Report: Level of poverty growing

[MaggieMae]

Nowhere stating redistribution of wealth....

So.... how do you feel about the current trend of redistribution from the bottom to the top? You know, trickle down poverty?

Show where there is government requirement or action to take from the poor to give to the rich

We'll be waiting

Government requirement? Huh? The rich (in this example corporate CEO's) all across the country used windfall tax benefits (and credits available only to corporations and the upper income individuals) to invest in foreign opportunities, not here, and not even in their own establishments. They made sure that wages remained stagnant, benefits cut or removed entirely, lobbied against paying overtime and when that didn't work, created two part-time jobs from the one, thereby adding even more to their profits by way of reduced wages and benefits. They imported talent in technical areas from India on the H1-B program (the quotas were expanded) and were able to pay those people half what Americans required to live on for the same job.

As good paying jobs began to dwindle, skilled workers needed to accept lower wages, thereby pushing out unskilled labor (the poor) for those same jobs.

I don't know where you've been for the last decade, but working Americans have not seen any remarkable effect from any "trickle-down." Pissed on is more like it.

 

[MaggieMae]

Pathetic, I did not say all troops were of poor heritage. Nor did you address my other valid points.
typical.

Do you deny that many recurits in the military come from poor families?

and I think my posts look brilliant compared to that one from you.

Absolutely I deny that. I know MANY people in our armed forces, and none of them come from poor families. In fact, most recruits are found on college campuses. Show me some proof of your claim please.

And I didn't respond to the rest of your post because there really wasn't anything worth responding to. You post B.S. like our troops come from "poor heritage" without one piece of evidence or proof other than your opinion and expect it just to get a pass?

Rick

Military Recruiting 2006
A new analysis of Army recruiting in 2006 shows that the wealthier neighborhoods remain under-represented while low- and middle-income neighborhoods remain over-represented. NPP releases the first installment of information about military recruiting in fiscal year 2006 with analyses by ZIP code, county and state.

Military Recruiting 2006 | National Priorities Project

As U.S. Military Begins Offering Citizenship for Service, NPP Releases Recruitment 2008: Age, Race, Income, Education
ARCHIVE :: Friday, February 20, 2009 <<<<<< :: Staff infoZine
National Priorities Project (NPP) finds a drop in age among new recruits, an over representation of low- and middle-income individuals, an increase in Black recruits and a decrease in Hispanic recruits
Northampton, MA - infoZine - A new NPP analysis notes a significant drop in age among new recruits. Using census material, combined with data on 2008 Army enlistment obtained through a Freedom of Information Act, NPP research also uncovers a continued over representation of recruits from low- and middle-income families, an increase in Black recruits, decrease in Hispanic recruits and important education trends.

As U.S. Military Begins Offering Citizenship for Service, NPP Releases Recruitment 2008: Age, Race, Income, Education - Kansas City infoZine News

I guess Fox just misses stuff like that accidentally.

 

[MaggieMae]

Show where there is government requirement or action to take from the poor to give to the rich

We'll be waiting

I'll give you two. Contracting out the military's duties in Iraq to private security corporations like Haliburton and Blackwater at expense of the taxpayers and the tax cuts for the wealthy.

Moron...

None of those took from the poor to give to the rich... which was your assertion

Epic mega uber super fail

Taking from the rich to give to the poor, or vice-versa, is just a hyperbole. Sigh...

 

[MaggieMae]

The government does not exist, nor should it exist, for wealth redistribution purposed in some Robin Hood scheme based on liberal guilt

You want your piece of the pie... work for it... invent something.. make yourself valuable... or hell, win the fucking lottery for all I care....

Retarded leftists think private property and holdings of others is owed to them

And yet, it's changes in our laws and our government that has seen to the ever increasing income gap in this country.....

Our government has been redistributing the wealth ever since the 70's. I think it's past time to give the money back to the working people who actually "EARN" it.

