The government teat - a two-fer

From The Daily Caller:

Report: Welfare government�s single largest budget item in FY 2011 at approx. $1.03 trillion
The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone � a price tag that makes welfare that year the government�s largest expenditure, according to new data released by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee.

A bit more:

The data excludes spending on Social Security, Medicare, means-tested health care for veterans without service-connected disabilities, and the means-tested veterans pension program.

And more -- the Foodstamp President:

CRS reports that food assistance programs � the third largest welfare category behind health and cash assistance � experienced the greatest increase in spending, with 71 percent more spending in 2011 than in 2008. The agency explained that this spending increase was largely due to the growth in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps.

Emphases mine. The report can be read here: Spending for Federal Benefits and Services for People With Low Income, FY08-FY11 But at least we have a recovery in the jobs market - don't we? From CNBC:

Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Proves to Be Short-Lived
Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the highest in four months. The increase represents a rebound from the previous week's sharp drop. Both swings were largely due to technical factors.

The Labor Department says the four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, fell slightly to 365,500, a level consistent with modest hiring.

Last week, California reported a large drop in applications, pushing down the overall figure to the lowest since February 2008.

This week, it reported a significant increase as it processed applications delayed from the previous week.

A department spokesman says the seasonally adjusted numbers "are being distorted ... by an issue of timing."

Cloward-Piven writ large - want to know the cause of most of our urban domestic problems? These two people: Cloward-Piven Strategy (CPS) Two fscking academics with no real-world experience and the Democratic Party lapped it up like it was ice cream.