>> a southern california beach >> a southern california beach bum, a preacher in central florida. >> we would give up our freedom for freebies. >> pushing people to sign up for food stamps in brooklyn. >> we are a hair away from large scale hunger, starvation across america. >> this is fox news reporting the great food stamp binge, i'm reporting from the u.s. department of agriculture, why the usda? well for historical and

political reasons, food stamps fall under the agriculture department domain, in fact, food stamps will cost taxpayers a staggering $78 million in year. indeed, food stamps and other food assistance add up to 70% of the outlay. according to a fox news poll, a majority of voters think that most of the 46 million plus food stamp recipients are taking advantage of the system and are not truly in need. you have heard stories of food stamp, waste, fraud and abuse, well this hour we will also look at the cost to the recipients and to the american character. during this show, you can share your thoughts via twitter. be sure to use #foxnewsreporting. we start in new york city where a proponent of food stamps is

working to get more people signed up. >> you are watching a team of determined activists preparing their plan of action. >> the guidelines change a bit. you feel all set and ready to go? >> they will be walki ining aro the streets of brooklyn. the mission. to sign up as many people as they can for food stamps. the new york city coalition against hunger in action. >> people don't know they are eligible. >> joel berg is the executive director. s.n.a.p. stands for the supplemental nutrition assistance program. >> in 2008 the federal government officially dropped the term food stamp, to fight the stigma associated with that term. but most everyone still calls

them food stamps. even people at the coalition. >> you are pscened and you woul like -- you are prescened and would like food stamps. >> his team set up shop at the supermarket because people do not want to go to the food stamp office. >> 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 all together. the government benefit is now electr electrically delivered, they work like any debit card. food stamp usage has been on the rise since 2000, but it has exploded under president obama, 28 million were receiving food stamps. now, about 47 million do. one big factor, was obama's

stimulus package. in addition to pumping more money in to the program, it made qualify identifying for food stamps easier. the president insists, increased spending on food stamps in the stimulus bill did indeed stimulate the economy. >> and you are eligible. >> joel berg said it saved lives. >> we are just a hair away from large scale hunger, malnutrition and starvation in america. >> believe that? >> no question whatsoever. >> you are just laughing. >> absolutely preposterous, given the fact that only 1 in 20 people in america say they were hungry for a single day in the course of the year starving is silly, isn't it? the realty is that the american poor people are not malnourished

and they have too much food. >> robert r eveector is a skcep >> it is distracting our attention from the real issues of how you really help the poor, rather than making them more dependant on government. >> they denied you because of your income change. >> berg said that 80% of the people that turn to his coalition for help are approved. and most thought they were not eligible. >> i will give you my number, we can help you. >> she was not aware that she can still apply just for her daughter. >> you and your volunteers stop and explain food stamps to just about every person on the street. >> yes. >> it could be construed as recruitment. >> we would never, ever try to convince someone that does not

want the benefits to get them. >> this is not just an academic question. recruiting people to go on food stamps, is against the rules. but as you will see the usda has gone right up to the line. did they cross it? their strategy to get past no. but first, john roberts and the new face of food stachs. a character you won't forget. >> when the safety net becomes a hammo hammock after the break.

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. welcome back to fox >> welcome back fox news reporting. a new fox news poll finds that a substantial number of people think the severity of recession

think 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 the tough times many people in the united states worry about feeding themselves and the families. america is a generous nation and few would deny government help to those that need it and we realized every dollar we give to people who should be fending for themselves is one less dollar that we can use for other purposes, including helping the truly needed. then again, some people do not seem to worry about that. john roberts found one of them in la jolla, california. ♪ meet jason greenslade, food stamp recipient. >> another day in the life and days of living a rat life.

>> what is the life of the rat life? >> yeah, later in the afternoon kind of guy. wake up and go down to the beach. and be with my friends. >> give it up. >> see chics. >> all day, every day. ♪ >> we caught up with him in la jolla, california, close to where he grew up. the 29-year-old has chosen the life of a beach bum in this sea side paradise. with no fixed address, jason, has for the last couple of yo-- of years floated from place to place, he gets by with a little help from his friends and you. the taxpayer.

