I can’t wait for tonight’s discussion during the Republican debate of news that about half of America lives in poverty or in households classified as low income.

According to the Census Bureau, nearly 50M Americans live in poverty, while another 97.3M Americans are below the low income threshold of $45K for a family of four. Nearly six-in-ten (57 percent) of America’s children are part of families that are poor or low income.

According to an analysis by the Working Poor Families Project, nearly one-third of America’s workers earn wages so low that they have difficulty surviving financially.

“Fewer working families are earning enough money to meet basic needs, contributing to the growing economic divide between families at different ends of the income scale,” it reports. Families from different economic strata are also sorted into different neighborhoods, schools and social network, according to the WPFP. “As a result, these families and their children are at risk of becoming isolated from educational and economic opportunities that could provide a path out of poverty.”

The nation is being carved into economic/social/cultural fortresses or ghettos that have nothing to do with each other. It may be time for the nation to junk the E Pluribus Unum motto.

Will Mitt, Newt, Rick, Ron, Michele, Rick and Jon outline plans tonight to help lift nearly half of their fellow Americans out of poverty? I hope so, but wouldn’t bet $10 on it.