XPost: talk.politics.crypto, alt.politics.howard-dean, alt.flame.rednecks   
   XPost: alt.bullshit   
   From: okamuraj005@hawaii.rr.com   
      
   What is the state by state percentage of those who are poor?  For each   
   state, has the number increased or decreased and what was the percentage?   
   For each state, tell us, whether the governor is a democrat or a republican?   
   For each state, tell us if democrats or republicans control the legislator?   
   For each state, tell us if which one has been in control of one party for a   
   long time, and what party that was?   
      
   "George K. Jackson"  wrote in message   
   news:Xns9F1DB7274F4CCfdas@194.177.98.144...   
      
   Red State shit holes infested with rightist white trash are not only the   
   ghettos of the USA, they are the assholes of the world and are full to the   
   brim with lazy, morbidly obese right wingers who sit around all day   
   whining about Obama and why he hasn't saved them.   
      
   The government announced Thursday that nearly 4.3 million Texans lived in   
   poverty last year, a whopping 11 percent increase.   
      
   Larry James and Jill Cumnock absorbed the news many months ago.   
      
   They run charities that feed and tend a swelling group of poor North   
   Texans, and they say demand has gone up by at least 25 percent, and in   
   some cases has doubled, since the economy took a dive in 2008.   
      
   "The need is going up, that's for sure," said James, president and chief   
   executive of Central Dallas Ministries. He said his nonprofit is on track   
   to feed, house and assist as many as 48,000 people this year – up from   
   43,000 last year and 34,000 two years ago.   
      
   Cumnock, executive director of the Frisco Family Services Center, said her   
   agency now helps more than 64 new clients a month, nearly double its   
   volume two years ago.   
      
   "It is not at all uncommon to have someone walk into that food pantry and   
   ... break down because they can't believe they're having to get food from   
   a food pantry," she said.   
      
   The Census Bureau study released Thursday said that Texas' poverty rate   
   last year was 17.3 percent, once again the nation's sixth-highest. The   
   rate among Texas children also has increased since 2008.   
      
   Poverty now affects almost 1.8 million Texans younger than 18. That's just   
   more than one of every four.   
      
   "If these numbers don't convey a sense of urgency, I don't know what   
   will," said J.C. Dwyer, state policy director of the Texas Food Bank   
   Network.   
      
   Statewide, food banks distributed nearly 43 million pounds of food in the   
   second quarter of 2010, or 14 percent more than in the same period last   
   year, Dwyer said.   
      
   Illegal immigrants   
      
   The census study is widely criticized for using an old measure of poverty   
   and not distilling how many of the nation's poor are illegal immigrants –   
   the bureau asks if people are citizens but doesn't grill them if the   
   answer is no.   
      
   But it still offers the most graphic evidence of a withering and   
   relentless economic downturn: Texas had just over 3.8 million poor people   
   in 2008, but about 428,000 more were in that category last year. That's   
   roughly equivalent to throwing all of Denton County into the poorhouse.   
      
   "The new figures are further proof of how hard the recession hit the   
   nation and Texas, and we aren't out of the woods yet – not even close,"   
   said Frances Deviney, a poverty expert at the Center for Public Policy   
   Priorities, a liberal-leaning Austin research group. "This is no time to   
   cut or let assistance expire for our residents and communities."   
      
   Conservative experts such as Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation in   
   Washington say it's time to tackle cultural issues by promoting marriage   
   and discouraging having babies out of wedlock, using increased refundable   
   tax credits for married couples, and "making all of welfare less of a free   
   handout."   
      
   Rector said Texas could slash the probability a child will live in poverty   
   by almost three-quarters if it could restore marriage as the norm,   
   especially in low-income neighborhoods.   
      
   James, an ordained minister who's run Central Dallas Ministries for 16   
   years, blasted the suggestion as "fairly condescending and another example   
   of just blaming victims and not really knowing what's going on with   
   people."   
      
   He also made an economic argument, saying Dallas County grocers forfeited   
   a half-billion dollars in business in 2008 because Texas' faulty screening   
   system for food stamps didn't enroll some people who were eligible.   
      
   "We're not thinking correctly about public benefit," he said. "It's not a   
   giveaway into some black hole that just disappears. It's an investment in   
   people's lives and well-being."   
      
   Learning firsthand   
      
   Arguments about causes and cures aside, some Texans who aren't used to   
   struggling are learning firsthand about the ravaged economy.   
      
   Plano accountant Elizabeth Condit said she made a good salary before she   
   lost her job with a software firm in May.   
      
   Since then, the 40-year-old, her husband, Joseph, and their teenage   
   daughter have had to rely on Frisco Family Services Center for help with   
   groceries, clothing and job search classes. The family is struggling to   
   get by on Joseph's smaller security job salary and Elizabeth's   
   unemployment income, which is expected to end in November.   
      
   The local charity helped the family pay rent, but most of that went to   
   late fees, Elizabeth Condit said. The charity also gave the couple's teen   
   daughter a backpack full of school supplies, a facial, toiletries and Foot   
   Locker gift card to pick out new shoes for the school year.   
      
   "I was honestly near tears," Joseph Condit said. "I knew, and she knew,   
   that this was something we'd never be able to do for her."   
      
   At the Crossroads Community Services in downtown Dallas, the Rev. Jay   
   Cole, executive director, said one recent client used to earn $90,000 a   
   year and donated to the charity until he lost his job and needed help   
   himself.   
      
   "We're seeing people who were making actually pretty darn good money,"   
   Cole said. "Now, they're like, 'Jay, we're barely hanging on.' "   
      
   Texas posted stark numbers. Its child poverty rate last year was 25.6   
   percent, up from 23.1 percent a year earlier and high enough to edge out   
   Louisiana for seventh-highest among the states. Under the federal   
   definition of poverty, a family of four last year could make no more than   
   $22,050.   
      
   The number of Texans not in poverty but living below twice the poverty   
   level, or $44,100 for a family of four, decreased to 5.3 million people,   
   from 5.5 million in 2008, the study showed. Nationally, the number of   
   people in working-poor households increased slightly.   
      
   One expert, however, said those changes weren't statistically significant.   
      
   "The whole income distribution shifted downward – from one group to the   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)