Excerpt
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): At a time when much of Washington is focused on helping the struggling middle class, today's report outlined the magnitude of the problem for 15 percent of Americans who live in poverty. More than 46 million lived below the federal poverty line last year, the highest number since the census began tracking that data five decades ago.
The poverty line is lower than you might think: $11,139 a year for a single person, $22,314 a year for a family of four. The poverty rate itself is at the highest level since 1993.
We examine what's happening with two people who study this carefully. Douglas Besharov is a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland. He joins us from Boston. And Isabel Sawhill is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Her work focuses on poverty and social policy.
ALSO: "Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on ‘Lost Decade’" By SABRINA TAVERNISE, New York Times 9/3/2011
My answer to why: The ultra-conservative Republican belief in "swim or sink" when it comes to the American people. The idea that government has no obligation to see that ALL citizens have an opportunity for a decent living. They act like a person who throws someone in the deep-end of a pool and walks away, not caring if the person knows how to swim (swim, or sink and die).
Of course, these hypocrites have no problem seeing that the rich get all the breaks government can give them, even though the rich don't really need them. The worship of Greed personified.
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