Welfare At All-Time High Under Obama

The latest government figures reveal that an astonishing number of people are collecting public benefits such as food stamps and disability checks, revealing an alarming trend of dependence on government rather than self-sufficiency associated with the American dream.

A record 5.4 million workers have applied for federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to a news report that cites recent government figures. This is straining already-stretched government finances while posing a long-term economic threat by creating an ever-growing pool of permanently dependent working-age Americans, the report says.

Since the recession supposedly ended in mid 2009, the number of people who have applied for disability benefits is double the job growth figure, according the report which includes an informative chart.  In just the first four months of this year, 539,000 joined the disability rolls and more than 725,000 applied for the federal benefit. That means nearly 11 million people are on disability, according to the Social Security Administration.

Also this week, government figures reveal that a record number are getting food stamps and the figure will keep rising. This is not surprising since the Obama Administration has promoted the program like there’s no tomorrow in an effort to eradicate “food insecure households.” In fact, the administration has spent millions of dollars to recruit even more food-stamp recipients and has doled out hefty cash rewards to states that sign up the most people. One state even bragged about a $5 million performance bonus it got from the feds for its “swift processing of applications.”

This week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals that 45 million people—one out of every seven U.S. residents—got food stamps in 2011, a whopping 70% increase from 2007. This represents a cost of $72 billion for U.S. taxpayers, which is a substantial increase from $30 billion four years earlier. For at least the next two years the food-stamp rolls will get even bigger, according the CBO, which studies economic and budgetary issues for Congress. 

This undoubtedly leaves the out-of-control welfare program vulnerable to fraud and corruption. Just last month the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that allocates food stamps, published a scathing report detailing how many recipients use their benefits to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. Some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash, according to USDA watchdog.