In Case You Missed It...

This week on Off the Charts, we discussed the new Census Bureau figures on poverty in 2009, federal and state tax policies, and health reform.

• On the new Census report on poverty, Arloc Sherman gave us a preview of the report here and here.  On the day the Census Bureau released the report, Sherman explained that according to an exclusive Center analysis of the new data, unemployment insurance benefits kept 3.3 million people out of poverty in 2009. He also discussed how poverty is likely to rise moving forward. Also on the report, Edwin Park explained what’s behind the rise in the number of Americans without health insurance and Robert Greenstein gave an overview of the Center’s analysis of the findings.
• On tax policies, Chuck Marr set the record straight about the tax benefits that low-income workers receive.  He also discussed how the Making Work Pay tax credit, part of the 2009 Recovery Act, helps the economy more than tax cuts for the rich.  At the state level, Michael Mazerov explained why corporate tax cuts will not get state economies moving again.
• On health reform, Edwin Park discussed why a proposed amendment to small business legislation (which the Senate later defeated) would have seriously weakened the Affordable Care Act.  Paul Van de Water “unspun” the latest government report on health spending and its implications for health reform.

In other news, the Center released reports on cutting state corporate income taxes, the Census Bureau’s report on poverty (preview and analysis), and the thousands of poor refugees facing the loss of Supplemental Security Income benefits.  We also released two podcasts (here and here) and a statement on the Census report.  You can download the podcasts on iTunes here.