Show where you are owed something from anyone else's private property, private earnings, or labors...
We'll be waiting

Show the government program that takes funds from the 'poor' to distribute to 'the rich'
We'll be waiting

There has been no law that has changed anything to your freedom to work, invent, advance, or anything else to prevent you or any of the 'poor' from earning as much as they can through their own risks, decisions, efforts, investments, or anything else

Interesting last comment. Why, then, are small businesses still unwilling to start taking risks and start rehiring again? If they're hurting for capital because they can't get loans to sustain their businesses from the big money holders on Wall Street, the SBA has had their funding increased, but very few have taken advantage of the opportunity. Maybe it's time business owners stopped their whining and just dove back into the always risky business of doing business!!

And who is "we" in the "we'll be waiting"?? There are responses to your queries and statements, so I guess continuing that little mantra just makes you feel smug or something.

 

[MaggieMae]

Your myths will not be tolerated here

What myth? It's right there for you to see. Sorry you can't handle the truth. Wealth has been redistributed from the poorest in this country to the richest. There is PROOF right in front of you. Are you this dense or can you just not deal with reality?

Payment for a legitimate service of the government (I.E. military and national defense) is not redistributing from the poor to the rich

Again... your myths will not be tolerated....

~50% of the adult populace pay no income tax
The 'rich' are taxed at a higher rate than other
The 'poor' receive government entitlements from the tax income at the expense of those who pay taxes

Simple logic

And again...
Show the government program that takes money from the 'poor' and gives to the 'rich' thru any entitlement

Simply spin, not simple logic:

The lie that '50 percent pay no tax,' Part II | Jay Bookman

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes | Reuters

 

[MaggieMae]

Yeah TARP really whooped it on their asses didn't it?

Tarp was a mistake in my eyes. You take chances and lose, you fail. That simple.

Mine too, but apparently the big wheels in the finiancial industry disagree.

It was ugly in everyone's eyes. But necessary because without the TARP loans, there would have been a global run on banks and I shudder to think what would have happened then. Even those banks that were properly leveraged would have gone belly-up.

 

[MaggieMae]

Exactly what can the rich do to take from the poor?

They lobby congressmen to enact legislation to their benefit by throwing money at them. They infiltrate regulatory bodies. There are many ways the rich take money from the poor.

Mr. Peepers, these guys are looking for a Robin Hood analogy. It's impossible to grasp anything deeper.

 

[Oldandtired]

Absolutely.

Does he deserve to make the money he makes when his receptionists are only making
35K?

Sure.

Then I am confused with your position.

 

[MaggieMae]

I was poor once an I did not need a tutor to show me how to invest.

Um, what does a poor person have to invest?

There is absolutely no way the rich can simply take from the poor.

Open your eyes and take a good long look around.

Funny, winger...

I invested when I made $3.35 an hour... I invested when I was earning $7 an hour and paying my share of rent as well as all my personal expenses... I invested when I made squat as a soldier... anyone can invest.... if you are willing to sacrifice and not think you have to buy every last thing you simply want

It is you that needs to take a good look around in reality... you are simply trying to live and portray a myth in a feeble attempt to force some lie into truth.... and no matter how many times you say it, it does not make it true

Well holy crap, write a How-To book, would ya? I suspect there's a helluva lot more to THAT little story than those bare-bone facts.

 

[MaggieMae]

You fixed it by lying. The uber wealthy can not do a dam thing to keep the poor in poverty.
Name one thing....JUST ONE.

Lobby against the minimum wage law?

Lobby is not taking...
It is lobbying.
Exactly what can the rich do to take from the poor?

You've been shown numerous times. Now you and Diamond are just looking stupid by repeating your silly question.

 

[MaggieMae]

It is not pro wealthy....it is pro EMPLOYER.
Get that through your stubborn skull.

Umm who is the wealthy? The burger joint owner or the burger slingers working for him/her?

Expected you to take it out of context.