>> my ebt s.n.a.p. card,s that coast of california on it. >> how do you get a s.n.a.p. card? >> go to the human resource office, have your birth certificate and your social security card and you have a paycheck coming in, so i qualify. >> and how often do you have to do that? every month, or six month. you only have to do it once year. things have changed back in 1996. you can get food stamps for only three months every three years. the exception if you were working a 20-hour work week or participated in a work fair or training program. president obama wiped away the restrictions when he signed his stimulus bill in 2009. >> here we go. it's done. >> and in 2010, obama used his regulatory powers to extend the suspension of the welfare to work requirements. >> so you fill out the form for

a s.n.a.p. card, they give you that for a year, no questions asked. >> yeah. >> it's $200 a month? >> yeah, $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. >> how big a par of your life is surf? >> i surf every day. wonderful, man, get out with the boys and have a good time. living the life, never a dull moment, another day in paradise. party at my pad. >> so it's off gourmet section of the local food mart. >> i have my rainbow roll, we have yellow tail, with rice alo

on special and coconut water. >> and jason is off to the automated check out counter, food stamp card at the ready. >> $200 a month and you go, boom. just like that. all paid for on by our wonderful tax dollars. >> is that typically the type of thing that you will get on the s.n.a.p. card? >> yeah. usually i get sushi, but make it my own way. they did not have any good fish. so i just got the premium stuff. >> ebt lobster. blackened fish there. ♪ >> ebt lobster. >> does anybody want a piece? nope. no? >> is it safe to say that this notion of holding down a steady job is just something that is

not in your wheelhouse? >> that ise direction i'm going right now? >> that does not appeal to you? >> not at all. >> i did not know what to expect when i sat down with jason. i was taken aback that he was completely unembarrassed about sponging off the rest of us. he seemed capable of pulling his own weight, resourceful, and even intelligent, he went to san diego state for a while and then he realized what he really wanted in life. >> skating in the class and here comes motley crue, and i realized i do not want to be the guy recording those guys i want to be that guy. >> he wanted to be a rock star. >> i want to be heard, not

listen. >> wait until you hear what else he had to say. >> john roberts returns a little later but first, food tamps offer a help hadding hand, what about people who say, thanks but no thanks? the usda ill conceived scheme to push food stamps in spanish speaking communities. an expose that you may find hard to stomach. tell us what you think of the show so far on twitter. a on of . but how're they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing out, and yes, especially dollars. esurance. now backed by allstate. click or call.

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the virtues to expand the food stamp roles. peter reports from florida. >> self reliance has been an integral part of on our culture. >> this pastor preaches a message of self reliance. >> listen to this, they may end up giving away their freedom for freebies. >> you stress the importance of counting on themselves and not having a hand out. >> i want to remind them of who they were and who they are. self reliant and self-respect go together. >> which might explain why pastor ramirez is still angry by something he heard from the usda some time back. it shows a glimpse into the usda, under both republican and democratic administrations has seen its mission as pushing food

stamps on groups of people reluctant to take them. they produced a series of spanish language radio spots and the usda made them available to any radio station that wanted to play them. >> the united states department of agriculture, usda, and the supplemental nutrition assistance program, s.n.a.p. is proud to present happiness park, enjoy the show while you savor a delicious piece of fresh fruit. let's begin. >> it's like any soap opera, that is one chose characters are obsessed with food stamp s episode one tries to bust the myth that it's welfare and that only unemployed can qualify. >> it's not that we don't love each other, but we are always fighting over money. >> she is talking to her friend,

