LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The steady rise in welfare spending, covering more than 80 programs intended to help low-income Americans, got a big boost from the 2009 stimulus and has grown, if a bit more slowly, in 2010 and 2011. More Americans are qualifying in the weak economy, and in response, the federal government has broadened eligibility so that more qualify for programs.

Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee says this underscores a fundamental shift in welfare, moving it away from a temporary fix to one of permanent dependence.

"No longer should we measure compassion by how much money the government spends but by how many people we help to rise out of poverty," the Alabama conservative said. "Welfare assistance should be seen as temporary whenever possible and the goal must be to help more of our fellow citizens attain gainful employment and financial independence."

Welfare spending as measured by obligations has grown from $563 billion in fiscal 2008 to $746 billion in fiscal 2011, or a jump of 32 percent.

By far the biggest item on the list of welfare programs is Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor. At $296 billion in federal spending, Medicaid made up 40 percent of all low-income assistance in 2011, up from $82 billion in 2008.

The next largest program is food stamps, at $75 billion in 2011, or 10 percent of welfare spending. It's nearly twice the size it was in 2008 and accounts for a substantial 20 percent of the total welfare spending increase over those four years.

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Supplemental Security Income and the Additional Child Tax Credit (CTC), direct cash aid all account for about a fifth of all welfare.

Sessions' staff on the Budget Committee calculated that states contributed another $283 billion to low-income assistance - chiefly through Medicaid. The federal and state governments spent $1.03 trillion on welfare programs -- combined.

Richard Kogan, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says that while the dollar amounts for low-income assistance are growing, they are still about the same slice of the budget pie when viewed over the long run.

"In short, whatever one thinks about the merits or costs of these programs, other than Medicaid they are contributing nothing to long-run budgetary pressures," he said.

He says that even with Medicaid, which has seen major spending increases, there may have been savings.

"Medicaid provides health care at a noticeably cheaper price than Medicare does, and both are cheaper than the cost of private-sector health insurance," he said. "The problem is not that the programs are badly designed - it is that the entire health care system in the U.S. is much more expensive than in any other advanced country."

Kogan said that, despite the increase, the cash assistance figure was "a shockingly small amount of money" in the scheme of things.

"Virtually all the rest is in the form of in-kind assistance: Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, housing vouchers, Pell grants, LIHEAP, and child care vouchers; or in the form of direct services, such as community health centers, Title 1 education, foster care, school lunch, and Head Start," he said.

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