[ClearCase_guy]

Primary causes of poverty:

1) Out of wedlock births
2) Kids who attend public schools often learn little, and end up dropping out
3) Minimum wage increases lock young people out of starter jobs
4) Illegal immigrants lock unskilled Americans out of jobs

Do the Dems have a plan for dealing with any of that?

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

"The poverty level differs by family size and makeup. For example, the poverty level for a family of four was $19,971 last year. For a family of two, it was $12,755."

The poverty rate is an artificial number that fails to consider benefits like Medicaid, Welfare, free school lunches, free commodities, food stamps, government housing and other benefits. Also, many people like my Mom is on Social Security benefits of about $14000 per year, but she has her house paid for and enough savings to tap into if she needs to.
Consider how many households in America have TVs, VCRs/DVD players, stereos, automobiles, computers, etc. Also, nearly 70% of Americans own their own homes. Many people below the poverty line live better in the USA than the average EU citizen.

[talleyman]

"Drive-By Media Alert!"

[Enchante]

"I know what they say about putting lipstick on a pig, but I don't see how the Bush administration can spin these numbers in their favor," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

I'd like to see lipstick on THAT pig (Rangel). He's a disgusting human being.

[PDR]

The share of people with employment-based health insurance decreased slightly, to 59.5 percent, continuing a trend that has some advocates worried about workers' ability to afford health care. -- perhaps they are just getting their health insurance someplace else, like outside the workplace.

[Jaysun]

I'm sick and damned tired of hearing about the health insurance "crisis". Are we tripping over the maimed and sick on our way to work? Are there people crawling about our streets begging for health care? Spitting up blood on the steps of our hospitals?

[spintreebob]

Four years into an economic recovery, the number of people living in poverty has finally stopped climbing.

Do I need to read beyond the first sentence?

As poor people immigrate to the USA in large numbers, of course the number "living in poverty" has increased. But note that often the poverty stricken dependents of those immigrants still live in the old country. And it is the number of dependents that is a key factor in labeling one as "living in poverty".

A fair and balanced news article would also report that the number of upwardly mobile people who were formerly poverty sticken is rapidly increasing. The number of homeowners reaches new records every year among the demographic groups associated with poverty. (Blacks, Hispanics, single parents, single women, etc.)

A fair and balanced article would also report that it is precisely government intervention in the free market place that causes people to make the choices that they do.

When people have a choice between buying a house and paying a mortgage or buying health care, they consciously decide that buying a house is a wise choice and buying health care is a bad choice.

Housing has been a good choice because
-Interest rates were relatively low
-Immigration has created a high demand for housing which drove up the price (until the anti (illegal) immigrant rhetoric killed the real estate market.
-There is no tax on capital gains when the profit from the sale of one house to an immigrant is used to buy an even more expensive house, which is more expensive due to the trickle up demand.

Health Insurance is not a good choice.
-The taxpayer suckers will always pay for medical care. To sho the illogic of these suckers, some want to cut off illegals from this welfare but seem totally content with paying for citizens and legals. Well, as any pro-lifer knows, a baby in the womb is separate from the mother and is thus entitled to well baby care.
-The majority of the health insurance dollar does not go to doctors, nurses and other health care providers. It goes to medical malpractice insurance and all the overhead imposed on society by a busybody congress. For example, both ADA and HIPPA have been extremely expensive to society. At least ADA has actually benefitted a few disabled people, albeit at a high cost to the rest of us, and with a high cost of abuse of ADA by malingerers claiming they are disabled.

In contrast, HIPPA has cost the BlueCross/BlueShield family BILLIONS of dollars.
It has cost Aetna and the privates BILLIONS.
It has cost the HMOs BILLIONS..
It has cost Federal, state and local health Departments (taxpayers) BILLIONS..
It has cost Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, doctors and other providers BILLIONS..
It has cost employers BILLIONS..

I have an open offer for just one person to step forward and say that his health is better due to HIPPA. The fact is that it has not improved the health of a single person for all the many BILLIONS of dollars spent.

But is has provided employment for a lot of us consultants, both here and in Bangalore.

[rightinthemiddle]

"It was the first year without an increase in poverty since 2000, just before President Bush took office."

_________

The AP will reach for everything. Bush is even responsible for the year BEFORE he took office.

[D-Chivas]

I see a lot of fat "poor" people with cell phones and tattoos.

What do they know that I don't know?

[Ouderkirk]

Another grabage articel by AP for example

It was the first year without an increase in poverty since 2000, just before President Bush took office.

The last decline in the poverty rate was in 2000, during the Clinton administration,

Bush bad...Clinton good.

[A Texan]

I always like the "XX% of people don't have health care" articles.

When I first got out of school I did not have health insurance for about 4 years. Was it because my company did not offer it? No. It was because at the time I would rather spend my extra money on beer and the ladies. It was my own damn fault, luckily now I can spend my money on all three.

Also, if health care is such a priority, why has there not been any real movement on Medical Tort reform, to bring down insurance costs effected by frivolous multimillion dollar lawsuits and bs lawyers. Oh, I know why, because the a large percentage of lawyers have the democrats in their back pockets.

[GOPJ]

Dem banner ad...

[ApplegateRanch]

The poverty level differs by family size and makeup. For example, the poverty level for a family of four was $19,971 last year. For a family of two, it was $12,755.

They "explain" by explaining nothing. They should state HOW those numbers are arrived at

That would screw up their agenda, though, since the only way to get everyone above the "Poverty line", IIRC, is if everyone had the same income, so that there would not be any percentile rankings.

[sportutegrl]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15393078.htm

[Myrddin]

More people lack health insurance? I wonder if that number corresponds to the number of new illegal aliens that have invaded our country since last year.

[ApplegateRanch]

As to health insurance...

The CHEAPEST general medical coverage my wife & I could find, when I quit working for wages in 97, was just over $5,000/year.

Then, the state of Oregon's legislature, under the guidance of the then physician-governor, UNANIMOUSLY passed legislation requiring ALL health insurance policies sold in Oregon to contain maternity benefits. That, plus another added "benefit" we did not need, and could never, lacking an unwanted miracle, added $75/month to the premiums.

We added up the outflow, looked at out-of-pocket before benefits would kick in, and decided that it was a bad "investment".

That was 9 years ago, and when we dropped, that was $6,000+/year not going down a drain. In the mean time, we have spent less than one year's worth of premiums on "covered" medical expenses, a net savings of well over $45,000 that went to things WE wanted to spend it on.

We are NOT wealthy, and we are uninsured, but not without medical care...the Democrats must hate us.

[frankenMonkey]

More People Lack Health Insurance
but they don't lack health care

[unspun]

Health insurance managed through employers is a vestige of the paternalism of Old Europe.

Healthcare management should be a consumer-based system empowering individuals and families. Beyond this, religious and other non-profit, charitable organizations should have a place, but it should be about the empowered individual.

[line drive to right]

Maybe the poverty rate has increased, however, if I remember correctly, the POVERTY RATES DURING THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WERE LOWER THAN THE RATES OF THE FIRST SIX YEARS OF THE CLINTON "ADMINISTRATION." Somebody who knows where to check this, please do.