BOOMTOWN 2: 126 Federal Anti-Poverty Programs

U.S. taxpayers now fund 126 separate federal anti-poverty programs each year.

The startling statistic was just one of many presented in an eye-opening one-hour Sean Hannity special titled “Boomtown 2: The Business of Food Stamps.” The program, which featured Government Accountability Institute President and Co-Founder Peter Schweizer and Breitbart News Executive Chairman and GAI Co-Founder Stephen K. Bannon, uncovered how corporations bag billions from taxpayer-funded poverty programs. 

CATO Institute fellow Michael Tanner says those 126 anti-poverty programs have grown exponentially under President Barack Obama:

In 2011 the federal government spent roughly $668.2 billion on those 126 programs. That represents an increase of more than $193 billion since Barack Obama became president. This is roughly two and a half times greater than any increase over a similar time frame in U.S. history.

Schweizer and Bannon say that helping fuel this explosive growth in government is the drive for profits by the politically-connected companies that benefit from poverty programs, such as food producers who make money off food stamps and companies that administer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. “It’s an industry that not only fosters government dependency among the poor, but wealthy interests as well,” said Bannon. “As usual, it is the poor and the taxpayers who are being used as pawns.”

According to a report by the Government Accountability Institute, JP Morgan alone has bagged at least $560,492,596 since 2004 processing the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. In 2008, JP Morgan donated $808,799 to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.