>>. >> you want to give -- >> one more time. >> i'm guilty. >> and that's all the time we have left this evening. thank you for being with us. a southern california beach bum. >> serious. awesome. >> a preacher in central florida. >> we would give up our freedom. >> pushing people to sign up for food stamps in brooklyn. >> just a hair away from large scale hunger malnutrition, and starvation in america. >> scenes from across an increasingly dependent nation. this is fox news reporting. the great food stamp binge. hello. i'm brett baird, reporting from the u.s. department of agriculture. why the usda? for historical and political

reasons, food stamps fall under the agriculture department's domain. in fact, food stamps this l cost taxpayers a projected $78 billion this year. a staggering amount that's more than double since 2008. a majority of voters think most of the 46 million plus food stamp recipients are taking advantage of the system and not truly in need. you've heard stories of food stamp waste, fraud, and abuse. well, this hour we'll also look at the cost to the recipient and to the american character. during this show, you can share your thoughts via twitter. be sure to use _#foxnewsreporting. we begin in new york city for one of america's most energetic prop own ebts of food stamps is working to get more people

signed up. >> individuals have a certain income limitation. >> you're watching a team of determined activists preparing their plan of action. >> you all set and ready to go? >> they're walking around the streets of brooklyn. >> the mission? to sign up as many people as they can for stood stamps. the new york city coalition against hunger in action. joel berg, a former clinton administration official, is the organization's executive director. >> we have some information. >> snap stands for the supplemental nutrition assistance program. >> the food stamp program. >> in 2008 the federal government officially dropped the term food stamp partly to fight the stigma associated with that term, but most everybody

still calls them food stamps. even people at the coalition. >> berg believes folks here don't want to go to a government office to find out if they're eligible. so his team set up shop at this supermarket. >> we call 50% of our customers on a monthly based -- >> ivan is the store manager. >> we feel it's a positive thing for the community. >> another part of the effort to reduce the stigma of food stamps was to get rid of the stamps altogether. the government benefit is now electronically delivered via ebt cards. they work just like any debit card. food stamp usage has been on the rise since wou, but it's exploded under president obama. in 200828 million were receiving food stamps. now about 47 million do. one big factor was obama's

stimulus package. in addition to pumping more money into the program, it made qualifying for food stamps eedzier. the president insists increased spending on food stamps in the stimulus bill did, indeed, stimulate the economy. >> three, four, five, six. definitely eligible. >> joel berg says it literally saved lives. >> we are just a hair away from large scale hunger malnutrition, and starvation in america. do you really believe that? >> no question whatsoever. >> you're just laughing. >> absolutely prepostus. you know, given the fact that only one in 20 american adults say that they were hungry for even a single day during the course of a year, i think starving is a bit -- the reality is that american poor people are not malnewished. they have too much food. >> if joel berg is the great

advocate of food stamps, ronald rekter of the heritage foundation is the great skeptic. >> the hunger advocates are clearly distorting your data and creating a huge mirage of a problem that doesn't really exist. it distracts our attention from the real issues of how you really help the poor rather than making them more dependent on government. >> your income changed. >> berg said 80% of the people who turn to his coalition for help are ultimately approved. some people they poke to never thought they would be eligible. >> i'm going to give you my number. this is my direct extension. my name is denise. we can help with you that as well. >> she wasn't aware she can still apply for her daughter. >> you and your volunteers stop and explain food stamps to just about every person on the street. >> yeah. >> it could be construed as recruitment. >> we would never ever try to convince someone who didn't want these benefits to get them.

>> this is not just an academic question. recruiting people to go on food stamps is against the rules. as you will see, the usda itself has gone right up to that line. did they cross it? their strategy to get passed no. first, john roberts and the new face of food stamps. a character you won't forget. >> when the safety net becomes a hammock. after the break. in does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learmore at purinaone.com

