On August 26, the Census Bureau is likely to report a small--and probably statistically insignificant--increase in the 2007 poverty rate. Because this number will represent an average of the 2007 calendar year figures, and will not include data for the first six months of 2008, it projects a far rosier...

In its latest report, the Census Bureau estimated that there were 45 million Americans without health insurance in 2003. Two analyses sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conclude that between 4 and 9 million people reported as uninsured actually have coverage through state Medicaid programs. How...