Wow - ain't it great getting older in the good old USA?????

Today's news:

Poor older Americans are missing out on government

WASHINGTON - Medicare's low-cost prescription drug coverage for needy senior citizens has been universally hailed as a model of compassionate public policy.

But volunteers and counselors who help people apply for the special coverage are having a tough time locating the remaining eligible people.

Of the estimated 4.4 million Medicare beneficiaries that lack prescription drug coverage, nearly 75 percent, roughly 3.3 million people, are believed to be eligible for Medicare's low-income prescription drug subsidy, according to federal data.

It's the latest episode of a recurring problem that has frustrated government officials, researchers and advocates for the poofodecades.Fullll

ll article HERE

and in a side article:

U.S. economy leaving record numbers in severe poverty

WASHINGTON - The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots" continues to widen.

The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period McClatchy's's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.

Full article HERE

What has happened since 2000 that has caused so many to drop to poverty levels? My guess is that it's the republican version of how to ruin a good country... Republicans do not like government and especially do not like any programs that are from the Roosevelt days...but they love their corporate cronies whose salaries and bonuses have risen in this same time frame....

On top of that we have a costly invasion and occupation of Iraq and war profiteering...So US citizens are getting poorer, not even getting the help they need and the rich-connected are getting richer - at the expense of most of us...