The Census Bureau reported today that the number of people without health insurance shot up last year by 2.4 million, the largest increase in a decade, raising the total to 43.6 million, as health costs soared and many workers lost coverage provided by employers.

Ronald F. Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a liberal-leaning consumer group, said: "It's hard to grasp the magnitude of the number of uninsured. It exceeds the aggregate population of 24 states."

Why is it that the world's only remaining 'super power' can't provide adequate health care to 15.2% of its population?

Another tidbit from the census data: an additional 1.7 million Americans slipped into official poverty last year, ground down by the pernicious joblessness of this "economic recovery."