Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That’s an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession led to mass job losses.
At the same time, the cost doubled to reach $68 billion in 2010 — more than a third of the amount the U.S. government received in corporate income tax last year –
This is the fall-out from supporting TBTF – Too Big To Fail banks and financial institutions. The TBTF bailouts removed a key aspect of capitalism – failure. The economy will not return to health until the financial sector is purged. I blame the federal reserve for creating a moral hazard. Bank of America is a great example. BofA was given billions in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds, PLUS many more billions is a back-door bailout by the Federal Reserve. And then there is the matter of 52 trillion in derivative exposure. BofA may still fail.
Food stamps are just a symptom of the underlying problem. People want jobs and careers that pay living wages, not food stamps.