Right Change: Food Stamps Grow 70% Since 2007

President Obama attended a fundraiser this Wednesday in Michigan where he exclaimed, “We’ve begun to see what change looks like.” Sadly, he was referencing what he thinks has been a positive change. A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that since Obama has implemented his policies that were supposed to deliver change, the amount of food stamp recipients has increased 70%.

Starting in 2007 through 2011, spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) increased 135%, costing $72 billion last year and one in seven U.S. residents received food stamps last year:

“The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that 45 million people in 2011 received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a 70% increase from 2007. It  said the number of people receiving the benefits, commonly known as food stamps, would continue growing until 2014.

In a report, the CBO said roughly two-thirds of jump in spending was tied to an increase in the number of people participating in the program, which provides access to food for the poor, elderly, and disabled. It said another 20% “of the growth in spending can be attributed to temporarily higher benefit amounts enacted in the” 2009 stimulus law.

CBO said the number of people receiving benefits is expected to fall after 2014 because the economy will be improving.

“Nevertheless, the number of people receiving SNAP benefits will remain high by historical standards,” the agency said.

It estimated that 34 million people, or 1 in 10 U.S. residents, would receive SNAP benefits in 2022 “and SNAP expenditures, at about $73 billion, will be among the highest of all non-health-related federal support programs for low-income households.”

Obama was right, we have begun to see what change looks like. Right now, 1 in 7 Americans are on food stamps and a decade from now, 1 in 10 will still be on them. This is not the recovery we were promised. Obama’s policies will keep 45 million Americans on food stamps if we do not act in November.

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