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trust your instincts onto make the call. to treat my low testosterone, my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children

or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased d blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. ask your doctor about the only underarm low t treatment, axiron. . welcome back to fox news zimplt welcome back to the great food stamp binge. how do you account for the record number of people on food stamps? a new fox muse poll finds that a substantial number of people think the severity of recession simply means that more qualify

for assistance today. however, a larger number believe the government has made it too easy to get assistance, and people are taking advantage of that. no doubt in these tough times many people m wraits worry about feeding themselves and their families. america is a sxwren russ nation and few would deny the government help for those that need it, but we also realize every dollar we give to people who should be fending for themselves is one less dollar we can use for other purposes, including helping the truly needy. then again, some people don't seem to worry about that. john roberts found one of them in la jolla, california. >> meet jason, food stamp recipient. ♪ >> another day in the life of

jason. >> what exactly is the rat life? >> your typical day, are you an early morning guy or get up later in the afternoon? >> yeah, later in the afternoon kind of guy. wake up. go down to the beach. >> yeah. >> see my friends. hit on some chicks. start drinking. >> all day every day. ♪ >> the 29-year-old has chosen the life of a beach bum in this seaside paradise. with no fixed address, jason has for the last couple of years floated from place to place, staying with family, pals, and girls he has dated. >> nice day today, though, huh? >> he gets by with a little help from his friends and you, the

taxpayer. >> my snap guard. >> how do you get a snap card? >> go out to the human resource office and have your birth certificate and your social security card. i don't got a paycheck coming in, so i qualify. how often do you do this? >> every once, every six months. >> right now once a we're. >> things have changed. >> back in 1996 if you were an abled adult like jason with no family, there were limitations. you could get food stamps for only three months every three years. the exception? if you were working at least a 20-hour workweek or participated in a work fare or training program. president obama wiped away those restrictions when he signed his stimulus bill in 2009. obama used his regulatory powers to extend those welfare to work

requirements. >> you fill out a form for a snap card. they give you that for a year, no questions asked. >> yeah. good to go. you're golden. >> that's $200 a month, right? >> $200. free money. radical. why not? >> this is my job right here to make sure everything is rolling smoothly. make sure the sun is up and the girls are out. >> i surf every day. clear your head. get out with the boys. have a good time. >> the life. never a dull moment. another day in paradise. >> yeah. >> so it's off to the section of the local food mart. >> i got my rainbow roll, ahi, salmon, yellow tail with rice and avocado, and then they add lobster on special.

they got lobster. >> coconut water. >> then he is off to -- food stamp card at the ready. >> $100 a month, and just go like boom. >> thank you for shopping with us. >> just like that. all paid for by our wonderful tax dollars. >> is that typically the type of thing that you'll get on the snap card? >> yeah. usually get sushi, but make it my own way, but they didn't have any good fish. i just got the premade stuff. ♪ >> lobster. >> does anybody want a piece? >> is it safe to say this notion of holding down a steady job

just is something that is not in your wheelhouse? >> that's not the direction i'm going right now. >> that's just not something that appeals to you? >> not whatsoever. >> i have to say i didn't really know what to expect when i sat down with jason. i was really taken aback that he seemed completely unembarrassed about sponging off the rest of us in this manner. this was a guy who struck me as capable of pulling his own weight, as resourceful, even intelligent, and went to san diego state for a while and then to a technical school where he trained to become a recordingening mere. then he realized what he really wanted in life. >> here comes motley crew walking down the halls all carrying a bottle of jack partying, and i just realized, like, i don't want to be the guy recording those guys. i want to be the guy being those guys. >> he wanted to be a rock star. >> you decided that was going to be your life? >> why not be heard? i don't want to listen. >> and wait until you hear what

else jason had to say. >> john roberts returns a little later, but, first, food stamps offer a helping hand, but what about people who say thanks but no thanks? the usda's ill conceived scheme to push food stamps in spanish speaking communities. an expose you might find hard to stomach. during the break, tell us what you think of the show so far. we're on twitter. use the _#fox news reporting. [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay -- you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com.

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america has long been a magnet for immigrants whose industry, metal, and drive has made our country stronger. did the usda try to undermine

those virtues medical record ind the food stamp role? peter reports from florida. >> self-reliance, it's always been an integral part of our culture. >> reporter: in the central florida town of mesqote after felix ramirez preaches a message of self-reliance. >> they might end up giving away their freedom for freebies. >> you stress to them the importance of self-reliance and counting on themselves, not having a handout. >> i want to remind them of who they are, who we are. self-reliance and self-respect go together. >> reporter: which might explain why pastor ramirez is so angered by something he heard from the usda a while back. our story begins in 2008, ends a few years later, and provides a troubling glimpse into how a usda under both republican and democratic administration have come to see its mission as pushing food stamps on groups of

