Monday, December 5, 2011

Food Stamp Enrollment Surpasses 46 Million


As the chart above shows, Zero Hedge reported today that enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) surged by another 423,000 Americans and now tops 46 million for the first time:
While the capital markets may be cheering that in the past month 120,000 people supposedly found jobs, even if these were largely temporary or part-time just in time for the year end shopping sprees, we wonder how they will react when learning that according to the latest update from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), some 423,000 Americans found their way to minimum way subsistence, courtesy of Food Stamp handouts from Uncle Sam. Since the start of the Second Great Depression, food stamp participation has increased by 18.7 million, and is now at an all time higher 46.3 million.
As I've said before, forget the manipulated official unemployment rate, the SNAP numbers are the true indicator of the real state of the economy given that one does not "drop off the rolls" unless one's income actually rises to a level in which they are no longer eligible for the benefit.

Zero Hedge didn't do this little bit of math, but the 18.7 million SNAP recipients gained since the start of the recession means that enrollment has increased by around 400,000 people every month for the past 47 months. That is a staggering figure to contemplate and shows that the collapse of the American economy continues unabated, official pronouncements and mainstream media cheerleading notwithstanding.

4 comments:

  1. Occupy breadlines!

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  2. I used to be a systems engineer - for IBM, Thomson Legal and Regulatory (now Reuters) and UnitedHealth Group. Now I'm one of the 46+ million surviving on SNAP.

    Check it out - plenty of corrupt money to chase 'food stamp' fraud, not a single nickel to go after the worst thieves in human history.

    http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/why_no_ones_investigating_wall_street/

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  3. @C0ZMIK_N0MAD - everyone should read that Salon article It is absolutely disgusting that law enforcement agencies have the resources to crack down on food stamp fraud, OWS and pot smokers but not Wall Street.

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  4. @ Bill - It really is disgusting. Another article about this (linked in the Salon article) by the inestimable Matt Taibbi -

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/woman-gets-jail-for-food-stamp-fraud-wall-street-fraudsters-get-bailouts-20111117

    I honestly don't recognize this country any more. The inmates are truly running the asylum.

    ReplyDelete