Nearly 1 in 2 Americans have Fallen into Poverty

[jerry cornwell]

Sen Roy Blount (R) just now said approving the keystone pipeline would bring 20,000 jobs. Approving the Presidents Job program would bring millions! Who do these republicans think they are fooling?

[cityimrov]

I know people who could tell me every horrible thing that a certain politician's organization did because it somehow personally affected them.  They absolutely disliked the organization to the point they could not stand even setting near it nor do they want to give any business to it.  Guess who did they vote for?  Their response was they could never see themselves voting for another party.  They don't know why they vote they way they do except they just have too even when they know better. 

Getting them to change is like trying to get someone to loose weight or quit smoking.  They know they should but they just can't.  We have a problem if this keeps growing.

At the very least these people could just stay home rather than vote for a party that soooooo despises anyone who is no longer able-bodied.

Suggesting not to vote?  Something which almost every single media outlet says it's their "patriotic duty".  Something which even this forum shows is a responsibility upon all of us?  Something which there friends and family will look for that "I Voted" sticker to determine their worth? 

That's even more unthinkable!

[finehoe]

Who really is the Republican Base anymore?

Corporations.  And since the Supreme Court has decreed that corporations are people and can pump unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, they can use all the propagandist resources at their disposal to get the tea bagger types who are so certain that all of the country's money is being spent on welfare, foreign aid and NPR to vote for the Republican candidate whose only real agenda is to lower taxes on those very corporations.  When only a small percentage of the population actually votes, you only need to convince a relatively small number of dimbulbs to vote against their own interests to put you over the 51% threshold.

[finehoe]

"Nearly 1 in 2 Americans have Fallen into Poverty"

Now is it clear why only 49% pay federal income tax?

[jerry cornwell]

im amazed that americans have watched as republicans and the wealthy fuck our nation and sit back and think we should listen to anything they have to say....they steal lie cheat and the right wing idiots just smile and eat them up and buy them a dinner...what has happened to sanity?

I think here at the end of 2011 the politics revealed is just a prelude to 2012. Accordingly, everythings gonna light up next year.

[FayeforCure]

im amazed that americans have watched as republicans and the wealthy fuck our nation and sit back and think we should listen to anything they have to say....they steal lie cheat and the right wing idiots just smile and eat them up and buy them a dinner...what has happened to sanity?

I think here at the end of 2011 the politics revealed is just a prelude to 2012. Accordingly, everythings gonna light up next year.

I really hope the great Mayan predicted 2012 restart will bring relief for all of us in the 99%.

Let's hope the approx. 50% of the 99% that keep voting to keep the 1% in charge, will finally awaken.

[tufsu1]

Nearly 50 million Americans live in poverty.

For those that make comments about things like "smartphones and flat screens", here are the aproximate income measures of poverty

Single - below $11,000
2 Person HH - below $15,000
3 Person HH - below $18,500
4 Person HH - below $22,500

I dare you to try and live on even the 4-person income...or better yet, spend a month eating on food stamps alone.

[cityimrov]

Nearly 50 million Americans live in poverty.

For those that make comments about things like "smartphones and flat screens", here are the aproximate income measures of poverty

Single - below $11,000
2 Person HH - below $15,000
3 Person HH - below $18,500
4 Person HH - below $22,500

I dare you to try and live on even the 4-person income...or better yet, spend a month eating on food stamps alone.

I don't get this cell phone and flat screen arguments I keep hearing.  Quite a lot of phone are now basically free.  If they aren't free, they are really cheap.  Cell phones are now even cheaper than landlines if you go prepaid.  Flat screen TV prices are dropping and dropping.  I could probably get a good sized used one for a $100 - $200 if you gave me some time.  This stuff is getting cheaper every year. 

Now, the price of emergency room care... that's a whole different story! 

[avonjax]

Ummm,  thats BS.  When all these poverty stricken Americans give up their smart phones and flat screens, then i will believe they live in poverty.  Until then.

This is the kind of sick fantasizing that makes me uninterested in the opinions of these so called conservative republicans.

Really?  You would like to see Americans living in the kind of squalor that we used to associate with third world nations?

What kind of American are you anyways?

This kind of post makes me literally sick to my stomach.

Well, feel free to go puke all over your occutard buddies if you are sick to your tummy.  As to what kind of American I am?  Im the kind of American that would like to see other Americans live within their means.  I would like to see Americans use some common sense when prioritizing their needs.  I want to see Americans have a little restraint when offered that credit card, home loan, car loan they know they cant afford.  Maybe Americans could look at themselves in the mirror when their lives dont turn out the way they think they should and make changes or demands at home, instead of others.  Maybe give up some of the luxuries in life in exchange for paying those bills they promised to pay (not at gunpoint, by the way).  Etc etc.  Simple enough for you Steph??  Want me to draw you a diagram??? 

