WSB Money Update: Government assistance grows

WSB Money Update: one in 3 Americans lives in a household dependent on some sort of government assistance from medicaid to food stamps. 

According to CNN's Allison Kossik, other factor make the number climb even higher. "More than 148 million people are getting some type of government assistance," says Kossik.  "That included everything from Medicaid to food stamps, to medicare to social security benefits."

The federal government distributed 2 trillion dollars in assistance in 2010, up 75 percent from 10 years ago.  The so-called social safety net is becoming a campaign kickball in an election year but analysts from both parties concede the level of spending is not fiscally sustainable.