Half In Poverty

[gipper]

It sure is sad what the progressive movement has done to this country. The welfare/warfare state they love, promote, and wish to expand is the very thing that will destroy the nation.

Why blame the wellfare state and not the excesive military expenditure ?
I understand the US has to deal with the non NATO nuclear powers . But still military expenditure more than triple of Rusia and China combined.
You may argue that such expenditure is needed to keep the US safe. But doesn't universal healthcare achive the same in a different way?

Please reread my post more closely.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

You may argue that such expenditure is needed to keep the US safe. But doesn't universal healthcare achive the same in a different way?

too stupid unless you'd rather be living under Hitler Stalin or Mao. It would identical to saying we should eliminate the police and spent the money on health care!! You spend what it takes to police the world and to police your own country. We spend a fortune and as we learned in Iraq and Afghanistan its still not enough.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The FDR method, work/re-education camps.

100% stupid and liberal since even FDR didn't think his programs worked.



****Here's what Henry Morgenthau, FDR's Secretary of the Treasury (the man who desperately needed the New Deal to succeed as much as Roosevelt) said about the New Deal stimulus: "We have tried spending money.We are spending more than we ever have spent before and it does not work... We have never made good on our promises...I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started... And an enormous debt to boot!"


"The New Republic"( at the time a FDR greatest supporter") noted. In June 1939, the federal public works programs still supported almost 19 million people, nearly 15% of the population" [page 313]

In fact in 1939, unemployment was at 17%, and there were 11 million additional in stimulus make work welfare jobs. Today when the population is 2.5 times greater we have only 8 million unemployed. Conclusion: legislation to make Democrats illegal
is urgently needed

 

[Sonny Clark]

You may argue that such expenditure is needed to keep the US safe. But doesn't universal healthcare achive the same in a different way?

too stupid unless you'd rather be living under Hitler Stalin or Mao. It would identical to saying we should eliminate the police and spent the money on health care!! You spend what it takes to police the world and to police your own country. We spend a fortune and as we learned in Iraq and Afghanistan its still not enough.

It's not what we spend on defense, nor on security, it's how what we spend is used. Iraq and Afghanistan, like Viet Nam, are/were nothing more than expensive police actions. Those were/are not wars.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

, are/were nothing more than expensive police actions. Those were/are not wars.

dear why does it matter to discussion if they were police or war?? Can you say??

 

[CultureCitizen]

We spend a fortune and as we learned in Iraq and Afghanistan its still not enough.

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. The region is more unstable right now and there number of people who sympathize with Al-Qaeda has increased.
Guess what , the rest of the world can do without such an outrageous military expenditure.
9/11 happend because of a complete failure in the Intelligence area.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

 

[Sonny Clark]

, are/were nothing more than expensive police actions. Those were/are not wars.

dear why does it matter to discussion if they were police or war?? Can you say??

You're the one that brought it up, not me. I was just clarifying what you had said concerning the so-called wars.

 

[CultureCitizen]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

Well why police the world single handedly ? That's what organizations like the UN and the NATO are for.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

Well why police the world single handedly ? That's what organizations like the UN and the NATO are for.

OMG too freakin stupid!
1) they won't do it
2) they don't have the moral rectitude to do it

 

[Sonny Clark]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

Well why police the world single handedly ? That's what organizations like the UN and the NATO are for.

OMG too freakin stupid!
1) they won't do it
2) they don't have the moral rectitude to do it

FYI - We don't do it either. We play politics and engage in diplomatic "footsy". We don't police anyone, we play war, destroy countries, and cause hundreds of thousands to lose their lives. Then, we simply pick up our marbles and come home.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

Well why police the world single handedly ? That's what organizations like the UN and the NATO are for.

OMG too freakin stupid!
1) they won't do it
2) they don't have the moral rectitude to do it

FYI - We don't do it either. We play politics and engage in diplomatic "footsy". We don't police anyone, we play war, destroy countries, and cause hundreds of thousands to lose their lives. Then, we simply pick up our marbles and come home.

too stupid of course. American picks its enemies very very well. Iran North Korea Iraq USSR Afghanistan Nazi Germany . That you cant understand the extreme moral nature of this is testimony to your pure liberal ignorance.

