Half of U.S. now in poverty

[EagleKeeper]

and if they get a raise, they would lose their benefits...why take a $200 raise if it would cause you to lose $300 in benefits??

I didn't think anyone was stupid enough to actually think this. Sort of like how some of you actually believe that people will try to make less money to avoid higher taxes. Nevermind that taxes are only a percentage of your income. Because it makes so much sense to turn down a $4,000 raise if it means you'd have to pay $800 more in taxes.

Absolute cutoffs are different than incremental adjustments.

Government benefits take 4-5 numbers and plug them into an equation.
Out pops an absolute number.
If the number is to high; you are rejected and have to appeal.

Have a job earning 52K and a house.
Lose that job but still nave house payments.
Assets cause a rejection

Have a job earning 52K and an apartment
Lose that job and get $300/wk unemployment
Unemployment causes a rejection.

File for assistance before unemployment
Previous year income causes rejection.

Male w/ wife & 2 kids - Rejected
Female w/ 2 kids - Approved

 

[rudder]

your missing the point. The standard of living in this country should not be moving downward towards haiti.

Then secure the borders and do something about illegal immigration. When you have an influx of 20 million + illegal laborers who suppress wages.... it is going to affect the quality of life in this country. You can't expect wages to rise when there are all those workers willing to make whatever they can if you decline the job offer.

And I am not missing the point. Half of the U.S. is not in poverty.

 

[spacejamz]

I didn't think anyone was stupid enough to actually think this. Sort of like how some of you actually believe that people will try to make less money to avoid higher taxes. Nevermind that taxes are only a percentage of your income. Because it makes so much sense to turn down a $4,000 raise if it means you'd have to pay $800 more in taxes.

Can you not do simple math?

In your scenario, you still net $3200 ($4000 raise - 800 taxes).

In my scenario, you would lose $100 ($200 raise - $300 loss of benefits). Why would this person take on more responsibility at work if they ultimately end up with less at home???

And yes, people actually think this...there was a thread on this exact topic....

 

[spidey07]

I didn't think anyone was stupid enough to actually think this. Sort of like how some of you actually believe that people will try to make less money to avoid higher taxes. Nevermind that taxes are only a percentage of your income. Because it makes so much sense to turn down a $4,000 raise if it means you'd have to pay $800 more in taxes.

Many states you do lose benefits completely after a certain income point, so it does happen a lot where people don't want to make more money because they'd lose much more in benefits if they did. It's why a lot of them always stay part time and don't go to full.

 

[Ausm]

Trickle on Economics u have to love it!

 

[hal2kilo]

Yeah, those damn poor people should just stop being poor. Those fuckheads. How dare they complain about not being able to afford food or lodging.

Yea, F'm. See my Spidey sig.

 

[Jeffg010]

Trickle on Economics u have to love it!

Your such an idiot. You come in every post trying to blame republicans when the real problem are the people that would rather be poor then try and make something of themselves.

 

[JSt0rm]

Lots of people choose that life. They'd rather live in a rundown apartment or trailer house and find work only when it's needed, draw food stamps and whatever other assistance they can get. To them it's better than waking up in the morning and actually working. I have no sympathy for them. I'm a f@cking felon and I seem to find steady work and oh yeah forgot to mention I dropped out of high school. They have no excuses. Period.

Please someone tell me why I find work but they have to draw food stamps.

Because you are stronger?

I don't come from shit and i made it for myself. I don't hate those I left behind because they couldn't do what I do. You hate what you were so you now hate these people. I think you are misguided.

 

[Ausm]

Your such an idiot. You come in every post trying to blame republicans when the real problem are the people that would rather be poor then try and make something of themselves.

Oh you obviously don't know Jack shit about Trickle down economics which correlates directly to the income disparity in this Country.

Here go educate yourself....

http://rationalrevolution.net/war/trickle_down.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics

 

[DesiPower]

ask the politicians to stop importing them, problem solved.

 

[nickbits]

I didn't think anyone was stupid enough to actually think this. Sort of like how some of you actually believe that people will try to make less money to avoid higher taxes. Nevermind that taxes are only a percentage of your income. Because it makes so much sense to turn down a $4,000 raise if it means you'd have to pay $800 more in taxes.

A lot of people don't realize how tax brackets work. They think if they are bumped into the next bracket, all of their income gets taxed at that rate. I think I used to think that when I was <20.

 

[JSt0rm]

A lot of people don't realize how tax brackets work. They think if they are bumped into the next bracket, all of their income gets taxed at that rate. I think I used to think that when I was <20.

Yeah the ignorance on the subject is amazing.

 

[Chainspell]

Is half the population starving or is half the population unable to pay their cable bill? Go take a trip to Haiti and then come back and tell me if half the United States lives in poverty.

Are you saying we shouldn't have cable? Or are you saying poverty is the wrong word?

I would use the word poor.

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Are you saying we shouldn't have cable? Or are you saying poverty is the wrong word?

I would use the word poor.

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

he's saying as long as we aren't haiti everything is great.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

Does this number count illegal immigrants? They can go the fuck back where they came from.

 

[SagaLore]

Half of U.S. now in poverty

It is sinking faster than even I thought. It's the Titanic version of Rome.

At what point is the tipping point that will result in full revolution against the 1%? 99%? We are half way there.

Half of U.S. now in "poverty" because they changed the qualifications. Before the change, they were noting 1 in 3.

About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.



The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs. Doing that helped push the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in September.

So now they're taking income, subtracting all your typical living expenses for a comfortable standard of living, and if you aren't left with extra spending cash, then you're poor. Nice.


