Posted on 11/04/2011 3:09:46 PM PDT by edpc
In September, Americans accustomed to dismal economic news absorbed another rude blow, with reports that a record 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty, and that the poverty rate had jumped in recent years. But the actual rate may in fact be even higher than that--while the recent spike may be less severe than thought, a new study is expected to show.
On Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau will release a report that uses an alternative--and many say a more accurate--method of measuring poverty. Unlike the conventional method, which is largely unchanged since it was created in 1963, the new one will count tax credits and non-cash benefits--food stamps, for instance--as income. The new calculus will also include medical costs--an enormous fixed expense for some Americans, especially seniors. The Census Bureau's revised method of assessing poverty will also take into account the vastly different costs of living across the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It'll be similar to the rampant number of homeless under Reagan and Bush 41 which disappeared under Clinton, then re-emerged under Bush 43.
I’m a little confused about poverty.
Is it starvation like North Korea or is it the 99% with massive debt and useless degrees?
It's starvation which creates an obesity problem that needs our money to fight it before it's too late and we all die of fat suffocation.
The poverty of Constitutional upholding?
Well let’s see. We’ve got all of our own “poverty” and all of that we’ve imported from Central and South America. Yeah. It’s probably higher.
“Are talking about the poverty of personal responsibility?”
Perhaps the quote of the year.
Remember that government payments are not counted as income. You can get food stamps, welfare and section 8 housing assistance and none of that is considered income.
So, that being the case, a person or family living in “poverty” can be living fairly well, all things considered.
See this:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/catch_22_on_poverty_and_welfare.html
This, of course, is untrue. What they mean is 46.2 million Americans would be living in poverty without government programs. With subsidized housing, food stamps, free medical care, direct cash payments and a myriad of other welfare programs, no American is living in what the rest of the world would call "poverty".
Is it starvation like North Korea or is it the 99% with massive debt and useless degrees?
It is whatever is useful at the moment to the liberal handwringers.
The Census Bureau is revising the calculations, so, basically, any figure is approximately as good as the best guess of anyone who reads this.
How many are of these “poor Americans” illegals?
All these statistics mean nothing with tens of millions of illegals in this country who are not supposed to be working (poor by the elite’s open border design).
“Once Obama is out of office, the poverty and unemployment rates will be “magically” recalculated to reflect reality.”
Obama has gotten his bell runbg in elections starting one year after the 2008 election, and the Dems haven’t stopped bleeding since. Americans look at their depleted savings, mounting debt (if they have access to credit), and the general decline in our standard of living, and vote accordingly.
Obama has been losing since he won; a lot of Dem careers were sacrificed at the altar of Obama-worship.
“All these statistics mean nothing with tens of millions of illegals in this country who are not supposed to be working (poor by the elite’s open border design).”
Here in NJ the illegals are better off than many Americans, and marketing efforts are reflecting that. They seem to be the only ones paying cash for everything, and they have lots of it.
Poverty today is defined as having only one LCD TV, and no more than two cell phones.
Well then why are the poor so damn fat??
We have one Tracfone and no LCD TV. Not in poverty, yet.
The only true method of counting the “real” poor is to count the number of people eating out of the fast food restaurant dumpsters after hours and extrapolating an estimate for the nation.
According to MooseChelle, it's because they live in "food deserts" where they can't buy healthy fresh vegetables. That's why she needs four more years to complete her mission to slim down the inner city corps.
I’ve always loved the “food desert” theory. There are areas where vegetable aren’t readily available because there is no demand for them. The people who live in these areas don’t want them, or at least not enough of these people do.
It’s kind of like the theory that people who eat at McDonald’s really want to buy healthy salads, and don’t do so simply because they aren’t on the menu. Or that people really want to buy Smart Cars but don’t because they aren’t available. It’s a refusal to recognize that the market routinely provides what people want and doesn’t stock what doesn’t sell.
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