Bearing Witness

Sounds of Silence Greet Shocking New Poverty Statistics

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Here’s a philosophical variation of the “if a tree falls in a forest” question for you: if 44 million Americans fall below the poverty line, and no one hears it, do they make any sound?

Over the weekend the Washington Post published an article about how little reaction had been expressed over the shocking new statistics showing that 44 million Americans now live in poverty. One in five children are so classified. It is a level of economic suffering unseen in nearly 50 years. Yet it has been greeted mostly with silence from policymakers in both the Administration and Congress. Is anyone calling for bipartisan summit meetings like when the banks were in trouble? Emergency sessions of Congress or the Council of Economic Advisers? Don’t hold your breath.

Read entire post on Huffington Post @http://www.huffingtonpost.com/billy-shore/child-nutrition-sounds-of_b_732412.html