Race and Poverty- America's Dirty Secret

[WestCoastPerspective]

From the Niagara Falls Reporter:

Katrina has exposed for all with eyes to see what Michael Harrington described 40 years ago as the "other" America.

James Carroll wrote in the Boston Globe that the sight was jarring. "The wealthiest nation on earth has its hidden legion of have-nots, and all at once the rest of us saw them. The scandal of rank poverty was exposed, and if beholding it was like seeing something indecent, that's because such poverty in this nation is exactly that -- indecent," Carroll wrote.

By nature and nurturing, George W. Bush's eyes don't see this reality and he is unable to recognize the indecency.

Bush inherited his mother's numb insensitivity toward the poor, reflected in her Marie Antoinette gushing about evacuees in Houston so happy with the Texas "hospitality." Who's your momma?

We shouldn't be surprised that the Bush response to the plight of the poor in the Gulf ranged from malign neglect to mindless nonchalance. In George Bush's America, poverty rates have risen, middle-class incomes are stagnant, wage-earners are forced to pay the debt to provide tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent, public infrastructure is crumbling, and 45 million people are without health insurance.

Bush's campaign supporters at country clubs across America are celebrating his regime. Corporate profits are on the rise. CEO salaries and bonuses are obscene. The martini-sippers are paying a significantly smaller share of the national tax burden, and their investment income is hardly taxed at all.

Full Article:
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher230.html

[buffknut]

Yep, it's all Bush's fault. History started in January 2001.

Typical mindless leftist, "I hate Bush" rhetoric. Why not just copy from all the previous "I hate Bush" posts?

Give it up. Bush won....twice.

The Dems are losing the House, Senate & State governorships.

Your viewpoint, culled from years of reading, watching & listening to the biased main-stream media, is doomed. The old media is dead, has outlived its' purpose. Who cares what a writer from the Boston Globe says? What made him the arbiter of human virtue? There's now competition for the dinosaur media. It's called the internet.

But to you it'll always be Bush's fault. Everything. No one else is responsible for anything in your world. God, what power GWB has. You must spin in your bed every night with fright of his power. How will you tolerate 3 more years? Your head might fall off. Thousands of LLLs (loony leftist liberals) will self-destruct.

Here again are some sites that I highly recommend to regain your sanity:
www.littlegreenfootballs.com
www.polipundit.com
www.instapundit.com
www.powerlineblog.com

[LHardy]

I'm tired of this "oh look at these poor and it is terrible that we have this in the wealthiest nation" BS!
Never is it pointed out that in over 40 years we as a nation have spent over 6.6 trillion dollars to fight poverty. Not to mention the countless not for profit agencies out there who have given away millions in food, money and shelter. Yet the poor still exisit and we are told we should hang our head in shame. FU!
How about the ones who can get off their lazy asses and find work, any work and start to support themselfs for a change? What no will to survive? Lack of education is no excuss. We as a country spend more on education then any program non military.
If a person refuses to get up and go to work or move to find work it is their own problem. Not the countries problem, who has given all kinds of help it can. Programs gallore to choose from for help. They would rather take a hand out or sell drugs, steal or get involved in illegal activities then an honest days work.
Give your money if you wish. Give more but don't tell me and the millions of other americans, who struggle to make ends meet, to pay more in taxes to support these ungrateful lazy asses.
The BS that they can not doesn't play either. They can not because they choose not. They won't even take a job on a farm because it is hard work. TOO BAD! Whine somewhere else.
I could employee thousands as farm hands in one hour and help eliminate illegal immagration. But they won't come to work.
IT"S TOO HARD!
NO ONE SAID LIFE WAS EASY AND NOT EVEYONE HAS IT EASY!
STOP YOUR F' n WHINNING! GO GET A JOB! ANY JOB!

[WestCoastPerspective]

Hardy and Nutty- putty the compassion in conservatism!

[300miles]

Are the poor a problem in the US? Yes. for 2 centuries now.

Connecting that directly to Bush is foolish. Those same people were just as poor under Clinton and all the previous administrations. You can't sit around and blame every problem on the current president when most of those problems have been brewing for years or decades.

