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More Than 1 in 7 Use Food Stamps in U.S

Food-stamp use jumped in the U.S. in December with more than 1 in 7 people receiving benefits, even as a program for disaster assistance related to Hurricane Irene came to an end.

Food stamp rolls increased 5.5% in 2011, the Department of Agriculture reported, though the pace of growth has slowed from the depths of the recession.

The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rose to 46.5 million, or 15% of the population in December. The numbers receiving benefits were boosted by disaster assistance in the late summer and autumn due to Hurricane Irene, but the those programs were largely ended by December in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania the last states still in need.

Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, New Jersey, Delaware and Iowa all saw year-over-year jumps in use by over 10%. Just Wyoming, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah and West Virginia posted annual drops in the number of people receiving food stamps.

Mississippi reported the largest share of its population relying on food stamps, more than 21%. One in five residents in New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington DC also were food-stamp recipients.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/..._share_twitter

According to Nancy Pelosi, the economy should be roaring now. http://cnsnews.com/node/42620

Obama Campaigns for Congressional Action on Student Loan Rates

President Barack Obama is pressing Congress to freeze interest rates on U.S. student loans, putting the spotlight on an issue with appeal to the middle-income and younger voters who are crucial to his re-election strategy.

Interest rates on federally-subsidized Stafford loans are scheduled to increase to 6.8 percent on July 1 from 3.4 percent. The rate increase would affect about 7.4 million students, according to the White House.

“In America, higher education cannot be a luxury,” Obama said in his weekly radio address. “It’s an economic imperative that every family must be able to afford.”

The president proposed Congress act to freeze the rates in his fiscal 2013 budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the one-year freeze would cost $6 billion.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...lege-loan-rate

Don't worry, the federal government will take care of you. Can't pay it back? We'll forgive you. After all, we have the rich; they can share what they and their families have earned.