National poverty rate declines
It made front page news on FOX News: U.S. Poverty Rate Drops 1st Time Since 2000. Not bad, right? Fewer people living under the poverty level is great news, and any damn Bush hater who'd try to spin it into something bad is just doing what dirty terrorist-loving cowards always do!
That said, let's dig a little deeper into that census report to see what else it revealed....
For starters, it's important to note, in light of the president's remark about his tax policies fueling the economy, that this was only the first year of his presidency so far in which the poverty level dropped, and even with the drop from 12.6 to 12.3 percent, more of us in percentage terms are living in poverty today than were in the Year 2000, when that percentage was 11.3 percent.
To put it it in different terms, that's at least 2.6 million more Americans today living under the poverty level. That's three times as many people as live in San Francisco, twice as many as the State of Hawaii, and five times as many as lived in New Orleans before Katrina.
The poverty rate increased every year after 2000 for the next four years, peaking at 12.7 percent in 2004. It was 12.6 percent in 2005, but Census officials said that change was statistically insignificant.
Tuesday's census figures also showed an increase in the median incomes of Americans. Further great news, right? Median household income increased slightly to $48,200, but not because individuals were earning more money. Household incomes rose because more members of each household went to work, according to David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.
Most conservatives will be quick to point out how great it is to see lazy people getting off their arsses to help their families pay the bills, but the truth is probably somewhere in between "mothers leaving young children home unsupervised to enter the job market" and "high school age children head to work to help the family." Either way, it's not as good for America as simply having seen a rise in individual incomes.
The president, in his comments on how wonderful his tax policies have been for America, failed to address the single most heartbreaking statistic released by the Census Bureau yesterday: The share of Americans without health insurance hit 15.8 percent last year, the highest percentage since 1998. In 2005, 15.3 percent were without insurance.
So before accepting the president's words as gospel -- "When we keep taxes low, spending in check, and our economy open -- conditions that empower businesses to create new jobs -- all Americans benefit." -- it's probably best to consider the broader picture.
Yes, we're still fighting two wars, there was Hurricane Katrina, 9-11, the dot com crash, etc., etc., but America has faced many other challenges throughout history. And the truth remains that each of our challenges could have been handled differently. The outcomes of each of them could have been different, had different decisions been made along the way.
My question today is not whether or not our economy is growing, because by some measures it most certainly is, but whether or not the economic policies in place today are the right policies for America. Just because a soon-to-be former president says they are, does not necessarily make it so.
- August 29, 2007
Comments
Golly Gee Blue, isn't it great fun when a conservative intellectual like Brody slams your silly old reasoning with name-calling and invective? Let's have a debate between you and Brody; you present cogent arguments for your point of view and good old Brody says nasty things he misspells.
You gotta remember, Rhino, that brody doesn't represent the entire right wing. Just the smart half.
But seriously, he's just another screwball.
I guess if I wanted to play Devil's advocate, I could say that brody's correct about people not starving in the "streats." We don't get a lot of "hoamless" in this area.
No offense, brode-ster. I'm just having a little fun. It must come as a surprise that commie pinko wusses like me can crack jokes too. Yeah, we write jokes when we're not bashing America and running from fights.
=)
But seriously, he's just another screwball.
I guess if I wanted to play Devil's advocate, I could say that brody's correct about people not starving in the "streats." We don't get a lot of "hoamless" in this area.
No offense, brode-ster. I'm just having a little fun. It must come as a surprise that commie pinko wusses like me can crack jokes too. Yeah, we write jokes when we're not bashing America and running from fights.
=)
This item is closed, it's not possible to add new comments to it or to vote on it
Click here to manage subscription
Are all things perfect? No they're not, but they're never perfect. Are they as bad as you think they are? No. Do you see people starving in the streats here?
We have it better than any other country in the world. Things are not that bad, except in your troubled mind!