Food Stamp Participation

At some point in time the U.S. Gov't decided to start running a food stamp program.  They chose to use the USDA to run the budget and program through.

For the first years they actually issued stamps that people had to exchange for eligible food items at the grocery store...but of course this was quite embarrassing to the users...so now they have a credit card looking thing called an EBT Card.

For a long time the main users of the food stamp program were old people and young kids....but now that has changed...for the first time EVER!

Food stamp participation now highest among working-age Americans 

WASHINGTON — In a first, working-age people now make up the majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps — a switch from a few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients. 

Some of the change is due to demographics, such as the trend toward having fewer children. But a slow economic recovery with high unemployment, stagnant wages and an increasing gulf between low-wage and high-skill jobs also plays a big role. It suggests that government spending on the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program — twice what it cost five years ago — may not subside significantly anytime soon. 

Food stamp participation since 1980 has grown the fastest among workers with some college training, a sign that the safety net has stretched further to cover America's former middle class, according to an analysis of government data for The Associated Press by economists at the University of Kentucky. Formally called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP, the program now covers 1 in 7 Americans. 

The findings coincide with the latest economic data showing workers' wages and salaries growing at the lowest rate relative to corporate profits in U.S. history. 

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night is expected to focus in part on reducing income inequality, such as by raising the federal minimum wage. Congress, meanwhile, is debating cuts to food stamps, with Republicans including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., wanting a $4 billion-a-year reduction to an anti-poverty program that they say promotes dependency and abuse. 

Economists say having a job may no longer be enough for self-sufficiency in today's economy. 

"A low-wage job supplemented with food stamps is becoming more common for the working poor," said Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in income inequality. "Many of the U.S. jobs now being created are low- or minimum-wage — part-time or in areas such as retail or fast food — which means food stamp use will stay high for some time, even after unemployment improves." 

Here;  http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/01/food_stamp_participation_now_h.html

This just seems to be one more sign that the American Dream will one day, maybe soon, turn into the American Nightmare.

Some say that giving people fish instead of teaching them to fish will instill an ENTITLEMENT mentality....and if you continue giving them fish for 3-4 generations they will NEVER learn to fish for themselves.

But what happens when you set up a class to TEACH the people to fish, but they refuse to come...and instead get angry when someone even suggests that they shouldn't get free fish forever?

That's the time when UNREST will start to happen.

In fact, I have read other articles that are suggesting the government may even try to spark unrest by screwing up the EBT Program...knowing that looting, crime, theft and violence would be the result.  You see the government might need to have one more big disaster in order to declare MARTIAL LAW and chip away a large chunk of our remaining freedoms.  

If this happens we will be taking one step closer to the NEW WORLD ORDER that will one day be upon us.