By Daniel Halper
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. A new chart set to be released later today by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details a startling statistic: Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receive Some Form Of Federal Welfare.
The federal government administers nearly 80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs the Senate Budget Committee notes.
However the committee states the figures used in the chart do not include those who are only benefiting from Social Security and/or Medicare.
Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. Among the major means tested welfare programs since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011 says the Senate Budget Committee.
Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade.
The data come from the U.S. Censuss Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that nearly 110000 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011. (These figures do not include other means-tested benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the health insurance premium subsidies included in the Presidents health care law. CBO estimates that the premium subsidies scheduled to begin in 2014 will cover at least 25 million individuals by the end of the decade.)
This is not just Americans however. These figures include not only citizens but non-citizens as well according to the committee.
Daniel Halper is Online Editor for The Weekly Standard Magazine.
By Daniel Halper
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. A new chart set to be released later today by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details a startling statistic: Over 100 Million People in U.S. Now Receive Some Form Of Federal Welfare.
The federal government administers nearly 80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs the Senate Budget Committee notes.
However the committee states the figures used in the chart do not include those who are only benefiting from Social Security and/or Medicare.
Food stamps and Medicaid make up a large--and growing--chunk of the more than 100 million recipients. Among the major means tested welfare programs since 2000 Medicaid has increased from 34 million people to 54 million in 2011 and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) from 17 million to 45 million in 2011 says the Senate Budget Committee.
Spending on food stamps alone is projected to reach $800 billion over the next decade.
The data come from the U.S. Censuss Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that nearly 110000 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011. (These figures do not include other means-tested benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the health insurance premium subsidies included in the Presidents health care law. CBO estimates that the premium subsidies scheduled to begin in 2014 will cover at least 25 million individuals by the end of the decade.)
This is not just Americans however. These figures include not only citizens but non-citizens as well according to the committee.
Daniel Halper is Online Editor for The Weekly Standard Magazine.