claudia. >> did roberto find a job? >> not yet. and that worries me. because with what i eastern as a babysitter is just not enough. >> apply for s.n.a.p. >> s.n.a.p.? but isn't it like welfare? >> no, s.n.a.p. is a supplemental nutrition assistant program that helps you afford food during difficult times. just do it. >> in episode two, monica does it and by episode three, she tries to convince a friend, ramon, to sign up. >> i don't think i qualify. i own my house. and i live with my daughter and grandson. >> you might. s.n.a.p. is a program to help people. if you don't apply, you will never know. >> it's highly offensive and we can count on our own culture to make a success story. >> in episode four, ramon signs up for food stamps and then urges another friend to do so as

well. she is very reluctant. her name is dianna. >> i don't need help from anyone. my husband makes enough to take care of us. >> ay, girl, when you are going to learn? >> this gentleman better not say that to any of my ladies in this church, the ladies in this church will tell him off. >> it turns out that dianna is the most stubborn but they wear her down over the next five episodes and in episode 5, we learn that her daughter is over weight and in the next onsuzett comes in last in a swimming race. >> they keep up the pressure. >> it doesn't matter if your husband works full time or if you own a car. i was approved and row wear toe that is a job. >> yes, i know, s.n.a.p.,

s.n.a.p., s.n.a.p., we are leaving. >> do it for your own health, why are you angry? >> it's insulting. this woman recalls hearing happiness park episodes on the radio. >> and when you hear this, and you recognize that it's aimed at -- >> at the hispanic. >> what is your reaction? >> my gut reactions is that they are calling us stupid. >> episode 7 is an eye opener for the reluctant diana, she goes shopping with monica. >> no, it's your turn to pay. >> wait, don't use food stamps in front of everyone. >> there's no stamps. s.n.a.p. gives you a card. >> wow. it looks like a bank card. >> exactly, diana, no one has to no. apply. you could gain so much. >> that's not why we came to america. >> for you, my friend. >> we take care of our own, without any help. and you get ahead on your own. >> back in happiness park.

diana is still not convinced insisting in the next episode that she did not need help from anyone. but everything changes in episode 9. which according to the usda production script was written to overcome the barrier of pride. >> hello, yes? what. >> what happened? what happened? >> diana is crying, she is at the hospital. >> thankfully, diana survived. >> i thought it was a heart attack. >> what? >> yes. i felt horrible. but the doctor told me that it was indigestion. >> indegestion. >> the doctor scolded me and said i needed to lose weight and i need to eat healthier foods like fruits and vegetables. i should have listened to you. what's the program called? >> it's called s.n.a.p., but the next episode, diana signs up.

she does not know that contrary to the suggestion of the show, that the s.n.a.p. will not help her lose weight. there's been a link found between the s.n.a.p. program and obesity in women like diana. >> we feel that unconditional effort by the best food stamp president in the history -- >> when the food stamp binge became an issue, the novella series became a news story. it was pulled from circulation. it was admitted that some of the content in the advertisements does not meet the standards of what i consider to be appropriate out onreach. but it turns out that hispanics

were not the only group targeted by the usda's outreach squad. >> coming up, breaking down mountain fraud in north carolina. the usda did not back away from this effort. in fact, they gave it an award.

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people to sign up for food stamps. whether they say they want them or not. one of those eve 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 the increase is apparently efforts to break down mountain pride. the music, one of the oldest art forms in america. it's mournful strains tell the story of a god-fearing people who have long lived in remote places like in ashe county, north carolina. >> it's not an environment in which it's easy to get by. >> leigh is a local businessman. >> it's been tough times here.

>> what kind of folk did this land produce? >> they were a fiercely independent bunch of people. and they believed strongly in self reliance. >> lonnie is a retired engineer. >> they made do or do without. for countless generations the people of ashe county made do by growing tobacco. raising cattle in small family ranches and producing lumber from the vast forests around them. what do they do in hard times? >> my daddy got a job logging. >> doug lewis is a retired -- >> this mountain pride took over. >> we heard a lot in ashe county about the 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 track 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 and nonprofits too, springs into action. >> this money is out there. if you are not taking it, there's something wrong with you. >> that's correct. >> jeff sessions, republican senator from alabama is angry that the government wants to coax people on to the food stamp roles. >> a person said they do not want it or need it and you feel it's your obligation into talking them into taking it, it makes the hair stand up on the

