Poverty Findings Mostly Good

The AP reports that poverty in America has gone down significantly in the latest census. Only 12.3% of Americans are living below the poverty line, which is $20,444 for a family of four, and unemployment was down (it's around a historic low of 4.6%). The biggest negative is an increase in the number of uninsured, from 44.8 million to 47 million, but overall, the news was good.

The Democrats are going to use the number of uninsured on this report to bolster their attempt to achieve universal health care (all the Democrat presidential candidates have pledged this). The first step is the unnecessary SCHIP expansion, which will likely be taken up when Congress returns from recess in September. I won't go into all the details again, but if you're unaware of the details of the nefariously bloated SCHIP bill, check my previous blogs here, here, here, and here. Suffice it to say that it's a massive expansion of a program that was already too big, and its numbers cannot possibly be attained, which means that massive new taxes must be levied to pay for it.

Translation: YOU will get stuck with the (enormous) bill!

What will you be paying for? Health care for illegal aliens, health care for "children" as old as 25 (and some even older), and health care for people making as much as $80,000 per year.

That's not okay with me.

As I blogged yesterday, this report on the poor is misleading in a couple of ways. First, the supposed need for universal health care. Second, Right Truth exposes the fact that according to this report 45% of all uninsured people in American are illegal aliens. 45%! Just think what a reduction in the illegal alien population would do to help out Americans who legitimately need assistance! Yet another reason to get cracking on real immigration reform (i.e. enforcement)! Third, does it not occur to liberals that a good chunk of the uninsured (specifically, the ones making $75,000 a year) might have chosen to ignore the bloated bureaucracy of HMOs in favor of cash payments for medical services? No, surely not! Why, that would be sacrilege to the liberal mentality of needing the all-powerful government to take care of everything!

Here's another thought: the economy has been leaping forward over the past few years, largely due to Bush's tax cuts. More money in the pocket means more spending, which means more opportunities for businesses to be started or expanded. The backbone of America has always been its small business force - that's where the most productive workers and innovative solutions originate. The small business owners I know tend to be very practical when it comes to their bottom line. Have you ever looked at purchasing health coverage without the benefit of a Fortune company's volume? Man, it's painful! I could easily understand saving the cost of insurance if they are healthy, especially if they don't have children.

Are there some people who truly need coverage that don't have it? Yes, undoubtedly. Should we freak out and embark upon some of the biggest tax hikes in American history as a knee-jerk reaction to this report? Absolutely not.

There's my two cents.