 

[Carla_Danger]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

How can 47% own zero wealth?

Aren't tattoos an investment in the future?

What we need to do is redefine "poor".

We have the fattest, most nattily dressed, high-tech poor in the world.

Virtually every American is a 1%er, compared to the rest of the world.

Our problem is we can't help the truly poor for the slugs on the dole that should be working.

I hear some of these poor people even own refrigerators!

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

How can 47% own zero wealth?

Aren't tattoos an investment in the future?

What we need to do is redefine "poor".

We have the fattest, most nattily dressed, high-tech poor in the world.

Virtually every American is a 1%er, compared to the rest of the world.

Our problem is we can't help the truly poor for the slugs on the dole that should be working.

I hear some of these poor people even own refrigerators!

its true most of the poor in America are rich by world standards. For example our poor suffer more from over eating than under eating.

 

[Carla_Danger]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

How can 47% own zero wealth?

Aren't tattoos an investment in the future?

What we need to do is redefine "poor".

We have the fattest, most nattily dressed, high-tech poor in the world.

Virtually every American is a 1%er, compared to the rest of the world.

Our problem is we can't help the truly poor for the slugs on the dole that should be working.

I hear some of these poor people even own refrigerators!

its true most of the poor in America are rich by world standards. For example our poor suffer more from over eating than under eating.

Cheap foods are fattening! Red Welfare states are the fattest.

The Most And Least Obese States In The U.S.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

How can 47% own zero wealth?

Aren't tattoos an investment in the future?

What we need to do is redefine "poor".

We have the fattest, most nattily dressed, high-tech poor in the world.

Virtually every American is a 1%er, compared to the rest of the world.

Our problem is we can't help the truly poor for the slugs on the dole that should be working.

I hear some of these poor people even own refrigerators!

its true most of the poor in America are rich by world standards. For example our poor suffer more from over eating than under eating.

Cheap foods are fattening! Red Welfare states are the fattest.

The Most And Least Obese States In The U.S.

dear no one disagrees that cheap foods are fattening. Do you have any idea what subject you are on??

 

[CultureCitizen]

The war on Iraq was absolutely unnecesary. .

dear, that was not the subject. the subject was how big our military needs to be to police the world. Do you understand??

Well why police the world single handedly ? That's what organizations like the UN and the NATO are for.

OMG too freakin stupid!
1) they won't do it
2) they don't have the moral rectitude to do it

FYI - We don't do it either. We play politics and engage in diplomatic "footsy". We don't police anyone, we play war, destroy countries, and cause hundreds of thousands to lose their lives. Then, we simply pick up our marbles and come home.

too stupid of course. American picks its enemies very very well. Iran North Korea Iraq USSR Afghanistan Nazi Germany . That you cant understand the extreme moral nature of this is testimony to your pure liberal ignorance.

Cuba, Chile , Mexico , Panama, Vietnam , Philipines ..Ah the list goes on and on.
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

 

[westwall]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

Now....that's "Change we can believe in!"

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Cuba, Chile , Mexico , Panama, Vietnam , Philipines ..Ah the list goes on and on.
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html

dear, Cuba is a Nazi concentration camp where boats are illegal.
Do you know why boats are illegal there?

Do you see now how stupid and dangerous liberals are?

 

[Carla_Danger]

The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.

The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.

(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.

(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.

The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."

(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.

(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."

The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet

What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.

The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"

How can 47% own zero wealth?

Aren't tattoos an investment in the future?

What we need to do is redefine "poor".

We have the fattest, most nattily dressed, high-tech poor in the world.

Virtually every American is a 1%er, compared to the rest of the world.

Our problem is we can't help the truly poor for the slugs on the dole that should be working.

I hear some of these poor people even own refrigerators!

its true most of the poor in America are rich by world standards. For example our poor suffer more from over eating than under eating.

Cheap foods are fattening! Red Welfare states are the fattest.

The Most And Least Obese States In The U.S.

dear no one disagrees that cheap foods are fattening. Do you have any idea what subject you are on??

You're the one that brought up over eating. I was simply pointing out that cheap foods are one of the reasons those red welfare states are so fat.