Consumers in the U.S. are increasingly using credit cards to pay for basic necessities as income gains fail to keep pace with rising food and fuel prices.

The dollar volume of purchases charged grew 10.7 percent in June from a year ago, while the number of transactions rose 6.8 percent, according to First Data Corp.’s SpendTrend report issued this month. The difference probably represents the increasing cost of gasoline, said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president at First Data, the largest credit card processor.

“Consumers, particularly in the lower-income end, are being forced to use their credit cards for everyday spending like gas and food,” said Tavares, who’s based in Atlanta. “That’s because there’s been no other positive catalyst, like an increase in wages, to offset higher prices. It’s a cash-flow problem.”

In what appears to be a gross Obama administration oversight, former Bush administration political officials are still receiving taxpayer-funded credit cards in the mail.

Former DOL official Don Todd, who used to oversee the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) told TheDC that the government sent him a ready-to-activate taxpayer-funded credit card.

Todd, who now works in the private sector at nonprofit Americans for Limited Government (ALG), destroyed the card, but he’s shocked at how he still got one in the mail, years after he left his politically appointed government post. Todd’s last day at the DOL was Jan. 20, 2009. The DOL is still sending him credit cards.

Jokingly, Todd told TheDC that this oversight reminds him of former President Ronald Reagan’s comments about how a government bureau is the “nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”

“A government job is a gift that keeps on giving,” Todd joked.

Immigrants, homeless persons and other residents of San Francisco who often encounter difficulty receiving common services were given respite today in the form of citywide identification cards, according to Supervisor Tom Ammiano's office. By a 10-1 vote,

Six suspected illegal immigrants were arrested after police said they had 150 fake identification cards. Belmont County deputies pulled the van over on Interstate 70 East near Morristown late Friday for a traffic violation. A search of the vehicle yielded

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative Judicial Watch, says the cards "raise the specter of local governments conspiring with illegals to help them stay here." "In the least, they undermine federal law," he says, "and at worst, they violate the law."

MANCHESTER, Conn. -- The managing editor of the Journal Inquirer newspaper is asking the state Freedom of Information Commission to order New Haven officials to disclose the names of applicants for controversial municipal identification cards. The ID card