Broke Ass Motherfuckers

Poverty - classified as the working-age poor, climbed to it's highest point in over four decades, counting one in seven Americans as impoverished. The other six in seven of us don't know if we should wipe our asses with our money or light our cigars.

The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3% , or 43.6 million people, according to the Census Bureau. Oh, so that's what they do! In 2008, the poverty rate increased to 13.2%. Also covered in the data was the number of Americans without health coverage -16.7% (50.7 million people); mostly due to the loss of employer-provided health insurance during the recession. Broken down by state, Mississippi had the highest share of poor people (23.1%), followed by Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas and Georgia. New Hampshire had the lowest share, at 7.8%.

The 2009 poverty level was set at $21,954 for a family of four, based on an official government calculation that includes only cash income, before tax deductions. It excludes capital gains or accumulated wealth, such as home ownership, as well as noncash aid such as food stamps. An additional 7.8 million people would have been counted above the poverty line if food stamps and tax credits were included as income. Unemployment benefits kept 3.3 million people out of poverty last year.

Other census findings that you may feel are interesting:

• Among the working-age population (ages 18 to 64), poverty rose from 11.7% to 12.9%.

• The number of Hispanics in poverty increased from 23.2% to 25.3%; for blacks it increased from 24.7% to 25.8%.

• The number of whites in poverty rose from 8.6% to 9.4%.

• Child poverty rose from 19% to 20.7% (Good for nuthin kids...get a job!)