Americans Not In The Labor Force Soar To Record 95.1 Million: Jump By 446,000 In One Month

[timosman]

Firstly, I would argue that the mass proportion of welfare programs are run at the state level. If there are problems going on, blame your state government. There are plenty of nations with incredibly strong safety nets that don't seem to be plagued by this kind of abuse.

Moreover, the stats really don't bear out in the stories. The one large welfare program that exists on a continual basis is housing. Medicaid is for healthcare, unemployment/welfare is on a time-limited basis, food stamps are at a very small level....sure there are things like EITC, but I don't see how that would connect with EBT.



No, it really can't. The government is audited half a hundred times by other independent organizations, who look at the numbers and verify as need be.

Moreover, the government is not a business or a household. It controls the currency. It can finance itself.

Government debt represents private savings. It means the government is adding private savings to the economy; that is a good thing.

Dr.No. is off the scale

 

[Danke]

"Government debt represents private savings. It means the government is adding private savings to the economy; that is a good thing."

oh, well fire up the printing press!

 

[Dr.No.]

"Government debt represents private savings. It means the government is adding private savings to the economy; that is a good thing."

oh, well fire up the printing press!

If you run too big a deficit, you'll get runaway inflation.

I'm not sure what is so complicated about this. There are only two ways for the domestic private sector to gain financial wealth: from the foreign sector, or from the government sector. Given that we are running a trade deficit in the the triple-digit-billions, if the domestic private sector wants to net gain financial wealth, the government has to run a deficit.

 

[Zippyjuan]

I used to know someone who went from "libertarian" to left wing welfare recipient. The stories about welfare and public housing people having very nice vehicles were rampant. Same with the stories of EBT purchases of steak, lobster, sushi and the most expensive items at a grocery store. And sometimes they do laugh at people who work.

The "rampant stories" are just that- stories. EBT gives you a certain amount a month. If you spend it on steak and lobster it doesn't last very long. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/02/steak-and-lobster-food-stamp-myth-lives-on.html If they are driving fancy cars, they are probably engaged in illegal activities.

The ‘Steak and Lobster’ Food-Stamp Myth Refuses to Die

The concept of the food-stamp queen was first proffered by Ronald Reagan during a 1976 campaign speech. “In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record,” he told the assembled crowd. “She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans’ benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well as welfare. Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year.” Reagan’s story turned out to be a gross exaggeration of a minor case of welfare fraud, but since their patron saint conjured her up, conservatives have been unable to rid themselves of the image of the food-stamp queen. And despite her nonexistence, they’ve tried over and over again to stamp her out.

Their latest attempt takes the form of a bill introduced by New York senator Patty Ritchie designed to keep people from using New York’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy things like expensive steaks, lobster, decorated cakes, or energy drinks. “The goal of this legislation is to improve dietary quality and reduce obesity,” as well as to “restrict the abuse of the program,” reads the bill’s memo.

Even if it passes the Democratic-controlled senate, the bill is unlikely to accomplish either goal. According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “no evidence exists which indicates that food stamp benefits directly contribute to poor food choices and negative dietary outcomes, such as obesity.” The majority of food-stamp recipients still buy a portion of their food with their own money, with which they can make as many unrestricted choices as they want.

The Republican fear of “abuse” of food stamps to purchase “luxury items” is founded on a decades-old and highly unrealistic stigma. Last April, when Missouri politicians introduced a similar bill, Representative Rick Brattin told the Washington Post, “I have seen people purchasing filet mignons and crab legs with their EBT [Electronic Benefit Transfer] cards. When I can’t afford it on my pay, I don’t want people on the taxpayer’s dime to.” Similar outrage flared up in Kansas when a bill was introduced to limit “a long list of items, including alcohol, cigarettes, concert tickets, theme park tickets, or cruises,” and in Wisconsin, where another aimed to strike “crab, lobster, shrimp, and any other shell fish” from the list of available foods. Yet in studies of the diets of people on food stamps, they’re shown to eat less seafood than the rest of us, and about the same amount of beef. (How they would buy cruise tickets with their benefits is unclear.)

“It’s seeking to legislate urban myths in our society,” Milwaukee representative Evan Goyke told WSAU when Wisconsin’s bill was in the spotlight. “Forty-one percent of the people who receive food stamps are under the age of 18, and the next largest chunk are the elderly. And they’re not eating lobster; they’re struggling to get by.”

