Food Research and Action Center<\/a>, which, using numbers from USDA, showed that Missouri was the only state in the nation to show a decline in food stamp recipients from 2009 to 2014.<\/p>\nPeople in certain buildings in Jefferson City were not amused.<\/p>\n
The Department of Social Services admitted in late 2009 that Missouri overcounted the number of food stamp recipients. Basically, the different computer systems didn\u2019t listen to each other. While new people were added to the rolls, those within families who should have been removed (moved out of the home, etc.) weren\u2019t. The problem apparently went on for several \u2013 perhaps seven \u2013 years.<\/p>\n
For example, in April 2009 Missouri claimed it had 1,041,077 food stamp recipients, and that is the number FRAC cited this summer. Now the state says the correct total for April 2009 was around 800,000 recipients. They note that USDA has changed some (but not all) published numbers from Missouri for 2009 and the \u201cwhoops\u201d era.<\/p>\n
The problem appears to have been fixed by the end of 2009: the January 2010 food stamp total was 894,418 people compared to 1,119,067 in September 2009 despite the rapid increase in folks getting help due to the recession.
\nNow we need to back-up a step. The data FRAC used is from USDA reports on what the federal government paid Missouri for the food stamps issued. In other words, even if the correct number was 800,000 Washington gave Missouri money for a million people. The families getting the bonus money had no way of knowing they were getting too generous benefits. (A more important yet unanswered question is did Missouri ever pay that money back?)<\/p>\n
So, what number should be used?<\/p>\n
Despite the state\u2019s protestations, evidence shows that Missouri issued benefits to 1,041,077 people in April 2009. If the benefits were issued \u2013 even in error \u2013 they went to families and the stamps went through cash registers all about the state.<\/p>\n
My files from back then show the average benefit was $1.09 per person per meal. (By the way, April 2009 is when benefits soared due to the recovery act\u2019s bonus payments. In March 2009 the average benefit was 93 cents per person per meal.)<\/p>\n
In other words, the overpayments probably didn\u2019t allow families to buy steak and lobster. They just made their lives a bit easier. I can live with that.<\/p>\n
A quick swipe at Fox News<\/strong><\/p>\nThe GAO recently issued a report on errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The headline: Payment Errors and Trafficking Have Declined, but Challenges Remain. The report put the fraud rate at 1 percent of benefits issued and included a chart documenting dramatic improvements since 1999 in case accuracy.<\/p>\n
Fox News, of course, headlined their story \u201cFood Stamp Fraud Rampant: GAO Report.<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\nI expect their lead story tomorrow to be, \u201cDespite Obama, the Sun Rose This Morning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Young Frankenstein, Gene Wilder, having just hoisted a body from a grave says \u201cWhat a filthy job.\u201d Marty Feldman replies, \u201cCould be worse,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":646,"featured_media":29911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1997,128,119,96,1253],"tags":[509,2312,120,2325],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>In Young Frankenstein<\/em>, Gene Wilder, having just hoisted a body from a grave says \u201cWhat a filthy job.\u201d Marty Feldman replies, \u201cCould be worse,\u201d to which Wilder asks, \u201cHow?\u201d Feldman notes, \u201cCould be raining.\u201d And, of course, it then starts to rain.<\/p>\n