Record 44.7 Million on Food Stamps

The one and only clearest indication of just how effective the recovery and QE2 in general has been, comes courtesy of the USDA, whose just released update of April participation in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as "foodstamps", shows yet another record, this time 44.647 million people, an increase from May's 44.587 million. And after rising modestly in the last month, the average monthly benefit per household dropped again to a post April 2009 revision low of $282.38/month. More...

Foodstamp Usage Climbs To New All Time Record Highs

Image via WikipediaJuly foodstamp has just climbed to a new all time high. According to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the Food and Nutrion Service, July foodstamp usage rose 1.4% from June, hitting a new record of 41.8 million, and 17.5% higher than the 35.6 million on assistance from a year ago. Participation has set records for 20 straight months. And it gets worse: as per BusinessWeek: "An average of 43.3 million people, more than an eighth of the population, will get food stamps each month in the year that began Oct. 1, according to White House estimates." Somehow we get the feeling these almost 42 million people will have little to no use of discount window or excess liquidity usage once gas hits $10 a gallon, nor will Dow 11,000, 12,000, or even 36,000 do all that much to shorten the soup kitchen lines. more...