Food stamp benefits soar, and more
The government spent $74.6 billion on food stamp benefits last year, up from $30.4 billion in 2007.
Food stamp benefits soar
The government spent $74.6 billion on food stamp benefits last year, up from $30.4 billion in 2007. With 15 percent of Americans now receiving food stamps, the program’s budget is equivalent to the combined budgets of the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the Department of the Interior.
The Wall Street JournalLargest occupations have lowest salaries
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Common jobs, low salaries
Workers in seven of the 10 largest U.S. occupations typically earn less than $30,000 a year, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These most-common jobs include retail clerks, food prep workers, and cashiers.
CNN.com
Growing revenues for baseball teams
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The average major league baseball team had $227 million in revenue last year, and is now worth $744 million. Team values and revenues are about to grow even larger, due to new television contracts that will pay Major League Baseball $12.4 billion over the next eight years.
Forbes
Time off from the White House
President Obama took 131 vacation days in his first term. In his two terms, President George W. Bush took 1,060 vacation days
Salon.com
Polls back Hillary Clinton
Though she has not indicated whether she intends to run for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton has a six-person “transition office” in Washington, D.C. Polls suggest that if she does run, the Democratic nomination is hers to lose: In Iowa, Clinton currently is running 39 points ahead of every other potential Democratic contender, including Joe Biden and Andrew Cuomo. In New Hampshire, the margin is 53 points.
Slate.com
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Smartphone collisions, and more
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Partisan commencement speeches?, and more
feature No Republican or conservative has been invited to make the commencement speech this year at any of the 50 top U.S. liberal arts colleges.
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Prime-time TV gets racier, and more
feature The networks’ new trick is to show fully naked characters with their breasts, buttocks, and/or genitals pixelated.
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A warm start to the year, and more
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Potter films rake in billions, and more
feature The Harry Potter movie series has earned $6.37 billion at the box office over the past decade.
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Jersey Shore captures 8.45 million, and more
feature The season premiere of MTV’s Jersey Shore was viewed by 8.45 million people, more than the average audiences of network news broadcasts on ABC and CBS.
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Wal-Mart's jump in midnight sales, and more
feature Wal-Mart says its stores see a jump in midnight sales on the first of each month, when cash-strapped shoppers receive their monthly government benefits.
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Over 40 million Americans receive food stamps, and more
feature For the first time, the number of Americans receiving food stamps topped 40 million in March.
By The Week Staff Last updated