You're impoverished if you can barely feed yourself. You're impoverished if your clothes are falling apart and you have holes in your shoes. You're impoverished if you can barely stay warm during the winter. You're NOT impoverished if all your basic needs are met, and you still have a working car, a TV, a cell phone, eat enough calories to become overweight, and still afford cigarettes and beer.


Let's look at their example of a "poor" person:

The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.



After an 18-month job search, Bechtol's boyfriend now works as a waiter and the family of three is temporarily living with her mother.
"We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to survive."

So she got pregnant by her boyfriend when she was 17 or just turned 18. I wonder how old the boyfriend is. This isn't a good example of a "poor" family. Its an example of something else.

 

[ShawnD1]

and if they get a raise, they would lose their benefits...why take a $200 raise if it would cause you to lose $300 in benefits??

Well... Since you asked.... What you could do is create some kind of a system where you don't lose your benefits just because you have too much money. Lots of things already work this way. School is free for everyone, even rich people.
Welfare and medicaid are total failures in this regard. Once you get a job that pays $15/h but doesn't have health benefits, you make too much money for medicaid, so now you pay for your own medical shit, and you're left poorer than you were when you were on welfare!

Does this number count illegal immigrants? They can go the fuck back where they came from.

How many illegals do you think there are? 10% is an astronomical number, but even that wouldn't account for 50% poverty. Methinks the poverty is somehow measured in a weird way. They say the same bullshit stats about Canada too yet I don't know anyone who actually lives in poverty. I know lots of people who can't afford a car, but I don't know anybody who is actually stuck in a pit of despair.

A lot of people don't realize how tax brackets work. They think if they are bumped into the next bracket, all of their income gets taxed at that rate. I think I used to think that when I was <20.

In other words you didn't file you income taxes when you were 18 or 19. Criminal.

 

[Chainspell]

he's saying as long as we aren't haiti everything is great.

Oh so let's wait until we become Haiti before we should realize there is a serious problem?

People like him needs to be squashed by evolution.

Evolution: "just leave him behind"


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[Throckmorton]

Then secure the borders and do something about illegal immigration. When you have an influx of 20 million + illegal laborers who suppress wages.... it is going to affect the quality of life in this country. You can't expect wages to rise when there are all those workers willing to make whatever they can if you decline the job offer.

And I am not missing the point. Half of the U.S. is not in poverty.

According to conservatives, the minimum wage is the cause of poverty, so people working for less than minimum wage should make America prosperous!

 

[Jeffg010]

Oh you obviously don't know Jack shit about Trickle down economics which correlates directly to the income disparity in this Country.

Here go educate yourself....

http://rationalrevolution.net/war/trickle_down.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics

What a tool you rather blame this as the problem? How about these type of people take responsibility for for their actions. Go read the the article

"The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment"

This is not trickle down economics it call stupidity something your to stupid to understand.

 

[Ausm]

What a tool you rather blame this as the problem? How about these type of people take responsibility for for their actions. Go read the the article

"The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment"

This is not trickle down economics it call stupidity something your to stupid to understand.

I understand that you seem to be highly ignorant but that is par for the course in here.

 

[Ausm]

According to conservatives, the minimum wage is the cause of poverty, so people working for less than minimum wage should make America prosperous!

Yeah this also confuses me?? Can a Rightist in here explain to us how this works?

 

[Patranus]

Many states you do lose benefits completely after a certain income point, so it does happen a lot where people don't want to make more money because they'd lose much more in benefits if they did. It's why a lot of them always stay part time and don't go to full.

Why should I try if not trying is more profitable.

Go go gadget - funemployment!!!!

 

[ShawnD1]

According to conservatives, the minimum wage is the cause of poverty, so people working for less than minimum wage should make America prosperous!

Increasing minimum wage to eliminate poverty is a horribly ass backward way of fixing poverty. If someone is a single parent, they can be brutally poor because day care is 10k per year. For minimum wage to cover stuff like that, the lowest paid grunt would be making $20/h. It would be virtually impossible to start a small business because you can't run it by yourself and hiring someone is too expensive. Ultimately that would damage the country.

Help people by starting programs to provide services at little or no cost. School is already covered, so that's a good start. Instead of insisting walmart employees make 40k per year, start a free day care service that covers everyone. Expand medicaid to cover everyone.
That's what the nicer countries in Europe do. If your kids get free school and free day care and free medical care, then minimum wage is pretty damn good.

Minimum wage is the wrong approach because it puts teens living at home with no expenses in the same category as a single mom with 2 kids. One of them can easily live on $6/h and the other one would be Haiti style poverty at $6/h.

 

[Ausm]

Increasing minimum wage to eliminate poverty is a horribly ass backward way of fixing poverty. If someone is a single parent, they can be brutally poor because day care is 10k per year. For minimum wage to cover stuff like that, the lowest paid grunt would be making $20/h. It would be virtually impossible to start a small business because you can't run it by yourself and hiring someone is too expensive. Ultimately that would damage the country.

Help people by starting programs to provide services at little or no cost. School is already covered, so that's a good start. Instead of insisting walmart employees make 40k per year, start a free day care service that covers everyone. Expand medicaid to cover everyone.
That's what the nicer countries in Europe do. If your kids get free school and free day care and free medical care, then minimum wage is pretty damn good.

Minimum wage is the wrong approach because it puts teens living at home with no expenses in the same category as a single mom with 2 kids. One of them can easily live on $6/h and the other one would be Haiti style poverty at $6/h.

Who eats the cost for that it sure as hell wouldn't be Walmart?