DUmmies just adore any thead that alleges increasing poverty, because it just proves
what an awful place America is, even with a Kenyan muslim in the White House. They may
not love it as much as they did with W in office, but it's still a sweet topic:
Kadie (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-19-09 09:52 PM
Original message
Numbers Of Poor, Uninsured Projected To Rise - 38.8 Million Believed To Be In Poverty
HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON --
The numbers of poor and uninsured Americans are likely rising -- with more than 38.8 million believed to be in poverty.
Rebecca Blank, the Commerce Department's undersecretary of economic affairs, spoke to The Associated Press in advance of next month's closely watched release of 2008 census data. Noting the figures are not yet final, Blank said the numbers will likely show a "statistically significant" increase in the poverty rate, to at least 12.7 percent. That would represent a jump of more than 1.5 million poor people last year.
"There's no question that 2008 economically was a much worse year than 2007," she said Wednesday. "The question is how much and how bad."
The number of uninsured is also expected to notably increase due largely to rising unemployment and the erosion of private coverage paid for by employers and individuals, but Blank declined to say by how much. In 2007, the number of uninsured fell by more than 1 million mostly because government programs such as Medicaid for the poor picked up the slack.
more...
http://www.kcra.com/money/20464361/detail.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6350101Now, I've travelled all over the world, and it's been on business, not touristy areas. As a result, I've
seen jaw-dropping poverty in most countries that is light years beyond anything a DUmmy could
comprehend. In well over half the world, the absolute dregs of America - dirty, smelly, homeless winos
like DUmmy bobbolink, who every day shits in someone else's doorway - would be near middle class.
So I always wondered how we could be deemed to have any poverty whatever. It has to be a relative
measure. No matter what spectrum of living standards you are dealing with, the ones on the lower
fringe will always be considered poverty-stricken. If the absolute minimum disposable income of
any person in America was, say, $50,000, then most likely anyone with income below $150,000
would be considered by sociologists to be living in poverty, even if he had four bedrooms and a new
Hummer.
So I don't believe poverty stats mean much, but DUmmies love them.
nightrain (940 posts) Wed Aug-19-09 09:58 PM
1. knr. Terribly sad and unconscionable...
Lars39 (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-19-09 10:02 PM
2. "82 Million in U.S. Lacked Health Insurance -Study"
Can't find the original article, but with all the jobs lost and foreclosures, etc. 38.8 million seems so low.