A Happy WaPo Thanksgiving: More Than Ever Using Food Stamps

Always looking at the bright side. They manage to equate food stamp use with hunger. Obviously they've never seen the immense girth of some folks I've seen using food stamps. The joke of it is you can be 130% over the poverty level and still receive them. In fact, the government actively seeks people to give them out to. But since this is Thanksgiving and people gather around to celebrate, the media desperately needs to put a damper on things.

Can't have people happy. At least until King Obama ascends to the throne.

Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

The figures will put the spotlight on hunger when Congress begins deliberations on a new economic stimulus package, said legislators and anti-hunger advocates, predicting that any stimulus bill will include a boost in food stamp benefits. Advocates are also optimistic that President-elect Barack Obama, who made campaign promises to end childhood hunger and whose mother once briefly received food stamps, will make the issue a priority next year.

"We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. "If the economic forecasts come true, we're likely to see the most hunger that we've seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established."

Meanwhile, food prices are declining a bit of late due to the rapidly decreasing cost of oil, but are still expected to increase somewhat for 2009. I thought Obama would just wave his magic wand and food would be free for all?