First, the poor are not hurting like some would have us believe. For the most part, they are the middle class of the rest of the world. (So who else has 2 cars, a computer, big screen TV, Cable and AC?).
Second the rate is not an objective thing. It is subjective based upon the government bell curve. The reason it has gone up is that the arbitrary level was set before the recession hit, so of course it went up. As soon as the recession is over, it will go back to where it has been since the war on poverty started 50 years ago.
funny thing about what the government calls poverty. It only includes income, not assets. So a friend, who quit working for several years (took a sabbatical) was considered poor, even though he had assets over a million dollars.
