Why Are Republicans So Relentlessly Cruel to the Poor?

[Ray From Cleveland]

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

If you are from that era, then you know very few kids of your graduating class actually went to college. It was during the baby-boom era when classes were around 35 people. Out of those 35 people, maybe six or seven went to college, and Lord knows how many completed it.

Even liberals understand supply and demand, and that's why college costs what it does today. They can get away with charging outrageous fees and there is nothing you can do about it. Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits. Unlike years ago, you must get an advanced education or face being stuck in lower paying jobs.

Maybe a quarter of my class went to college. The rest could get jobs out of HS that you could support yourself. Jobs that had a pension, healthcare, paid vacation
Those days are gone. Takes two salaries to support a family now. Benefits are something only executives can expect

That's only part of it. The other part is our spending. Years ago we would never dream of spending the kind of money we do today on entertainment and convenience. Look at your cell phone bill. Look at your cable/ internet bill. Keep track of how much you spend on food that you don't prepare at home. We spend a ton of money on entertainment and convenience.

People could get by on one paycheck, but like years ago, no bells or whistles. Home cooked meals every single day and brown bag for work. Watch whatever your rabbit ears are able to pickup on the television, nothing more and nothing less. No Ding-Dongs or Ho-ho's. You make a box cake if you want desert or perhaps make some cookies.

 

[BlueGin]

Must be why the government is bloated since they get the same benefits plus higher wages than the general public.

Like Big Health and you...but I'm for raising others up rather than you down like GOPers...ON Wisconsin!

No you aren't which is why you try to keep them dependant on the government to live.

the right wing insists on conditions for social safety nets over need.

Sounds more like liberals. Nobody " needs" an Obama phone but doling them out makes Democrats seem "cool" so.....

I would claim, people need phones more than they need guns.

Since when does the government give out free guns?

 

[BlueGin]

So...I'm wondering what all of you sad sack woe is me liberals actually do for a living.

Besides whine.

 

[BlueGin]

Conservatives don't set the bar too high

The poor have nothing to complain about as long as they maintain a standard of living higher than Somalia

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

yeah and houses were small and cheap to build families had one car one TV etc etc

Exactly. We had one television which got four channels........five if you caught it on a less windy day. There was no cable or satellite. There was no pay-per-view. There was no VCR or DVD player. If you were one of the lucky kids, you had an Atari video game system with two or three game cartridges.

Fast food was something of a treat you got once maybe twice a year. If you wanted to watch a movie, everybody jumped into the family car and drove to a drive-in somewhere if Dad could afford it.

Today, a family eats out three or more times a week. A family cell phone plan costs more today than my parents mortgage back then. What is poverty today? Poverty is having a government cell phone with only 250 anytime minutes. That's what we call poor today.

Hell...our cable bill and cell phone bill alone cost as much as my parents mortgage in the 70's.

And my INSURANCE costs more than my mortgage payment right now.

Liberals have created poverty and it is done intentionally.

 

[BlueGin]

that's funny coming from you

we don't really have any poor in this country

you need to see what real poverty is

Conservatives don't set the bar too high

The poor have nothing to complain about as long as they maintain a standard of living higher than Somalia

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

we also did without wars on crime, drugs and terror.

The hippie era was without drugs?

Since when?

 

[Markle]

Doesn't matter whether they are type S or type C, they pay 10% less of a tax rate than I do and that is wrong.

That's garbage and if you do not know that, you are a fool.

For convenience and legal reasons, I have always had at least two and usually five or six Sub Chapter S corporations. Any and all net income from each passed through and I paid regular income tax on that profit.

Please explain how I paid 10% less than you. If you have a way, I'd love to have that money BACK! Due to the radical increase in real estate prices from 2001-2007, I sold several properties and had to borrow $42,000 with a short term signature loan to have enough to pay my taxes one year. So like I said, if you have a way, I'd sure like to know how I could have paid 10% less. My own CPA couldn't get it any lower.

 

[Markle]

What can someone possibly do, that's worth $37,000 an hour?

What business is it of yours? Are they taking it out of your pocket?

