Americans without health benefits rose to record number in 2005. The Census Bureau reported that medical costs rose 3 times as fast as wages. This total has risen every year since President Bush has been in office, even though President Bush has said this is "unacceptable in our country." The Democrats will likely seize the opportunity to point this out in the upcoming congressional elections. Emory University Professor Ken Thorpe in Atlanta states "We've had absolutely no federal effort or interest in insuring the uninsured since 2000," said Thorpe, who was deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services from 1993 to 1995. "This has not been a priority of the Bush administration." "The government also will probably report that the percentage of Americans living in poverty dropped for the first time since 2000 after reaching a six-year high in 2004, said Bob Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington," "Median household income probably rose from 2004's $44,389, Greenstein said. The news on income and poverty reflects economic growth, economists say. The U.S. economy expanded 3.2 percent and added 2 million jobs in 2005. "Every year as you move away from a recession, you expect the growth of the poverty rate to slow and eventually reverse," says Austin Nichols, an expert on child poverty at the Urban Institute in Washington." Click on the link below and then click on the title "Americans Lacking Health Benefits Reach 46.6 Million" to read the full article http://quote.bloomberg.com/news/politics/ Pam