I have almost finished my presentation on the Contract On America for our local Institute for labor Education and Research. It focuses primarily on HR-9, which is the capital gains tax cut and the attack on the regulatory process. If anyone wants a copy, let me know. It is nothing original but it does bring together info from several sources. I have one last question. A couple of years ago, Patricia Ruggles wrote a monograph for the Urban Institute on changing the poverty line. One of the points she made was that the basic food budget should now be multiplied by four, rather than three, to get a minimal poverty line. Using the current poverty line, the poverty rate is 15.1% Does anyone know with certainty what it would be if we used Ruggles' alternative measure? Thanks, Doug Orr [EMAIL PROTECTED]