Report: Level of poverty growing

[DiamondDave]

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.

And that is a myth... COMPLETE and TOTAL myth... anyone can do what they need to do because of that freedom... we do not exist, the government does not exist, to do it for you or to take care of your personal responsibilities and needs when you fail....

You and your ILK choose to portray the 'poor' as helpless... not us

Your considerations are ridiculous when you think everyone else owes it to them as adults... charity to help, GREAT, that is VOLUNTARY and I support many.... forced wealth redistribution??Nope.. that is not in line with a free society

 

[MaggieMae]

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.

I lived in a basement apartment too...I didn't have enough to invest in anything....I could barely pay the rent. My apartment was furnished with what my mom called "early Goodwill". The only decent piece of furniture I had was a bed given to me by my mom. I eventually got a tv for Christmas. No cable though. I took the bus to work. I took my lunch with me as I couldn't afford to buy lunch. I got no help from anybody and I had the highest heating bill in the apartment building...basements cost a lot to heat. All this while working for the government in a job that paid MORE than minimum wage, and I was still living in poverty. Today it's much, much worse.

You are an idiot if you think someone making minimum wage can afford their own apartment, let alone invest any of their money.

BULLSHIT

I earned minimum wage.. I would save $10 from a paycheck and entertain by sitting home with friends instead of going out... I earned less than minimum hourly wage as a private, and invested from my paycheck.. I would save every dime I could when I worked for under $8 an hour and had to pay for all my own food, upkeep, rent, etc

I STILL have furniture I had that was freebies... I STILL shop for sales and generics

ANYONE can save.... just as anyone can work any amount of jobs they need, or advance their skills to earn more...

Stop portraying myths to try and paint minimum wagers or 'the poor' as incapable... conservatives certainly do not

You're the one that's full of shit. Why not be honest and tell us when you were able to "invest" when you were earning $3.35 per hour? Was it 40 years ago when a basement apartment could have gone for $75 a month if it was a true "basement"? How many hours a week did you put in?

Where I live, rentals are hard to find in any price range, and a decent unfurnished two-bedroom will run $1,000 (and up) per month, plus utilities and heat. The average annual wage here is $34,000 (above the poverty line). So you tell me how anyone is supposed to have enough left over from rent, utilities, food, sundries, medical/pharma, insurance (a joke), auto expenses and still "invest" in something. A single person can barely make it with a little left over for clothing, entertainment and any debt payments.

 

[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.

No, asshole.. you choose to keep less of what you earn... just as you choose your job... just as you choose to accept the offer of payment offered for your labors....

You do not get to tell someone else, in a free society, that they have earned 'enough' and someone else is entitled to the fruits of their labor thanks to government wealth redistribution to some lazy fuck that is doing nothing to earn it

Well there we have it. All poor people are lazy fucks. Got it.

 

[DiamondDave]

I lived in a basement apartment too...I didn't have enough to invest in anything....I could barely pay the rent. My apartment was furnished with what my mom called "early Goodwill". The only decent piece of furniture I had was a bed given to me by my mom. I eventually got a tv for Christmas. No cable though. I took the bus to work. I took my lunch with me as I couldn't afford to buy lunch. I got no help from anybody and I had the highest heating bill in the apartment building...basements cost a lot to heat. All this while working for the government in a job that paid MORE than minimum wage, and I was still living in poverty. Today it's much, much worse.

You are an idiot if you think someone making minimum wage can afford their own apartment, let alone invest any of their money.

BULLSHIT

I earned minimum wage.. I would save $10 from a paycheck and entertain by sitting home with friends instead of going out... I earned less than minimum hourly wage as a private, and invested from my paycheck.. I would save every dime I could when I worked for under $8 an hour and had to pay for all my own food, upkeep, rent, etc

I STILL have furniture I had that was freebies... I STILL shop for sales and generics

ANYONE can save.... just as anyone can work any amount of jobs they need, or advance their skills to earn more...

Stop portraying myths to try and paint minimum wagers or 'the poor' as incapable... conservatives certainly do not

You're the one that's full of shit. Why not be honest and tell us when you were able to "invest" when you were earning $3.35 per hour? Was it 40 years ago when a basement apartment could have gone for $75 a month if it was a true "basement"? How many hours a week did you put in?

Where I live, rentals are hard to find in any price range, and a decent unfurnished two-bedroom will run $1,000 (and up) per month, plus utilities and heat. The average annual wage here is $34,000 (above the poverty line). So you tell me how anyone is supposed to have enough left over from rent, utilities, food, sundries, medical/pharma, insurance (a joke), auto expenses and still "invest" in something. A single person can barely make it with a little left over for clothing, entertainment and any debt payments.

