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USA Today is reporting that the number of Americans relying on federal antipoverty programs has reached record levels:

More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years....

More than 4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18% increase during the recession. The program has grown slower than others, causing Brookings Institution expert Ron Haskins to question its effectiveness in the recession.

As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%, to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.

In addition to the recession, caseloads have increased as Congress and the Obama administration have loosened eligibility requirements.

View all comments (18) | Leave a comment

ncatty| 8.30.10 @ 2:50PM

Don't be the last citizen to vote yourself a government check. Vote progressive and get yours now.

Andrew| 8.31.10 @ 4:28PM

it's the lure of easy money, and it's got a very strong appeal

SIRJASON| 8.31.10 @ 6:47PM

The American tax payer pays $346 billion USD for illegal aliens who invaded our country. The illegal aliens SEND over $37 billion back to their native country...that should be in the US Treasury.

Deshawn Studebaker| 8.30.10 @ 3:08PM

If you could only see what da gubmint dole has done fo my family, you too would line up to get your free Obama money! So drop those want ads (no one gunna hire yo ass anyhow) and get into the spirit of Obama Money! I wrote a song about! Here it is!

Dis land is my land!
Your land is my land!
From Califonya,
To da New Yoke Islands!
From da crackhead tenements,
And da welfare office!
Your land was given to me and me!

As I was walkin, back from da free clinic
I saw a food stamp line, so I got in it!
Den a man came up, told me to vote tree times,
So your land can be taken from you and given to me!

Aint dat a great song?! Wit Obama handing out all dat Obama money, pretty soon, it be da national antum. Peace out!

Alan Brooks| 8.30.10 @ 5:48PM

Esp. in ol ' Dixie.

Cracker Head| 8.31.10 @ 2:09PM

I was too lazy, to do any work,
so's i goes to the slave seller,next to the soda jerk, i find's me a nigger , to do's my werk,
cause i is too layzee to get oofn me ass.
But wen Got made me, he made a kracker jack lass,
and as for workin i got no guts.
cause i iz too busy cracki p nuts,
So's you black folk, i get;s my whip,
if in you do't work yo get a lik,
cause the white man , he be have n a burden, keeping you black uns hands in dirt n.

Eric Cartman| 8.31.10 @ 3:44PM

Look, everybody! A Liberal Ahole's attempt at humor! See how it isn't even a tad humorous! That's Liberal Ahole humor, like Bill Maher. I mean, they attempt to be funny, but doing funny means having a thread of reality running through your joke. Everyone "gets it" then. But this poor schmuck . . . well, he's just an asshole attempting to be funny by being an asshole - the proverbial idiot. Oh well.

Stan Marsh| 8.31.10 @ 4:08PM

What do you mean, Cartman? Heck, I just got back from the slave auction just down the block. Bough me a nice, broad shouldered slave to pick my cotton. Cracker Head is addressing real issue of which we should all be aware.

Eric Cartman| 9.1.10 @ 9:30AM

Well, I'm happy if you're happy, Stan. Um, listen, can I borrow him for a little project I have heh, heh. It's nothing, really. Just some yard work, cleaning the kitty litter (runforsenateinSouthCarolina) clean the gutters. Stuff like that.

Siegfried X| 8.30.10 @ 4:37PM

Are Republican politicians still opposed to the welfare state in any way? It's been at least 10 years since I heard any of them complain about welfare. Republicans politicians now seem to compete with Democrats to see who can pass out the most welfare money.

No Republican politician today would agree with this Contract of America item, which was eventually signed into law as the Welfare Reform Act. This was back in the days (1996) when we still have real Republicans.

3. THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: Discourage illegitimacy and teen pregnancy by prohibiting welfare to minor mothers and denying increased AFDC for additional children while on welfare, cut spending for welfare programs, and enact a tough two-years-and-out provision with work requirements to promote individual responsibility.

Tim*| 8.30.10 @ 5:00PM

The Professional Parasite Class Gobbles Up The Breadcrumbs On The Road To Serfdom .

Stan Redmond| 8.31.10 @ 12:05PM

"This was is lost" -Harry Reid

Too bad he wasn't talking about the failed war on poverty.

Patty from Morton| 8.31.10 @ 1:33PM

Its time to end all these programs. Put kids in orphanages if parents can't provide for them, at least they could get educated and maybe wouldn't be so angry.

End Federal involvement in unemployment insurance. The States can't print money, so they'll have to cut benefits and compete with each other for business.

Let the churches hand out very temporary help and get people to work to support themselves.
Welfare is just a new form of slavery.

Patty put them in danger| 8.31.10 @ 1:59PM

Boy i can not wait to see the day when Jesus returns, and send evil demons like Patty to Hell.
What a stupid female brainstorm the clown showed.
You TeaBaggers need to leave those mushrooms alone.
Put them in workhouses, where they can get molested easy. What the most foolish utterance ever from a blog post.
In my humble opinion, i pray she ends up alone in an old folks home,with dementia, as the Lord knows, she deserves it.

L. Ross| 8.31.10 @ 4:12PM

Nice. Classy. Intriguing use of capitalization. I especially enjoy the last sentence. Simultaneously cruel, judgemental, religious, and humble, you were able to cook up a nice eggroll of hate and bile served with a side dish of self congratulation.

Two in Nevada| 8.31.10 @ 1:55PM

Sharron Angle and her gubment person husband, who came to sit around his so called work sites in my opinion, , collects a pension from Nevada for nothing. Now these two sponges need to work, and stop living off other's labor.

Oldefarte| 8.31.10 @ 3:27PM

It's going to become 100% of us on welfare if WE DON'T GET RID OF THESE RADICAL-EXTREMISTS/SOCIALISTS that are now running our government in November!!!!!

Opinioniated Bloviator| 9.1.10 @ 9:26AM

This is fantastic news, I have made over $10,000 betting on the slow motion collapse of the United States so far and it's good to see the money will keep on rolling in. Go Obama!!. Making money off the decline of the US, now thats hope and change I can believe IN.
Obama/Kerry for 2012, the winning combination.

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