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Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Rome Burns, Nero Fiddles





Via Steve Soto:
Even with a robust economy that was adding jobs last year, the number of Americans who fell into poverty rose to 37 million — up 1.1 million from 2003 — according to Census Bureau figures released Tuesday.

It marks the fourth straight increase in the government's annual poverty measure.

The Census Bureau also said household income remained flat, and that the number of people without health insurance edged up by about 800,000 to 45.8 million people.

"I was surprised," said Sheldon Danziger, co-director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan. "I thought things would have turned around by now."
Surprised? How can you be surprised? Let's see, four years, five minus four...2000...the guy who was in office the last time poverty didn't rise...that would be...Bill Clinton! The appropriate expression is absofuckinglutely predictable. Who exactly couldn't see that this would be the logical result of an administration whose idea of a good time is rolling the homeless for pocket change?

Probably those poor sad bastards whose lips went all trembly over that smoking gun/mushroom cloud bullshit. We of the instinctive eyeball roll were a) somewhat less than surprised and b) absolutely right.

But hey, I've seen Fox News, I know the pro bloviators tour always accuse the left of only focusing on the negative, so how about some good news for a change?

Turns out the ratio of the average CEO-to-worker pay is up from 301-to-1 in 2003 to 431-to-1 in 2004! WOOO HOOO!!!

Welcome to My Pet Goat, Part II.

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