Last week, the Associated Press reported that, based on the Census Bureau’s new poverty measure, half of America is now poor or low-income. Forget about Occupy Wall Street’s ballyhooed 99 percent of Americans who aren’t “rich.” Now we’re supposed to believe 50 percent of us are poor or close to it. Of course, that all depends how you define “poverty” or “near poverty.” And by the definition of this new measure, quietly ushered in by the Obama Administration, “low-income” in some areas of the country can now mean up to …
The Census Bureau’s new poverty measure is another tool in President Obama’s endless quest to “spread the wealth.” Although the media portray it as a more accurate measurement of poverty, in reality it deliberately severs all connection between “poverty” and actual deprivation. The new measure places income thresholds for poverty on a built-in escalator that rises automatically in direct proportion to any improvement in the living standards of the average American. So even if the real income of every single American were to double, the new measure would show no …
In September, the Census Bureau reported that 46.2 million Americans are living in poverty, a steep increase from the previous year’s report of 43.6 million. However, in a New York Times piece yesterday, journalist Jason DeParle and colleagues assert that “most poverty experts” would call the Census Bureau’s measure “flawed.” “Concocted on the fly a half-century ago, the official poverty measure ignores ever more of what is happening to the poor person’s wallet—good and bad,” noted the authors. Heritage senior research fellow Robert Rector similarly points out that the Census …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe The Great $16 Muffin Myth – Kevin Drum, Mother Jones Global Meltdown: Investors Are Dumping Nearly Everything – Patti Domm, CNBC US walks out as Iran delivers anti-US speech – Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Boehner: ‘There’s no threat of a government shutdown’ – Nicholas Ballasy, The Daily Caller Bill Clinton: Obama’s Approach to the Deficit is ‘A Little Confusing’ – Real Clear Politics Census: Recession takes big toll on …
In his address to the joint session of Congress last week, President Barack Obama called for $477 billion in new federal spending, which he said would give hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people hope and dignity while giving their low-income parents “ladders out of poverty.” And today, the U.S. Census released its annual poverty report, which declared that 46.2 million persons, or roughly one in seven Americans, were poor in 2010. What President Obama didn’t tell America as he was pleading for more spending–and what the Census Bureau didn’t …
As has been widely reported by the media, the latest 2010 U.S. Census Bureau numbers are confirming the growing number of the Hispanic population in our country. According to some estimates, this number is set to total 50.5 million Hispanics, accounting for nearly 1 in six Americans now of Hispanic stock. While Europe ages and other countries look enviably at our demographic gains, what’s particularly interesting about these numbers is less about the growth of the overall Hispanic population (that was widely predicted) – but where the Hispanic population increase …
What happens when a city buys the liberal dream hook, line and sinker? Just take a look at the City of Detroit. The once-great city lost 237,493 residents over the last decade according to the 2010 Census, bringing it to 713,777 – a population plunge of 25%. That’s its lowest population since 1910, and it marks the city’s fall from a 1950s peak of two million, over 60%. And that’s just the people who can afford to leave. Detroit, once known as “the great arsenal of democracy,” has made headlines …
The recent release of the Census report on an upsurge of the number of Americans in poverty will almost surely be used to justify a spike in funding for federal anti-poverty programs. Yet after decades of increased spending on failed government anti-poverty programs, why should we expect a different result with the next funding increase? Since 2008, food stamp rolls have risen by nearly 50 percent to more than 40 million, and the number of welfare recipients rose to 4.4 million, an 18 percent increase. In fact, government expenditure for …
The Census Bureau’s annual snapshot out today shows there were 50.7 million, or 16.7 percent of the population, without health coverage in 2009. These numbers come as the nation experiences a growing shift from private health coverage to more expansive public health programs. Given today’s high rates of unemployment and the fact that most Americans get health insurance through their employers, the increased number of uninsureds comes as no surprise. The exodus from job-based insurance will only escalate under Obamacare. The CMS actuary estimates that, under the president’s system, approximately …
With the recently released numbers regarding poverty levels in America, public concern is heightened, in particular, regarding the plight of America’s impoverished children. This concern should generate a focus on what might empower them to rise up from poverty—and, in turn, what factors promote stable marriages. Research clearly indicates that one of the most important factors in a child’s welfare is whether she is born to married parents. Children raised by single parents are seven times more likely to live in poverty than peers in families with two married parents. …
