Bush Years Lost Economic Decade

There's been a great deal of coverage of the latest census data on the increase in poverty in 2008. The bottom line?  Bush stole all your money, and your health insurance is short-lived.

Fortunately, there's a growing push to modernize the poverty measure, which is based on 1955 data on the cost of food, calculated in haste in the 1960s. Back in the day, food costs were a third of a family's budget.  Now they're one-seventh. Exactly - you don't even know how much that is, but it's relatively nominal compared to the expense of housing, medicine, clothing, etc.

Here's a quick round-up of coverage - the infuriating and the promising - you don't want to miss.

First, the bad news:

• Economic Growth under Bush Illusory: Median household income fell more deeply from 2007 to 2008 since the government "began keeping track four decades ago; adjusted for inflation, median income was lower in 2008 than in 1998 and every year since then... from 2002 to 2007, the top 1 percent of households — those making more than $400,000 a year — received two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains, their largest share of the spoils since the 1920s." The Bush Years = a "lost decade for the typical American family."
• Some non-profits and social service providers don't even use the word "poverty" - it's like a scourge that shall not be named. If I didn't know any better I'd think it was a STD!
• I mentioned this in my OP about the data, but it bears repeating: more and more employers are dropping health insurance for their workers. This is the 8th straight year of declines. For those who have insurance now and are fearful of health care reform - remember what happens when you don't speak out?

Now for the good news:

• The Obama Administration has selected Rebecca Blank and Mark Greenberg, two of the most vocal advocates for a modernized poverty measure, to serve in the Commerce Department - with oversight of the Census - and in Health & Human Services - the other federal agency that determines official poverty measures.
• New York City is one example of a modernized, more generous (for most) poverty measure that takes into account housing, medical, and other costs.
• This is another repeat: Two bills have been introduced in Congress to bring the poverty measure into the 21st century.  Contact Congress Today!

(Photo of "Armed Forces Full Honor Farewell to President George W. Bush" by BL1961)