Did You Know...

**Written by Doug Powers

This week the First Lady told an audience at a fundraiser that the economy has made “remarkable progress” these past three years. One example of a hiring spree uptick can be found in New York City, where a couple hundred workers have been or are being added to the payrolls due to wildly increasing demand. Sure, it’s to work in welfare offices, but the recovery has to start somewhere:

The Human Resources Administration added more than 100 workers last July and plans to hire another 100 to serve the burgeoning number of New Yorkers applying for food stamps and rent assistance at their offices, according to the Daily News.

About 1.8 million New Yorkers are now on food stamps, which marks nearly a 65 percent increase from four years ago, according to city records. The increase in applicants has led to overcrowding at HRA offices throughout the city, and the agency said at a council hearing Tuesday that it had to hire scores of new workers and supervisors to manage the situation.

The HRA has also expanded its waiting rooms to accommodate the swell in applicants.

I guess I owe Tom Vilsack an apology.

So, if Bush is the real “food stamp president,” will W also be given credit for adding these jobs, or just blamed for the food stamp part?

**Written by Doug Powers

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