back of my neck. they feel it should take over mountain pride. >> while folks value their self reliance too much to buy government groceries they would accept the help to buy seeds. that was the opening they were looking for. food stamp participation jumped 10% in ashe county and that was the beginning. folks were more taupe other forms of government aide as well. social worker, brandi lay's ingenuity earned her to the s.n.a.p. director's convention in columbus, ohio, where she received the gold hunger champion's award they applauded the strategy of counter acting what they described as mountain pride. >> it makes me angry. very angry. >> unbelievable.

seems to me it's in reverse. we should be getting awarded for the people we get off the food stamps and find them a job. >> at the deepest level, the motivation, of the government to encourage people to take benefits they say they do not need. it's a difficult thing to understand. >> the usda, they declined to speak with us. they did send is us this 39 page report. basically, summing the usda's mission. it seems to boil down on some level to put as many eligible americans on the food stamp rolls as possible. >> that is exactly the way they see their mission. they explain it in their documents. >> senator, this is a big government, spends a lot of money. a lot of it goes to prosperous people, tax breaks for their vacation homes or the folks that buy fancy electric cars get help

from the government. what is wrong with the poor people getting their share of government cheese? >> there's nothing wrong with poor people getting help that need it. we have always helped those that needed help. there's churches and organizations. if it all falls through the cracks and these people cannot get food and they need it to feed their children, i think it's the government that can help them. >> if you just give them money, and it's just a question of money and benefits, then you can diminish and dull their incentive to work and achieve and rise above difficult circumstances. i think it's a moral question. >> what would the question be if the mountain pride is broken? >> it's showing up in the workforce. they have two mills and not run one because they do not have the

help. restaurants are having problems in town getting waitresses. people are getting used to getting something for nothing. >> if you had one brief message to deliver to president obama, what would you say? >> i would say, for those of us who still possess the mountain pride, leave us alone. >> coming up, the unintended consequences of government welfare, are we unlearning the lesson s of our past? might this 29-year-old be exhibit a, get on twitter and tell us what you think. houston the hash tag fox news reporting.amily ch lenge. a community wide program that offers free classes that inspire families to get out, enjoy moving together, and even track their activity online. it's part of our goal to inspire more than three million people to rediscover the joy of being active this summer.

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♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. >> 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 stamps that gave half off produce items farmers could not get rid of. that program ended in 1943. among the reasons, is 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 farm policy, but there was a political advantage to keeping food stamps under the usda, it

made each massive farm bill popular. in a surprise move, however, a move of break away house republicans scutleed the latest farm bill. and they are hoping to draw attention to what they see as wasteful spending that can make the poor too dependant on government. they were not the first to worry about it. it was on the minds of those that launched the war on poverty. >> the days of the dole in our country are numbered. our american answer to poverty is not to make the poor more secure in their poverty, but to reach down and to help them lift themselves. >> it sounded good at the time too. 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 walk, coming of age in heady times. >> we were really optimistic in the 1960s because we never tried to use government programs, turned out to be tough. >> murray would come to understand how tough a few years later after earning a ph.d. in political science at m.i.t., he went to work for a washington think tank with a government contract to evaluate the effectiveness of the great society anti-poverty's program. his ground breaking 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, and 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 years along that we stopped making progress. >> it slowed. >> it stopped. >> murray's land 1984 book called losing ground, it shows that the program had devastating consequences. >> your findings were controversial. >> very much so. they are conventional wisdom now. they were conventional wisdom by the early 1990s. >> when you can, you should work, welfare should be a second chance, not a way of life. >> 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 the success. helping people get off the welfare rolls and gain

