(CNSNews.com) - The Obama administration passed another fiscal milestone this week, according to new data released by the Treasury Department. At the close of business on Oct. 3, the total national debt hit $14,837,099,271,196.71—up about $44.8 billion from Sept. 30.

That means that in the less than three years the Obama administration has been in power, the federal debt has increased by $4.212 trillion--more than the total national debt of about $4.1672 trillion accumulated by all 41 U.S. presidents from George Washington through George H.W. Bush combined.

This $4.212-trillion increase means that during Obama’s term the federal government has borrowed about an additional $35,835 for every American household and $44,980 for every full-time private sector worker. (According to the Census Bureau there are 117,538,000 household in the country, and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 93.641 million full-time private sector workers)...

More Americans were living in poverty in 2010 than at any time since at least the 1950s, with the overall poverty rate climbing to 15.1 -- a 6 percent jump in just one year -- according to Census figures released Tuesday.

The Census Bureau's annual report showed nearly 1-in-6 people in poverty, reflecting sustained long-term unemployment and the failure of the U.S. economy to kick into gear following a crippling recession.

The number of uninsured also edged up to 49.9 million, the highest in over two decades.

The figures cover 2010, and the jobless rate has not ticked down much since then. The unemployment rate stood at 9.1 percent in August. The report comes as President Obama tries anew to push legislation aimed at spurring job growth while providing government aid to those out of work.

According to the report, the number of people in poverty last year was 46.2 million, the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama and congressional leaders seeking to negotiate a deal to increase the legal limit on the federal government’s debt, would need to agree to increase that debt by $615.865 billion between now and Sept. 30, just to keep the government going at current spending levels, according to the CBO’s latest estimate of the fiscal 2011 deficit and the Treasury Department’s latest accounting of the federal debt.

Given that the Census Bureau estimates there are now 117,538,000 households in the United States that means the federal government must borrow an additional $5,239.71 per American household just to maintain the current federal spending level through Sept. 30.

The $615.865 billion in new debt needed between now and Sept. 30 (the last day of fiscal 2011) will decrease only to the degree that Obama and Boehner and the other congressional leaders agree to cut near-term federal spending that is scheduled to take place between now and Sept. 30...

High taxes kill states. There can be no better evidence than the 2010 Census. The states that lost House seats because they're shrinking, relative to the nation, had taxes 27 percent higher than the ones that gained seats.

Of the seven states that don't have a personal income tax, four (Texas, Florida, Nevada and Washington) account for 8 of the 12 seats apportioned to the fastest-growing states.

New York and Ohio lost two more seats. Other losers — down one each — are Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, and Iowa...

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - After years of losing residents to more prosperous states, the nation's Rust Belt now confronts another blow to its economic prospects: losing some of its votes in Congress.

The latest census figures show that states in much of the Midwest and Northeast have been overtaken in population growth by the South and West. So starting in 2013, they will have to make do with smaller delegations in Washington, which means less political clout to attract government money and jobs.

"These states in the industrial heartland and to some extent in the Northeast have seen their impact eroded," said Norman Ornstein, a political scientist with the American Enterprise Institute. "It's not totally devastating. . But numbers do matter"...

If government estimates hold true, the closely watched 2010 census will show America's once-torrid population growth dropping to its lowest level in seven decades. In Congress, the steady migration to the South and West should be a boon for Republicans, with GOP-leaning states led by Texas picking up House seats.

The Census Bureau expects to release Tuesday the first results from the once-a-decade government count, figures that will be used to reapportion the 435 House seats among the 50 states. The numbers trigger a high-stakes process wherein the dominant party in each state redraws the election map, shaping the political landscape for the next 10 years.

Census estimates provided this month based on birth and death records place the 2010 count somewhere between 305.7 million and 312.7 million, up from 281.4 million in 2000. That range means U.S. growth over the previous decade would be at a slower pace than the 13.2 percent increase from 1990 to 2000...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its May employment report on Friday, showing a spike of 431,000 new jobs. But there is a catch on exactly what type of work these numbers reflect -- 411,000 of the 431,000 increase are temporary government Census workers.

The unemployment rate in May dropped from 9.9 percent in April to 9.7 percent. But economists note that 286,000 workers left the labor force because many gave up on finding a job, effectively reducing the labor force participation rate.

By contrast, hiring by private employers -- the backbone of the economy -- slowed dramatically. They added just 41,000 jobs, down from 218,000 in April and the fewest since January. To prevent the unemployment rate from increasing, about 125,000 new jobs are needed each month...

(CNSNews.com) -- The U.S. Census Bureau has changed its interpretation of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to allow it to tabulate same-sex couples who self-identify their union as a marriage, even though DOMA prohibits legal recognition of same-sex unions as marriages.

Prior to the Obama administration, the Census Bureau said that DOMA prohibited the Bureau from tallying homosexual couples as being married.

A congressional analyst says the findings of a new audit of the U.S. Census Bureau illustrate why the government cannot be trusted to stimulate the economy.

An audit performed by federal investigators finds that the U.S. Census Bureau wasted millions of dollars in preparation for the 2010 census. Thousands of temporary employees either picked up $300 checks without working one day or overbilled for travel costs. For example, 23 temporary census employees were paid for car mileage costs at 55 cents a mile, even though the number of miles they reported driving per hour exceeded the total number of hours they actually worked.

Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for The Heritage Foundation, says the waste, fraud, and abuse uncovered in the Census Bureau is another reminder that the federal government is not very good at running anything...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Were those pricey Super Bowl ads a waste? Maybe not, but paying $3 million to census employees who didn't do any work surely was.

The Census Bureau, a month away from its 2010 population count, has already wasted millions of dollars paying temporary employees who never did the work and others who overbilled for travel, according to excerpts of an audit obtained by The Associated Press.

On a positive note, federal investigators said it was appropriate for the Census Bureau to spend $133 million on its advertising campaign, including $2.5 million for Super Bowl spots that some Republicans derided as wasteful...