Census: 1 in 7 Americans live in poverty

Washington Post ^ | 16 Sep 10 | HOPE YEN

[SkyPilot]

WASHINGTON -- The number of people living in poverty has climbed to 14.3 percent of Americans, with the ranks of working-age poor reaching the highest level since at least 1965.

The Census Bureau says that about 43.6 million people, or 1 in 7, were in poverty last year. That's up from 39.8 million, or 13.2 percent, in 2008.

The number of people lacking health insurance rose from 46.3 million to 50.7 million, due mostly to the loss of employer-provided health insurance during the recession. Congress passed a health overhaul earlier this year to extend coverage to more people.

The statistics released Thursday cover President Barack Obama's first year in office, when unemployment climbed to 10 percent in the months after the financial meltdown.

[SkyPilot]

More Hope and Change!

The Community Organizer is systematically destroying America, it is true.

However, our definition of who is "poor" is quite different from the definition of "poor" in most of the world. In America, our "poor" usually have cell phones (with camera option), 2 TVs, a car, a refrigerator, plenty of food, a DVD player, and a computer.

I remember reading a blog, and these "poor" people kept blogging in and screaming at everyone else about how "poor" they were. Someone asked them why they had a computer? Did they have cable TV? Did they eat out a lot?

The answer was "yes" to all of those questions.

[BenLurkin]

THIS -- -- is poverty.

[yorkie01]

My Hope is dwindling for the Wagyu steaks we were promised.

[BenLurkin]

Pie — the pie is coming.

[cripplecreek]

[netmilsmom]

Poor with Section 8 housing, Title 20 childcare, food stamps, Obamaphones and WIC for all the milk, cheese and cereal they can eat, along with free breakfasts and lunches for the kiddies.

We have the richest poor people in the world.

[Thermalseeker]

No, No, NO! We declared “war” on poverty 45 years ago. There can’t possibly be any poverty now (hundreds of billions of dollars later).....especially with Obamalamadingdong and his flying monkeys at the helm.....

[Pecos]

His object is to make everyone dependent upon the government. THAT is the definition of control.

[SkyPilot]

LOL!

[albie]

“Congress passed a health overhaul earlier this year to extend coverage to more people”.

...oh. We’re ok then.~sarc It must be exhausting trying to come up with so many spins on so many levels on a daily basis. Now that I think of it, probably not. It comes naturally.

[Vanders9]

Exactly! 1 in 7 sounds horrific, but its all dependent on what you define as being “in poverty”. I heard of one surveying group who defined the bottom 15% of earners in any population as being “the poor”. Even more alarmingly, there were activists who used the results of the group to be shocked that the number of poor had stayed the same, year on year.

[dfwgator]

They still live better than 99.9% of all Africans.

[SkyPilot]

Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!

[SMARTY]

Plagiarizing myself from elsewhere:

Just morbid curiosity, but is poverty in America still defined as a condition of living where the government pays for your education, medicine, doctor visits, emergency room visits, housing, food, etc. and that you may own cars, vcr’s, cell phones (I don’t even have one), big screen tv’s (not one of those either)...etc. ????

[Thermalseeker]

We have the richest poor people in the world.

There was an obit going around on the net a while back of a 25 year old "entrepreneur" from New Orleans. This fellow had 13 kids. Each of his siblings had similar broods. Somebody added up all the various welfare trinkets he would be entitled to (and was no doubt receiving) and it was estimated that he would be "making" over $156,000/year in direct benefits to him and his 13 kids from state and Federal sources.

Having worked in several 3rd world countries I can tell you with absolute confidence that Americans have NO IDEA what real poverty is all about. The poorest of the poor in this country are wealthy beyond the imaginations of folks I saw in Nicaragua.

[penelopesire]

The Washington Compost left out that this is the highest poverty rate since 1994!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2590277/posts

[CharlesWayneCT]

Yes, the “war” on poverty was actually a surrender to poverty, by attacking the results of poverty rather than the causes of poverty.

Thus, we created a generation of people who have no idea how NOT to be poor, and how NOT to survive without the government.

[SkyPilot]

Poor with Section 8 housing, Title 20 childcare, food stamps, Obamaphones and WIC for all the milk, cheese and cereal they can eat, along with free breakfasts and lunches for the kiddies.

NY City talk radio (I think it was the John Gambling show on WOR) was talking about Obama spending billions for "free wireless access for poor inner city families"), or something to that affect.

Those in the studio were speechless, and asking the same questions about this madness that you are probably asking.

[MrB]

And amazingly, as the population increases,
the actual numbers of people in that bottom 15% of income
GOES UP!

The horrors!

[highlander_UW]

It's all part of Obama’s “equality” plan...make everyone poor...well, except the progressive elites.