Free Republic

New federal grants will help 10 states test programs to help food stamp recipients find jobs, from using career coaches to quicker training courses to mental health assistance. The grants, announced Friday in Georgia by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, come as the Republican Congress is exploring ways to cut the program, which cost $74 billion last year—twice its cost in 2008.Some in the GOP have proposed stricter work requirements as a way to do that. But the Obama administration sees better worker training as an alternative to cuts or stricter work requirements. Vilsack said the grants will help USDA identify...

Republican senators want to restrict products that may be purchased with Electronic Benefit Transfer cards used in state aid programs for the poor and disabled. Under Senate Bill 169, recipients would be banned from using the cards or cash drawn on the cards to purchase alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, firearms, or for adult entertainment, gambling, tattooing and body piercing. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but was killed by the House which instead studied the issue. The result, House Bill 219, which restricts using the cards at locations such as smoke shops, tattoo parlors or marijuana dispensaries. State...

With a grocery bills priced as high as $1,300 per month as of late, some American workers simply cannot afford all of their groceries on top of everything else they already have to buy. This is why the government offers food stamps. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service reports that as of September 2014, there were around 46.5 million individual food stamp recipients (22.7 million households) receiving an average benefit of $123.74 each (around $257 per household).

(CNSNews.com) - The number of beneficiaries on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 40 straight months, according to new data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In December 2014, the latest month reported, there were 46,252,064 Americans on food stamps. Food stamp recipients have exceeded 46 million in each month since September 2011. The 46,252,064 on food stamps in December was down from the 46,263,096 on food stamps in November--a decline of 11,032.As of July, the national population was 318,857,056, the Census Bureau estimates. Thus, the 46,252,064 on food stamps...

Democratic Georgia Rep. David Scott said that food stamps are necessary because of America’s “policy” of imprisoning families. “First of all, the situation regarding employment and jobs, poverty, all of that. All of that has been structured into our economic, social policy over the last quarter-century,” Scott said at Wednesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing to review the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), talking about the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs before turning to the incarceration issue. “Our policy of sending so many of our young eligible fathers to prison. Millions,” Scott said. “Our prison population went from 300,000 in...

3. New Mexico Number of food stamp recipients: 430,622 Percentage of the state’s population on food stamps: 20.65% Total cost of just these benefits alone (That is, how much do just the money on those EBT cards cost the state?): Around $53.12 million Cost of benefits alone per capita in this state: $25.47 per person

Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Democratic presidential candidates in 2016 should embrace President Obama’s economic policies and “run on what we have done” instead of running away from the administration. “In my view, those seeking to lead the nation should protect and defend and run, yes run, on what we’ve done and own what we have done,” Mr. Biden said in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa. “Stand for what we have done. Acknowledge what we have done. And be judged on what we have done, if we have any chance for continued resurgence in 2016.” He added, “Some...

Having trouble just making ends meet because of taxes that go to people who don’t work? Check your State and see how you’d do not working at all! [BELOW] Hit that share button and Tweet or send an email link to every working man and woman you know.

Here is a post by a Colorado teacher who vividly explains the difference in the lives of fortunate students and the less fortunate students whom she teaches. Her last post on this blog was a nuanced look into the psyche of some students of color who live in poverty, which you can read here. This public school teacher often blogs anonymously under the name Shakespeare’s Sister at Daily Kos. She teaches 11th grade AP Language and Composition in the Denver area. Here is Shakespeare’s Sister newest post for this blog: Recently, events in Ferguson and New York have reminded us...

Once upon a time, within the art-adorned walls of a lakeside mansion in Deephaven, Minnesota, there lived a lord and a lady. That’s what Colin and Andrea Chisholm often called themselves, anyway. The Chisholms’ total assets amounted to $97 million, including some $3 million in cash. The “lord and lady” spent lavishly on traveling, upscale restaurants, entertaining guests, massages, original works of art, a collection of purebred dogs and even a million-dollar yacht. In April 2011 alone, they shelled out more than $23,000 just on travel and luxury items. But there were some expenses—like groceries and health services—which they avoided...

