Increase In Poverty And Uninsured Fuels Political Debate
The President received bad news on two economic fronts yesterday. ABC World News Tonight reported last night that the US Census Bureau "has produced its annual report on Americans living in poverty and without health care. And the headline is – in both categories – more than the year before." ABC added "One of the most disturbing findings in today's report – and Census officials say you can trace it directly to the rising poverty rate among single parent households – a lot of poor kids live with single moms."
CBS Evening News added that the Bush campaign "was quick to point out that the Census report is based on data from last year, and that there's been a lot of good news since." USA Today reports, however, that "the results "were interpreted by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as proof that President Bush's economic policies have failed the middle class. 'Under George Bush's watch, America's families are falling further behind,' Kerry said." The Wall Street Journal adds that Kerry "said the data prove that the president's policies have focused on the well-to-do and failed the middle class."