Niagara Falls Reporter... maybe a similarly respected newspaper like the Newstead Bee will correct them.

[WestCoastPerspective]

OH! those pesky facts:

Poverty Rate Up 3rd Year In a Row
More Also Lack Health Coverage

By Ceci Connolly and Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 27, 2004; Page A01

The number of Americans living in poverty or lacking health insurance rose for the third straight year in 2003, the Census Bureau announced yesterday, reflecting a job market that failed to match otherwise strong economic growth.

Overall, the median household income remained stagnant at $43,318, while the national poverty rate rose to 12.5 percent -- 35.9 million people -- last year, from 12.1 percent in 2002. Hit hardest were women, who for the first time since 1999 saw their earnings decline, and children. By the end of 2003, 12.9 million children lived in poverty.

As expected, the number of people without health insurance grew last year, to 45 million -- an increase to 15.6 percent from 15.2 percent. White adults, primarily in the South, accounted for most of the increase. The proportion of people receiving health insurance through an employer fell to 60.4 percent, the lowest level in a decade, from 61.3 percent.

The census report provided hard numbers to anecdotal evidence that the recent recovery has missed certain regions and segments of the population. An additional 1.3 million Americans fell below the poverty line in 2003, as incomes dipped for the poorest 20 percent of the population. An additional 1.4 million became newly uninsured.

300- research before speaking- Google is a wonderful thing.

"This recovery has failed to reach those in the bottom half," said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.
___________________________________________
Poverty Rate Continues To Climb
2004 Census Data Show Labor Market Is Still Struggling

By Jonathan Weisman and Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 31, 2005; Page A03

Despite robust economic growth last year, 1.1 million more Americans slipped into poverty in 2004, while household incomes stagnated and earnings fell, the Census Bureau reported yesterday. The number of Americans without health insurance rose by 800,000, to 45.8 million.

The Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance sheds light on voter discontent with the economy in the face of seemingly strong economic data. The broad data draw a picture of a labor market still struggling to find its footing, three years after the 2001 recession.

"The poverty rate seems to be the last lonely lagging indicator of the business cycle," said E.R. Anderson, chief of staff in the Commerce Department's economic directorate, which oversees the Census Bureau.

[WestCoastPerspective]

The Bush Economy: Declining Income and More Uninsured Americans
August 31, 2005

Washington, DC - Today, the Census Bureau issued its latest national report on income, poverty and health insurance. The figures are troubling. Under President Bush's failed leadership, wages have actually declined by nearly $1,700 and more than a million middle class Americans fell into poverty. The number of Americans without health insurance has also increased by 6 million since Bush took office in 2001. African Americans and Latinos have been hit especially hard, with more sinking into poverty and being forced onto the rolls of the uninsured.

"The Bush economy is not working for the American people. Americans are struggling under the weight of President Bush's failed leadership: they are earning less while everyday expenses, including gas, are going up," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "Instead of finding solutions to the problems facing American families, President Bush has decided to line the pockets of his corporate backers. His policies have exploded the federal deficit without helping to create good-paying jobs here in America. Democrats believe we can do better by balancing the budget and getting the economy working for everyone so that American families don't have to choose between a bag of groceries and a gallon of gas."

See below for two new research documents from DNC Research:

HOUSEHOLD INCOME DOWN, POVERTY UP:
MORE THAN 1 MILLION FELL OF MIDDLE CLASS IN 2004
Before President Bush took office, under Democratic leadership, income was on the rise, jobs were expanding, and the economy was booming. Today, the Census Bureau announced that real household income has decreased in 2004, falling for the fourth consecutive year. Since the beginning of the Bush Administration, household income has declined nearly $1,700. Over 1.1 million people fell out of the middle class into poverty in 2004, an increase of 5.4 million people living in poverty since Bush took office. Despite this, Republicans still have no plan to help struggling middle class families. Democrats are fighting to create jobs and keep good paying jobs here at home.

