Kevin :
Maybe, just maybe, it would be helpful to read other
experts in economics.
The poor get what they deserve and the gvt is the
villain ?
Actually, giving all due credit to gvt as the source of
some of the problem,
Wall Street deserves the lion's share. Both Kevin
Phillips in Bad Money
and Charles Morris in The Trillion Dollar Meltdown
are very clear
that whatever role that Uncle Sam played, the finance
industry
was irresponsible in the extreme, played games with the
entire
national economy and millions of lives in the process,
and has,
all along, lobbied --often successfully-- to
eliminate regulations
that could have prevented the 2007-2008-2009 debacle.
Anyway, to blame gvt is, if we are discussing either
Democrats or
Republicans, to discuss politicians who are one and the
same as
Wall Street.
Bush's Goldman Sachs people vs Obama's Goldman Sachs
people.
The big economic failure of gvt is that it has ceased
being gvt and
has become an arm of high finance, viz, capitalism
without
benefit of morals.
Billy
-----------------------------------------
| 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.
Rise up, ye debt-trodden masses!
Rise up against your real enemy: the feds.
You have nothing to lose but your chains
|
-----
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
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