How much do you get? http://www.cbpp.org/research/a-quick-guide-to-snap-eligibility-and-benefits

Table 1 shows the maximum SNAP benefit levels in fiscal year 2017 for households of different sizes. Take as an example a family of three: if that family had no income, it would receive the maximum benefit of $511 per month; if it had $600 in net monthly income, it would receive the maximum benefit ($511) minus 30 percent of its net income (30 percent of $600 is $180), or $331. On average, SNAP households currently receive about $255 a month. The average SNAP benefit per person is about $126 per month, which works out to about $1.40 per person per meal.[8]

 

[Dr.No.]

EBT gives you a certain amount a month. If you spend it on steak and lobster it doesn't last very long. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/02/steak-and-lobster-food-stamp-myth-lives-on.html



How much do you get? http://www.cbpp.org/research/a-quick-guide-to-snap-eligibility-and-benefits

As the great Ronald Reagan said, facts are stubborn things.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

The "rampant stories" are just that- stories. EBT gives you a certain amount a month. If you spend it on steak and lobster it doesn't last very long.

Well thank you Captain Obvious. And I have witnessed people use EBT this way personally, it's not just some story told by mean Republicans. Not everyone, but it is happening on daily basis. What it indicates is that they are abusing the system, and it's just fun money for them. Per month statistics are meaningless to people who don't plan ahead. They will blow it in a week and beg for the rest of the month. Or they go to a charity and eat free meals or get groceries.

Don't worry, your precious government programs are in little danger of losing funds.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Ask people on food stamps if it is just "fun money" for them. Most would rather not have to rely on them to eat- and as shown, it doesn't pay much. Yes some abuse the system- that is true of everything. And benefits are not necessarily restricted to members of any one party.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...cs-and-demographics-of-food-stamp-recipients/

While politically, congressional Republicans have focused on reducing spending on federal entitlement programs, the Pew Research survey found the U.S. to be “a “bipartisan nation of beneficiaries.”

The survey found that significant proportions of Democrats (60%) and Republicans (52%) say they have benefited from a major entitlement program at some point in their lives. So have nearly equal shares of self-identifying conservatives (57%), liberals (53%) and moderates (53%). The programs were Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Interesting chart:

Here's the thing, though. There's literally no link between the population of people on food stamps in a state and how that state votes. We pulled House data in every state for 2010, 2012 and 2014, averaged the margin of victory for each state and compared it to the percentage of the population on food stamps.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...tamps-its-not-working/?utm_term=.a5442bb0f325

 

[timosman]

Zippy, this is an old data. Why don't you go back to your room and unless you can find some fresh data, stay there for the rest of the night. No computer use either. I know for a fact you are no longer being paid for your services. Your mom.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Can you share newer data- or just complain?

 

[Superfluous Man]

Quick rough numbers. Labor force participation rate November, 2006: 66.3%. Labor force participation rate November 2016: 62.7%. Net change: 3.6 percentage points.

That's a pretty huge amount.

 

[oyarde]

That's a pretty huge amount.

Yes it is and a sign of decline . I consider this decline to be permanent , set in more or less until further decline . Stagnation if you will, until the next large downturn. The govt has finally gone too far , too much meddling for recovery. That health bill pushed it over the top.

 

[Zippyjuan]

The trend has been going on since the 1990's.

 

[gaazn]

Other than hustling for non w-2 income, what are these people doing?

 

[Zippyjuan]

Most of those not in the labor force are retired- about 10,000 a day join their ranks as the Baby Boomers age (3.6 million a year). Others are in school or stay at home parents/ caretakers.

 

[Dr.No.]

Most of those not in the labor force are retired- about 10,000 a day join their ranks as the Baby Boomers age (3.6 million a year). Others are in school or stay at home parents/ caretakers.

You can repeat those facts and numbers a thousand times, but I saw a guy somewhere who wasn't working, so there.

 

[oyarde]

Other than hustling for non w-2 income, what are these people doing?

Just hustling a non w 2 income and the rest are slackers eating chips and loafing .

 

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

Obama supposedly fixed unemployment. This is the new Dem talking point I hear mentioned on a daily basis every time Trump's Carrier deal is brought up.

 

[Superfluous Man]

The trend has been going on since the 1990's.

No it hasn't, as you can see in the chart in the OP.

 

[Zippyjuan]

No it hasn't, as you can see in the chart in the OP.

By that chart, it starts about 1998.