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A record 44.7 million people — or 1 in 7 Americans — were on food stamps last year. But does that make Barack Obama the "food stamp president?"

Newt Gingrich once again slapped that label on Obama during a South Carolina debate Monday night, saying: "The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history."

It’s true that the food stamp rolls have swelled more under Obama’s tenure than under his recent predecessors. Also, his 2009 Recovery Act allowed even more people to sign up.

The number of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has soared to an average 44.7 million in fiscal 2011, up 33% from fiscal 2009. Obama’s stimulus act made it easier for childless, jobless adults to qualify for the program and increased the monthly benefit by about 15% through 2013.

In fiscal 2011, the federal government spent more than $75 billion on food stamps, which provided an average monthly benefit of $133.85 a month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s up from $34.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2008, when recipients collected an average benefit of $102.19.

Faces of poverty

But these numbers alone do not tell the whole story.

Food stamp enrollment has been rising for more than a decade. President Bush launched a recruitment campaign, which pushed average participation up by 63% during his eight years in office.

Nearly the same number of people — 11 million — joined the program during the Bush and Obama administrations, according to Department of Agriculture records instant credit report. Of course, the jump during Obama’s tenure has come in only three years.

Also, food stamps are available to anyone who meets the criteria, generally having a monthly net income below the poverty line — about $18,500 a year for a family of three — and assets of $2,000 or less. Even with the ramp-up, an estimated one in four eligible Americans do not participate, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Much of what’s driving the steep climb in enrollment is the nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, when the food stamp program was created.

Food stamps have become a lifeline for the millions of long-term unemployed. More than 20% of those unemployed for more than six months received benefits, according to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.

"The program is designed to be responsive to economic downturns and it’s met the need that’s out there," said Dorothy Rosenbaum, the center’s senior policy analyst. "These increases are temporary."

However, Gingrich may have a point in painting Obama as an entitlement president, said Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Spending on income-based programs, such as food stamps, has increased by one-third to $900 billion under Obama. There are 70 such programs.

"He is massively expanding spending on welfare-related programs," Rector said. "Food stamps is a symbol of that growth." 

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U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he sees some reason for optimism in Europe, while acknowledging that 2012 is set to be a challenging year.

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister says the OPEC powerhouse’s readiness to boost oil output is not linked to sanctions that could affect Iran’s oil exports.

Ali Al-Naimi was quoted by the Saudi daily Al-Ektisadiya on Sunday as saying the oil-rich kingdom was ready to use its spare production capacity to fill any market need.

But he said earlier pledges to boost output as needed were not linked to global worries over U.S. and potential European Union sanctions affecting Iranian oil exports.

The comments come as Iran’s OPEC governor was quoted Sunday warning Arab oil producers against trying to compensate for any potential shortfall in his country’s crude exports low fee payday loans.

Iran has warned that it could shutter the vital Strait of Hormuz over sanctions affecting its oil exports.

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Anheuser-Busch InBev has apparently taken another step forward in its century-long march to win full control of the brand “Budweiser.”

The world’s largest brewer has bought Czech brewery Budjovicky mestansky pivovar, according to reports in the Czech press today. The small firm is one of two Czech breweries that have been fighting A-B in European courts for decades over the right to the trademarks for Budweiser.

Financial details were not available, but it appears that the deal is mainly about the label. Harvestor, the firm that owns Budjovicky mestansky pivovar, transferred its assets and employees to another company before the sale, according to Czech daily Hospodarske noviny. Trademarks and a small plot of land remain in the company that was bought by A-B InBev.

The larger of A-B InBev’s two Czech antagonists, Budejovicky Budvar, remains independent and state-owned. But some analysts say the smaller deal may open the door for A-B InBev to buy a stake in Budvar if the company is privatized in the future.

That could make sense. After all, if A-B InBev plans to make “Budweiser” an iconic global brand, they not going to want to have other “Budweisers” running around Europe.

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The job market is getting better, but it’s far from healed. Will President Obama be able to turn things around in time to save his own job?

From the labor market’s height in January 2008 to its bottom in February 2010, 8.8 million jobs were cut, and the unemployment rate soared as high as 10% in October 2009.

Obama has taken a lot of heat for that.

But only about half of those job losses — or 4.3 million — happened under his watch.

And by measuring his record against that benchmark, it looks like Obama could actually break even, and maybe even come out ahead on jobs.

As of December, roughly two thirds of the jobs lost during Obama’s presidency have been recovered.

That leaves a hole of slightly more than 1.6 million jobs for him to fill by the end of 2012.

It’s a tall order. But it might just happen.

Obama battles job crisis: 3 years…and counting

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney are predicting that American employers will add exactly that many jobs this year.

Add that to upward revisions the Labor Department has already said it will likely add to its 2011 job tally, and Obama could very well end up with net job growth for his first term.

"The trend is heading in the right direction for Obama right now," said Ryan McConaghy, director of the economic program at think-tank Third Way cheapest personal loan rates. "More jobs and lower unemployment are what he wants to continue to see."

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate, has already fallen to 8.5% — getting closer to the 7.8% it was at when Obama was inaugurated.

What’s in a number?

How much will the improvement help Obama’s chances? History is a dubious measure.

George W. Bush ended his first term with a loss of 152,000 jobs and a higher unemployment rate than when he began, and he still won re-election.

But unemployment is a bigger issue today than it was then. (Check the unemployment rate in your state.)

And no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has been elected for a second term with an unemployment rate over 7.2%.

As of December, 13 million people remain unemployed. Try convincing them that Obama has solved the country’s economic woes.