It is pro EMPLOYER....so the EMPLOYER can expand....seeing as expansion means new job openings...and expanion of economy.

Pretty simple concept.

Indeed. So why have they stopped doing it?

 

[DiamondDave]

OK smart guy, what's your plan?

Cut them all off and send them off to work?

Lot's of good jobs these days, ay?


Or maybe they could just up and starve to death and quit breeding. Or maybe steal from the likes of us more successful types. We really don't want that now do we?

Had there never been a problem with poverty in this country in the first place, there never would have been a need for some kind of assistance from somewhere and that somewhere unfortunatley happens to be the government.


So quit your bellyaching about the poor and be thankful you're not among them.

Yo....my son at the age of 23 took an idea, made a business plan...followed it to the letter....and now 4 months later he is making dam good money.

And he started without a dime.

Good for him, I like to hear those kind of stories and wish him much success.

But regardless of what the Constitution might say, we are not all created equal. Some of us are born with more brain power than others and others still don't have the mental horsepower to provide for themselves at the most basic level of human existence. What do we do about them?

And the government does not exist to make that up for you, just because you are an idiot..... what the government does is protect your freedom to succeed or fail all on your own....

 

[DiamondDave]

Um, what does a poor person have to invest?



Open your eyes and take a good long look around.

Funny, winger...

I invested when I made $3.35 an hour... I invested when I was earning $7 an hour and paying my share of rent as well as all my personal expenses... I invested when I made squat as a soldier... anyone can invest.... if you are willing to sacrifice and not think you have to buy every last thing you simply want

It is you that needs to take a good look around in reality... you are simply trying to live and portray a myth in a feeble attempt to force some lie into truth.... and no matter how many times you say it, it does not make it true

Well holy crap, write a How-To book, would ya? I suspect there's a helluva lot more to THAT little story than those bare-bone facts.

Yeah... the specifics and reasons I made the choices I did.. the gumption behind my efforts... the hours and hours I spent learning what I had to on my own

And I am no author, nor do I want to be.... and I have the freedom to choose that, just as I have the freedom to succeed or fail all on my own... just as you do, and every other citizen in this country

 

[MaggieMae]

if you are willing to sacrifice and not think you have to buy every last thing you simply want

Most working poor spend the bulk of their money on food, housing and transportation. You have no idea what you are talking about.

You only live hand to mouth if you opt to live at your means and not within your means.

I lived in a basement apartment for two years as I took the little I made and slowly built up the capital to branch out.

Personal decisions Peepers......you will get it one day.

You say "I" lived in a basement apartment... What if you were trying to support a family in a basement apartment? What if you were trying to work two part-time jobs AND go to school to learn a new trade at the same time? There are thousands of families living like that; they are P.O.O.R and unfortunately will probably always be P.O.O.R because in today's expensive society, it's difficult to ever get far enough ahead. Too many families are just one catastrophe away from living on the streets, in shelters or in the car with an empty gas tank. More do NOT make it out of poverty than do.

 

[DiamondDave]

So.... how do you feel about the current trend of redistribution from the bottom to the top? You know, trickle down poverty?

Show where there is government requirement or action to take from the poor to give to the rich

We'll be waiting

Government requirement? Huh? The rich (in this example corporate CEO's) all across the country used windfall tax benefits (and credits available only to corporations and the upper income individuals) to invest in foreign opportunities, not here, and not even in their own establishments. They made sure that wages remained stagnant, benefits cut or removed entirely, lobbied against paying overtime and when that didn't work, created two part-time jobs from the one, thereby adding even more to their profits by way of reduced wages and benefits. They imported talent in technical areas from India on the H1-B program (the quotas were expanded) and were able to pay those people half what Americans required to live on for the same job.

As good paying jobs began to dwindle, skilled workers needed to accept lower wages, thereby pushing out unskilled labor (the poor) for those same jobs.

I don't know where you've been for the last decade, but working Americans have not seen any remarkable effect from any "trickle-down." Pissed on is more like it.

