Posted on 09/13/2011 10:38:16 AM PDT by bestintxas
The typical American household saw its income fall for the third straight year in 2010 and the poverty rate clicked up to its highest level since 1993 as the aftermath of the latest recession continued to take a toll.
The median household income—what the statistical middle earns in a year—fell 2.3% to $49,445 in 2010, adjusted for inflation, according to the Census Bureau's annual snapshot on living standards released Tuesday. This comes on the heels of a so-called lost decade for earnings: Inflation-adjusted household income is down 7.1% from its 1999 peak, and 2010 was the first time since 1997 that American households made less than a median of $50,000. The official poverty rate—defined as a family of four earning less than $22,314—was at 15.1% in 2010, up from 14.3% last year and up from 12.5% in 2007, before the recession was in full force. The official poverty rate has been criticized by economists and researchers because it doesn't take into account many of the programs the government uses to aid the poor, such as subsidized housing and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Reflecting the lingering impact of the recession, the U.S. poverty rate from 2007-2010 has now risen faster than during any three-year period since the early 1980s, when a crippling energy crisis amid government cutbacks contributed to inflation, spiraling interest rates and unemployment.
Measured by total numbers, the 46 million now living in poverty is the largest on record dating back to when the census began tracking poverty in 1959. Based on percentages, it tied the poverty level in 1993 and was the highest since 1983.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Our overlords will take care us.
‘Progressives’ never change! They still believe you can lift up the poor by dragging down the wealthy.
Of course, poverty in the U.S. means food stamp assistance, Section 8 housing, child care assistance, etc. etc. And I would bet that most of the households living in “poverty” have a couple of color TVs, a few vehicles, cell phones etc.
have to Create an underclass before you can Organize them...
It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then - just to loosen up and be a part of the crowd.
Inevitably, though, one thought led to another and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone — “to relax,” I told myself — but I knew it wasn’t true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.
That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her
mother’s.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don’t mix, but I couldn’t help myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius, Camus and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, “What is it exactly that we are doing here?”
One day the boss called me in. He said, “Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don’t stop thinking on the job, you’ll have to find another job.”
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. “Honey,” I confessed, “I’ve been thinking...”
“I know you’ve been thinking,” she said, “and I want a divorce!” “But Honey, surely it’s not that serious.” “It is serious,” she said, her lower lip aquiver.
“You think as much as college professors and college professors don’t make
any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won’t have any money!”
“That’s a fallacious syllogism,” I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama.
“I’m going to the library,” I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some John Locke. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors.
They didn’t open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
Leaning on the unfeeling glass and whimpering for Emerson, a poster caught
my eye, “Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?” it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.
This is why I am what I am today: A recovering thinker.
I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was “Porky’s.” Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today I took the final step. I joined the Democrat Party. And we are very excited that our TA Chapter is a serious contender for the prestigious National Non-Thinkers of The Year Award for pledging 100% membership votes for Obama in 2012! First prize is an overnight trip to Chicago. Second prize: A 5 day trip to Chicago. Third prize: Choice of two weeks in Chicago or the complete 2,300 hour CD set of President Obama’s speeches (with free hourly updates) and one of his 368 worn-out Teleprompters complete with his autograph signed by his AUTOPEN machine as he was jetting around on Air Farce One that month.
Obama has succeeded in one thing..he has recreated the Great Depression in the US.
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