Inside Story Americas: US Election Campaigns Ignore America's Poor

October 03, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

So far the US presidential candidates have focused a lot on strengthening the country's middle class, but little has been said about low-income families, particularly those at the very bottom of the heap. But, with 46 million Americans living in poverty, why are the campaigns so quiet on issues affecting the poor? Shihab Rattansi discusses with guests Cheri Honkala, Marcy Wheeler, and Austin Nichols.

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In November 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau said more than 16% of the population lived in poverty in the United States, including almost 20% of American children, up from 14.3% in 2009 and to its highest level since 1993. In 2008, 13.2% Americans lived in poverty. In 2011, Extreme... Explore this topic

US presidential election, 2012

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Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama served as a U.S. Senator representing the state of Illinois from January 2005 to Novemb... Explore this topic

Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents Lenore and Geo... Explore this topic

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Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative pove... Explore this topic

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The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States, Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The executive branch is head... Explore this topic

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Unemployment occurs when people are without work and actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor forc... Explore this topic

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Economic inequality is the differences in the distribution of economic assets and income within or between populations or individuals. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The i... Explore this topic

Middle Class

The middle class is a class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class. The common measures of wh... Explore this topic

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The financial crisis of 2007–2008, also known as the Global Financial Crisis and 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial ins... Explore this topic

Also See

Poverty in the United States

US presidential election, 2012

Barack Obama