Pictures of Poverty and Economic Difficulties – Graphs from the Census Bureau Report on Poverty, Income and Health Insurance

Today’s Census Report in Pictures

Today’s pictures are brought to you by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  Here is a description of them by them.  Yes, they are a progressive policy organization.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy organization working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

No, their policies do not change the data.

Here are some of their pictures from the Census report data.  You can read the entire report here, but only if you have taken your anti-depression medicine, in fact maybe a double dose.  First up, changes in poverty.

Let's see, the blue numbers (the good numbers) are during the Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon years with Medicare and Medicaid and increases in the government support of low income people.  There are also good numbers in the latter part of the Reagan/Bush I years, and a nice decrease in poverty in the Clinton years.  The Bush II years and the Obama years, not so good.

How about the really, really poor.  Those at less than 50% of the poverty level.



No comment necessary , is there.  Close to 7% of the country in abject poverty.  For a family of four that's income of less than $1,000 a month for housing, food, transporation, heat and light etc. 


And what about unemployment insurance, you know, the thing Mr. Obama wants to extend and the Republicans want to cut back.


Ok, let's cut most of the unemployment compensation payments and put another 3 million people into poverty, would that work for you Republicans?

And what about the income for working families, you know, the folks that go out and work everyday.  How have they been doing.



Well they did pretty good during the Clinton years, but when Bush took over it started downhill and has been that way ever since, including the first two years of the Obama administration.

So what we have is this.  Mr. Obama and his economic advisers have no real plan to make any of the data in these charts better, and when the data is updated for 2011 a year from now, look for the trends to continue.

The Conservative Republicans have plans, but if implemented they would make the situation much worse.  So if there plans are implemented in 2013 look for the trends to accelerate in a downward manner.

Who has the plans to improve the situation, well that would be . . .