people reluctant to take them. the agriculture department released a series of spanish speaking radio spots. the usda made them available to any radio station that wanted to play them. [ spanish ] >> translator: the united states department of ago ultimate, su da, and its you supplemental new tradition system, snap, are proud to present happiness park. enjoy the show while you savor a delicious piece of fresh fruit. let's begin. >> reporter: happiness park is like any other soap opera. that is, one whose characters are obsessed with food stamps. each of the ten spots makes a separate point. episode one tries to bust the myth that food stamps are welfare and only the unemployed can qualify. >> translator: i just can't seem to make ends meet. >> reporter: meet monica. >> translator: it's not that we don't love each other, but we're always fighting over money. >> reporter: she's talking to

her friend, claudia. >> translator: did roberto find a job? >> translator: not yet, and that worries me because of what i earn at the baby-sitter is just not enough. >> translator: apply for snap. >> translator: snap? but isn't it just, like, welfare? >> no, snap is a supplemental new tradition program that helps you afford healthy food during difficult times. just do it. >> reporter: in episode two monica indeed does it. by episode three she tries to convince a friend ramon to sign up. >> translator: i don't think i qualify. i own my house, and i live with my daughter and grandson. >> translator: you might. snap is a program to help people. if you don't apply, you'll never know. >> we can count on our own culture to make success story. >> reporter: in episode four

ramon does sign up for food stamps and -- her name is deana. >> reporter: i don't need help from anyone. my husband makes enough to take care of us. >> translator: girl, when are you going to learn? >> he better not say that to any of my ladies in distress because the ladies in this church will tell him off. >> it turns out that dean wra is the most stubborn in "happiness park," but they wear her down over the next few episodes. in episode five we learn her daughter suzette is overweight, and in episode six suzette comes in last in a swimming race. deana's friends keep up their full court press. >> translator: it doesn't matter if your husband works full time or you own a car. i was approved, and alissa has a job. >> i know, snap, snap, snap. really? why are you angry? do it for your own health and

for suzette. >> it's insulting. >> reporter: christine and her husband, alfredo, own and operate the havana delight restaurant in the central town. she recalls hearing happiness park episodes on the radio. >> when you hear this and you recognize that it's aimed at -- >> the hispanics. >> what's your reaction? >> our reaction is that they're calling us stupid. >> reporter: episode seven is an eye opener for the reluctant dean wra. she goes shopping with monica. >> it's your turn to say, wait, don't do food stamps in front of everybody. >> there's no stamps. snap gives you a card. >> why? it looks like a bank card. >> exactly, dean wra. no to know. apply. you could gain so much. >> that's not why i came to america. we take care of our own without

any help. everything changes in episode nine, which according to the usda production script was written to overcome the barrier of pride. >> what? what happened? what happened? deana is crying. she's at the hospital. >> reporter: thankfully deana survived. >> i thought it was a heart attack. >> what? >> yes. i felt horrible. but the doctor told me that it was indigestion. >> indigest john? >> the doctor scolded me and told me i immediate to lose weight. he says i need to eat healthier foods like fruits and vegetables. i should have listened. what's the program called? >> it's called snap. by the last episode dean wra

signs up. she doesn't know that contrary to the suggestion that food stamps will help her lose weight, the usda's own research actually shows a correlation between snap card use and obesity. >> we actually think unconditional efforts by the best food stamp president in american history to maximize dependency is terrible for the future of this country. >> when the national food stamp binge became an issue in the 2012 presidential campaign, the radio novella series became a news story and embarrassed usda pulled the series from circulation. undersecretary of agriculture edward concanon admitted some of the content in these advertisements does not meet the standards of what i consider to be appropriate outreach. but it turns out hispanics were

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tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. a food stamp in ohio. fox news reporting was there. >> these undercover state food stamp investigators say this store let them buy alcohol with food stamps. it was cited for illegal use of awe food stamp card, though the clerk said she thought she was selling the undercover officer an energy drink. either way in the great food stamp binge we seem to be hearing these stories more and more. it's another reason why some people are puzzled that the usda is trying so hard to get even

more people to sign up for food stamps. whether they say they want them or not. one of those efforts was in north carolina where 17% of the people get food stamps. more than double the number a decade ago. part of that increase? peter boyer found apparently it's efforts to break down mountain pride. ♪ >> reporter: the music, one of the oldest art forms in america. ♪ >> reporter: it's mournful and tells the story of a god-fearing people who have long lived in remote and unforgiving places like the vast appalachian regions of ashe county, north carolina. >> this is not been an environment in which it's easy to get by. >> reporter: lee mcmillan is a local businessman. >> it's been tough times here.

