September 13, 2011

The Census Bureau announced today the poverty levels for the nation have increased dramatically in the past few years. The number of poor in 2010 was 46.2 million in 2010 or 15.1 percent of the population. In 2001, Nevada's poverty rate was 7.1 percent and now it's 16.4 percent. It started to go up in 2003.

Rather than dealing with poverty directly let's have a “quick fix” and simply redefine what is means to be poor. Right now a person making $11,139 a year and a family of four making $22,314 are poor. So, let's lower that to $8,000 a year and $16,000 respectively. While we are at it, let's lower the minimum wage to $4 an hour and hire kids under 14 because they will work for that, maybe less. Many Republicans have already proposed this so let's start listening.

The poor are just numbers to politicians. Corporations which control Congress and most state legislatures don't care, so long as they make money when everyone else does not. Right now, GE and Bank of America pay no taxes but make billions in profit. This imbalance will continue to make the gap between rich a poor and middle-class greater.

There will be a cultural and marketplace breaking point, call it an "American Spring".