Bobart,

"The point is not rocket surgery here. If we're so friggin' wealthy then why is there sucha high rate of poverty?

And why is that countries that aren't so wealthy, seesm to do a much better job in distributing their wealth so that their people have decent health care, educations and standards of living..."

Have you ever visited other countries? Try going to the slums on the other side of the mountain from Acapulco THEN tell me that the US has a high rate of poverty, or that other countries do so much better. I understand that the situation is the same in many countries, but can only comment on what I have seen, unlike some people here.