>> reporter: what kind of folk does this land produce? >> fiercely independent bunch of people, and they believe strongly many self-reliance. >> reporter: lonnie is a retired engineer. >> we made do or do without. ♪ >> reporter: for countless generations people of ashe county made due by growing tobacco. raising cattle on small family ranches and producing lumber from the vast forests that surround them. what do they do when hard times come? >> my daddy got a job logging. >> doug lewis is a retired saw mill. >> he got $2.50 a day. this mountain pride, it's over. >> reporter: we heard a lot in ashe county about this thing called mountain pride. this deeply held belief that

it's best to do for one's self. but as the federal government sees it, mountain pride is a problem. you see, the government tries to trap how many people in an area are eligible for food stamps, and how many have signed up for benefits. when a place like ashe county stands out with an unexpectedly high number of residents refusing food stamps, a network of social service types from local, state, and federal governments, nonprofits too, springs into action. >> this money is out there. if you're not taking it, there's something wrong with you. that's correct. >> reporter: jeff sessions, republican senator from alabama, is angry that the government wants to coax people under the food stamp roles. >> the idea that a person says i don't want it, i don't need it, and then you feel it's your obligation to talk them into taking it, that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. they think they should overcome

mountain pride. >> reporter: here's what happened. a local social services worker partly funded by a usda grant figured out that while folks here value their self-reliance too much to actually accept government money for groceries, they would accept it to buy seed and they could plant in their garden. that proved to be the opening everyone was looking for. in just a year a, according to the government, food stamp participation jumped 10% in ashe county, and that was just the beginning. folks here eventually became more open to other forms of government aid as well. social worker brandy lay whose inc. mute earned her a trip to the annual american association of snap directors convention in columbus, ohio, where she received the gold hunger champions award from the usda. she applauded the strategy in counter act whatting they describe as mountain pride. >> makes me very angry, very

angry. >> unbelievable. to me it's in reverse. it should be getting an award for the people that get off food stamps and find a job. >> at its deepest level, the motivation of that drive of the government to encourage people to take benefits they say they don't need, i think the difficult thing to understand. >> the usda, they decline to speak with us. they did send us this 39-page report basically summing the usda's mission. it seems to boil downtown on some level to put as many americans on the food stamp rolls as possible. >> that is exactly the way they see their mission. they explain it in their docket. >> this is a big government. it spends a lot of money. a lot of it goes to prosperous people, tax breaks for their vacation homes or folks out in hollywood who buy those fancy electric cars get a lot of help from the government.

so what's going on with needy folks accident poor foels getting their share of government cheese? >> there's nothing wrong with poor people who need help getting help. ♪ >> we have always -- it's been through the churches and through organizations. if it all falls through the cracks, then these people cannot get food, and they need it to feed their children, i think the government should help them. >> if you just give them money and if it's just a question of money and benefits, then you can diminish and dull their incentive to work and achieve and to rise above difficult circumstances. i think there's a real moral question. >> what would the consequence be if mountain pride were broken? >> it's showing up in the work force. i know one particular saw mill that has two mills and can't run one because they can't get enough help. >> even these days?

>> even these days. restaurants are having problems in town getting waitresses. people account on getting something for nothing. >> one brief message to deliver president obama. what would you say? >> i would say look for those of us who still persist that mountain pride. leave us alone. >> coming up, the unintended consequences of government welfare. are we unlearning the lessons of our past? might this 29-year-old be exhibit a? get on twitter during the break. tell us what you think. use the _#fox news reports. jackie: there are plenty of things i prefer to do on my own. but when it comes to investing, i just think it's better to work with someone. someone you feel you can really partner with. unfortunately, i've found that some brokerage firms don't always encourage that kind of relationship. that's why i stopped working at the old brokerage, and started working for charles schwab.

