Millions More Thrust Into Poverty

Source: Washington Post

new comprehensive economic survey shows that the recession has plunged 2.6 million more Americans into poverty, wiped out the household income gains of an entire decade and pushed the number of people without health insurance up to 46.3 million.

The grim economic statistics unveiled Thursday in the Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance are destined to grow bleaker. Since the data were collected in the spring, millions of people have lost their jobs.

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"We've basically seen a lost decade," said Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard University. "We had a plutocratic boom. Then we have egalitarian recessions. Taken together, only the top ends up growing, on average. For the typical American family, the 2000s have been a disaster."

The income loss is the largest one-year decline on record, said Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, tracing it to the number of people shifting from full-time jobs to part-time work.

Although incomes went down for all races, Hispanics experienced some of the biggest losses. Income declined 5.6 percent for Hispanic households, 4.4 percent for Asians, 2.8 percent for African American families and 2.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics and Asians also showed the biggest increases in poverty rates.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/09/11/ST2009091100188.html

oh oh thats right they have already closed the books on, idiot king.

Very Christian of them. :eyes:

Christ Jesus. When will DU'ers stop the religion slams? Racism is not OK, why is religious persecution? I never believed in that nonsense about the 'War on Christmas' but I am seeing a mini-war on Christians on DU and it doesn't belong here in a place for democracy.

Very Christan :eyes: means "Yeah that's very Christlike of them." :sarcasm:


It was not a religious slam at all. It was a slam against the hypocrisy of those who claim to follow the teachings of Christ and do EXACTLY the opposite.

from people who actually do follow His teachings? Using the generic term 'Christian' tends to imply all.

I am a Christian, and I thought the reference was clear. I did not see a religion bash in that at all, only a bash on hypocrites, especially the rethuglican fundy base that follows the "prosperity gospel" instead of what Jesus actually taught--this refers to a specific subset of those who self-identify as Christians. Those kinds of subtleties don't always translate well over the internet.

seems to encompass all. I may be wrong about that post but I see a lot of Christian-bashing on dear old DU. It's gotten old.

the post is a slam on the rw hypocrites who pretend to be Christian, who even lay claim to ownership of Christianity, while behaving in blatantly un-Christian ways.

I'm sure they come in every faith or non. Greed has little to do with it. Why Christians are always singled on is what bothers me. Having said that, thanks for your input. We can agree to disagree on the issue.

LOL

:hi:

replied to wrong post :(

We are in for a huge surprise. The signs are everywhere, but we continue to play ostrich.

Yes, and where is Obama and the Democratic Congress? Spending trillions on unnecessary wars and doing nothing about offshoring. If the blue collar and middle classes don't have jobs, we will continue to head into the pit.

NOTHING has been done to regulate Wall St. But, the most worrisome thing is that the dollar is NOT gonna be the worlds currency in a few years. When that happens, we are farked big time. Just look at gold...gold isnt going up in value, the dollar is going down. The "world" is already discussing changing to another currency as its standard. Just because we have been THE cats meow for 40 yrs doesnt meant it will stay that way. We have had our day. Reaganism has brought us to our knees.

Until another nation can have a wealthier middle class, in the end, we will be fine.

is in RAPID decline.

Is head and shoulders over that of all three nations which pose a threat to us economically in the future, being of course China, Russia, and India, in that order. While particularly China and India have made huge advances in this respect, they do not yet command the consumption that we do per capita. Beyond the value of money in relation to what it was, beyond the price of a universally traded commodity of the same affect, beyond recession or depression, it is consumption which marks the power of a nation. For, a nation which cannot consume either what it makes or what it desires to buy is not powerful economically and is not necessary as a world power. The problem we have is a decline in this consumption. Think of what has occurred as a contraction. We overstretched ourselves both personally and as a nation and now we must knock down the dough that is our nation to produce a stronger and more savory bread.

Will this be the end of our superpowerdom? Perhaps. Does it matter? Not a bit. The fact is that another superpower could arise and if we play our cards right (which we haven't been politically) it wouldn't make a nickle's worth of difference. I'd cite most Western European nations as being consistently polled as the happiest people in the world. Isn't that what we're going for, not expensive cars and bulky bank accounts for the sake of them, but for the sake of happiness?



(You and I could debate the moral implications of such consumption, which I would agree with, but nevertheless it remains a marker of a powerful nation in a largely capitalist world.)

Well, yeah, but how many of them have universal health care, etc. And a heck of a lot more supportive society in general than we do. If you have less fear of falling through the cracks into a cardboard box on the sidewalk, of course you're going to be happier.

because of their national health care and more supportive societies in general, they are better able to deal with these challenges. We need to work for the same policies that European progressives have obtained for those countries.

A small decline in the dollar will help us vs. Europe, though. In my home area, there are many small machine shops, and when the dollar goes down, they take business from Europe, especially Germany.

Unfortunately, the Chinese artificially depress the value of their currency, as do many countries, including India and to a lesser extent, Japan and Korea.

I wish that I knew more about the WTO and the accession treaties for China and India to see whether they are fulfilling their obligations to float their currencies under those treaties.

John Edwards (consider the message, not the messanger) spoke about enforcing trade agreements against China before taking other action. I wonder if he was on to something.

I've never seen it this bad. I've been trying to find a job since last spring with no luck. I interviewed last week for a middle school parapro job (the person in charge of the in-school suspension room), and I have a full teaching degree. The principal admitted in the interview that she'd seen applicants with master's degrees and many certified teachers--for a job that pays $10/hr but also has benefits.

