Congressman Xavier Becerra, hyper partisan jerk

Congressman Becerra sent out his latest email claiming that poverty has "steadily risen" during the Bush administration. He purposely starts the rise in 2001, the lowest point in the poverty rate since the glorious Ford administration. And he also uses raw numbers, saying that 4,400,000 more people are now in poverty. This translates to a less than 1% increase since 2001 and a poverty rate lower than most years since 1959 (the year the Census Bureau started measuring the poverty rate). Nevermind that "poverty" in the United States means living in a house, having cable TV, plenty of food, etc. So you might have to go without a flatscreen, an iPhone, high speed intenet, etc. By any measure Americans are better off now than ever before but Congressman Becerra chooses to score partisan points with misleading statistics. He's a jerk, But it doesn't matter: in the glorious democracy of California politics he is running unopposed.

Also...Congressman Becerra was a critical part of Speaker Pelosi's plan to kill the "bailout" bill while seeming to support it. He is the "Assistant to the Speaker" and he has no fear of being punished for a yes vote. Clearly, Nancy told him he should vote no and he could "take a stand".