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so why are food stamps >> why are food stamps administered by the usda? turns out back in the great depression the first food stamps aimed to solve two problems. while poor people in cities were going hungry, farmers were growing a surplus of food. so the department of agriculture sold -- in a gave half off produce items farmers couldn't get rid of. that program ended in 1943. among the reasons? surpluses had disappeared. in the 1960s the johnson administration launched the current food stamp program as part of its war on poverty. it had nothing to do with foreign policy, but there was a political advantage to keeping food stamps under the usda.

it made each massive farm bill popular with lawmakers from cities and rural communities alike. in a surprise move, however, a group of breakaway house republicans just scuttled the latest farm bill. they now want a separate vote on food stamps hoping to draw attention to what they see as wasteful spending that can also make the poor too dependent on government. they weren't the first to worry about that. it was on the minds of those who launched the war on poverty. >> the days of the dull in our country are numbered. our american answer to poverty is not to make the poor moore secure in their poverty, but to reach down and to help them lift themselves. >> it sounded really good at the time too. you know, give a hand up. not a hand out. >> at that time charles murray was a 21-year-old history major at harvard.

a liberal policy wonk coming of age in heavy times. after earning a ph.d., went to work for a washington think tank with a government contract to evaluate the effectiveness of the great society's anti-poverty programs. murray's groundbreaking research transformed him from a liberal to a libertarian and helped transform the nation's welfare policy as well. >> was there a eureka moment during your research? >> there was. i came across a source which had calculated the poverty rate back to world war ii. the poverty rate had been going down even faster before the war on poverty, and that was the

moment i said, oh, it's only after the war on poverty was a few wreerz along that we stopped making progress. >> it slowed? >> it stopped. >> his landmark 1984 book "losing ground" not only concluded that the war on poverty failed to get people out of port, but it had devastating consequences for an underclass stuck in a culture of dependency. >> your findings were controversial. >> very much so. their conventional wisdom now. they were conventional wisdom by the early 1990s. snoo when you can, you must work because welfare should be a second chance, not a way of life. >> reporter: by 1996 a republican congress passed and the democratic president signed a welfare reform bill. in the years since that law has been hailed as a success, helping people get off the welfare rolls and gain

self-respect. but murray thinks america is unlearning many lessons of the recent past. >> food stamps as a specific program is one of the most obvious ways in which the government has reached into american mabdz and says it's okay to be dependent. the cost of that is the kind of pride that used to be the hallmark of americans. >> reporter: that puts murray directly at odds with joel berg, who you'll remember laments that the stigma that still surrounds food stamps is making it hard for groups like his to fight the specter of mass hunger in america. >> shouldn't there be at least some stigma? >> no. >> at all? >> no more than there should be a stigma for a small businessperson getting the government to grant them a loan. no more than there should be a stigma for someone driving their private car over a government paved road. >> we are on complete opposite sides.

i wish people would understand that if you don't stigmatize one set of behaviors, you can't celebrate another. you can't say of the family that doesn't accept them and that says we will do it on our own, thank you very much. you can't celebrate them. i want the culture to say you guys are wonderful. destigmatizing foot stamps makes that impossible. >> i totally disagree. >> reporter: representative jan is a four-term democrat from the suburbs of chicago. >> to say that these low income people are wanting to be freeloaders and the federal government is helping them. >> do you worry about hurting poor people over the long-term at all? >> not at all. most people are on the food stamp program for less than a year. one out of four american children now gets food stamps. do we really want to take food out of the mouths of hungry children?

shame on us. >> i have to smile because otherwise i would erupt. i guess they don't understand that people like me aren't just stingy and don't want to spend money on food stamps. >> some listening to this would say charles murray is saying that the government is making people lazy. >> you know, that's obvious an implication of what i'm saying, but if you rephrase it slightly. charles murray says that the government is systematically undermining a civic culture of independence that was a great american treasure. that's pretty accurate. >> so murray, now 70 years old, finds himself back in another fierce battle of ideas he believes must be won, but his latest book "coming apart" says that battle is being fought on

new terms. he says what were once the pathologies of the underclass are becoming the mainstream. >> if you go to any working class neighborhood in the united states and get to talk to them about the guys around town and their attitude towards work, yeah, you'll get some cases where guys are trying very hard to get work and unable to do it. the story you will hear much more commonly is, oh, he doesn't want a job. >> reporter: which sounds like someone we met earlier in this hour. so i asked murray about jason greensly, that blissfully content la jolla, california, food stamp recipient. >> he surfs a lot. he doesn't have a job. he doesn't want one. he has no problem whatsoever taking $200 a month from taxpayers. are you surprised we could find someone willing to tell us that? >> doesn't surprise me a bit. >> jason is not an anomaly. >> no, no. jason has cousins in every town in america. >> reporter: and stories like jason's trouble murray.

not because of the money wasted. it's the lives murray believes are being friterred away. >> that guy is kidding himself. he is passing time as pleasantly as possible right now. that's not what constitutes a satisfying human life. the sad thing is that the whole philosophical grounding of the welfare state encourages people to think of life many terms of this. >> or as jesson would call it, the rat life. he gets the last word, after the break.

