"You're probably familiar with the food stamp program which grew from $35 billion in 2008 to $75 billion last year. But did you know that getting food stamps also makes you eligible for a free government cell phone?"
[...]
"...Universal Service Charge"
[...]
"...And the freebies won't end with basic calling service. As part of the effort to extend broadband, the FCC has been discussing making broadband service part of the Lifeline program. In other words, taxpayers could soon be paying for smartphone features on these free government phones."
And for all the furor the Washington Post and others make over farm payments, crop insurance subsidies, etc., the _total_ of all direct farm payments and subsidies is only about 15% of the USDA budget. Another
6-7% is USDA Forest Service while the remaining nearly 80% is for social services going to urban population centers.
Which greatly benefits the food industry. Who spends an inordinate amount of money lobbying the government to include their products in the approved list. Recall the dust up over classing ketchup as a vegetable?
72% of the USDA budget goes to WIC and SNAP food programs that apply nationwide, not just urban centers. This has become increasingly important over the years since real household income in the US has decreased by more than 7% since 1999. Low income households have seen an even higher decrease of real income - down over 12%. In short, America is becoming poorer. Thus, more people need assistance to get by. And as we all know, rural areas generally have it worse than urban areas in terms of income and job opportunities.
For that reason, USDA has special programs in place to fight rural poverty and assist rural communities - for instance, by providing mortgage assistance to eligible persons living in rural areas, and business loans to eligible rural small businesses.
Henry Ford knew the answer to this dilemma, and the US successfully implemented his solution for many decades, but the conservative right now believes that paying a fair wage for a fair days work is unfair to the corporations. Thus the decline in wages and household incomes. You wanna turn America around? Pay people more. More money in the citizens' pockets means more investment in the community, where it improves the overall standard of living.
Every farmer knows that the trickle-down theory is a hoax. You want your crops to grow, you put the food and water where it makes the most difference - at the roots. Growth comes from the bottom up, not the top down.
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