I just started reading this thread so I may be behind, but all I can say to you is this is why Conservatives are so beloved. I deal with your type everyday at my underpaid job because you don't give a s&*t about hard working people who lose almost everything due the greed of America. When you ask people to live within their means, does that includes not being able to afford housing, food or transportation on slightly over minimum wage hourly for working part time? People like you are the ones who treat me like dirt because I happen to have a customer service job at the moment. And you begrudge  a poor person who happens to have a flat screen tv, that by the way are pretty cheap these days. And by the way cell phone are pretty much a necessity these days, and in some cases cheaper than a land line. Also most pay phones are gone so the poor can't make a call anyway. YOU and YOUR kind just want to make EVERYONE suffer who needs assistance. If that is not how you feel then PLEASE clarify your blanket statements. I deeply resent it!

And by the way, it's what you said above that makes me want to puke!

[avonjax]

The problem with "youtube" arguments:

The expression anecdotal evidence refers to evidence from anecdotes. Because of the small sample, there is a larger chance that it may be true but unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise unrepresentative of typical cases.[1][2]

Also, anecdotal evidence can be inaccurate, sometimes based on anecdotes, second-hand accounts of events or hearsay.[1]

Anecdotal evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, can be used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalising from an insufficient amount of evidence. For example "my grandfather smoked like a chimney and died healthy in a car crash at the age of 99" does not disprove the proposition that "smoking markedly increases the probability of cancer and heart disease at a relatively early age". While the evidence is true, it does not warrant the conclusion made from it.

Conclusions made from anecdotal evidence might not be untrue, but they are unreliable because they don't follow from the evidence and might easily be incorrect.

You can also take a generalization and then search for anecdotal evidence that "confirms" it. For example "Yogurt prolongs life. I didn't believe it, but then I heard that a man in a mountain village who ate only yogurt lived to 120."

The term is often used in contrast to scientific evidence, such as evidence-based medicine, which are types of formal accounts. Some anecdotal evidence does not qualify as scientific evidence because its nature prevents it from being investigated using the scientific method. Misuse of anecdotal evidence is a logical fallacy and is sometimes informally referred to as the "person who" fallacy ("I know a person who..."; "I know of a case where..." etc. Compare with hasty generalization). Anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a "typical" experience; statistical evidence can more accurately determine how typical something is.



From wikipedia

Of course, somehow my pointing out this fallacy will result in me being accused of endorsing all kinds of horrible acts depicted on youtube videos.   Further proof that we really do believe what we WANT to believe.  Come on admit it, we are all guilty of it.

I so expected this kind of response from you NotNow. You are a typical conservative.

[avonjax]

Nearly 50 million Americans live in poverty.

For those that make comments about things like "smartphones and flat screens", here are the aproximate income measures of poverty

Single - below $11,000
2 Person HH - below $15,000
3 Person HH - below $18,500
4 Person HH - below $22,500

I dare you to try and live on even the 4-person income...or better yet, spend a month eating on food stamps alone.

I don't get this cell phone and flat screen arguments I keep hearing.  Quite a lot of phone are now basically free.  If they aren't free, they are really cheap.  Cell phones are now even cheaper than landlines if you go prepaid.  Flat screen TV prices are dropping and dropping.  I could probably get a good sized used one for a $100 - $200 if you gave me some time.  This stuff is getting cheaper every year. 

Now, the price of emergency room care... that's a whole different story! 

You are so very correct.
We force so many to use the emergency room as their healthcare provider those costs alone could probably finance O'Bama's Health care plan. It's cost a fortune to go to the ER. And all eventually pay in the end anyway, but some people are so hard core against National Health care they don't care that it would probably save us money.

[Timkin]

Nearly 50 million Americans live in poverty.

For those that make comments about things like "smartphones and flat screens", here are the aproximate income measures of poverty

Single - below $11,000
2 Person HH - below $15,000
3 Person HH - below $18,500
4 Person HH - below $22,500

I dare you to try and live on even the 4-person income...or better yet, spend a month eating on food stamps alone.

I don't get this cell phone and flat screen arguments I keep hearing.  Quite a lot of phone are now basically free.  If they aren't free, they are really cheap.  Cell phones are now even cheaper than landlines if you go prepaid.  Flat screen TV prices are dropping and dropping.  I could probably get a good sized used one for a $100 - $200 if you gave me some time.  This stuff is getting cheaper every year. 