 

[BrokeLoser]

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

yeah and houses were small and cheap to build families had one car one TV etc etc

Exactly. We had one television which got four channels........five if you caught it on a less windy day. There was no cable or satellite. There was no pay-per-view. There was no VCR or DVD player. If you were one of the lucky kids, you had an Atari video game system with two or three game cartridges.

Fast food was something of a treat you got once maybe twice a year. If you wanted to watch a movie, everybody jumped into the family car and drove to a drive-in somewhere if Dad could afford it.

Today, a family eats out three or more times a week. A family cell phone plan costs more today than my parents mortgage back then. What is poverty today? Poverty is having a government cell phone with only 250 anytime minutes. That's what we call poor today.

Hell...our cable bill and cell phone bill alone cost as much as my parents mortgage in the 70's.

And my INSURANCE costs more than my mortgage payment right now.

Liberals have created poverty and it is done intentionally.

It's how they stay relevant within politics. Plant and harvest bottom feeders for the sake of party support / votes. How else can you explain their motivation for the madness...right? Just watch Chuck and Nancy play puppet master with our nations filth.

 

[BlueGin]

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

If you are from that era, then you know very few kids of your graduating class actually went to college. It was during the baby-boom era when classes were around 35 people. Out of those 35 people, maybe six or seven went to college, and Lord knows how many completed it.

Even liberals understand supply and demand, and that's why college costs what it does today. They can get away with charging outrageous fees and there is nothing you can do about it. Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits. Unlike years ago, you must get an advanced education or face being stuck in lower paying jobs.

Maybe a quarter of my class went to college. The rest could get jobs out of HS that you could support yourself. Jobs that had a pension, healthcare, paid vacation
Those days are gone. Takes two salaries to support a family now. Benefits are something only executives can expect

No, those days are not gone. I can name a dozen corporations that have frequent job fairs that offer huge benefits packages with starting wages at 14.00/16.00/18.00 per hour to start. No experience necessary will train. Or $ 24.00 and up for people with a college degree or experience in the field. Potential to move up.

And at least that many that starting wages are 11.00 and up with benefits.

Their only problem is finding employees who want to work a full 40 HR week without constantly calling in sick.

 

[Markle]

We need to do something about the poor

Indeed that is true!!

 

[Wry Catcher]

Why Are Republicans So Relentlessly Cruel to the Poor?

Interesting article and much of it chimes with what we see in the UK.

It has to be coated with a thin veneer of religion to make it acceptable but in essence right wing politics is based on a selfish me me me doctrine. DISCUSS

Every fascist needs a scapegoat, and the R. Party has moved beyond conservatism and into the realm of Mussolini's corporatism. The power elite need the poor to do the work, and the more there are poor, the less in wages and benefits are necessary to keep the wheels which profit them turning.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

If you are from that era, then you know very few kids of your graduating class actually went to college. It was during the baby-boom era when classes were around 35 people. Out of those 35 people, maybe six or seven went to college, and Lord knows how many completed it.

Even liberals understand supply and demand, and that's why college costs what it does today. They can get away with charging outrageous fees and there is nothing you can do about it. Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits. Unlike years ago, you must get an advanced education or face being stuck in lower paying jobs.

Maybe a quarter of my class went to college. The rest could get jobs out of HS that you could support yourself. Jobs that had a pension, healthcare, paid vacation
Those days are gone. Takes two salaries to support a family now. Benefits are something only executives can expect

No, those days are not gone. I can name a dozen corporations that have frequent job fairs that offer huge benefits packages with starting wages at 14.00/16.00/18.00 per hour to start. No experience necessary will train. Or $ 24.00 and up for people with a college degree or experience in the field. Potential to move up.

And at least that many that starting wages are 11.00 and up with benefits.

Their only problem is finding employees who want to work a full 40 HR week without constantly calling in sick.

Name ten of them and post links. Can anyone live on $18.00/hr? Can they save for retirement, pay for health care and or put a child through college?

Is there profit sharing, or are the profits put into stock options for Sr. Management?