HOUSEHOLD INCOME DROPPED SINCE BUSH TOOK OFFICE
Household Income Declined by Nearly $1,700 Under Bush. For the second consecutive year, median household income declined: income dropped last year by $93 -- down to $44,389. In real terms, median household income has declined by $1,669 since 2000. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-1]

African Americans And Latino Household Incomes Have Declined by More Than $2,000 Under Bush. Real median household income did not increase between 2003 and 2004 for African Americans and Latinos. African American households had the lowest median income, at $30,134--down by $2,273 since Bush took office. Median income for Hispanic households was $34,241 in 2004--down by $2,141 since Bush took office. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-1]

Average Earnings by Women Declined by About $330 in Real Dollars During the Past Year. The median earnings of women declined over the past year, from $31,550 to $31,223. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-2]

1.1 MILLION PEOPLE FELL OUT OF THE
MIDDLE CLASS AND INTO POVERTY IN 2004
Number of People Living in Poverty Increased by 1.1 Million in 2004. Approximately 1.1 million people fell out of the middle class into poverty in 2004, an increase of 5.4 million people living in poverty since Bush took office in 2001. The poverty rate has increased from 12.5 to 12.7 percent over the past year, increasing for the fourth consecutive year. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table B-1]

Nearly 1 in 5 American Children Lived in Poverty During 2004. 13 million children lived in poverty in 2004, an increase of about 1.4 million since the beginning of the Bush Administration. This comes on the heels of a 730,000 increase in the number of children living in poverty in 2003. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table B-2 ]

Disproportionately High Number of African Americans and Latinos Live in Poverty. Nearly 25 percent of all African Americans (9 million) lived in poverty in 2004, an increase of over 250,000 over the past two years. Nearly 22 percent (9.1 million) of Latinos lived in poverty, an increase of almost 500,000 over the past two years. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table 3]

1.9 Million More Americans Enrolled in Medicaid in 2004. As 1.1 million Americans dropped out of the middle class and into poverty in 2004, the enrollment rate in Medicaid increased from 12.4 percent of the population in 2003 to 12.9 percent in 2004. Without the safety net of Medicaid and SCHIP for people who dropped into poverty, the health insurance numbers would be even worse. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05, page 16 ]

NEARLY 46 MILLION AMERICANS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE: NUMBER OF UNINSURED INCREASED BY SIX MILLION SINCE 2001

Today, the Census Bureau announced that the number of people without health insurance nationwide increased to 45.8 million, the fourth consecutive annual increase. A total of 800,000 Americans became uninsured last year - many because fewer employers offer health insurance to their workers. As a consequence, American families are paying higher and higher health insurance premium - which are expected to double under Bush's tenure by 2006. Yet, Bush and Congressional Republicans lack a real plan to address the problem.

ONE IN 7 AMERICANS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE
Nearly 46 Million Americans Are Uninsured--Increasing for the Fourth Year in a Row. The number of Americans lacking health insurance increased by 800,000 last year--and by 6 million since Bush took office in 2001. Today, a total of 45.8 million people are uninsured--roughly one in seven Americans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table HI-4]

The Number of Uninsured Is Equal to the Combined Populations of 24 States. In order to provide some perspective on the sheer magnitude of the problem of the uninsured, the number of Americans who are denied health insurance is equal to the combined populations of 24 states: Oklahoma, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Kansas, Arkansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming. [Matt Miller, The Two Percent Solution, 2003]
Fewer Than 60 Percent of Employers Offer Health Insurance. Employer-based health insurance, which covers the majority of Americans, has eroded under the Bush Administration. The percentage of Americans covered by employer-based insurance decreased to 59.8 percent in 2004, down from 60.4 percent the previous year. The total number of Americans with employer-sponsored coverage has fallen by more than 3.6 million since 2000. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table HI-4]

The Number of Uninsured Children Has Not Declined Over the Past Year. Despite an enrollment increase of 600,000 in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) signed into law by President Clinton, the number of children without health insurance remained essentially the same over the past year 8.3 million--one in nine children. Over 21 percent of Hispanic children and 13 percent of African American children lack health insurance. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Page 16]

African Americans And Latinos Suffered a Greater Increase in the Ranks of the Uninsured than the Rest of the Nation. African Americans and Hispanics have a significantly higher rate of uninsurance than the rest of the population. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; page 17]

