US poverty: chronic ill, little hope for cure

[Axls Locomotive]

if someone with a foreign accent tries to sell me something , i politely tell them to piss off

especially when they start entrusting personal information to these foreign companies, especially India

whatever happened to the data protection act

[Surfrider]

One thing that would help those figures tremendously is to stop the flow of illegal immigration from Mexico ...

I think it is tough to criticize the US when no country is taking the number of poor people in that we are by leaving the US border open.

[Surfrider]

if someone with a foreign accent tries to sell me something , i politely tell them to piss off

Somehow I think if someone from America made this quote they would be considered a racist.

[Walk]

Show facts or stop you trollin'.

You're right that I should have showed fact, since I was very much off the mark. The real percentage is 97%.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132956,00.html

Leave it to fox to clear this up!

[SLCPUNK]

haha...crack me up!!! 

Somebody please ban this guy...

[POPmetal]

haha...crack me up!!!?

Somebody please ban this guy...

What's the matter? All of the sudden you don't like facts?

here's some more facts from that article that everyone should know to put things into perspective

? Forty-six percent of all poor households own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and porch or patio.

? Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

? Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

? The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other European cities. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

? Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.

? Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television. Over half own two or more color televisions.

? Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

? Seventy-three percent own a microwave oven, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.

[SLCPUNK]

It's from Fox news!!!!

They lie through their teeth!

 

Besides...what facts? Some jack off article from Fox showing people own tv means that we don't have a poverty problem in this country. My comment had nothing to do with that. You guys wanna use Fox to argue if people have tv's...that's great!

My comment was to this (obvious to anybody intelligent):

" That article just wants Socialism, taking money from the middle class and giving it to the lazy (with all due respect to the ~20% who don't have TVs!)"

You guys are pathetic.

You get an article about the poor in this country, and your debate is "Fox news shows poor people on DVDs"

Brilliant!!
 

Hmmm....Reuters or FOX....Hmmmm...who do I read??

 

[badapple81]

Just a quick question from an ignorant Aussie    ... is it correct that during Clinton's time in office, poverty in the US was significantly reduced?

[SLCPUNK]

It has been in steady decline for 40 years, according to the article. I think one of the main problems is outsourcing.


Two other brilliant posters here seem to think that the problem is that poor people own TV's....

[Axl_owns_dexter]

SLC, your heart is in the right place, but you are ignorant on a few things.

What the "brilliant posters" were trying to get at is that poverty is not the same the world over.? Its hard to compare a poor person in the US to a poor person in Africa.

In Africa, there is not enough opportunity for people to use their talents and move up in society.

In the US, while there isn't as much opportunity for the unskilled as there used to be due to outsourcing and illegal immigration, the opportunities are still far superior to those that you will see in the third world.? The problems of the poor have much more to do with individual problems than societal problems.? And even the poor in the US have a lifestyle that would be considered middle class to rich in 3rd world nations.

In the US you have former Vietnamese boat people kicking the academic pants off of white kids who are supposed to have the system in their favor.? The opportunities are still there if you have the work ethic and personal common sense.

I do agree with you that we could make opportunities even more plentiful for our poor if we controlled outsourcing more, and cut down on illegal immigration.

[SLCPUNK]

SLC, your heart is in the right place, but you are ignorant on a few things.

What the "brilliant posters" were trying to get at is that poverty is not the same the world over.  Its hard to compare a poor person in the US to a poor person in Africa.

I believe the subtitle was:

U.S. POVERTY WORST IN INDUSTRIALISED WORLD

This is the quote I was referring to:

" That article just wants Socialism, taking money from the middle class and giving it to the lazy (with all due respect to the ~20% who don't have TVs!)"

Many people here get tired of Walks troll posts filled with non-sense, then followed up by somebody like pop who is all up in arms because I did not bother to discuss the tv/dvd/ratio vs poor people and an article by Fox.

To post an article in hopes of having an intelligent discussion, or maybe even a solution, only to be dumbed down with blaming the poor and turning the topic into something it is not (Article = socialism) gets old after a while.

Yea, my heart is in the right place. How can we address the poverty in this country? Why not discuss that?

Instead the subject is quickly diverted to comparing apples to oranges as an excuse to call somebody lazy (in this case poor Americans). Simple as that.

Ignorant? Hardly.

Tired of assholes on this board...you bet. And I speak for most people here.

[SLCPUNK]

"The federal government declared war on poverty, and poverty won."

[Walk]

SLC, very few Americans are truly poor. It's also accepted that the middle class pays the lion's share of the tax burden. There's a relatively low limit on the social security tax. The tax on investments isn't too high, either. Socialism means taxing one group to give benefits to another that doesn't earn them.

