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WASHINGTON (AP) The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.
Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.
The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest since 1965.
Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth.
"I grew up going to Hawaii every summer. Now I'm here, applying for assistance because it's hard to make ends meet. It's very hard to adjust," said Laura Fritz, 27, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., describing her slide from rich to poor as she filled out aid forms at a county center. Since 2000, large swaths of Jefferson County just outside Denver have seen poverty nearly double.
US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s
WASHINGTON (AP) The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.
Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.
The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest since 1965.
Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth.
"I grew up going to Hawaii every summer. Now I'm here, applying for assistance because it's hard to make ends meet. It's very hard to adjust," said Laura Fritz, 27, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., describing her slide from rich to poor as she filled out aid forms at a county center. Since 2000, large swaths of Jefferson County just outside Denver have seen poverty nearly double.
US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s - Yahoo! News
And it's aaaaallll Obama's fault. Yep. He crashed the economy in 2008 all by his lonesome. His policies for the last 30 yrs have caused the middle class to shrink and put more money into the pockets of top earners.
Since 2000, large swaths of Jefferson County just outside Denver have seen poverty nearly double.
And it's aaaaallll Obama's fault. Yep. He crashed the economy in 2008 all by his lonesome. His policies for the last 30 yrs have caused the middle class to shrink and put more money into the pockets of top earners.
The buck always stops with the current POTUS.
Obama is in the White House, it's his economy.
He even said himself if he couldn't get it fixed in one term, he would be replaced. Now of course he could easily be re-elected, but he wouldn't have made such a statement if he wasn't agreeing that he should be able to fix the economy.
Well, we've had I believe 43 straight months of unemployment over 8%. He obviously isn't up for the job.
It's time for change.
Why in the world would anyone vote for this again.
And it's aaaaallll Obama's fault. Yep. He crashed the economy in 2008 all by his lonesome. His policies for the last 30 yrs have caused the middle class to shrink and put more money into the pockets of top earners.
The buck always stops with the current POTUS.
Obama is in the White House, it's his economy.
He even said himself if he couldn't get it fixed in one term, he would be replaced. Now of course he could easily be re-elected, but he wouldn't have made such a statement if he wasn't agreeing that he should be able to fix the economy.
Well, we've had I believe 43 straight months of unemployment over 8%. He obviously isn't up for the job.
It's time for change.
OP title: Welcome to the Obama economy
You. Fail.
So what's the Romney plan? Nuts and bolts people, please, and none of this anyone but Obama crap. How does he plan to give American business a sweeter deal than they have now to bring some jobs back? How does he plan to reverse the growing downward pressure on wages? I want details.
.
There are obviously people who want to absolve Bush of any responsibility regarding the global meltdown, and I suppose that's understandable given the long and clear history of dishonesty that is partisan politics. My guy did nothing wrong, it's all your guy's fault.
Funny thing is, this behavior illustrates an abject ignorance these folks have of the nature of the meltdown.
Obama didn't cause this, nor did Bush. Surprise! It was decades in the making and it could easily take that long for its affects to disappear.
One of the many problems with partisan politics is that it oversimplifies everything it touches. I'm sure that makes things nice and simple of the incurious, the simplistic and the intellectually lazy, but dishonesty advances or improves nothing.
But, by all means, let's continue with the silliness.
.
.
There are obviously people who want to absolve Bush of any responsibility regarding the global meltdown, and I suppose that's understandable given the long and clear history of dishonesty that is partisan politics. My guy did nothing wrong, it's all your guy's fault.
Funny thing is, this behavior illustrates an abject ignorance these folks have of the nature of the meltdown.
Obama didn't cause this, nor did Bush. Surprise! It was decades in the making and it could easily take that long for its affects to disappear.
One of the many problems with partisan politics is that it oversimplifies everything it touches. I'm sure that makes things nice and simple of the incurious, the simplistic and the intellectually lazy, but dishonesty advances or improves nothing.
But, by all means, let's continue with the silliness.
.
The point is, Obama is the one who's name is now on white house stationary.
We can debate all day long the root causes, but that doesn't change the location of where the buck stops.
And it's aaaaallll Obama's fault. Yep. He crashed the economy in 2008 all by his lonesome. His policies for the last 30 yrs have caused the middle class to shrink and put more money into the pockets of top earners.
