Poverty decline makes John Edwards even more irrelevant

The Census Bureau released its annual assessment of poverty levels in the United States and guess what? Poverty is on the decline.

The Bureau reported Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent — were living in poverty in 2006 (the most recent numbers available). That's a drop from the 12.6 percent rate recorded in 2005.

Of course, it's George W. Bush's fault. Oh, wait. This is good news. I was just thinking about the the liberal media was going to say about the poverty statistics. The left-wing media's knee-jerk reaction to blame Bush for everything, but in this case, the president deserves the credit, which is probably why you won't read or hear much about the declining poverty numbers in the mainstream media.

Check your local newspaper Wednesday to see where the "Poverty Rate Declines" story is placed. For the past six years, the poverty rate was front page news because the the numbers rose slightly each year. How much you wanna bet that newspapers will bury the story about the drop in poverty in Wednesday's editions?

Pity "poor" John Edwards. The millionaire trial lawyer's entire campaign for president is based on the fact that he plans to eliminate poverty. He is going to bridge the gap between the "two Americas." How can we forget that John Edwards went on his Magical Poverty Tour this summer to bring attention to the plight of poor Americans.

What's the point of Edwards' staying in the race if poverty is in decline? Is another attack on Ann Coulter coming in the next few days to revive the sinking Edwards' campaign?

You can read the full poverty report at the Census Bureau's Web site.

(Photo credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)