 

[BrokeLoser]

Conservatives don't set the bar too high

The poor have nothing to complain about as long as they maintain a standard of living higher than Somalia

Question for you:
By your account, what percentage of "the poor" are poor by choice of their own?
(Don't run from this one)

Less than 10 percent
That is a rightwing myth that the poor are so happy being poor that they choose to stay there

Fair enough...
So how many educated and truly motivated people do you know that are poor?
Does one choose to be educated and motivated?
(Don't run away)

that still doesn't solve for capitalism's natural rate of unemployment and entrepreneurship requires capital.

Just stop already. Your arguments have been destroyed so many times, yet you continue spouting them again.

Haha...poor ole Danny. He spends countless hours researching political vocabulary but can't for the life of himself string a sensible couple of sentences together..haha
He impresses no one but himself with his vast bunch of scrambled words and phrases...LOL

 

[Markle]

The reason Republicans are so cruel to the poor is simple

They are beholden to the rich. The same rich who accumulate more and more wealth and pay smaller and smaller wages to the working class.

As those who are now struggling to raise a family complain about receiving less and less, the natural tendency would be to blame the rich who are receiving more and more

That is where the poor come in. Republicans point to the poor and say.....That is the reason you are struggling....the poor receive too much. They live in the lap of luxury while you toil away

We need to do something a lot the poor

The first thing you can do is get rid of this fallacy that the reason somebody does't have enough is because others have too much. We don't live in a bubble. Our finances are not encapsulated by our borders. Money is nearly endless in this country and it has nothing to do with what other people have.

If the top five richest people lost their fortunes this weekend, would that help your finances? How about your neighbors? How about your friends and family?

You see if there was any truth to that theory, I could go to my boss tomorrow and ask for a dollar an hour raise, and he would say he'd love to give me a dollar an hour raise, but he can't because the rich people have all the money. Or perhaps I would go to the bank and borrow money for a car, but they too wouldn't be able to lend me any money because the rich have it all.

That's never happened in my life and never will. The sooner you understand that poverty is an individual choice and not a societal one, the sooner you may be able to address the problem.

Let's look at that so called "fallacy"
The reason the working poor have so little is their wages have been stagnant for so long and government programs that benefit them have been cut
So yes.....the wealthy have "too much" while they scream poverty every time someone mentions higher wages

Top five wealthiest lost their fortune? maybe not
But let's look where that wealth resides

Yea......the middle class is suffering because the poor have too much

 

[Markle]

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Taxes were but a fraction of what they are today. Don't just weenie out and throw up a rate from back in those days, I grew up then too. If you're comparing rates then, be sure to show the income group that applied to in today's dollars.

Remember too, Social Security was but a fraction of what it is today, along with Medicare.

 

[BrokeLoser]

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

If you are from that era, then you know very few kids of your graduating class actually went to college. It was during the baby-boom era when classes were around 35 people. Out of those 35 people, maybe six or seven went to college, and Lord knows how many completed it.

Even liberals understand supply and demand, and that's why college costs what it does today. They can get away with charging outrageous fees and there is nothing you can do about it. Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits. Unlike years ago, you must get an advanced education or face being stuck in lower paying jobs.

Maybe a quarter of my class went to college. The rest could get jobs out of HS that you could support yourself. Jobs that had a pension, healthcare, paid vacation
Those days are gone. Takes two salaries to support a family now. Benefits are something only executives can expect

No, those days are not gone. I can name a dozen corporations that have frequent job fairs that offer huge benefits packages with starting wages at 14.00/16.00/18.00 per hour to start. No experience necessary will train. Or $ 24.00 and up for people with a college degree or experience in the field. Potential to move up.

And at least that many that starting wages are 11.00 and up with benefits.

Their only problem is finding employees who want to work a full 40 HR week without constantly calling in sick.

Name ten of them and post links. Can anyone live on $18.00/hr? Can they save for retirement, pay for health care and or put a child through college?

Is there profit sharing, or are the profits put into stock options for Sr. Management?

No one educated, motivated and over the age of 24 is working for $18 per hour in CA. Get educated, choose your career path wisely, make sound decisions, acclimate to current times and stay motivated...easy peezy!
Success and or failure is chosen...PERIOD!

