2 years in a row, more in poverty

[Pale Blue Dot]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=716&e=21&u=/usatoday/20030926/ts_usatoday/11872591

More than a million Americans sank into poverty last year, an annual Census report is expected to show today. It would be the first time in nearly a decade that the number of poor rose two years in a row.


Experts at the University of Michigan, the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation and the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said they expected official figures to show the U.S. poverty rate growing from 11.7% in 2001 to around 12.3% in 2002. Their predictions generally are accurate within a few decimal points.


The figures were previewed three weeks ago by a Census survey testing a new methodology. Today's figures are considered more authoritative and comprehensive. They're the ones used by the government in calculating unemployment and setting policies.

[JPace]

1. The loss of millions of jobs....

means millions of families are slipping into
poverty. We are fast becoming a nation of the
haves and the have nots....just the way the
AWOL regime loves it.

[izzie]

2. Well since Bush came in I have lost one half my retirement fund.

I am really living very badly. My retirement fund has not lost a lot of money but has not paid well at all.Each month it has gone down just as my bank said it would. They moved it into safe funds when Bush came in to office and called and told me it was going to be hard on me.I think I have reached that poor stage but I still have to pay taxes to both feds and state.

[searchingforlight]

3. Do you really think most people care?

There is a great article in the NYT today about how these numbers are figured and how off they are.

I think that one of the things we should ask our new President to do is to reassess how those numbers are calculated at the beginning of his/her term.

[Aidoneus]

4. none of this is an accident

A few weeks back in General Discussion, there was an article from one of the business papers about how the top 400 richest people saw their profits go up last year--that's all that matters. Besides advancing a global policy of aggression and bullying (which is partially just a smokescreen to make the figurehead a bit more secure domestically as other things are carried out), one of the main pillars of the "W" government is wealth redistribution from below upward. Tens of thousands of people still lose their jobs every month, but the stock market is doing better so they call it a miracle recovery. And it's the critics of this that are accused of "class warfare"..

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. the french had this same thing happen

when the people woke up and saw how out of hand it was the "have nots" brutally slaughtered the "havs".