which 2.3 million children received aid in July 2011 during summer vacation.

At farmer’s markets, 864,000 seniors receive benefits to purchase food and 1.9 million women and children use coupons from the program.

A “potential for overlap” exists with the many food programs offered by the USDA, allowing participants to have more than their daily food needs subsidized completely by the federal government.

According to a July 3 audit by the Inspector General, the USDA’s Food Nutrition Service (FNS) “may be duplicating its efforts by providing participants total benefits in excess of 100 percent of daily nutritional needs when households and/or individuals participate in more than one FNS program simultaneously.”

Food assistance programs are designed to be a “safety net,” the IG said.

“With the growing rate of food insecurity among U.S. households and significant pressures on the Federal budget, it is important to understand how food assistance programs complement one another as a safety net, and how services from these 15 individual programs may be inefficient, due to overlap and duplication,” the audit said.

- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/101m-americans-get-food-aid-federal-gov-t-more-number-private-sector-workers#sthash.uW8F6klx.dpuf

[CJ7]

being on food stamps and Medicaid is part of the Walmart benefit package

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...ees-medicaid-/

[txrancher1]

Of course the "founders" never envisioned the present day distribution of wealth in this country to be what it is today! That's the real reason for the ever growing number of Americans on subsistence.

[i'va biggen]

Didn't the founders have slaves?

[timpage]

Originally Posted by txrancher1

Of course the "founders" never envisioned the present day distribution of wealth in this country to be what it is today! That's the real reason for the ever growing number of Americans on subsistence.

Shit, the Forbes 400 made more money in the stock market last year than every single food program cost the government.

[BigLouie]

After analyzing data released by Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce estimates that a single 300-person Wal-Mart Supercenter store in Wisconsin likely costs taxpayers at least $904,542 per year and could cost
taxpayers up to $1,744,590 per year – about $5,815 per employee.

At least $251,706 for state Medicaid
Between $25,461 and $58,228 for reduced-price school lunches
Between $12,938 and $29,588 for reduced-price school breakfasts
Between $155,406 and $355,350 for subsidized Section 8 housing
Between $72,160 and $165,000 for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which gives money to low-income workers
Between $11,414 and $26,100 for assistance under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps poor families pay for heating costs
Between $96,007 and $219,528 for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (food stamps)
Between $279,450 an $639,090 for Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program benefits, which helps low-income workers pay for child care
At a minimum, Walmart workers in Wisconsin known to be enrolled in Medicaid rely on at least $9.5 million a year in taxpayer funds. If the study's low-end estimate of $900,000 per store in taxpayer-funded benefits is right, Walmart's 300 Wisconsin stores could be forcing the state to provide as much as $67.5 million per year in benefits that employees of Walmart's higher-wage competitors, such as Costco, don't need.

[CJ7]

exactly why Wallyworld leads the Fortune 500 list, and social programs will be bankrupt ... in the middle, taxpayers trying to keep up

nice scenario huh?

[Yssup Rider]

Whats for dinner Yappy?

[CJOHN]

Hot wing and a beer at slick... want some I save you some
Dzug me and god unleash hell on you

[CJ7]

wings sound pretty F'n GUD !

[Yssup Rider]

Can I buy them with food stamps?

[CJOHN]

I dont know havn't used any since when we first cam to america

[CJ7]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Can I buy them with food stamps?

sure, at the Wallyworld food court

[Whirlaway]

These yokels think it is funny (comedy material) that we have so many households on food stamps.

It is their way of coping with Obama's failures. Poor souls.

[CJOHN]

Originally Posted by Whirlaway

These yokels think it is funny (comedy material) that we have so many households on food stamps.

It is their way of coping with Obama's failures. Poor souls.

Ok your iq is too low ... someone help whirl with the reason