I am full of shit?? Nope honey, that is you and your belief

I saved as little as $10 a week back then... I refused to spend it on the same things others did... starting in 85... When I was making between 7 and 8 an hour, my rent share was $175 a month in a cramped apartment where I only had that cheap of rent because me and my best friend made makeshift bunk beds and lived in a loft... I still put away into savings and CD's before I even saw the money... made do with what I had beyond that...

You don't like the cost of living where you live, move... join the military... work a second job til you can afford a moving van... get a roommate or 2 or 3 or 4... grow a garden to lessen you food costs... collect cans for extra money.. trade a service to a neighbor for a service they can give you.. get freebie furniture... $0.50 shirts at goodwill... clearance bread or meat... mow a couple neighbors lawns for extra money to save.. work 80 hours a week.... it's up to you

You seem to think you are OWED these things by someone... your insurance, your assistance to live... you simply are not... and it's people like you that would have been taken out of the gene pool in past generations, for you wish to contribute nothing while taking from those that do

And notice... you add entertainment.. something to give up to have your training, or your savings, or anything else... typical lib

 

[DiamondDave]

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.

No, asshole.. you choose to keep less of what you earn... just as you choose your job... just as you choose to accept the offer of payment offered for your labors....

You do not get to tell someone else, in a free society, that they have earned 'enough' and someone else is entitled to the fruits of their labor thanks to government wealth redistribution to some lazy fuck that is doing nothing to earn it

Well there we have it. All poor people are lazy fucks. Got it.

Nope... not all.. but seen quite a few.... more than the non-lazy.. more than ones with the motivation and intestinal fortitude to do what they have to do no matter what it is

Maybe you should read the whole statement where it said the lazy fucks who do nothing to earn it

 

[MaggieMae]

Fuck you I don't.. I worked my way from the lowest run on the shortest ladder.... don't you DARE say that someone has no idea about being poor merely because they support a conservative stance and speak against wealth redistribution by the government to the poor

We've already had wealth redistribution by the government...you don't think that income gap go there by itself, do you?

Yes.. NOBODY can earn more for what they risk or invest.. and certainly NOBODY should be allowed to keep what they earn... and god forbid they give something to their family instead of having it forcibly taken away and given to someone who does nothing for you It's all redistribution done by our government

People like you stretch that point beyond all recognition. You act as though tax bracketing is something "new" when the top tiers have been all over the place since 1913 depending upon the state of the OVERALL economy and how much revenue is needed to be generated to support it.

 

[MaggieMae]

No, asshole... I showed you what I support... while you openly support government sponsored wealth redistribution... that has been shown... and your lies, no matter how often repeated, do not magically become truth because you wish them to

Wealth redistribution is happening NOW. I showed you the numbers but you continue to argue that it isn't happening. IT IS. Private industry and government policy is ALLOWING it to happen. You support this policy as your tired "freedom" to be dry humped by private industry over and over again shouts your support loud and clear.

Oh, and where did I say I, personally wanted to redistribute anything? I just pointed out that it is already going on. I'm just the messenger.

Again... you are simply WRONG... wealth redistribution is happening in the form of entitlements to personas who do nothing, by taking from tax payers and giving to those who contribute nothing....

Taxes being used for the legit business of government.. including national defense and the military, making and enforcing of laws, etc is not wealth redistribution... no matter how much you wish it to be to make your lame ass argument

Private industry, like you, is free to supply as they wish and charge what they can get... just as you are free to accept a wage or not... accept a job or not....

No private industry is forcing you to contribute a damn thing... the government is forcing others to participate in the wealth redistribution to the lazy fucks doing nothing to earn it... and you support this system, as demonstrated by your many posts on the subject in many threads

Government does not and should not exist to tell you or some company that they have earned enough and that you, as a lazy fuck, is then entitled to the fruits of their labor for doing nothing

I sure hope ranting about this brings you some level of satisfaction, because government's attempt to provide assistance for those who can PROVE they need it to survive isn't about to end. By your persistent characterization of such people as being lazy fucks merely advertises a prima donna arrogance and a blatant ignorance of the world around you.

 

[MaggieMae]

The housing bust & financial collapse really revved up in 2006. How can you even begin to blame this on the current administration. That just isn't being truthful.

You are half right - Bill Clinton's policies set the banks up to Fail and Bush got too distracted with 911 to reverse them in time to prevent the collapse.
Once he took office Obama could have done something positive, but failed to do so, uinstead falling back on tired Democratic policies of Spend, Spend, SPEND

Which have only made the Democratic machine happy.

LOL!! Of course Bush's 2004 edict which greatly enhanced CRA to include zero downpayments and relaxed terms from low income minorities had nothing to do with it. He was too busy with 911. What a fucking joke.

