| State & Federal Spending On Welfare Soars |
| Oct-18-2012 |
| Keywords: state, federal, spending, welfare, 1 trillion |
Total federal and state "welfare" spending topped more money than the nation spends on Medicare and Social security.
According to figures released by Senator Jeff Session, R-Ala., the federal government and states last year spend just over $1 trillion on some 80 welfare programs.
Sen. Session's figures are based on a new Congressional Research Service study. Stats he finds "astounding."
"No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty," he said in a statement. "Welfare assistance should be seen as temporary whenever possible, and the goal must be to help more of our fellow citizens attain gainful employment and financial independence."
The study factored in Medicaid, the federal health care aid program for low-income families. But it also covered 82 other federal programs that Sessions classified as "welfare" -- from food stamps to public housing to various tax credits for low-income families.
The CRS study found the federal portion of all that spending jumped 32% from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2011.
Republicans on the budget committee calculated that, with total state spending on federal programs factored in, the total amount rose from nearly $800 billion in 2008 to over $1 trillion last year -- a 29 percent increase.
According to Sessions' office, the federal share is now roughly one-fifth of the budget.
Sessions office acknowledges that "persistently weak GDP growth" is "unquestionably a factor" in the rising budget for benefits programs.
However, Sessions office claims federal policy has "explicitly encouraged growth in welfare enrollment -- combined with a weakening of welfare standards and rules."
Whatever the case, Food Stamp enrollment is at an all-time high. According to the latest report from the United States Department of Agriculture, a record high 46,681,833 are now enrolled in the social welfare program. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 8:00 PM Email to a friend |
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