green girl says: 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Daily Reckoning

The Daily Reckoning Presents

US Poverty Stats: Where the Feds Are At Fault

Bill Bonner

Remember our report from yesterday: “Generation Jobless” was how The Wall Street Journal put it. Here’s more. From the blog “Economic Collapse:”

19 Statistics About The Poor That Will Absolutely Astound You.

#1 According to the US Census Bureau, the percentage of “very poor” rose in 300 out of the 360 largest metropolitan areas during 2010.

#2 Last year, 2.6 million more Americans descended into poverty. That was the largest increase that we have seen since the US government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.

#3 It isn’t just the ranks of the “very poor” that are rising. The number of those just considered to be “poor” is rapidly increasing as well. Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.

#4 The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.

#5 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#6 In Washington DC, the “child food insecurity rate” is 32.3%.

#7 More than 20 million US children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

#8 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.

#9 Today, there are over 45 million Americans on food stamps.

#10 According to The Wall Street Journal, nearly 15 percent of all Americans are now on food stamps.

#11 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#12 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.

#13 We are told that the economy is recovering, but the number of Americans on food stamps has grown by another 8 percent over the past year.

#14 Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#15 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all US children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#16 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid. Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#17 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.

#18 The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.

#19 It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.

Now, dear reader, we ask ourselves: how could the most sophisticated, most dynamic, best capitalized, high tech enhanced capitalism in history produce such an outcome?

The answer is simple: capitalism doesn’t give you what you want. It gives you what you deserve. And it usually does so with such a long delay that few people connect cause with effect.

Instead, they rant and rave. They blame the rich. They call for more regulation. More distribution. More handouts, subsidies, and bailouts.

They demand that the feds ‘do something!’...not realizing that the feds — more than anyone else — are responsible for their misery:

The feds tricked them into spending more than they could afford — with artificially low rates and EZ credit.

The feds loaded them up with mortgage debt — thanks to their federally subsidized mortgage industry.

The feds practically invented sub-prime mortgage debt; and directed lenders towards the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the society.

The feds enticed old people into complete dependence — with the Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare programs.

The feds led the young into debt too — with easy student loans that effectively transferred money from them to the education industry.

The feds jimmied the health system into such a mess that Americans now spend 45 times as much as Cubans...and have the same life expectancy.

The feds’ funny money system caused the export of millions of good jobs to emerging markets.