Nearly 36 Million Americans Live in Poverty (1.3 m added in 03)

[papau]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20040826/ts_nm/life_poverty_dc

Nearly 36 Million Americans Live in Poverty (1.3 m added in 03)

By Andrea Hopkins

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 1.3 million Americans slid into poverty in 2003 as the ranks of the poor rose 4 percent to 35.9 million, with children (12.9 million) and blacks worse off than most, the U.S. government said on Thursday in a report sure to fuel Democratic criticism of President Bush .

Despite the economic recovery, the percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose for the third straight year to 12.5 percent -- the highest since 1998 -- from 12.1 percent in 2002 (and 11.3% in 2000), the Census Bureau said in its annual poverty report. The widely cited scorecard on the nation's economy showed one-third of those in poverty were children. <snip>

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has argued Bush's economic stewardship, including three rounds of tax cuts since 2001, has done more to help wealthy Americans than the poor or middle class.


"Today confirms the failure of President Bush's policies for all Americans," the Massachusetts senator said in a statement. "Under George Bush's watch, America's families are falling further behind." <snip>

The report showed real median income for all races was unchanged at $43,318 in 2003. <snip>

[fishnfla]

1. the report also showed 45 mill without health insurance

this would be a different segment of the poulation, the working poor who cannot qualify for medicaid

[papau]

3. If those 90 million had guns and marched on the 13000 richest families

would we see a tax increase -

or just a "defense spending increase" so as to defend the rich?

:-)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. the percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose<<

The real question is.... out of that percentage... how many of them are susceptible enough to the rhetoric and misrepresentations being so shamelessly displayed on the mind control box to vote for the "person" who is bringing them this wonderful state???




"24.9 percent of American children live in poverty, while the proportions in Germany, France and Italy are 8.6, 7.4 and 10.5 percent. And once born on the wrong side of the tracks, Americans are more likely to stay there than their counterparts in Europe. Those born to better-off families are more likely to stay better off. America is developing an aristocracy of the rich and a serfdom of the poor - the inevitable result of a twenty-year erosion of its social contract."

Will Hutton

[papau]

4. True - and sad

:-(

[A_Possum]

5. Media blitz?

This is important, and is another of the things that is being deliberately downplayed by the Pugs. (Article says this report is normally released in September, critics say it's been released early to make sure people are on vacation and don't notice."

[tandot]

6. and Republicans say it is without the full effect of Bush's Tax Cut

All those people who are barely above the poverty line can't wait for the Tax Cut to those rich people to take its full effect...to slip further into poverty

[papau]

7. Graph below shows effect og GOP in office