Scott Walker has had a good week. The press is googly-eyed over him, waxing on about how he could just win this thing, and he's still rolling on his high from last weekend's Freedom Summit. Of course, that's not really something to write home about when you're besting the likes of Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. He's got that populist message down pat just like his other friends on the campaign trail. Income inequality! Deteriorating middle class! And he's so concerned about those things he's going to govern on that basis, right? Walker has a real problem on...

Madison — Setting up a likely legal fight in the federal courts, Gov. Scott Walker is proceeding with his plan to ensure that drug users aren't getting food stamp or jobless benefits. Fulfilling a campaign promise, the Republican governor committed Thursday to putting the proposal in his next budget but provided few new details on how he would pursue a plan that could run afoul of federal rules in programs such as food stamps and unemployment insurance. For the first time, he did commit to offering free treatment and job training for those testing positive for drugs, but he offered...

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2017, some 2 million currently undocumented immigrants will be eligible for certain federal benefits under the Obama administration’s executive amnesty. In a report released Thursday, CBO considers how changes to immigration policy could affect the federal budget. Its estimates are based on President Obama’s expanded deferred action programs to provide legal status to undocumented immigrants. The office estimates that between 2 million and 2.5 million undocumented immigrants will “have received approval for deferred action” by 2017. The CBO’s estimate is less than the 5 million the Obama administration estimated its executive amnesty would...

For some of America's poorest adults without jobs, there may be a downside to falling unemployment: they could get kicked out of the SNAP (food stamp) program, even if they are still looking for work. The left-leaning think tank, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, estimates that as many as 1 million Americans could lose their SNAP benefits in 2016*.Back in 1996, when the welfare law that includes SNAP was put into place, the government limited food stamp benefits to three months for unemployed adults between 18 and 50 without minor children or disabilities. The three-month time limit is...

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul Le-Page’s administration is firing back at the federal government over its policy of putting welfare recipients’ photos on the cards used to access food stamps, which federal officials have warned could cause Maine to lose some program funding. In a Dec. 18 letter to the Food and Nutrition Service obtained by The Associated Press, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew responded to several concerns raised by the agency last month and blasted officials for consistently putting up “roadblocks and barriers” in the state’s effort to prevent fraud and abuse.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Michigan now has more food stamp recipients than it does public school students, an analysis of federal and state statistics by Breitbart News reveals. Michigan, which announced on Friday plans to begin drug testing some welfare recipients, currently has 1,679,421 individuals on food stamps (known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP), according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. According to the Michigan Department of Education, the state’s total pupil count for K-12 is 1,564,114....

Welcome to Montana's new one-stop wonder. The website where residents can apply for Obamacare, food stamps, and housing assistance in one convenient location. The Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services' recently launched website streamlines the application process for various government assistance programs. The new system allows individuals to enter their information just once to apply for these three programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Formerly Food StampsTemporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - Cash assistanceHealth Coverage Assistance - Medicaid, Healthy Montana Kids, health insurance assistance and tax credits through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace The website encourages applicants to learn more about...

The number of beneficiaries who receive compensation from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 37 straight months, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In September 2014, which is the latest data from the USDA, there were 46,459,998 Americans who received assistance from the SNAP program. The number of beneficiaries has exceeded 46 million since September 2011, a total of 37 months, or more than three years. [snip]Households on food stamps in September got an average of $252.69 during the month, and the program benefits cost taxpayers $5,748,809,023....

Friday's jobs data proves it - America is back baby!!! Or is it all totally manipulated statistical shenanigans? A quick glimpse at the following charts two rather uncomfortably 'non-recovery-like' lines - of structural unemployment and the percent of the US population of Food Stamps - would suggest that for much of America, the recovery never happened... and in fact has got worse...  

Facebook post: Selling my leftover food stamps for this month, black Friday just killed my bank account. Interested? Message me." (Reply: "Just saying...you do know that this is a pretty public page and you can get stripped of your benefits if the state gets wind of this?") Rep. Shauna O'Connell is on the Howie Carr show now; probably not much can be done to the woman who posed the question.