Food Stamp Use Rises To Record High...Again

The new normal? Numbers have risen each month but two since 2008...
President Obama has been beset by GOP presidential hopefuls using the Food Stamp numbers to criticize his economic policies, in particular Newt Gingrich, who calls Mr. Obama “the best food-stamp president in American history.” The US Department of Agriculture just reported that the number of Americans using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called Food Stamps, rose in December of 2011, the most recent month for which data is available. It hit a now-historic high of 46,514,238 beneficiaries, an increase of more than a quarter million citizens from November's new revised total of 46,286,316.* The government spent $6.22 billion on Food Stamps in December, with participation in the program up 5.5% from a year earlier.

The December number, with about 1 in 7 Americans using the nutrition safety net, is the highest level of use since the President took office in January of 2009, when there were 31.9 million Americans on Food Stamps. The number of beneficiaries dropped for just one month since the President's inauguration. In October 2011, it declined to 46,224,775, down from the then-record high of the previous month, 46,268,250 beneficiaries. The number of Americans using SNAP benefits has risen each month but two since December of 2008.

October, November and December 2011 are part of the calculation for FY 2012. In FY 2011, More than 46.3 million people received a total of $75.3 billion in SNAP benefits, according to USDA.

According to USDA, in 2010 SNAP application data showed that 47% of beneficiaries were children under age 18, 20% of households "contained a person with disabilities, and 8% were age 60. "Nearly" 30% of SNAP households had earnings, and 41 percent of all SNAP participants lived in a household that had earnings. Jobs were the primary source of income for most of these households. 34% of beneficiaries were white; 22% were African-American; 16% were Hispanic; 4% were Native American; 3% were Asian; and race/ethnicity was not reported for 20%. A USDA PDF: The Face of SNAP Participation.

Criticism...and response...
The President has responded publicly just once to the racially-tinged GOP criticism, though he's had many defenders of his record on Food Stamps, including US Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), who gave a presentation on the House floor in February about Food Stamp use during the Obama Administration and previous Administrations. The real "food stamp presidents" are the two Bushes, George H.W. Bush and son George W. Bush, Gutierrez said, who jointly extended nutritional assistance to 18 million additional recipients at a cost of $36 billion dollars.

"First of all, I don't put people on food stamps," President Obama told ABC's Diane Sawyer.

"People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. No. 3, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government."

In August of 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack characterized the nutrition safety net as a "direct stimulus" for the economy that was creating and saving jobs. The Secretary was responding to May 2011 data, when close to 46 million people--or 1 in 7 citizens--were using the program.

"Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in the economy in terms of economic activity," Vilsack said. "If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it. All of those are jobs. It's the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times."

*USDA previously reported the November 2011 number at 46.134 million beneficiaries.

*White House photo by Pete Souza. Updated.

USDA: Food Stamp Numbers Down

UPDATE, March 2: Food Stamp use rises again
Food stamps have become a political hot potato for President Obama, thanks to GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich calling him “the best food-stamp president in American history.” But the number of Americans using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as Food Stamps, was down in November of 2011, the most recent month for which data is available, the US Department of Agriculture reported today.

The Agency's revised figures also show that Food Stamp use fell in October of 2011, after increasing each month but one since December of 2008.

About 46.134 million Americans received aid in November of 2011, down 0.2 percent from USDA's revised 46.228 million for October. The government spent $6.22 billion on the program for November, up from $5.8 billion in 2010. Participation in November of 2011 was 5.8 percent higher than a year earlier.

The all-time high for Food Stamp usage was in September of 2011, when 46.268 million Americans received benefits. The President for the first time pushed back against Gingrich's accusation during an interview last week.

"First of all, I don't put people on food stamps," President Obama said.

"People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. No. 3, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government."

In August of 2011, after three years of increases in Food Stamp numbers, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack characterized the nutrition safety net as a "direct stimulus" for the economy that was creating and saving jobs. The Secretary was responding to May 2011 data, when close to 46 million people--or 1 in 7 citizens--were using the program.

"Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in the economy in terms of economic activity," Vilsack said. "If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it. All of those are jobs. It's the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times."

*USDA's latest Food Stamp numbers.

*White House photo by Pete Souza

Obama Pushes Back On "Food Stamp President"

Nightline interview: "I don't put people on food stamps," President says...Video
President Obama on Thursday pushed back against what he called Republicans' "rhetorical flourishes" on the campaign trail, including presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's oft-repeated accusation that he is the "food stamp president." Telling ABC's Diane Sawyer that he wants a second term "badly," the President said he will fight with "every fiber of my being" for a second term. He debunked Gingrich's food stamp claims point by point. (Above: A White House photo of the President and Sawyer)

The "exclusive" interview with Sawyer followed a speech on energy and the economy at the UPS South Las Vegas Hub.

"First of all, I don't put people on food stamps," President Obama said. "People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. No. 3, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government."

"The larger point is this: that there's going to be a debate over the next eight, nine, 10 months about how to move the country forward," he said. "They've got an argument. They will make it forcefully. I think it's an argument that is wrong."

Asked by Sawyer whether he believes there's an undercurrent of race baiting in the "food stamp president" criticism, Mr. Obama wouldn't comment. But he said the rhetoric from conservatives, including Gingrich, is an attempt by Republicans to engage in the kind of divisiveness that they profess to decry.

