AP reports that new Census Bureau figures show increases in both poverty and the number of uninsured. The increase in the number of children living in poverty was particulary sharp. 800,000 more children lived in poverty in 2003 than in 2002, up almost a full percentage point. Nearly 45 million Americans have no health insurance, up from 43.5 million, and more than 35 million people live in poverty now, up by 1.3 million from 2002.
Even before release of the data, some Democrats claimed the Bush administration was trying to play down bad news by releasing the reports about a month earlier than usual. They normally are released separately in late September one report on poverty and income, the other on insurance.Putting out the numbers at the same time and not so close to Election Day ”invite charges of spinning the data for political purposes,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.
Census Director Louis Kincannon a Bush appointee denied politics played any role in moving up the release date. The move, announced earlier this year, was done to coordinate the numbers with the release of other data.
”There has been no influence or pressure from the (Bush) campaign,” Kincannon said Wednesday.
Kincannon’s statement is carefully phrased, you’ll note, to deny pressure from the Bush* campaign. He says nothing about the Bush* White House. Some people think I’m a bit overenthusiastic in my parsing of statements such as that one, but please remember that the people saying these kinds of things take courses from the likes of former press secretary Ari Fleischer in how to avoid providing actual information when they open their mouths.
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*if that’s his real name
I agree with your parsing: these professional liers are getting very good at this sort of thing. It’s amazing that the mainstream media is still not catching on.