During the presidential contest between Barack Obama and John McCain, there was lots and lots of talk about helping the middle-class, but we didn’t hear much about the 38 million Americans who are living below the poverty line. That’s because lower-income Americans are less likely to vote, and when they do, not too many of them vote Republican, so their votes are not really up for grabs. Now that the election is over, the poor are no longer completely invisible. The stimulus bill (aka the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”) includes numerous allocations for low-income Americans, but there are two big-ticket items that stand out. The bill includes $19.9 billion for a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as “food stamps.” In November 2008, 31 million people in 14 million households used food stamps to help feed themselves, an increase of 4 million over November 2007. The bill provides for a 13.6% increase in benefits beginning in April.