"Having a high level at 8% unemployment — that’s going to be hard for him to overcome," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "If I’m President Obama, I don’t want to be in the position of telling people this is a good economy — that strategy is going to fall flat." 

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The European Union’s antitrust regulator is moving toward blocking the $10 billion merger between stock exchanges NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse, two people close to the merger said Tuesday.

The case team that has been examining the planned merger, which would create the world’s largest exchange operator, fears that the combined company would have an overly dominant position in the trading and clearing of exchange-traded derivatives in Europe, said one of the people.

Because of their concerns, the EU’s Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia is set to recommend blocking the deal at a meeting with his fellow Commissioners on Feb. 1, the person said.

A majority of commissioners has to back the prohibition of the merger and a final decision has to come by Feb. 9, at the latest.

A second person close to the merger confirmed that “it looks like they (the European Commission) is working toward a prohibition.”

Both people requested anonymity because the process is confidential.

The negative opinion from the case team will set off several weeks of intense lobbying in which Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext will try to convince other commissioners to advocate for the merger, which they say will strengthen Europe’s position in global financial markets and cut costs for banks and other financial firms using their trading and clearing services.

Opponents of the deal, such as the London Stock Exchange Group PLC and Nasdaq, meanwhile, will push for the deal to be blocked, arguing that it threatens to destroy other companies trying to move into the trading and clearing of derivatives.

Derivatives are complex financial products that allow investors to bet on developments in areas such as interest rates, stock indexes or commodity prices high quality business cards.

It is rare for recommendations from the competition commissioner to be overturned, but it has happened before, most notably in the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in 2010.

The antitrust division of the Commission has been examining the merger between NYSE and Deutsche Boerse since the early summer and its concerns have crystallized around the two companies’ strong derivative trading platforms _ NYSE’s Liffe and Deutsche Boerse’s Euronext.

Together, the two exchanges are seen to control more than 90 percent of the trading of some of the most popular derivatives products.

The Commission has asked that the companies sell one of the two platforms, the first person said _ a demand that the two companies rejected.

NYSE and Deutsche Boerse argue that the Commission should take into account that the vast majority of derivative trades don’t happen on regulated exchanges but bilaterally between banks and other financial firms.

They also argue that the Commission should not only focus on Europe, but see derivative trading as a global market.

NYSE and Deutsche Boerse said in a statement that they had not yet received any decision from the Commission. A spokeswoman for Almunia also said that no final decision on the merger has been taken.

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Australian retail sales unexpectedly stalled in November, ending four months of gains and pushing the nation

Yahoo Inc. is preparing for a possible makeover of its board, according to news media reports published Saturday.

The Internet company, which hired PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO this past week, is searching for candidates to replace board members who may resign, according to The Wall Street Journal. Reuters also reported that Yahoo is looking for new board members. Nine Yahoo directors are up for re-election this year at the company’s annual meeting.

The Journal said one of the directors might be Yahoo’s chairman, Roy Bostock. The Journal said the search is being led by director Patti Hart and that Yahoo also has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. to assist.

The Journal and Reuters based their reports on information from unidentified people who are familiar with the situation. A telephone call and an email from The Associated Press seeking comment on the reports were not returned immediately electronic check payday advance.

Thompson, who was appointed on Wednesday, is the Sunnyvale, Calif., company’s fourth chief executive in fewer than five years. He replaced Silicon Valley veteran Carol Bartz, who was fired four months ago.

With Thompson’s selection, Yahoo’s board is signaling that it believes the company can rebound, despite several years of losing ground to Google and Facebook in product innovation and online advertising. His task will be to revive Yahoo’s revenue growth and repair its fractured relationship with investors fed up with a litany of broken turnaround promises.

The Journal said the search for new board members intensified after Thompson was appointed and that a number of senior executives in various fields have been contacted.

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Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley called on the U.S. government to try new programs to revive the housing market while saying the central bank may still consider ways to cut interest rates.

HBO fired a shot across Netflix’s bow this week, confirming it will no longer sell discounted DVDs of hit shows like “Boardwalk Empire” to the subscription video service.

The move by Time Warner Inc.’s pay TV channel is more antagonistic than damaging. Netflix Inc. can maintain its mail-order movie rental offerings by buying HBO discs from other sources _ even retail stores. “Netflix will continue to provide HBO programming on DVD and Blu-ray discs for our members,” spokesman Steve Swasey said in a statement.

Still, HBO’s jab heightens the growing rivalry between the companies.

In December, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told an investors conference that HBO’s online viewing service, HBO GO, was “the competitor we fear the most.” He noted that consumers with good incomes can afford to both services, but when money is tight they may be forced to choose just one.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has belittled Netflix, telling The New York Times just over a year ago that it was like “the Albanian army going to take over the world.”

HBO has consistently refused to license its hit shows to Netflix’s online streaming service. The decision to also halt bulk disc sales to Netflix is intended to encourage those who want to watch HBO’s shows to subscribe to HBO.

“We believe in exclusivity,” HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson said.

Netflix offers online streaming of movies and TV shows for as little as $8 a month, but some content providers such as Sony Corp. have pulled movies for fear of damaging their relationships with traditional TV distributors, who offer packages of channels for $100 a month or more.

The Starz pay TV channel, which carries movies from Sony and The Walt Disney Co., has said it will pull its movies from Netflix’s streaming plan in March. That move is the result of a fee dispute between the companies.

Netflix had about 23 million streaming customers as of September, while HBO has around 29 million pay TV customers.

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