The kids and I drove by a middle-aged couple standing next to their van today. Their sign read, "Will do (almost) anything for gas money or food." I believe them. It's a small city, but I've been seeing more people begging openly than ever. We're dying here, and no one gives a crap.

She was a grade school teacher and he was the manager of a large photographic and electronic store and studio that took pictures of Kellogg's and Post cereals for magazines.

B.C. seems like a nice prosperous place back in the '60s and early '70s, but then, so did Michigan.

I grew up 40 miles north of Muskegon, which is an empty shell. My little tourist and agriculture area (where my Mom lives) and Fremont (where my bachelor uncle lives) haven't been hurt that much. There were fewer tourists this year, but generally enough, and prices for fruit, vegetables and baby food are good.

I just so much want Michigan to come back. I talk up U.S. make cars here in D.C.--everyone seems to like my gently used Taurus and are startled by the low price that I paid for it compared to Camrys and Accords--but I don't seem to be having much luck. Many people here are originally from places where there are no Fords or GMs, let alone Chryslers and have no interest in them.

and thirty years of Republican Voodoo Economics!

me.

,...over the last three, going on four decades. I doubt even the numbers reported are entirely accurate having failed to take into account plunges predating the 2000s. I believe if real stats and numbers were reported, this country would panic and that would lead to a collapse.

The only way out is riding on the new wave of hope, out there.

without a job.
Where is Obama and our Democrat controlled congress?
I'll answer my own question.
Just like Bush, and all those before him, in bed with the corporations.
I wonder if all those who were unemployed right now were to go and camp out in DC, how long it would take them to call in the NG

The culture of greed won't be curbed until government FINALLY takes a stand for citizen's interests rather than corporate interests.

Health care reform is one HUGE leap at curbing greed and re-asserting moral priorities.

That's when

These masters of "business" are selling everything that isn't nailed down to Asia. An easy degree and its all about get rich quick rewards and motives.

The day after the election in 2000, I was so ill that I could not even go to work. I knew that Bush and his brother were going to steal that election, no matter what.

I knew that after a decade in which we saw the middle class make some income gains was going to be wiped out by Republican economic principles which only favor the very wealthy.

I tried telling people this for years. I tried telling people in 2002 that Greenspan was cheating for Bush. You can google Yavin4 and Greenspan and read my posts for yourself.

I told people that we were going to crash in 2006. I told people to pay off their debts. I was a year or so early, but better early than late.

I saw that trainwreck coming, and I did the best to protect myself, but I'm still caught up in this disastrious economy.

Yet, after a decade of complete failure, there still exists a sizeable portion of the American population that's so racist, so ignorant, so fucking greedy that the Republicans are only one or two election cycles away from re-taking power.

Next week, I turn 45, and I'm going to spend the next five years of my life trying to figure out how to live in Europe. I refuse to grow old in this country.

Corporations are sucking their host organism dry of all life force.

WE THE PEOPLE are that host organism and I hope their gated communities are staffed with blackwater security. They will eventually need it.

-90% jimmy

As long as they keep adding to their fortune. The kicker is that a pretty good percentage of those flung into poverty support the wing nuts who mostly flung them into poverty. Southern Ohio is poverty laden and solid for the republicans.

and we will be held rightly responsible. Thankfully as long as Cheney keep shooting himself in the face with his insane diatribes, we are reminded who laid the foundation for this demise. But if Bush & Cheney get smart and lie low, people will hold the democrats responsible. That is a fact.

We have lost so much steam - we should be rampaging against republican policies with our own version of the tea bagger express. Instead we have private meetings with insurance companies and bi-partisan fuck fests.

"...see, Martha,,I told you just as soon as those pesky Democrats get into power the Economy will fail"

It's going to get worse.

Excuse me? (Or are you being sarcastic?) Obama, who I knew wasn't a liberal, but I thought was at least a centrist Democrat, is a RINO. I don't see any liberal, neo or not, in action.

They make me wish there really was a hell.

Julie

..or, to be more specific, not just the fault of the recession - it's the fault of Reaganomic economic policy and greed. It started with union busting, then firing workers in their 40's and above who earned good wages and replacing them with young know-nothings, then reducing the number of workers entirely (both in the industrial and corporate world), then exporting jobs overseas...who should be surprised anymore?

with Yavin4. I really am worried about growing old in the (Non) United States of America. Hell, I'm even worried about spending the next 10 years here cause I HAVE to have insurance due to my diabetes. I am thinking of moving out of the states somewhere in Europe because I'm worried that things here will get worse. I'm honestly unsure of anything at this point.

And a people can never be free without that—so sez Uncle Milty (Milton Friedman). Actually, euphemistic terms like "freedom" and "liberty" used in regard to deregulation mean this: the freedom for the wealthiest and their elite group of pals to pad their accounts as they see fit. Everyone else is merely an expendable asset. It’s no wonder that corporations, viewed as individuals by the courts (which I find so very odd), have the psychological profiles of sociopaths.

30 years after they started the conservative economic revolution we have this!!

1960's criteria..

Family Size Gross Yearly Income
1 $10,830
2 $14,570
3 $18,310
4 $22,050


The same standards are applied if you live in Manhattan vs living in a shack in South Dakota.

The number of people living in poverty is really much higher.


NPR just did a good piece on this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112641330&ps=rs