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A Census report signals that for much of America, the economic downturn has produced not one lost decade but two. But the data also show that federal safety-net programs helped keep people out of poverty. The typical US household saw its income fall last year to 1989 levels. That news, contained in a US Census Bureau survey released Wednesday, points to difficult questions of how the US can get back on a track of job growth and rising prosperity.

Obama Hits Airwaves, Warns Agenda 'Is All at Risk' By Jennifer Bendery, CQ Roll Call Jennifer Bendery, Cq Roll Call 35 mins ago In his final push to drive Democrats to the polls, President Barack Obama took to the airwaves Tuesday and warned that his agenda "is all at risk" if Republicans trounce Democrats in the midterm elections. Obama spent part of the morning making a series of Oval Office calls into local radio stations, urging Democrats to vote if they want to continue to see the kind of change that they voted for during his 2008 presidential campaign. He...

Low-income workers stand to lose the most if lawmakers fail to reach a consensus on the Bush-era tax cuts, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. The report states that on Jan. 1 the doubling of the child tax credit, increased standard deductions and income credits and the creation of the 10 percent tax bracket — all of which primarily aimed at non-wealthy taxpayers — will vanish if gridlock persists in Washington. While wealthier taxpayers pay more in taxes and stand to lose more money if the tax cuts expire, the impact on low-income taxpayers will be far...

David Rosenberg Explains Why The Jobs Report Was Even Worse Than It First Looked Joe Weisenthal Jun. 4, 2010, 1:02 PM With no need for introduction, here's Gluskin-Sheff's David Rosenberg on why the jobs report was even worse than the headlines suggest: This is probably the first time on record when a 431,000 surge in U.S. nonfarm payrolls was viewed as a terrible employment report. Perhaps this is because 411,000 of those jobs, or 95% of the tally, were in Census hirings, which everyone knows are temporary. Private payrolls were the real key for the market and the consensus was...

Well, as a wintry election day dawns in Massachusetts, I'll believe it when I see it. If all but one of those polls are right, Scott Brown now has a lead well beyond the margin of error. But, as that Boston Globe "Dead Heat!" headline suggests, it's not necessarily beyond the margin of Acorn, the margin of lawyer, and the margin of Franken-style recounts. On the other hand, if you're minded to (as MSNBC's electokleptomaniac Ed Schultz recommends) steal the vote, you don't really want to have to steal it big, on a Mugabe-esque scale. However things turn out, the...

Consumers' confidence about the U.S. economy fell unexpectedly in October as job prospects remained bleak, a private research group said Tuesday, fueling speculation that an already gloomy holiday shopping forecast could worsen. The Consumer Confidence Index, released by The Conference Board, sank unexpectedly to 47.7 in October —its second-lowest reading since May.

<p>Tampa, Florida - Angry protesters and strong supporters are clashing inside and all around a health care reform town hall meeting in Downtown Tampa. The meeting which was scheduled to begin at 6:00 at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County drew hundreds of people who quickly began to overwhelm staff and event organizers at the front entrance.</p>

Six months into his historic presidency, Americans are beginning to show the first real signs of doubt that President Barack Obama can deliver on his promise of change. A new poll out Monday suggested that amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, rising unemployment, and a ballooning deficit, the honeymoon could be waning for Obama. And the president's determination to push through a radical reform of the creaking US healthcare system could come to define the success or failure of his fledgling presidency. Obama has invested much personally in his high-stakes campaign, a cornerstone of...

Monday night Democrats voted to shut down the U.S. House Representatives rather than allow a handful of Republican Congressmen to speak on the floor. What could have been so offensive or frightening about our discourse that Speaker Pelosi felt she had to protect her party by gagging free speech in the House? In fact, we had planned to speak on the lack of transparency of the House since Democrats took control. We had planned to criticize Speaker Pelosi for repeatedly denying Members, the media, and the public to right to read legislation before it was voted on. We were set...

Presidents generally enjoy a honeymoon both because the public wants their presidents to succeed and because in the early stages of a presidency the mistakes, lies, and screw-ups have not yet materialized. But soon they do. And in the case of this presidency, the non-stimulus plan is proving to be the equivalent of the first serious fight between the newlyweds. The stimulus plan was bad policy, poorly conceived and oversold. It isn’t working, yet the president insists his policy was perfect. The result now is a surprising agreement between the Left and Right. On the Left, Bob Herbert chimes in:...

President Obama takes a page from Ronald Reagan's playbook in his speech to Congress. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama addressed Congress shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, but a casual viewer might have believed it was actually morning in America. "Morning in America" was the theme of Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign, and it was front and center in Obama's most critical event since Inauguration Day. The president who has pledged to reverse much of Reagan's economic revolution took a page from the 40th president's playbook in his 52-minute speech, striking a defiantly optimistic tone that belied the nation's sour...