Welfare Skyrockets under Obama, $1 Trillion in 2011

It’s bad enough that the U.S. government is doling out a record amount of public assistance under President Obama, but now this; a new federal report reveals that it’s much worse than previously imagined because Uncle Sam is spending more than the medium national income to provide each impoverished household with welfare.

As crazy as this sounds, it’s all documented in a 15-page report released this month by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which has a staff of about 900 lawyers, economists and scientists that conduct research and analysis for the United States Congress. In fiscal year 2011 the U.S. government doled out $1 trillion for welfare benefits, including $746 billion in federal funds and $254 in state matching funds. Either way, the cash comes from American taxpayers.

The astounding figure doesn’t even include Medicare and Social Security, only handouts like food stamps, cash welfare and medical insurance for the poor known as Medicaid. Here is a breakdown, according to the CRS; the government spent enough on welfare last year to cut a check for nearly $60,000 for each impoverished household it provided with benefits. If this isn’t insane, what is? The medium income in the U.S. is around $50,000! The official poverty line is an annual income of $23,021 for a family of four. Just do the math.

In 2011 about 16.8 million households qualified as living below the federal poverty level, which means that if the government’s welfare spending were equally divided between them, they would each get $59,523. That exceeds the pay of many hard-working Americans. The CRS also confirms that, under Obama, federal spending for low-income programs has skyrocketed.

Here are the figures; government spending for welfare ballooned 23%, from $563 million in 2008 to $692 million, in 2009. The administration attributes it to “recession-sensitive” programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. The reality is that the Obama Administration has been promoting food stamps like there’s no tomorrow, even offering states that sign up the most recipients cash bonuses. For example, Wisconsin got a $5 million performance bonus for its efficiency in adding food-stamp recipients to already bulging rolls.

A record number of people—46 million and growing—already get food stamps from the U.S. government and many don’t even qualify for the welfare benefit. Earlier this year a federal audit revealed that many who don’t qualify receive them under a special Obama Administration, “broad-based” eligibility program that disregards income and asset requirements.

The government’s food stamp program has gotten so out of control under President Obama that earlier this month a U.S. senator, who sits on the Senate Budget Committee, called for end to the madness, especially the administration’s aggressive promotion campaigns to recruit even more recipients. The lawmaker also questioned the U.S. government’s partnership with Mexican consulates to encourage foreign nationals, migrant workers and non-citizen immigrants to apply for food stamps and other welfare benefits.