The furious Beltway debate over raising the national debt ceiling earlier this month mostly hinged on just a few federal programs, with Republicans aiming to score political points for cutting spending and Democrats committed to preserving entitlements at all costs.
One issue featured in the debate inspired superheated rhetoric from both sides of the political spectrum: food stamps.
The nation’s largest welfare program has grown dramatically since 2000: from 17 million to 41 million recipients, even though unemployment has dropped from 4% to 3.4% during the same period. Today in the prime working -age years of 18-49 only 28% of singles without dependents and 50% of adults with school age children are working. Why is that?
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