Dear Congress Stats

As Congress and the Super Committee work to reduce our nation’s deficits, urge you to create a circle of protection around programs for hungry and Poor people in the United States and around the world. The numbers are staggering. Millions of famllies in the united States continue to feel the effects of the recession—nearly one in six people in our country are Poor. Around the world, nearly 1 billion people are hungry, and one Child dies every 3. 6 seconds from poverty, hunger, and preventable diseases.

This isn’t the time for Congress to cut programs that provide vital Sni* to View assistance to those i Programs for hungry p or 3 the federal budget, b th. : tremendous impact Credit keep millions p only a fraction of Credit and Child Tax of poverty, reward work, and promote economic mobility. he Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) has responded quickly and effectively to need, preventing an increase in the percentage of families struggling to put food on the table for three consecutive years.

International poverty-focused development assistance reduces the likelihood of conflict and strengthens our national security. Moreover, cuts to poverty- focused development assistance Will estrict our ability to respond to humanitarian emergencies, such as the ongoing fami Swlpe to vlew next page famine in the Horn of Africa. We must do all we can to reduce the budget deficit but not on the backs of the most vulnerable people. As you consider deficit-reduction proposals, I ask you to take a balanced and fair approach and consider all areas of the budget, including revenues.

Please form a circle of protection around funding for hungry and Poor people at home and abroad. A higher percentage of the American population is receiving government benefits than ever before. Yes, there have always been Poor people that have needed our ssistance, but What does it say about our economy that the number of Americans dependent on the government is at an all-time high? Every night on the evening news we are told that the economy is improving, and Barack Obama is endlessly giving speeches about the « economic recovery » that is supposedly underway.

But that is not the reality on the ground for those on the bottom rungs of the income ladder in America. People are really hurting out there, and the number of Americans that are turning to the government for financial assistance just continues to increase. Yes, we should always have a « safety net », but right ow aur « safety net » is becoming massively overloaded as millions more Americans jump on to it every single year. What all of these impoverished Americans really need are jobs, but the U.

S. Congress and the past several administrations have been systematically killing job growth in America. So unfortun several administrations have been systematically killing job growth in America. So unfortunately the number of Poor Americans is going to continue to rise, and that is really bad news for a nation that is already drowning in debt. Welfare Statistics Total number of Americans on welfare Total number of Americans on food stamps

Total number of Americans on unemployment insurance Percent of the US population on welfare Total government spending on welfare annually (not including food stamps or unemployment) Welfare Demographics Percent of recipients who are white Percent of recipients who are black Percent of recipients who are Hispanic Percent of recipients who are Asian Percent of recipients who are Other 46. 700,000 4. 1 % $131. 9 billion 38. 8 % 39. 8 % 15. 7% 2. 4 % 3. 3 % Total amount of money you can make monthly and still receive welfare $1 000 Total Number of U. S. States where Welfare pays more than an $8 per