Can "37%" wake up wonks and workers?

Just an extra thought on near to 37% of American families living below a believable minimum needs (a.k.a. poverty) line: I hope it can give some perspective to $500/wk being our 40 percentile wage (State of Working America).

It should wake us up (shake us up?) to the concept the the 40 percentile wage in 2008's rich America should be a middle class wage but is not even near that mark. Who could live a middle class life on $500/wk before taxes. Most would be gone on rent (no utilities) for one person.

It doesn't seem to wake anybody up either that $400/wk was the MINIMUM WAGE in 1968 -- when AVERAGE INCOME WAS HALF WHAT IT IS TODAY.

Hopefully a more accurate 37% poverty stat can finally make the 40 wage percentile stat look like what it actually represents: a state of working America that is basically that of being taken totally to the cleaners (mostly due to their own complacency about going back to collective bargaining in the labor market I hasten to add -- see [http://ontodayspage.blogspot.com/2007/12/french-canadian-labor-setup-seamless.html on how American can easily adopt today's all but international standard of "collective-collective" bargaining) -- but the "37%" stat may wake up the wonks who in turn may wake up the media who may wake up working America -- could work).