Household Incomes Fall Again in August, Down 8.2% Under Obama

American households incomes are down and prices for goods and health insurance are rising. This is not a promising course.

From the Investors Business Daily article by John Merline:

"In another sign that the economic recovery under President Obama is not producing gains for average Americans, median household incomes fell 1.1% in August to $50,678, according to a report released Tuesday by Sentier Research.

"Since the economic recovery started in June 2009, household incomes are down 5.7%, the Sentier data show, and they are down more than 8% since Obama took office.

"'Even though we are technically in an economic recovery, real median annual household income is having a difficult time maintaining its present level, much less recovering,' said Sentier co-founder and former Census Bureau official Gordon Green.

"Earlier this month, the Census Bureau released its annual report showing that the number of people in poverty was nearly 3 million higher in 2011 than in 2009, an increase of 6%.

"That report also found that average incomes for middle- and lower-income households fell in 2011 after adjusting for inflation. They rose only for the wealthiest 20% of households [emphasis mine]."

Average incomes rising for the wealthiest 20%? Number of people in poverty increases? Middle class incomes dropping? But... but... but... wasn't Obama going to make us all rich or something? Is this the new idea of "fairness" and all that? How unexpected.

Merline continues:

"The average inflation-adjusted income for households in the middle 20% is now lower than it's been since 1995, the census report found.

"Meanwhile, another report released Tuesday finds that per-capita health costs jumped 4.6% last year, marking a turnaround from previous years, which had seen annual cost increases moderating. The Health Care Cost Institute report found that rising prices are a 'major driver' of the cost increases.

"And a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this month found that the number of uninsured climbed 1 million in the first three months of 2012 compared with last year."

I really can't understand how anybody expected an academic Leftist-- with zero experience in managing or running anything-- to handle this position. Obama's gone the typical academic route, which is to quibble about reality, and, when that can no longer be maintained, you then lay down unfounded accusations and lay the blame on others' shoulders. This is not surprising behavior from Obama. It's very typical. And in the meantime, we pay the price.