WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S.

Aid for the poor is a top priority in the Obama administration’s economic stimulus proposal — in part because research shows that putting cash in the pockets of low-income families is one of the best ways to jumpstart the economy.

Not including an estimated $87 billion hike in Medicaid — federal-state health insurance for the poor — and billions more in low-income tax breaks, the just a

The American economy is in a recession that is 14 months old, and the downturn appears to be growing deeper and more severe. Approximately 1.8 million Americans lost their jobs in the past three months alone—nearly 20,000 a day.

Congress is on the verge of increasing funding for food stamps as part of the economic stimulus bill, because of the steep rise in the number of Americans applying for the aid.

For example, in the past 20 months Florida’s food stamp caseload has grown by more than a half million people, to 1.8 million.

“The belief that charity does it better than government only ensures hunger will persist,” Berg says. “When people get food from a pantry, that’s not a success. It’s a failure of American policy.”

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These complex dynamics can make for a safety net at odds with itself. The food stamp program now lays out a welcome mat, urging the needy to apply. Temporary Assistance, the cash program, often looks like an obstacle course, with time limits, work requirements and state discretion to shoo people away.

Amid rising joblessness, 18 states cut their cash caseloads last year.

At Obama’s bidding, one of Vilsack’s first challenges will be to improve child nutrition and food assistance programs, such as the $6 billion Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which is up for renewal by Congress.

With the national economy in meltdown, more Americans than ever are relying on the federal aid program to keep from going hungry. In October, more than one in 10 people — about 31 million — were using the food stamp program to get by, according to the U.S.