 

[BlueGin]

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

If you are from that era, then you know very few kids of your graduating class actually went to college. It was during the baby-boom era when classes were around 35 people. Out of those 35 people, maybe six or seven went to college, and Lord knows how many completed it.

Even liberals understand supply and demand, and that's why college costs what it does today. They can get away with charging outrageous fees and there is nothing you can do about it. Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits. Unlike years ago, you must get an advanced education or face being stuck in lower paying jobs.

Maybe a quarter of my class went to college. The rest could get jobs out of HS that you could support yourself. Jobs that had a pension, healthcare, paid vacation
Those days are gone. Takes two salaries to support a family now. Benefits are something only executives can expect

No, those days are not gone. I can name a dozen corporations that have frequent job fairs that offer huge benefits packages with starting wages at 14.00/16.00/18.00 per hour to start. No experience necessary will train. Or $ 24.00 and up for people with a college degree or experience in the field. Potential to move up.

And at least that many that starting wages are 11.00 and up with benefits.

Their only problem is finding employees who want to work a full 40 HR week without constantly calling in sick.

Name ten of them and post links. Can anyone live on $18.00/hr? Can they save for retirement, pay for health care and or put a child through college?

Is there profit sharing, or are the profits put into stock options for Sr. Management?

Several corporations have a $ for $ match of 401k plans up to 5%. And while I worked for one of them I had the option to buy their company stock at a discount. And guess what...they will also pay for you to go to school ( some even have programs for dependants).

 

[Tommy Tainant]

that's funny coming from you

we don't really have any poor in this country

you need to see what real poverty is

Conservatives don't set the bar too high

The poor have nothing to complain about as long as they maintain a standard of living higher than Somalia

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

I grew up in the 60s. My father worked for the phone company on a HS education. My mom stayed home raising four kids. We had a 2200 sq foot house that they paid $19,000 brand new. All four kids were sent to college and my parents didn't go into debt

Those days are gone. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. Government used to contribute more for college. Workers belonged to unions who looked out for them

But our wealthy are doing just fine thank you

Aint they just.

U.S. inequality keeps getting uglier

 

[Markle]

Many for-profit colleges are making close to 40% profits.

Please show us your reliable source and link. Thank you.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

the FACT is that the so called poor here are no worse off than any other first world country

Then why are so many families struggling? Used to be you could support a family on a single low skilled income. Now, it takes government assistance.
The ladder to success is broken. The ability to rise from poverty and stay there is disappearing. Used to be children were expected to achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Now they can't even match it
But our wealthy has managed to slice off a bigger slice of the pie
That is all Republucans care about

Were you around during the days when families were one income? I was. I grew up in that era. Most people did without back then.

yeah and houses were small and cheap to build families had one car one TV etc etc

Exactly. We had one television which got four channels........five if you caught it on a less windy day. There was no cable or satellite. There was no pay-per-view. There was no VCR or DVD player. If you were one of the lucky kids, you had an Atari video game system with two or three game cartridges.

Fast food was something of a treat you got once maybe twice a year. If you wanted to watch a movie, everybody jumped into the family car and drove to a drive-in somewhere if Dad could afford it.

Today, a family eats out three or more times a week. A family cell phone plan costs more today than my parents mortgage back then. What is poverty today? Poverty is having a government cell phone with only 250 anytime minutes. That's what we call poor today.

Hell...our cable bill and cell phone bill alone cost as much as my parents mortgage in the 70's.

And my INSURANCE costs more than my mortgage payment right now.

Liberals have created poverty and it is done intentionally.

It's funny because a couple of years ago one of our schools had problems with cell phones in the classroom, so the school began taking them away for the day and returning them to the students at the end of the day.

The parents and kids alike went nuts. You would have thought they announced it was the end of the world. The began making all kinds of ridiculous situations such as "what if my kid trips down the steps and there's nobody around?" Or another one read "What if something happens to one of us and I can't contact my child to let them know???"

It seems we have a fragile definition of the word Necessity today. Today you GOT TO have s cell phone. You GOT TO have the internet. You GOT TO have Netflix.