Latinos: In 2004, 13.7 million Latinos were without health insurance, an increase of 1.8 million since 2000. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table C-1]
African Americans: In 2004, the number of African Americans without health insurance remained at about 7.4 million. This is an increase of almost 770,000 people since 2000. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table C-1 ]
27 States Experienced an Increase in the Number of Uninsured. During 2004, the number of uninsured Americans increased in 27 states - including Texas, California, New Jersey, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table H1-4]

1.9 Million More Americans Enrolled in Medicaid in 2004. As 1.1 million Americans dropped into poverty in 2004, the enrollment rate in Medicaid increased from 12.4 percent of the population in 2003 to 12.9 percent in 2004. Without the safety net of Medicaid and SCHIP for people who dropped into poverty, the health insurance numbers would be even worse. But Republicans have proposed a $10 billion cut in Medicaid this fall. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05, page 16]

[LHardy]

Offered a job and they continue to refuse.
Stay poor if you like, but it is your own fault that you loose.
Won't work unless it is for a million bucks!
Only republicans get that kind of luck!
Such ignorance of your problem at hand,
has left you depending on your fellow man.
So if your pot isn't full of food and good wine.
Nor do you have shelter or clothes on your spine.
Don't come bitch'n for it is a job you refuse to find!

North Carolina is looking for hard working people.
Arizona, Florida and other states need the same.
So Move.
Walk or take a bus.
Just stop depending on the rest of us!

We have our own families that we must feed.
Made harder each day because you say that you need.
Never enough is given by those who go to work
and do charitable deeds.
Your's is just a reverse form of greed!

[300miles]

WCP - kudos to using a real newspaper this time. thank you.



Increase in poverty is a concern. but that is much different than the previous article claiming all of America's poor are the fault of GWBush.

As for the other articles statistics, short-term trends like the statistics given do not take into account the business cycle and the recent recession. Those are major factors that are not controlled by any administration.

Many jobs were lost due to the dot-com boom and speculative corruption during the same period like Enron/Worldcom. Are those scandals and the 90's Boom/Bust all the fault of Bush?? Especially since it all came crashing down just before his first term?

If you believe the president is fully responsible for macro-economics, then maybe you should also look at how Clinton's policies during the late 90's allowed an unmaintainable bubble to explode before he left office... causing millions to lose their jobs while millions more jobs were shipped to India. None of that started with Bush!

[steven]

My wife was a manager at a 5 & dime, a lot of her employees refused to work a 40 hr week. Not because they didnt want to work but becuse they could not afford to feed there family off minumum wage. full time status as an employee means your not eligible for government assistance (I guess that would be food stamps etc.)

With more and more middle paying jobs shipped overseas Its time the country took a long look at how we are going to support ourselves in the future.

As more and more jobs like computer programmer and even call center operater gets shipped to foriegn soil are we going to become a nation were you have two choices in life, Doctor or burger flipper?

[buffknut]

steven, sometimes it may seem that way but maybe you are too pessimistic about the great resilience and innovative skills of American workers. Even here in Buffalo there are companies that manufacture still. Across the country there are manufacturers that are expanding, many of them smaller companies that find niches and exploit them.

There are also needs for front-line sales & sales support people to directly face off with customers. There are needs for Project Managers and systems analysts (not coders) and even people to debug all those offshore programs.

Instead of the constant carping on how bad off everyone is, how about a fresh look? Our employment levels are higher than ever in the US. Our unemployment levels are lower than anywhere in Europe.

Even in Buffalo, believe it or not, people work. And some people even make good money. There's plenty of new homes, not like in other regions, but still, they are being built.

Lots of people are buying beemers & Mercedes & Hummers, & $30K + cars. So someone has money. Some people figured out how to live & thrive, even many minorities. I see plenty of blacks driving Lexus's too.

Stop blaming the "government" and George Bush for every perceived injustice you see. Some times people gotta take personal responsibility. Sometimes you actually have to want to succeed before doing so. It's not that hard. College is practically free for anyone who is really poor. If they really want it, and won't take excuses, then the world is there's.

Unless you are a negative whining leftist liberal loonie (LLL) who just want s to perpetuate poverty to keep getting the votes.