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we end our show checking

>> we understand our show by checking back with jason. unemployed musician, beach bum, doesn't want to take a regular job with a regular boss. we wondered how jason's fellow americans would feel about helping pay for food stamps for someone like him. turns out, according to a fox news poll conducted for many special, they have a problem with it. overwhelmingly so. as john roberts learned, jason doesn't understand why. >> you can't have a job. >> reporter: you can't have a job. the wisdom of 29-year-old jason greenslate. >> now you have to have a food stamp card. >> snap, homeys. ♪ ♪ i'd rather be broke, steal and rob ♪ >> reporter: in case you didn't catch those lyrics.

he is singing i ain't got no job. i would rather be broke, steal, and rob. >> reporter: tell me what's behind no job. >> i have no job, living the dream. >> so living the dream is having no job? >> yeah. >> and how is that going for you, by the way? >> it's going great, man. yeah. going really well. ♪ >> see the girls dancesing up on the tables and we're playing music, and it's an everyday thing. $200 from the man. what's up? >> this is the plan. this is the long-term plan. >> yeah. the job. >> jason does aspire to something more. his band has signed with a record label. it doesn't pay them anything yet. he believes it's the start of something big. >> tell me about the record deal. you in the studio yet? >> yeah, we've been in the studio. hopefully the fireworks start going off zoosh where do you see this all going? >> to the top, man.

to the sky. >> heaven knows jason greenslate might actually make it, or maybe his destiny is just the rat life. if so, he is okay with that. especially if you're still willing to pick up the tab. ♪ some are rich ♪ some are poor >> reporter: the food stamp program is designed to be for a point in your life where you are down, things weren't going well. it's not "a point in your life." it's kind of -- this is life. >> yeah. this is how i live, man. chicks. doing my thing. this is the way i want to live, and i don't really see anything changing. >> it used to be that, you know, somebody who is on food stamps, like, hey, they're on food stamps. loser. >> why would it be bad? it's free food. it's awesome. >> what would you say to somebody who is looking at this saying, you know, i'm working

hard paying taxes so that jason can live his surfer lifestyle, be in his band, and get $200 a month to buy good, quality food? >> thank you, taxpayers. thanks. >> do you feel guilty at all about doing this? >> [ bleep ] no. >> rugged individualism. it's a term that attempts to capture the american values of hard work, self-reliance, and pride in pulling your own weight. those values and the legal and political system that reward them help explain why america has prospered like no other country. at the same time we're also a compassionate and generous people willing to help the poor and feed the hungry. our nation must find harmony in these two values so as not to lose all that made america great

to begin with. that's our report, but the conversation continues on twitter. let me know what you think. again, use the _#fox news reporting. thanks for watching. ? new purina one te instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learmore at purinaone.com

lealong the jersey shore,g. coca-cola is partnering with local businesses and the seaside heights business improvement district to restore the historic boardwalk, welcoming beach lovers back with a refreshed and revitalized place to get out, get moving, and have some fun in the sun. it's part of our goal to inspire more than three million people to rediscover the joy of being active this summer. see the difference all of us can make... together. let's see what you got. rv -- covered. why would you pay for a hotel? i never do. motorcycles -- check. atv. i ride those. do you? no. boat. ahoy, mateys.

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hello, everyone. i'm kimberly guilbyle along with bob beckel, eric bolling, greg gult held, and dana perino. it's 5:00 and this is "the five." moments ago president obama wrapped up his first solo news conference since april 30th. he touched on a number of topics, including the nsa, surveillance, privacy, snowden, putin, drone strike, obama karks republicans shutting down the government, benghazi, the next fed chair, immigration, and the olympics. here are some highlights. >> i wanted to ask you about your evolution on the surveillance issues. why should the