They have the freedom to pay as they wish... you are not forced to take any job

They also have the freedom to risk their monies and invest as they wish

You complain about gains taxes, yet do not complain about ~50% of the population paying no income taxes at all???

 

[DiamondDave]

What myth? It's right there for you to see. Sorry you can't handle the truth. Wealth has been redistributed from the poorest in this country to the richest. There is PROOF right in front of you. Are you this dense or can you just not deal with reality?

Payment for a legitimate service of the government (I.E. military and national defense) is not redistributing from the poor to the rich

Again... your myths will not be tolerated....

~50% of the adult populace pay no income tax
The 'rich' are taxed at a higher rate than other
The 'poor' receive government entitlements from the tax income at the expense of those who pay taxes

Simple logic

And again...
Show the government program that takes money from the 'poor' and gives to the 'rich' thru any entitlement

Simply spin, not simple logic:

The lie that '50 percent pay no tax,' Part II | Jay Bookman

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes | Reuters

Gas taxes, sales taxes, etc are not income taxes that the rest of us must pay

And your corporate tax makes no real difference, as all corporate taxes are passed on to the consumers... but I am for equal taxation system, just as I propsed for individuals, for corporations too

 

[boedicca]

Reading the article linked in the OP, I just learned that I and my four siblings group up in Extreme Poverty. Yet somehow, my parents fed us healthy food, shelter and clothing, we went to school, and we all worked our ways through college.

Where did we go wrong?

 

[MaggieMae]

So you are saying that you are against the freedom to keep what you earn....

I get to keep less of what I earn than a millionaire. My wages are taxed more than their "income". I am taxed 100% on my wages for SS yet that millionaire likely pays no SS at all if he is getting his money via investment. I am all for keeping more what I earn... like rich people get to.

You are naive peepers.

EVERYONE pays SS up to 106,400 in income.

Just becuase the rich got rich, does not mean that it is unfair.

You too, have the right to beome rich.

You and Dave keep skewing the debate. Nobody is talking about the "right" to become rich or the "freedom" allowed everybody to pursue whatever they define as success. What we're arguing is that there are millions of people who can never, ever afford to do anything to better their existence because of their lack of skill, education to develop that skill, and extra money to invest in that education. You seem to believe those are ridiculous considerations.

 

[boedicca]

Umm who is the wealthy? The burger joint owner or the burger slingers working for him/her?

Expected you to take it out of context.

It is pro EMPLOYER....so the EMPLOYER can expand....seeing as expansion means new job openings...and expanion of economy.

Pretty simple concept.

Indeed. So why have they stopped doing it?

Because the programs being pushed by the current Administration are Pro Crony-Capitalist MegaCorps, not pro real capitalist enterpreneurial businesses.

 

[DiamondDave]

Most working poor spend the bulk of their money on food, housing and transportation. You have no idea what you are talking about.

You only live hand to mouth if you opt to live at your means and not within your means.

I lived in a basement apartment for two years as I took the little I made and slowly built up the capital to branch out.

Personal decisions Peepers......you will get it one day.

You say "I" lived in a basement apartment... What if you were trying to support a family in a basement apartment? What if you were trying to work two part-time jobs AND go to school to learn a new trade at the same time? There are thousands of families living like that; they are P.O.O.R and unfortunately will probably always be P.O.O.R because in today's expensive society, it's difficult to ever get far enough ahead. Too many families are just one catastrophe away from living on the streets, in shelters or in the car with an empty gas tank. More do NOT make it out of poverty than do.

And again... taking care of that family, having that family, etc is YOUR responsibility... not he government's, not society's, not the employer's.. YOURS... you have the freedom to work a second or a 3rd job (I've done it)... you have the freedom to study... you have the freedom to train... you have the freedom to hone a skill.. you have the freedom to do all of these things.. leading to the freedom to succeed or fail, all on your own