PROGRESSING BACKWARDS

"More than 37 million Americans live in poverty and nearly 46 million have no health insurance, an official report showed Tuesday, spotlighting two key issues in the race for the presidency. Some 37.3 million people lived in poverty in the United States in 2007, an increase from the 36.5 million people in 2006, the US Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage showed. The poverty threshold for 2007 was set at 21,000 dollars (14,360 euros) for a family of four, regardless of whether they lived in a smaller US city such as Milwaukee or a large city like Los Angeles, where the cost of living was significantly higher. (Yahoo News, 26 August) RD