I know we did away with debtors prisons hundreds of years ago, but I had no idea the world still put people in jail for being poor. Unbelievable!!!
There's an interesting article in the Daytona Beach News Journal about poverty and health insurance. The paper reports that Florida is the third worst state for health insurance. The article also defines what the federal government considers to be poverty in the United States. According to the chart provided by the newspaper shows that in 2006 12.8% of Volusia County residents (my home county) are living in poverty, compared to 12.6% in the state of Florida and 12.3% nationwide.
The National Review has a fascinating article by Robert Rector, senior research fellow in domestic policy studies at the Heritage Foundation about John Edwards and his poverty issue. According to Mr. Rector, Edwards has claimed that poverty in America is "a plague which forces 37 million Americans to live in terrible circumstances." Edwards also claims that "one in eight Americans lack enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need." According to Mr. Rector, the Census Bureau will release its annual report on poverty in America on Tuesday and there are some amazing facts that seemingly rebut much of what Edwards claims. For example, according to Mr. Rector and the Census Bureau 46% of all poor households actually own their own homes. 80% of poor households have air conditioning. Only 6% of poor households are overcrowded. 75% own a car, 31% own two or more cars, 97% have a color tv, and over half own two or more color tvs. Check out the full article by Mr. Rector. As he says, of course poverty exists in the United States, but much of it can be reduced.
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