Obama: Poverty Rate Would've Been Even Higher Without My Policies

The White House released a statement from President Barack Obama today in response to a new Census Bureau report showing that U.S. poverty levels increased remarkably in 2009.

In the statement, Obama said his administration should be credited for taking steps last year to ensure that the historically high poverty figures did not grow even larger.

“Because of the Recovery Act and many other programs providing tax relief and income support to a majority of working families – and especially those most in need – millions of Americans were kept out of poverty last year,” the president said. “The substantial expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) helped inoculate our children from the economic distress experienced by their parents, as there was little change in the percentage of children without health insurance.”

“The Affordable Care Act will build on that success by expanding health insurance coverage to more families,” Obama added.