Ok, now go ahead and turn this all around into a "Bush is evil" and "it's all Bush's fault" discussion. Because that is all that matters to the lll's.

[steven]

Originally posted by buffknut
Stop blaming the "government" and George Bush for every perceived injustice you see.

Unless you are a negative whining leftist liberal loonie (LLL) who just want s to perpetuate poverty to keep getting the votes.

Ok, now go ahead and turn this all around into a "Bush is evil" and "it's all Bush's fault" discussion. Because that is all that matters to the lll's.

Can you read?


Where in my post did I say anything about George Bush Left/Right or The governement? Honestly some of you people are so pumped up on that nutty drug addict you listen to on the radio you cant see, hear, or read anything else. If your going to comment on my post at least stick to what I said and dont fabricate things.

Good Grief

[Caledon]

In the great ship of state, much of the government is on automatic

As much as some would like to blame Bush for everything, there are limits to Presidential Power and the power of a political party

As much as some would like to blame Clinton for everything, there are limits to Presidential Power and the power of a political party

Instead of blaming one party or the other, I like to look at where the Great Ship of State would have failed regardless of the party in power....in that case its the organization of government!

Where an elected official or a party reforms the government, as Bush did creating the Department of Homeland Security, we have to judge their leadership and the efficiency of their reform.

Then we also have to look at the efficiency of response at the local level.
-Houston handled its Huricane better than NO & Louisiana
-so did Charleston, SC with Hugo
-so did Florida (east, south and gulf coast)
-so did Mississippi
Its not totally unreasonable to infer that Louisiana may not be the most efficiently or well planned state in the union

But then theres also the responsibility of the local residents, because poverty only excuses so much. Its funny, of all the people looting or waiting....I saw no evidence of a broom, of people organizing food/water detail, a volunteer group cleaning the bathrooms, etc.

Im so tired of the one sided grenades being lobbied by one ideology against the other to gain a political advantage.

Id much rather hear facts. Objective facts! Who failed and why?

[OneEmerald]

Originally posted by LHardy
Offered a job and they continue to refuse.
Stay poor if you like, but it is your own fault that you loose.
Won't work unless it is for a million bucks!
Only republicans get that kind of luck!
Such ignorance of your problem at hand,
has left you depending on your fellow man.
So if your pot isn't full of food and good wine.
Nor do you have shelter or clothes on your spine.
Don't come bitch'n for it is a job you refuse to find!

North Carolina is looking for hard working people.
Arizona, Florida and other states need the same.
So Move.
Walk or take a bus.
Just stop depending on the rest of us!

We have our own families that we must feed.
Made harder each day because you say that you need.
Never enough is given by those who go to work
and do charitable deeds.
Your's is just a reverse form of greed!

I work for a small manufacturing plant in Buffalo. In 16 years it has grown from 1 employee to 60 employees. Our major problem is finding people who want to work. We don't insult people by starting them at minimum wage. They don't want to come to work on time, or they don't come in at all. They say the work is too hard or too boring. Some can barely read or count. We had to weed through a lot of people to get the 60 hard working people we now have. And since our company is growing, we are just about always looking for help and so much of our time and effort is wasted on those that can't come in on time, don't come in at all, etc. I don't know who to blame for this problem....

[Caledon]

Oh, I am so sick & tired of the prejudice & bigotry towards the poor & middle class

If you took the wealth away from the rich and they had to earn it all over again...most of them wouldnt be able to do it and neither would their kids.

There are alot of wealthy and powerful people who sit on their ass and delegate away their responsibilities, so please spare me the virtues of the wealthy and the vices of the poor

Just as there are plenty of people in the poor and middle class who are struggling to educate their kids, struggling to pay their mortgages, struggling to have health insurance....not to mention saving for their retirement...and working darn hard to balance it all.

I can't speak for your interviewing process or how your company is run....but a well run company...and HR department knows how to motivate an employee and Buffalo's work force, like its citizens, are darn good hard working motivated well intentioned people.

Perhaps if you spent less time with your superior snobbery .... whining and complaining you want to focus your energies of goals and achievements....youd get better results!