On Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:03:03 -0600, Benny Fishhole
wrote:

On Sat, 19 Nov 2011 11:36:23 -0500, Deucalion
wrote:



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/us/census-measures-those-not-quite-in-poverty-but-struggling.html?_r=2&hp

WASHINGTON — They drive cars, but seldom new ones. They earn
paychecks, but not big ones. Many own homes. Most pay taxes. Half are
married, and nearly half live in the suburbs. None are poor, but many
describe themselves as barely scraping by.

Down but not quite out, these Americans form a diverse group sometimes
called “near poor” and sometimes simply overlooked — and a new count
suggests they are far more numerous than previously understood.

When the Census Bureau this month released a new measure of poverty,
meant to better count disposable income, it began altering the
portrait of national need. Perhaps the most startling differences
between the old measure and the new involves data the government has
not yet published, showing 51 million people with incomes less than 50
percent above the poverty line. That number of Americans is 76 percent
higher than the official account, published in September. All told,
that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in
poverty or in the fretful zone just above it.

After a lost decade of flat wages and the worst downturn since the
Great Depression, the findings can be thought of as putting numbers to
the bleak national mood — quantifying the expressions of unease
erupting in protests and political swings. They convey levels of
economic stress sharply felt but until now hard to measure.

...

Douchebag, don't be discouraged. I'm sure if you quit drinking and
apply yourself, after a couple of short years of consistant soberiety
and employment, you should be able to join the ranks of the "near
poor" too. That is, if they'll have you.

Hint: prepare now and spend your first paycheck on toothpaste and
deoderant.

Forgot to throw the Douchebag back into the polluted fishbowl that
spawned him and his ilk.