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US citizens will need much food stamps in 2010

05 January 2010 23:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The Congressional Budget Office has announced that the number of US citizens receiving food stamps will rise to an unprecedented level this year.

Over 28 million US citizens will need food assistance in 2010, the CBO said this week.

If the US administration fails to reduce the numbers, US President Barack Obama’s Democratic party is not likely to achieve good results in the November 2010 midterm elections, pundits say.

However, Isabel Sohail of the Brookings Institution, who is an expert on poverty issues, says that the increase in spending on welfare will help the US recover from the economic crisis.

The fact that so many people need food stamps could shock many in the US, which has boasted that its economy has the ability to create employment opportunities, APA reported quoting BBC.

Although Obama has been focusing on healthcare reform and the situation in Afghanistan over the past few months, it seems he has now moved the issues of unemployment and poverty higher up on his agenda.