Poverty Statistics: A Poverty of Decency

Roll Call is reporting a series of concerning issues surrounding the upcoming release of poverty statistics by the Census Bureau.

"By Ethan WallisonRoll Call August 9, 2004
.....The bureau’s plan moved this year’s release date from late September to late August — a time when Members of Congress are normally home in their districts and many journalists are on vacation. Then last week, Census officials announced yet another change: For what appears to be the first time, the figures will be released not by a career official but by the bureau’s director, a political appointee. While Congressional Democrats emphasize that the director, Charles Kincannon, has always treated them fairly and honestly, the change added to the feeling that some kind of hijinks was going on. "A political appointee should not be delivering such a significant statistic, because it opens the Census Bureau to charges of spinning statistics for political purposes," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

Wanna bet these numbers are really, really bad?