Fact check: Gingrich's faulty food-stamp claim (Under-Obama 444,574--Under-Bush 14.7 MILLION)

[kpete]

Fact check: Gingrich's faulty food-stamp claim

But Gingrich goes too far to say Obama has put more on the rolls than other presidents. We asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition service for month-by-month figures going back to January 2001. And they show that under President George W. Bush the number of recipients rose by nearly 14.7 million. Nothing before comes close to that.

And under Obama, the increase so far has been 14.2 million. To be exact, the program has so far grown by 444,574 fewer recipients during Obama's time in office than during Bush's

...............

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-01-18/fact-check-gingrich-obama-food-stamps/52645882/1



and:

Who gets food stamps?

•47% of beneficiaries were children under age 18.

•8% were age 60 or older.

•41% lived in a household with earnings from a job — the so-called "working poor."

•The average household received a monthly benefit of $287.

•36% were white (non-Hispanic), 22% were African American (non-Hispanic) and 10% were Hispanic.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-01-18/fact-check-gingrich-obama-food-stamps/52645882/1



Newt spends more at Tiffany's then these people will see in their lifetimes!
(not sure if that is the truth or not, but HEY, who cares..., kpete)

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Hah!

•36% were white (non-Hispanic), 22% were African American (non-Hispanic) and 10% were Hispanic.

Newt hates white people and Obama LOVES them - if you have to go by the stats and the tone Crybaby Newt uses.

[woolldog]

10. If 68% of recipients were white, black and Hispanic,

what were the other 32% ?

[BlueCaliDem]

13. Maybe

Persians, Haitians, Arabs, Asians, and Pacific Islanders?

[woolldog]

19. That doesnt make sense

Those groups are a tiny proportion of the overall population.

[BlueCaliDem]

20. By themselves, maybe, but combined?

It does make sense.

So, what do you think the 38% left over is, then?

[woolldog]

25. No it doesn't

Those groups are like 5% of the total population. If they constitute 38% of those on foodstamps they would be grossly overrepresented. That's highly unlikely for a lot of reasons. Haitians are black, btw. Asians are perhaps the least likely to be on foodstamps looking at income data by race and the selective nature of US immigration. Arabs and Persians are not a significant percentage of the US population.

There's something fishy about those numbers when such a large percentage is unaccounted for. Somethings just not right with those stats. I'd like an explanation.

[A Simple Game]

27. Probably most of them didn't want to answer the question.

I think all government forms ask for race but allow you to choose that you prefer not to answer.

And that is the way it should be, if people need food, it doesn't matter what their race is.

[Lochloosa]

28. Native Americans?

[Guy Montag]

2. This is classic Newt demagoguery

Expect more and worse examples of this as this nasty boy rolls his sights toward President Obama if he continues to roll over Romney.

[kemah]

18. It worked in South Carolina with the tea party gop

Why change tactics when it has proven to be so successful? Newt is just telling what the GOP really believe but are afraid to say in public because of the shallowness. The Wrigley family is dead set against government spending, yet they want Chicago and the state to give them tax money to remodel their baseball stadium. Tax money spent on helping the rich is perfectly OK but to help the 99% it is a social crime.

[Guy Montag]

23. Good post

Thanks for sharing your feedback.

[KansDem]

3. I heard excepts from both Newt and Mitt's speeches this a.m.

Of course, 30 years of "trickle down" and 10 years of Bush tax cuts had nothing to do with this...oh, no!

Newt and Mitt are so full of shit: plant them upside down in any corn field and you'd have a bumper crop!

[BlueCaliDem]

14. Bumper crop?!

[liberal N proud]

4. The GOP feeds on and propels the frenzy of people worried about somoen getting something for nothing

They like to take the imature route making people upset because someone gets food stamps and they don't.

But the same people they stir up over food stamps have no problem with Romney and Gingrich paying less in taxes than they do.

[PA Democrat]

5. Bush is like Voldemort for the Republican candidates

"He whose name must not be spoken."

If only they could erase those 8 years!

[BlueCaliDem]

15. Oh believe you me

they are trying their darnedest!

[Nictuku]

6. 444,574 fewer

The title of this thread is a little mis-leading. Newt is still wrong wrong wrong, but the numbers in the title are not quite correct either. (that is all)

[SCantiGOP]

7. correct, nictuku

and, Bush's numbers are based on 8 years, Obama's on 3. However, the increase under Obama was a result of the financial meltdown caused by the disastrous 8 years of Bush and Cheney.

[former9thward]

8. Are you comparing the same time periods?

Bush was in office for 8 years. Obama has been in office 3+ years.

[lacrew]

9. I Agree

I'm not sure if its time for dancing in the street, if Newt was technically wrong...pointing this out does nothing but fix one's attention to the 'rate' of enrollment....and under Obama, that 'rate' is 2.5 times that of Bush.

[BlueCaliDem]

17. Yes, but let's not forget Clinton's 3.9%

unemployment numbers by the end of 2000, combined with peace, prosperity, balanced budgets and surpluses, and the 7+ percent of unemployment Bush left Obama. combined with 750,000 jobs bleeding every month, deficits, two wars.

Both previous presidents' record pours over into their successor's first term.

If only former presidents' records end when their terms end, it would make it a lot easier to not blame, or give credit, to their predecessor', but that's not how it works.

[lacrew]

26. In a Sound Bite World, this is not a 'Fact Check' which has legs

...especially if you drag in how good an economy Bush inherited from Clinton....because Gingrich claims partial credit for that economy.

[spanone]

11. k&r...there seems to be little room for truth in any of nutes claims

[JPZenger]

12. I just heard Gingrich say that most food stamp receipients are Black. He wouldn't lie, would he?

[kemah]

16. who profits from food stamps?

When the food stamp legislation was first proposed, Bob Dole was dead set against it. He called it socialism and that charities were able to take care of the problem. The next day, he was all for the bill. Calling a great day for mankind. What changed? Big ag called and told him to get behind the bill, it meant more money for them.

[SCantiGOP]

22. food stamps come under the US Dept of Ag

not Health and Human Services. It was a coalition of liberals who thought maybe a rich country shouldn't let people go to bed hungry, and farm state reps who wanted to subsidize farmers for votes and factory farms for donations. Don't care how it got passed, it is a needed and humane program. Even with it, there are some kids who get two meals a day during school, and that is the school breakfast and the school lunch.

[CakeGrrl]

21. I would LOVE to see Gingrich slapped upside the snout with this

...but I'd much rather he didn't get near the nomination.

[onenote]

24. Does an obviously misleading OP title really help things?

The title of the OP says "Under Obama 444,574 --Under Bush 14.7 Million". But the story itself says that its 14.2 under Obama and 14.7 under Bush --- the 444,574 is the difference between the two numbers, not the total number under Obama.

Moreover, as others have pointed out, the bush numbers are for 8 years and the Obama numbers are for 3 years.

There are good responses to the "food stamp President" claim. This clearly isn't one of them.