self-respect. but murray thinks american is unlearning lessons of the recent past. >> food stamps is one of the most obvious ways in which the government has reached into american neighborhoods and said, it's okay to be dependent. the cost of that is the kind of pride that used to be the hall mark of america. >> that puts murray directly at odds with joel berg who lamentes that the stigma that surrounds food stamps is making it hard for groups like his to fight mass hunger. >> shouldn't there be a stigma at all? >> no, no more than there is a small business person getting a government grantor loan, or someone riding their private car over a government paved road. >> he and i are on opposite

sides of that question. i wish people would understand that if you do not stigmatize one is he of behaviors you cannot celebrate another. you cannot say of the family that does not accept them and says, we will do it on our own, thank you very much. you cannot celebrate. de stigmatizing food stamps makes that impossible. >> this representative is a four-term democrat from chicago. >> it implies that these poor people are trying hurt the government. most of the people are on the program for less than a area. 1 out of 4 american children now get food stamps. do we really want to take food on you of the mouths of hungry children? shame on us.

>> i have to smile, bret, 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. >> someone listening to this could say, charms mles murray i saying that the government is making people lazy. >> that is obviously a simple view of what i'm saying but phr charles murray is saying that the government is systematically under-mining what was a great american treasure, that is accurate. >> murray, 70 years old, finds himself back in a battle of fierce ideas that he believes must be won. his latest book, "coming apart," said the battle is being fought on new terms.

what was once the pathologies of the under class is now becoming the mainstream. >> if you go to a working class neighborhood and you get them talking about the guys around town and their attitude toward work. will you get cases where guys are trying hard to get work. the story you hear more commonly is you did not want a job. >> which sounds like someone we met earlier in the hour on. so i asked murray about jason, that blissfully content la jolla, california, food stamp recipient. >> he surfs a lot, he does not have a job. he does not want one. he has no problem 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 odd. >> no, no, jason has cousins in every town in america. >> and stories like jason

trouble murray not because of the money wasted. it's the lies murray believes that are being frittered away. >> that guy is kidding himself. he is passing time as plenty -- time as pleasantly as possible right now. that is not what makes up a wonderful human life and the welfare staten courages people to think of life inspe terms ofe picnic. >> as jason calls it, the rat life. he gets the last word after the break. chances are,

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we end our show by checking back on jason greenslate. unemployed musician, beach bum. doesn't want to take a regular job. we wondered how regular americans would help paying for food stamps for someone like him. turns out according to a fox news poll conducted for this special, they have a problem with it. overwhelmingly so. but as john roberts learned, jason doesn't understand why. >> you can't have a job. >> you can't have a job? the wisdom of 19-year-old jason greenslate. >> you have to have a food stamp card. ♪ >> in case you didn't catch those lyrics, jason's singing "i

ain't got no mf job, i would rather be broke, steal and rob. tell me what's behind that song? >> have no job, living the dream, doing your thing. >> living the dream is having no job? >> yeah. >> how is that going for you by the way? >> it's going great, yeah. going really well. ♪ >> you have girls dancing up on the table, an everyday thing. $ >> this is the long-term plan? >> yeah, it's the job. >> jason does aspire to something more. his band has signed with a record label. it doesn't pay them anything yet, but he believes it's the start of something big. tell me about the record deal. are you in the studio yet? >> yeah, hopefully the fireworks start going off. >> 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's okay with that. especially if you're still willing to pick up the tab. the food stamp program was designed to be for a point in your life where you were down, things weren't going well. it's not quote, a point in your life. this is life for me. >> yeah. this is how i live, man. cheap chicks, doing my thing. this is the way i want to live and i don't see anything changing. >> it used to be, somebody was on food stamps, it's like, they're on food stamps, loser. >> it's free food. it's awesome. >> what would you say to somebody who is looking at this,

saying i'm working hard, paying taxes so jason can live his surfer lifestyle and get $200 to buy good, quality food? >> thank you, taxpayers. thanks. >> do you feel guilty at all about that? >> [ 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 door, 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 hash tag foxnewsreports. thanks for watching. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your imptant legal matters in just minutes. protect youramily... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

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