WatchJune saw a new surge in those Americans living in poverty and thus eligible for foodstamps, with 173,600 new entrants into the system, bringing the total to a new all time high of 46.670 million and once again rising fast. Furthermore, with subsequent emergency events affecting the heartland due to the drought, the administration has made sure even more Americans will be eligible going forward.
As a result expect the July and August numbers to promptly surpass 47 million on their way to the psychological resistance level of 50 million. Indicatively, the 173,600 increase in Foodstamps recipients in June was three times greater than Americans finding jobs (64,000, most of which part-time) according to the BLS. Finally, a new record was also breached for American households on foodstamps, which now hit 22.4 million, an increase of 106,298 households. The average benefit per household decline once more, this time to $276.5. Not an all time low, but just above it.
FORWARD!!
Since the peak in the S&P 500 around two weeks ago, equities and their sectors have traded in a considerably more disperse manner than one would expect given all the talk of central-bank intervention, liquidity-gasms, and monetization. This is borne out empirically as the average pairwise realized correlation within the 100 stocks of the S&P 100 and the 125 credits of the CDX investment grade credit index has dropped dramatically.
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iwog says
If I remember correctly, the Repub's controlled the House and Senate from 2003 to 2007. Then the Dems took over. By looking at this chart, it appears that usage was pretty level after 2003 after coming out of the early 2000's recession until 2007..
Maybe we should reverse back to the Repub economic policies???
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tatupu70 says
I'm not a economist.... I just post the data... don't shoot the messenger...
Go to the OMB, Census Bureau or USDA if you want the answers.
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Call it Crazy says
That's not really true as you usually make little comments to go along with the data.
But data is not really useful unless you can interpret it and understand what it means. How about you take the next step and tell us what you think the data is saying?
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47 male
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Call it Crazy says
So the argument you're putting forth is ignorance.
Call it Crazy: "Congress caused this although they didn't pass any legislation and I have no theory as to how they accomplished it."
Brilliant!
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South Pasadena, CA
That's interesting. So the total we spend on foodstamps is about $6billions a month, or less than $75bill a year.
Compare it to the bailout of failed banks aka TARP of $800bill, or a completely useless stimulus pachage of $750bill or foreign intervention expenses, other housing bailout spendings and much much more, all of which negatively affect the economy.
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Food stamps are a payoff of the underclass so they will be quiet and content with their jobless hopeless state of living, or at least not actively oppose the status quo. Democrats love food stamps because they feel good about "helping those less fortunate.". The GOP considers food stamps a necessary evil to keep the urban masses from assaulting their suburban fortresses in search of bread. As michaelsc pointed out, it's kind of a bargain at that price.
Hard working middle class people hate food stamps at a sort of gut level. It doesn't seem like a rational feeling. Dems point out that they are just a lost job and some bad luck from being on food stamps themselves. GOPs use their loathing of public aid to ramp up hatred of the poor and win more votes.
But the real story is this: there is a real reason that the working class doesn't like food stamps. At an intuitive level they understand this simple fact: work creates pride in ones self, which is more important than a paycheck. Psychological studies have shown that when people are given a job with no apparent purpose, even it pays well, they hate it. If it appears to be useless, like digging holes and filling them back in, they despise it. People want to be productive, or at least the majority do. They understand that sitting around doing nothing useful impoverishes them on a character level, which is the worst sort of poverty.
Food stamps, when abused as they frequently are, encourage this.
It's not about the money, it's about the self respect.
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Quigley says
I disagree. Most people know that in today's America, one's productivity is usually disconnected from the compensation they receive. They usually see it on the other side of the equation, useful work that compensates poorly because of the offshoring of jobs that can be offshored and the misuse of work visas and illegal immigrant labor for jobs that can't. The end result is a hatred for this disconnect, not for misallocated labor. Most no longer care about such things because a job is a job. The only exception to this is the lucky few who have satisfying careers. They hate waste. The masses lost any care for this issue when employers in this country untethered productivity gains to pay increases.
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futuresmc says
futuresmc says
I think you are correct.
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iwog says
I know reading comprehension isn't your strong suit.... but try to keep up.....
I know you love to post contrary comments without providing any basis.... but if you feel inclined to open your beak... provide some data, like I have, to back up your worthless comments....
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tatupu70 says
Excuse me, I didn't realize that you were also the forum nazi and I needed YOUR permission to comment on the articles or data that I post...
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tatupu70 says
iwog says
See, two typical liberal attacks.... attack the messenger but don't attack the facts... it's so much easier that way....
If you have something to say, dispute the data and facts that I post!! Post something that contradicts the data...
Oh that's right, you can't, so you both resort to attacking the messenger..... cowards!!!
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47 male
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Call it Crazy says
You want me to put forth some data on why you're ignorant about how congress increased the food stamp expense?
That's an odd request. LOL
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iwog says
No, this goes way back to the top of the discussion where you want to blame the Repubs (quote #1) above...
I want YOU to post the data to prove why the R's are to blame for the run up of Food Stamps these last few years instead of making baseless comments....
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Call it Crazy says
Of course you don't. You can write to your heart's content. But just don't claim that you ONLY post data then....
