The ranks of poor Americans grew by 3.7 million last year, with the highest number of Americans living in poverty in the last 50 years (“Nation’s poverty rate rises to 14.3%, state’s higher,” SignOn San Diego, Sept. 16). Meanwhile, the number of millionaires also grew by 1.1 million. The income distribution makes a teardrop-shaped economy, where the middle-class is being pushed downward into a bulging bottom, and the few rich are rising upward beyond the charts. We now have one in three Americans struggling to make ends meet, whilst Wall Street continues to give opulent bonuses to its executives. A disparity between prosperity and poverty has been taking shape through the past three decades, even beyond the current recession.

There is no better antidote to poverty than a good job. And there is no better stimulus to the economy than a worker with hard-earned wages to spend on basic needs and health care.

It is time for a new recovery with an economy that benefits us all.

Murtaza H. Baxamusa

Deputy Director

Center on Policy Initiatives

San Diego

Letter published in the San Diego Union Tribune on September 20, 2010