Now, the price of emergency room care... that's a whole different story! 

Umm... "free" cell phones usually come with some kind of catch.. like a 2year plan.  I made that mistake with AT&T and got the absolute freebie which functions but is otherwise a total POS. ( don't really worry much about it being stolen)  So basically you get what you pay for.  Lesson learned.

ER  Visits +1!!    God is with you if you get by on  a minimum of 1k to go to ER ( at least in my experiences) .  Only to be told there was nothing they can do and I needed to go to a specialist . 

[BridgeTroll]

Whew... for a second there I thought I had wandered onto the TU website.  Please continue the thoughtful conversation...

[Ocklawaha]

I haven't been in this thread but certainly watching from the corner...  Poverty is relative. In the USA/EEUU poverty is living in a projects housing facility, complete with food stamps, and struggling to make the basic utility payments. While I'd agree that some of us have put our selves in that position, there is a strong and defined downward slide when more and more or our people find themselves in those conditions. As for the homeless American's, at least at this moment, if your willing to follow some rules, and really need a warm bed and a meal it can be found in most every city. Absolutely THIS IS POVERTY AS DEFINED BY THE UNITED STATES AT THE TOP.

Contrast this with Brasil in the 1970's. Economy starting to pick up, a small but growing middle class and literally millions of homeless poor, many of them children. When your Brasilian and this happens to you you'll only have a couple of choices... The churches provide for limited assistance, but gang membership and stealing are the way to survive. Get thrown in jail and your family better show up with food and a blanket. During this time frame, (and yes I was there) in Rio and several other major cities a bounty was offered for the bodies of homeless children. Each night trucks patrolled the streets in a hunt for prey... Inhuman conditions? Absolutely! A silent holocaust was going on right below us. To this day the roof tops of Rio and rife with children living under cardboard and sheet metal lean-toos. THIS IS REAL POVERTY AT THE BOTTOM.

At least in Colombia those conditions are largely gone from the major cities. Public housing is available and it is quite attractive and modern. Medical and utilities are covered by the government for the poorest of their citizens. Thus POVERTY IN COLOMBIA IS SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.

[FayeforCure]

I haven't been in this thread but certainly watching from the corner...  Poverty is relative. In the USA/EEUU poverty is living in a projects housing facility, complete with food stamps, and struggling to make the basic utility payments. While I'd agree that some of us have put our selves in that position, there is a strong and defined downward slide when more and more or our people find themselves in those conditions. As for the homeless American's, at least at this moment, if your willing to follow some rules, and really need a warm bed and a meal it can be found in most every city. Absolutely THIS IS POVERTY AS DEFINED BY THE UNITED STATES AT THE TOP.

So why do we keep avoiding the comparison with other western nations? Maybe because we are starting to have more in common with third world countries?

Contrast this with Brasil in the 1970's. Economy starting to pick up, a small but growing middle class and literally millions of homeless poor, many of them children. When your Brasilian and this happens to you you'll only have a couple of choices... The churches provide for limited assistance, but gang membership and stealing are the way to survive. Get thrown in jail and your family better show up with food and a blanket. During this time frame, (and yes I was there) in Rio and several other major cities a bounty was offered for the bodies of homeless children. Each night trucks patrolled the streets in a hunt for prey... Inhuman conditions? Absolutely! A silent holocaust was going on right below us. To this day the roof tops of Rio and rife with children living under cardboard and sheet metal lean-toos. THIS IS REAL POVERTY AT THE BOTTOM.

This was very true.......I also remember those conditions for the abandoned children living on the streets. However things have changes dramatically in Brazil. By no means has poverty been eradicated, but the percentage of people living is squalor has dropped enormously in the past decade whereas in the US it continues to climb:



The priority in the US for the past decades shockingly has been to enrich the 1%, whereas Brazil is starting to look decidedly more civilized as their middle class grows and ours is eviserated:



http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=1329

At least in Colombia those conditions are largely gone from the major cities. Public housing is available and it is quite attractive and modern. Medical and utilities are covered by the government for the poorest of their citizens. Thus POVERTY IN COLOMBIA IS SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE.

What they are doing in Colombia with public transportation and national healthcare is indeed remarkable by all accounts.

All justifications or denialist arguments regarding poverty in the US are out of  order. No person in a western type advanced nation should go hungry, and indeed they don't in western European nations. However the US shamefully has only a disfunctional patchwork of supports in place to combat poverty.