Incomes down, poverty up
courier-journal.com
CENSUS Bureau data showing that middle-class incomes fell last year and that
poverty rates rose give Americans some new statistics to ponder.
But the inescapable conclusion from a reading of the latest report is something
the country already knows: Millions of Americans are reeling from layoffs or
significantly reduced earnings.
Median household income fell, for the first time in a decade, by 2.2 percent from
the prior year, and the proportion living in poverty jumped for the first time in
eight years, from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 11.7 percent last year. The realities of
how many Americans are impoverished, of course, are starker even than the
numbers, since the federal definition of the poverty line rests on unlivable
wages ($18,104 last year for a family of four).
Nevertheless, President Bush promptly proclaimed himself optimistic about
future economic growth. And, anyway, the White House public relations machine
declared, the current unpleasantness is chiefly the fault of -- who else? -- Bill
Clinton.
These are the fantasies of an administration that remains clueless about
economic management.
Of course, the economy will grow again at some point. The questions are how
soon, how much and how can the suffering of unemployed and underemployed
Americans be alleviated in the interim.
And, yes, the downturn began in 2000 near the end of Mr. Clinton's tenure, but
it followed a period of extraordinary expansion and prosperity. It is Mr. Bush's
failure, not Mr. Clinton's, that the current administration has presided over the
end of the budget surplus, soaring new deficits and a lack of any credible
strategy to stimulate the economy or help those at the low end of the economic
scale.
Instead of pointing fingers in other directions, the White House should focus on
one Census statistic in particular: the growing disparity between rich and poor.
While other income levels dropped, the average income for the top 5 percent of
households rose last year.
That makes it even more grotesque that the nation's economic future is hostage
to coming tax cuts that benefit almost exclusively the very richest Americans.
But don't hold your breath waiting for a turnabout by the President. When it
comes to the economy, this administration follows the old backward axiom: Don't
just do something, stand there.
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