These charts show the number of Americans receiving food stamps as reported by the United States Department of Agriculture. As of the latest data released on July 10, 2020 the total is 43 million. If our food-stamp population were a separate country, it would rank at #34 among the world’s 233 countries. (See the list here.)
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing in December 2020, the USDA has stopped publishing this data. They used to report the data with a two-month lag, but have only given us data through April 2020. They claim they have to recount the data due to confusion in the states caused by the P-EBT program which gives assistance to families with children no longer getting a free lunch at school. However, it’s more likely that the president simply doesn’t want to be embarrassed by the undoubtedly horrific data even though it was the governors and mayors who put the country on lockdown. Hopefully, the USDA will be allowed to resume reporting after the election.
It was likely the 5.9 million people added to the food-stamp rolls in April that triggered the reporting freeze. The first chart below shows that spike, and monthly totals since the Great Recession (click charts to enlarge):
Note: during the government shutdown in January 2019, another large chunk of food-stamp recipients disappeared from the data. It looks like the administration used the shutdown as an opportunity to “improve” the president’s stats. Consequently, the annual charts below only go through 2018, the last year that we had clean data to work with.
Sign up for Newshosting: Hey guys, today I'm gonna be showing you all how to use Usenet, an awesome way to download photos, videos,. Super-NZB is an NZB-file downloader for Windows and Mac OS X. It will open your NZB files, download from your Usenet server, and automatically run PAR and RAR to extract the files. Using a commonly available 5,000 kbps cable modem, SuperNZB can download more than one gigabyte per hour. SuperNZB free download. Get the latest version now. NZB client software for downloading files from Usenet newsgroups. SuperNZB is an OS X NZB file downloader that will help you open NZB files, download from Usenet server and run PAR and RAR in order to extract the files. SuperNZB provides RAR, PAR and PAR 2 file decoders, together with a SFV file checker. SuperNZB is a tool created to help you download large NZB files onto your computer without any special effort using the Usenet system. The application is made to be simple to use and comprehensive.
The second chart shows annual totals back to 1975.
Note: The chart above is the average size of the food-stamp population over the year.
The next chart shows the percentage of Americans on food stamps (using FRED’s “POP” data series):
The next chart shows the monthly amount paid to recipients. Starting from $6.63 in 1969, the amount has risen steadily, primarily due to inflation. However, the amount has dropped a bit since the peak in 2011:
The next chart shows the total annual benefits paid out. At $60.6 billion in fiscal 2018, this is a major program:
A program with this many participants incurs huge administrative costs: $4.4 billion in 2018 – and that is only the federal government’s share. In addition, each state spends money to administer their end of the operation. The chart shows only federal expenses:
The next chart shows the breakdown of participants by race (see table A.21 of this USDA report):
The next chart shows the number of individuals added to, or subtracted from, the food stamp rolls highlighted by presidential administration:
The next chart shows the numerical totals for each president. Keep in mind that not all presidents were in office for the same number of years:
Above, I criticized President Trump for (probably) tainting this once-insightful data. But how did he actually do in getting people back to work? I believe that he made a modest improvement in the data (pre-pandemic). However, as long as the country continues to follow a policy of mass-immigration, it will be very difficult, if not impossible to put a noticeable dent in the thick blanket of poverty that covers this nation.
Notes
Note: The numbers for Presidents Trump, Obama, and Bush (43) are higher than they otherwise would have been because the government started to use food stamps for disaster relief starting in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina. However, keep in mind that poor people are more vulnerable to natural disasters. Imagine a union factory worker in Ohio making $28 per hour, and a non-union factory worker in Florida making $8. Then they are both victims of a natural disaster. Which one is more likely to end up on food stamps? The worker in Ohio probably has some money saved, while the worker in Florida was living paycheck-to-paycheck. So, one could argue that the fact that food stamps are needed for disaster relief is itself evidence of a very high level of poverty.
Note: The annual totals used above are based on the federal government’s fiscal year, which begins in October.
Note: States are allowed to deny food stamps to convicted felons. Different states have different policies, however it doesn’t effect their expenditures either way since the USDA pays for all food stamps.
Note: The March 2012 numbers are slightly elevated due to disaster relief for windstorms that occurred in February and March 2012. However, the USDA did not give exact numbers, possibly because “congregate feeding” methods were used.
Note: The Obama Administration loosened the ABAWD (able-bodied adults without dependents) requirements. So, that accounts for a small portion of the increase in food-stamp usage. This action was similar to extending unemployment benefits due to the poor job market. See this report from the Congressional Research Service for more information.
Note: See this page for the history of the food-stamp/SNAP program.
Note to bloggers: You may use any of the charts on this page on your blog as long as you include a link to this page. No hot-linking please.
Last update: July 10, 2020
Next update: ???
Last Updated: Sep 10, 2019
NZB files were first created on the Usenet to speed up the downloading time for files. So what exactly is an nzb file?
NZB File Structure
- MessageIDs / Articles - A file on the Usenet can be divided up into several parts. These parts are called “articles” and your newsreader will recombine these articles for you once they are downloaded. Each article will have an ID number known as a message ID.
- Faster with No Headers / Mulitple Message IDs - Every file has a completely unique message ID and it is from this ID that your newsreader knows which file to download. The nzb file is a multitude of message ID’s that mean that once you have imported it into your newsreader then the newsreader can download all at once. The big advantage of these nzb files is that it speeds up the process and it does this because it does not download the headers in the file.
- Import and Download - Once you have your nzb file, you need to import it into your newsreader in order to open it. The newsreader will open it and download all the parts and assemble them for you. Fantastic! This saves loads of work which people used to have to do before the nzb files were invented.
Top 5 NZB Downloaders
Supernzb Program
#1 - Newsbin
Newsbin is specifically designed for downloading binary files from USENET. There is a one time charge for lifetime upgrades and they have a free trial.
If you are serious about USENET and you want one of the best newsreaders that is constantly being upgraded then you will like Newsbin. The only possible negative that we could mention about Newsbin is that Newsbin only works under Windows
Pros
- ✔ Years of Development
- ✔ Excellent Search Service
Cons
- ✖ Windows Only
#2 - PAN
Free Linux Newsreader - Pan supports yEnc, offline newsreading, article filtering, multiple connections for USENET newsreaders users and alt.binaries fans.
Supernzb Download
This newsreader is most likely to appeal to those who have been on USENET for a long time, who appreciate the look of a classic newsreader interface and who need very little hand holding
Pros
- ✔ Stable and Highly Configurable
- ✔ Windows and Linux Versions
Cons
- ✖ No MacOSX version
Final NZB File Tips
Supernzb 64
- The nzb file itself is a just text file (XML file) with associated message IDs.
- All nzb files will have the extension .nzb
- Associate .nzb extentsion with one of the NZB downloaders about to download / repair and unpack.
- Almost all quality usenet newsreaders support the NZB file format
Comments are closed.