 

[boedicca]

I sure hope ranting about this brings you some level of satisfaction, because government's attempt to provide assistance for those who can PROVE they need it to survive isn't about to end. By your persistent characterization of such people as being lazy fucks merely advertises a prima donna arrogance and a blatant ignorance of the world around you.

The sad fact that you ignore is that many of them have had the initiative completely bred out of them via multi-generational government dependency.

I live in Oakland CA, which used to have a vibrant, successful black middle class, many of whom owned small businesses. Thanks to the family destroying policies of the Great Society programs, they have been replaced by single moms with multiple children oft sired by different fathers who grow up into illiterate gangbangers. It's sad. They've been put onto an urban plantation. What a waste of life.

That is what making people dependent on the government instead of themselves achieves.

 

[MaggieMae]

And did I speak out about ALL of that, just as I speak out against personal welfare?? Yes

Personal welfare and entitlements are not merely a drop in the bucket... it is a MAJOR expense of our over-bloated government... and not the job of our government at all

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.

Two-thirds of new small businesses fail. Your son was one of the more fortunate ones who apparently had a good, saleable product and a good location. All the money in the world won't help unless those two factors come together. Your analogy with regard to the bigger picture, therefore, is moot. (As is your own bootstrap story, as well as Old and Tired's. Not everyone can match the precise circumstances that allowed you two to succeed.)

 

[MaggieMae]

Now when I say this, I apologize if it sounds dicriminatory...and it will...but it is reality...

The day I go to Home Depot and see anything BUT undocumented immigrants looking for a day job is the day that I say we need to change things.

Last saturday, I saw about 50 undocumented immigrants. And how do I know they were undocumented? I needed 4 guys to help me but will NOT hire anyone without proof of citizenship as it was for work in my office.

I had to bring in some of my temps to do the work.

The road we are going...no one seems to NEED to go the extra yard to support themselves.

Of course those two sentences contradict each other. Why didn't you bring in the 'legal' workers to start with? They obviously wanted and NEEDED the extra work to support themselves.

 

[CMike]

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.

They are rediculous excuses.

 

[CMike]

I've told my story here a few times.

About two years ago my wife and I were broke. I got nervous buying lettuce.

I took a job doing door to door sales for commission only.

I now have my own business doing door to door sales.

My income is about 12X greater than it was two years ago and I am in the top 3% of income for the country.

What pisses me off is doing door to door sales I have run across many poor people. A few people told me their tale of woe about being out of work for 3 years, on food stamps, yadda yadda yadda.

I have offered them a job doing exactly what I was doing, and almost always they have refused. What angers me that they wouldn't even try it.

I have the greatest sympathy for those strugelling who are truely willing to work and do anything.

I have anger for those who are just lazy and live off the taxpayers.

 

[uscitizen]

For anyone who cares to answer, does Bill Gates deserve to be rich?

Sure, why not?

His income does however skew the average income figures badly for a couple of states worth of people.

 

[namvet]

The housing bust & financial collapse really revved up in 2006. How can you even begin to blame this on the current administration. That just isn't being truthful.

The housing bust & financial collapse was a liberal hit job

 

[Mr. Peepers]

The housing bust & financial collapse was a liberal hit job

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The private sector is more to blame. Deregulation didn't help. It certainly wasn't a "liberal hit job". It was GREED, pure and simple.

 

[namvet]

The housing bust & financial collapse was a liberal hit job

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The private sector is more to blame. Deregulation didn't help. It certainly wasn't a "liberal hit job". It was GREED, pure and simple.

your pardon GREEDY liberals. they were warned of this impending disaster since 2001. tell us WHY they ignored it????

 

[uscitizen]

The housing bust & financial collapse was a liberal hit job

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The private sector is more to blame. Deregulation didn't help. It certainly wasn't a "liberal hit job". It was GREED, pure and simple.

your pardon GREEDY liberals. they were warned of this impending disaster since 2001. tell us WHY they ignored it????

Because lots of rich people were making giga bucks off of it. No one in power wanted to kill it.



Both parties are covered in my statement.

 

[namvet]

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. The private sector is more to blame. Deregulation didn't help. It certainly wasn't a "liberal hit job". It was GREED, pure and simple.

your pardon GREEDY liberals. they were warned of this impending disaster since 2001. tell us WHY they ignored it????

Because lots of rich people were making giga bucks off of it. No one in power wanted to kill it.



Both parties are covered in my statement.

if i want your opinion ill give it to ya

 

[uscitizen]

your pardon GREEDY liberals. they were warned of this impending disaster since 2001. tell us WHY they ignored it????

Because lots of rich people were making giga bucks off of it. No one in power wanted to kill it.



Both parties are covered in my statement.

if i want your opinion ill give it to ya

Yeah I kinda figured that.