clipped from: www.msnbc.msn.com The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent — were living in poverty last year. That’s down from 12.6 percent in 2005.
Poverty has not been a big issue in the campaign, and political scientists said they doubted the new numbers would change that.
“The poor are politically mute,” said Larry Jacobs, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota. “What rational politician would listen to the poor? They don’t vote, they don’t write checks, why care?”
The share of Americans without health insurance hit 15.8 percent last year, up from 15.3 percent the previous year.
Danziger said low unemployment in 2006 helped lower the poverty rate. But, he noted, the rate was slow to drop despite five years of economic growth.