However, the main issue is that all Americans, regardless of social class, pay too much in taxes. Taxing the American people to fund inefficient anti-poverty programs isn't working. The government even pays farmers to not grow food, since otherwise it would flood the market! This is a bad idea, but the point is that no one is starving here.

[POPmetal]

Many people here get tired of Walks troll posts filled with non-sense, then followed up by somebody like pop who is all up in arms because I did not bother to discuss the tv/dvd/ratio vs poor people and an article by Fox.

I'm not "up in arms" about anything. I don't care what you discuss. I posted these because they provide context and put things in perspective. You tell a person from somewhere else in the world how much these "poor" Americans have and they'll laugh at you and your definition of poor.

[SLCPUNK]

Many people here get tired of Walks troll posts filled with non-sense, then followed up by somebody like pop who is all up in arms because I did not bother to discuss the tv/dvd/ratio vs poor people and an article by Fox.

I'm not "up in arms" about anything. I don't care what you discuss. I posted these because they provide context and put things in perspective. You tell a person from somewhere else in the world how much these "poor" Americans have and they'll laugh at you and your definition of poor.

That is the point. The article was not comparing our poor to the rest of the world.

They were talking about the poverty in America and how do we deal with it.

**********

SLCPUNK : The sky is blue

POPTARD: Of course there are clouds in the sky.

SLPUNK: No, actually I was talking about the color of the sky, not clouds.

POPTARD: You can't talk about the sky without talking about the clouds, please don't deny there are clouds in the sky.

SLCPUNK: I'm not denying there are clouds in the sky, but that is not my point.

POPTARD: See you can't face facts......clouds are in the sky, it was reported on FOX.

SLCPUNK: Why do you change the subject?

POPTARD: Why can't you answer my question?

SLCPUNK: What is your question?

POPTARD: How would you fly a kite on a windy day? Care to answer that? Or are you going to keep avoiding me?

SLCPUNK: What the hell does that have to do with the sky being blue?

POPTARD: Just answer the question. Typical liberal, always making claims, but can't back it up. How would you fly that kite on a windy day?

    

[Surfrider]

Many people here get tired of Walks troll posts filled with non-sense, then followed up by somebody like pop who is all up in arms because I did not bother to discuss the tv/dvd/ratio vs poor people and an article by Fox.

I'm not "up in arms" about anything. I don't care what you discuss. I posted these because they provide context and put things in perspective. You tell a person from somewhere else in the world how much these "poor" Americans have and they'll laugh at you and your definition of poor.

That is the point. The article was not comparing our poor to the rest of the world.

They were talking about the poverty in America and how do we deal with it.

Well since there are international people on the board it is only right to let them know what we are talking about when we say poor.  Furthermore, if our poor actually have many things and aren't what most would consider "poor" then it sure undercuts the justification to take from the rich and give to the poor.

[gilld1]

Yeah, lets just cut off all aid to the poor because they have TVs and maybe a car.  I don't think we are talking big screen plasma tvs here.  There is a societal pressure for people to accumulate nice things.  Poor people want nice things too and get them at the costs of healthy food , for example.  I teach at a very poor school and I see kids wearing the same clothes for 2-3 days ina row but they have a PS2 and all that shit.  I can't explain it but taking away aid is not the answer, it would only hurt the kids in the long run.

[Axl_owns_dexter]

So, giving people aid who are abusing it is the answer?

I am all for aid that helps people who make the right choices.  For example, Pell grants given to poor students who have a shown academic excellence is a good thing.  There should be more money put into that.  Generally, I am all for aid that motivates and encourages intelligent behavior.

However, aid that goes to the poor with no sense of who that individual is, is pure folly.  Does anybody really expect that society should subsidize a poor person's "right" to have a PS2?

[POPmetal]

So, giving people aid who are abusing it is the answer?

I am all for aid that helps people who make the right choices.? For example, Pell grants given to poor students who have a shown academic excellence is a good thing.? There should be more money put into that.? Generally, I am all for aid that motivates and encourages intelligent behavior.

However, aid that goes to the poor with no sense of who that individual is, is pure folly.? Does anybody really expect that society should subsidize a poor person's "right" to have a PS2?

Not me. Kids in so many parts of the world don't get adequate food, medicine and education, but people actually feel sorry for an American kid that blew $200 on a PlayStation (and probably a lot more for games) instead of extra clothes or healthy food. Unbelievable!

[Axls Locomotive]

if someone with a foreign accent tries to sell me something , i politely tell them to piss off

Somehow I think if someone from America made this quote they would be considered a racist.

its just exaggerated banter...do you really think i answer sales calls with a piss off statement?...they just get on my nerves, i have work to do