"The American people are going to make a judgment about who's trying to bring the country together and who's dividing it, who reflects the core values that helped create this country … and who is tapping into some of our worst instincts," President Obama said.

Press Secretary Jay Carney recently dubbed Gingrich's assertions about President Obama and food stamps "crazy." More than 46.3 million people received a total of $75.3 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as Food Stamps, in fiscal year 2011, the highest levels in US history, according to the USDA. That's about 1 in 7 Americans using Food Stamps. There were 31.9 million Americans on Food Stamps when President Obama was sworn into office in January of 2009, and the number of Americans using SNAP benefits has risen each month but one since December of 2008.



The President also discussed the Somali rescue operation, saying he thought of daughters Malia and Sasha, the ringtone of him singing Al Green, released by his campaign, and the Super Bowl. He billed the upcoming battle as "too close to call."

"I can't call it," he said. "When the Bears are not involved, I can't make predictions, I get in trouble."

The President had one fun food adventure in Las Vegas: He ordered a dozen take-out pizzas and 20 cannolis from Dom DeMarco's Pizzeria & Bar.

*Photo by Pete Souza/White House

White House: Gingrich Food Stamp Claims About President Obama Are "Crazy"

Historic levels of SNAP enrollment are not due to Obama economic policy, says Carney...
Press Secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday tagged GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's ongoing assertion that President Obama is "the Food Stamp President" as "crazy." Former House Speaker Gingrich once again trotted out this idea, a central part of his 2012 campaign strategy, on Monday during a candidates' debate in South Carolina.

"The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history," Gingrich said.

More than 46.3 million people received a total of $75.3 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as Food Stamps in fiscal year 2011, the highest levels in US history, according to the USDA. That's about 1 in 7 Americans using Food Stamps. There were 31.9 million Americans on Food Stamps when President Obama was sworn into office in January of 2009, and the number of Americans using SNAP benefits has risen each month but one since December of 2008.

"You know as well as I do that that's crazy," Carney said about Gingrich's assertions, during today's daily White House press briefing. Carney credited the uptick in enrollment to an economic situation that President Obama inherited.

"When this President took the oath of office in January of 2009, our economy was in freefall," Carney said. "We were hemorrhaging jobs at the rate of nearly 800,000 a month...The result of that terrible recession was a dramatic increase in unemployment and a dramatic increase -- or an increase, rather, in the number of people who need assistance -- needed assistance."

Enrollment in the SNAP program has become easier during the Obama Administration, due to program changes. USDA credits part of the uptick in enrollment to citizens using Food Stamps following natural disasters in 2011. Let's Move Faith and Communities, a subcomponent of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, encourages faith and community groups to help those in need of food assistance enroll in the SNAP program.

The transcript of Carney's Food Stamp remarks:

Q Jay, is Newt Gingrich correct in calling our President "the food stamp President"?

MR. CARNEY: The fact of the matter is this country is emerging from the worst recession since the Great Depression, the greatest economic and financial crisis of our lifetimes. When this President took the oath of office in January of 2009, our economy was in freefall. We were hemorrhaging jobs at the rate of nearly 800,000 a month. The economy was contracting -- or had contracted in the previous quarter, the last quarter of President Bush's term in office, by nearly 9 percent. The result of that terrible recession was a dramatic increase in unemployment and a dramatic increase -- or an increase, rather, in the number of people who need assistance -- needed assistance.

I would simply say that those are the facts, and the economic policies that helped create that situation are ones that, in the case of the candidate you just mentioned, he supported and they're the kinds of policies that he advocates to this day. This President takes a different approach.

Q But the language that the speaker uses is that these are people that President Obama put on the food stamps.

MR. CARNEY: Well, you know as well as I do that that's crazy.

Q -- more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any President in history. It is true that since Barack Obama has been President it’s gone up 45 percent -- the number of people on food stamps. So what is inaccurate about what Speaker Gingrich said?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I answered this question already, Norah. I think everyone understands that this economy took a body blow in 2007, 2008, from which we are still recovering, and that that resulted in an economy that was contracting, that was shrinking at an historic pace, an economy --

Q -- 2131 that the number of people has gone up more than any other President. You’re just saying it’s not the President’s fault?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I’m saying that it was the result of the worst recession since the Great Depression that was brought on by economic policies that certainly predate this President, and that this President has been working very hard with his team to try to fix, and working with Congress to try to fix and correct, so that we can grow, as we have been growing on his watch, so that we can create private sector jobs, as we have been doing -- 3.2 million private sector jobs in the last many months.

And that's the direction that we need to be going in. Not the direction that we were headed into when he took office three years ago almost to the day, when the economy was in freefall, when there was talk of another Great Depression, there was talk of unemployment as high as 25 percent potentially. Because of the actions that this President took working with Congress, we averted that absolute calamity. But the impact of the recession has been severe, and it’s been severe on the most vulnerable Americans, and it’s been severe on middle-class Americans who have had to struggle to make ends meet as a result of it.

And that's why this President’s focus is so keenly on helping those Americans deal with this economy, emerge from the recession on sounder economic footing, and why he believes that the folks who benefitted the most from the previous 10 years, who saw their share of the nation’s wealth increase dramatically while middle-class Americans saw their incomes shrink or stagnate, that they need to pay their fair share -- which goes back to the Buffett rule, and the idea that someone making millions of dollars should not pay a lower effective tax rate than somebody making 50 grand or 75 grand.
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