in 2004. Up from 45.0 million in 2003. Up from 39.8 million in 2000.

In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as “among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country,” directly behind a terrorist strike on New York City.

Yesterday, disaster struck. And even as one of the strongest storms in recorded history rocked the Gulf Coast, President Bush decided to continue his vacation, visiting the Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort in El Mirage, Ariz., to hawk his Medicare drug benefit plan. (Bush will spend one more night in Crawford tonight before flying back to Washington.)

What Bush saw in El Mirage: The majestic beauty of the El Pueblo Mirage RV and Golf Resort

What Bush missed in New Orleans: The scarred fa§ade of the Hyatt Regency Hotel
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As his poll numbers sink, Bush is getting desperate. From his address today in San Diego:

They looked at our response after the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, and the attack on the USS Cole. They concluded that free societies lacked the courage and character to defend themselves against a determined enemy… After September the 11th, 2001, we’ve taught the terrorists a very different lesson: America will not run in defeat and we will not forget our responsibilities.

(Conveniently, Bush doesn’t mention any terrorist attack that occurred during his father’s administration.)

Once upon a time, the President didn’t believe in playing the blame game:

Well, the President is not one that focuses on blame or finger pointing. The President focuses on what we need to do to address challenges.

It appears that statement is inoperative.

the salary of the average production worker in 2004. Up from 301-1 in 2003. Up from 109-1 in 1990.

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world. But new data from the Census Bureau shows that more people are struggling just to make ends meet. AP reports:

The nation’s poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday…Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty [in 2004], up 1.1 million people from 2003…The last decline in overall poverty was in 2000, when 31.1 million people lived under the threshold “” 11.3 percent of the population.

Sounds like the perfect time for a tax break for Paris Hilton.