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Call it Crazy says
How in the world can my post be considered an attack? I simply asked you to try to interpret the data you posted.
You're a little sensitive, don't you think? Or defensive. One of the two.
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Call it Crazy says
Why should I do that when you first pointed out the Democrats had congress in 2007, then when asked why it was the Democrats fault, you claimed ignorance?
Let me put it this way. When you give all the money to the rich, the poor have less money to buy food with. It's a zero sum game. Here's your chart:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?s[1][id]=GINIALLRH
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tatupu70 says
I didn't say that I ONLY post data... here I'll repeat it for you..
Call it Crazy says
My quote says "THE" not "ONLY", if you really want to split hairs!!
tatupu70 says
Read my quote below again...
Call it Crazy says
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We'd still have a shitty economy, regardless of which party is in power. In a global economy, it's just smart business for the job creators to hoard all the money and let their workers fight for the scraps, just like in other countries.
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iwog says
I just pointed out that the Dems took over congress in 2007 and wondered if there was any connection to the run up after it was stable for a bunch of years under the Repubs.....
I'll let everyone else determine who was to blame...
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Call it Crazy says
Yes except that's not all you did. You plead ignorance when you know damn well Democrats didn't pass anything that year nor did they affect policy nor did they get a single thing past Bush.
It's called being disingenuous and you do it well.
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Debt increase under osamma hussain obama 5.4 Trillion.
Food stamp usage has doubled under obama
He's making the SAME campaign promises now, that he made the last time. IOW's he's accomplished NOTHING.
DEFEAT OBAMA + CHANGE THE SENATE = FREEDOM.
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iwog says
Talk about stupid comments that don't fit the discussion....
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iwog says
FAIL...
Go back up and look at the food stamp chart it covers the last 5 years of run-ups, not just 2007....
You're losing the battle, go back to your duck pond....
Once again, if you disagree with the chart, show us with data and charts where it's wrong.... otherwise, shut your beak...
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Call it Crazy says
You would probably cause yourself to get a hernia if you dared explained HOW it doesn't fit. That might constitute a conversation.
Tax breaks for the rich = higher wealth disparity = less money on the bottom thus more need for food stamps.
Now you try!
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Honest Abe says
In 4 years it'll be
DEFEAT ROMNEY + CHANGE THE SENATE = FREEDOM.
If you have two plates of crap, and the first plate doesn't taste good, what makes you think the second plate will? Then in four years, what makes you think the first plate will taste any better?
We keep switching between the same two corrupt parties while they laugh at us, then collect their huge paychecks and bribes.
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Government dependency = guaranteed votes.
Many more millions on food stamps = many more millions of guaranteed votes.
Thats so simple even a caveman could understand it.
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Stout - you're right. What we really need is limited, constitutional government, sound money, and less government micromanagement of every aspect of our business and personal lives.
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StoutFiles says
Honest Abe says
Boy, you guys are good!! There you go.... that the real deal!!
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South Pasadena, CA
Quigley says
That's right in a normal world, but we live in economy completely distorted by bubbles, bailouts, and stimuli. Too many people were dragged into completely non-productive activities like real estate speculations. Even those who stay in their fields pay tribute to the bubbles.
I've known programmers, doctors, and science researchers, who spent all their time and energy on home buying and improvements at the top of the housing bubble in hope of making a couple of hundreds of thousands. As the result they've lost their competence in their main field. Only to certain extend they believed they do something productive. Same with with date traders of the 2000-2002. It's very hard for such people to survive the crash of their bubble, even when they do not lose too much money. They are always depressed by lost time and real opportunities, or locked in denial.
That's why subsidizing producers, lenders, or any defined projects is destructive, while subsidizing consumers (foodstamps, unemployment benefits, and SSI) may help the real economy.
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michaelsch says
Have you been listening to Nancy Pelosi again????
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Call it Crazy says
It says I JUST post the data. To me the word just in that context means the same as the word only.
If we're splitting hairs, of course.
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Call it Crazy says
If you don't understand how Iwog's comment fits the discussion then you have no business posting anything on this site.
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The refusal of the current administration to control our borders.
Illegal immigrant children are receiving food stamp subsidies legally, and their parents illegally.
tatupu70 says
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tatupu70 says
Being a little anal today, are we?????
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tatupu70 says
Typical, when you have nothing substantial to add, attack the messenger...
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Call it Crazy says
No one disagrees with the chart--some of us just have reasons explaining why it's happening (iwog) while some of us don't (Crazy).
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Call it Crazy says
lol--yes you are. Instead of answering a simple question and actually thinking for yourself, you have to accuse everyone of attacking you.
My question stands--why do YOU think food stamp rolls have increased so much over the last 5 years? Which policies have the Dems instituted that have caused such a large spike? Please be specific.
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tatupu70 says
Call it Crazy says
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OK--but you strongly implied that the Democratic Congress had something to do with it and that maybe we should go back to Republican policies. Just wondering why you wrote that. You must have had some reason.
Which Republican policies do you want to resurrect?
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When robots take over most of the work, both blue and white collar jobs, then most persons will be on foodstamps.