Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on August 3, 2010

Record-breaking: More than 780,000 families in Illinois are now receiving food stamps

More families than ever before are receiving food stamps in the United States. A record-breaking 780,000 families in Illinois are now food stamp recipients. Despite glowing, deceptively phrased media reports from Team Obama about the economy recovering and unemployment improving, the reality is that they aren’t.

More than 40 million Americans are now depending on food stamps. The most ever in US history.

How’s that hopenchange workin’ for ya? Just wait until January 1, 2011 when a slew of Bush tax cuts halt and new Obama taxes kick in to pay for socialized health care. We’ll end up paying much more than we ever dreamed in federal taxes — those of us with jobs, anyway.

We’ll be shoveling the odoriferous hopenchange horse patties out of the stable by the truckload as the statist Democrats try to double-speak explain why THAT too is GW Bush’s fault and not Dear Leader’s. Please, Mr. President… stop with the lavish vacations.

Worthwhile reading here at Gateway Pundit:
Media Mythbusting: Bush Tax Cuts Didn’t Work Well – They Worked Great.

From WLS-AM Radio News, More Illinoisans than ever on food stamps:

For the first time in Illinois, more than 780,000 families are receiving Food Stamps.

The state Department of Human Services announced Tuesday that the June caseload is 786,162 households, an 11.9 percent increase over June, 2009, a release from IDHS said. The SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is fully federally funded.

SNAP applications increased 27 percent from a year ago, from 140,473 applications in June 2009 to 178,415 in June 2010, the release said. This is part of a national trend. For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the USDA projects that number will reach 43 million in 2011.

A family of three can be eligible for up to $526 in monthly SNAP benefits, depending on income and expenses, the release said. Benefits are provided through the Link system and can be used to buy most food or food products. However, while fruits and vegetables can be purchased, prepared, ready-to-eat hot foods cannot. The average SNAP benefit in Illinois is $296 a month per household.

From Chicago Tribune, Record number of Ill. families on food stamps:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Officials say the number of Illinois families receiving food stamps has reached its highest level ever.

More than 780,000 Illinois families got food stamps in June. The Illinois Department of Human Services said Monday that the figure is up 11.9 percent from a year earlier.

Applications for the program jumped even more — 27 percent.

The food stamp program is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

A family of three can be get up to $526 in monthly benefits, depending on their income and expenses. The average in Illinois is $296 a month.

This was published in January 2010… reported by McClatchy, Study: More families using food stamps to feed kids:

WASHINGTON — The United States has more poor children now than it did a year ago.

As recession-hammered families increase, more are using food stamps to feed their kids, according to a study by the Brookings Institution and First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy group.

“They are a really good barometer, a kind of economic needs test,” said Mark Rank, an expert on social welfare programs at Washington University in St. Louis. “If you’re receiving food stamps and you’re a child, by definition, you’re in poverty.”

Across the nation, 7 million people joined the food stamp rolls from August 2008 to August 2009, the study said. Users rose from 29.5 million to 36.5 million. Half were children.

States scattered coast to coast showed “very high growth” in food stamp caseloads. In Florida, almost half a million people joined the rolls, a 34 percent increase; in North Carolina, nearly 200,000, a 21 percent increase.

Other states that showed a high increase in the percentage of food stamp caseloads include Idaho, with a 36 percent increase; Washington state, up 32 percent; Georgia, up 27 percent; California, up 21 percent; and Texas, up 20 percent.

“As parents lose jobs and as work becomes scarcer, it’s only natural to see your needs-based programs have more people applying for that assistance,” said Scott Rowson, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Social Services.

The study appears to buttress a U.S. Census report last fall, which found that nearly one in five children live in poverty. Julia Isaacs, a Brookings scholar, said that could end up closer to one in four by 2012.

A Rasmussen Reports poll shows that confidence in the economy has dropped again:

Americans’ confidence in the short-term economy has slipped this month to its lowest level in well over a year.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults shows that just 35% believe the U.S. economy will be stronger in one year’s time. Forty-five percent (45%) believe the economy will be weaker one year from now.

Those results signal the highest level of pessimism since regular tracking began back in January 2009. Belief that the economy will be stronger has been trending down for a year now. The number who say the economy is getting weaker is up eight points from May.

Half of American adults (50%) say the economy will be stronger five years from now, a number that has held relatively steady for the past several months. However, 62% felt that way back in January of last year.

One-in-four adults (25%) believe the economy will be weaker in five years, also showing little change from the past two surveys but higher than it was in all of last year.

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Categories: Business & Economy, Food, Drink, Government, Social and Political Climate
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Democrat, economic crisis, economy, federal budget, federal debt, financial hardship, food stamp program, food stamps, George W. Bush, Illinois, Obama, Obamanomics, overspending, Pres. Obama, recession, SNAP, socialism, socialist, state unemployment, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, unemployment