NWV News - Obama welfare vote buying hits $1 trillion before re-election

OBAMA WELFARE VOTE BUYING HITS $1 TRILLION BEFORE RE-ELECTION

By NWV News Writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
November 11, 2012
© 2012 NewsWithViews.com

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. government is distributing a record amount of public assistance and new report reveals that it’s much worse than previously imagined because the Obama administration is spending more than the median national income to provide each impoverished household with welfare, a public-interest watchdog group reported on Halloween, the day of trick-or-treat.

According to a disturbing report released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a group with a staff of about 900 lawyers, economists and scientists who conduct research and analysis for the United States Congress.

The report reveals that in 2011 the U.S. government spent $1 trillion for welfare benefits, including $746 billion in federal funds and $254 in matching state funds.

The incredible amount of taxpayer money doesn't include Medicare and Social Security, which are paid for by recipients throughout the working years, but only handouts like food stamps, cash welfare, Section 8 housing, and medical insurance known as Medicaid, the report indicates.

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.The median 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.

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 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," Judicial Watch reports.

A record number of people -- more than 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 deficit revealed that many who don’t qualify receive food stamps 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," according to Judicial Watch's Corruption Chronicles.

Evidently this did not occur with the Solyndra deal because it was expedited for a political donor. In fact, the Inspector General's report cites an email written by a Treasury official after a conference call with the DOE brass, presumably to discuss the pros and cons of the huge Solyndra deal. “We pressed certain issues…but the train really has left the station on this deal.”

Judicial Watch is investigating the Solyndra scandal and has sued the Obama DOE and Office of Management and Budget to obtain records involving the deal.

In September JW submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records from both agencies, but the DOE says it’s reviewing documents in preparation for public release.

"The Office of Management and Budget has totally blown off the request. This indicates that the administration is on cover-up mode," officials stated.

Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts!

“At every step of the way, Treasury was clearly an afterthought in Solyndra’s loan guarantee as well as its restructuring that put company investors ahead of taxpayers. What this report and our continuing investigation show is an Obama administration that was either not up to the job, was cavalier in its attitude for following federal laws, or both, said Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)

“Treasury’s examination also underscores why the public is so fed up with the Washington bureaucracy – according to a review by the independent Treasury watchdog, the Obama administration was more worried about sending out a press release than it was ensuring Solyndra was a wise investment. And now taxpayers are paying half a billion dollars for the sins of Solyndra," Upton claims.