This week, Census figures will be released and it may be very bad news for President Barack Obama and his administration. The number of people in the U.S. who are in living in poverty is growing and approaching record levels not observed since the 1960s.
Reports from six demographers who track poverty trends expect increases in the range of between 14 and 15 percent.
If the estimates are accurate, this would mean that 1 out of 7 or more than 45 million people were poor last year in America. This would be the largest number since the government started tracking poverty figures in 1959. Prior to this, 1980 showed the biggest increase when the rate jumped 1.3 percentage points to 13 percent during the energy crisis.
Among the 18-64 working-age population, the demographers expect the rate to rise beyond 12.4 percent, up from 11.7 percent. That would make it the highest since at least 1965, when another Democratic president, Lyndon B. Johnson, launched the war on poverty that expanded the federal government's role in social welfare programs from education to health care.
This is particularly troubling for African Americans, since we disproportionately are represented with respect to poverty and unemployment. This is also so true for children since experts anticipate child poverty rates to increase to more than 20 percent.
If these projections are accurate, Republicans, although they have not stated any specific policies to deal with the economy, will have ammunition to continue their attacks against Democrats and President Obama citing a higher poverty rate as evidence of their failed economic policy, although these poverty increases started under President Bush.
Regardless of the political arguments, something needs to be done or else poverty rates will continue to rise and even worse, will start to creep up to middle-class working and unemployed families. Unfortunately, neither party is dealing with answering the question of what can be done to assist families in dire economic need. The all-time high was 22.4 percent in 1959, the first year the government began tracking poverty. As of 2008, the poverty level stood at $22,025 for a family of four.
It is evident that class warfare is on the front burner for Republicans and Tea party activist across the nation. From inside the beltway to state capitols across America, legislatures have specifically targeted programs that disproportionately assist Blacks and minorities communities who also happen to subsist mainly at or below the poverty level. The latest example is in the state of Florida, where a bill is being brought to the floor, based on ideas first offered by noted white supremist and Klansman David Duke that would mandate that the state’s welfare recipients would have to undergo -- and pay for -- drug tests to be eligible to receive welfare benefits. The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Jimmie T. Smith, has argued that this is necessary to ensure that state and federal dollars are being spent on families who truly deserve the aid and that those who receive the money don't spend it on drugs. If successful, Florida would become the second state in the nation to approve such an ordinance. It was a central part of the campaign of current, Gov. Rick Scott last year. This would require that more than 21,000 Floridians currently receiving assistance as heads of households would have to submit to the drug screenings, according to the Department of Children and Families. 
Although it has been pointed out that this could be a profit windfall for Rep. Scott, the measure (HB 353) was approved by the House Judiciary Committee Thursday by a 13-5 vote. Scott founded the urgent care chain, Solantic, would be the owner of the company that will conduct the drug test at a cost of $35 each. Scott has since transferred ownership of the chain to his wife, Ann, after taking office.
