A large, dependent, easily-mobilized underclass

As he links to an article on welfare reform by Megan McArdle in Bloomberg View, Glenn Reynolds makes the astute observation that

Yes, but the Democrats’ political strategy requires a large, dependent, easily-mobilized underclass.

Megan reprints the chart the U.S. Census Bureau publishes each year, showing the historical path of the poverty rate:

Read Megan's analysis here.