Mitt Romney is right; the poor are doing just fine

yup, I said it. Mitt Romney is correct that the "poor" in the United States are doing just fine. It is the middle class that needs the most help. Without a sustainable middle class, the entire country and society will implode.

So why is Mitt Romney correct that he shouldn't be concerned with the poor and should focus on getting middle class people back to work? Have a gander at these statistics:

campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com...


"As President Obama crafts a reelection income equality message aimed at punishing the rich and rewarding the poor, his own government finds that the 46 million living below the so-called “poverty line” live and spend pretty much like everyone else.

Forget the image of Appalachia or rundown ghettos: A collection of federal household consumption surveys collected by pollster Scott Rasmussen finds that 74 percent of the poor own a car or truck, 70 percent have a VCR, 64 percent have a DVD, 63 percent have cable or satellite, 53 percent have a video game system, 50 percent have a computer, 30 percent have two or more cars and 23 percent use TiVo.

“What the government defines as poverty is vastly different from what most Americans envision,” he writes in his newly released book, “The People’s Money.” Consider other details from two recent Department of Agriculture surveys cited in the book:

--On an average day, just 1 percent of households have someone who is forced to miss a meal.

--On any day, children are hungry in .25 percent of U.S. homes.

--96 percent of poor parents say their children were never hungry during the year because they couldn’t afford food.

--83 percent of the poor said they have enough to eat."

Even though the US standard of living has dropped dramatically, the poor in the United States, compared to most people on Earth, are living like Kings. That shows you how advanced and how economically powerful the United States is, even during a bad recession.

Problem is, all of Mitt's policies and beliefs will further the GOP's decimation of the middle class.

So...

From actually knowing a lot of poor people, there's no way that I'm going to believe that nearly a third own two cars.

My guess is that this is per household, neglecting to mention that there are probably many of those households that include multiple generations (like elderly grandparents), young adults who can't afford to move out but do work, and even extended family.

There are lots of other factors that people routinely choose to ignore because it makes them uncomfortable to realize that the truth is actually that this country is falling apart at the seams.

I do agree that the poor are doing relatively okay for the most part, but that's only because we have an extensive safety net system...you know, that system that people like Romney would love nothing more than to utterly destroy?

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


That was my favorite part of Mitt's answer. He says they have a safety net, without mentioning that he and the rest of them want to dismantle it.

I think we're just out smarting the middle class!!

Don't own nothing.. you wont owe anybody!!

reply to post by Drew99GT


I agree with you completely, but in just a minute a million ATSers are going to come out of the woodwork and tell you that you are evil and/or mistaken, and also tell you how wrong you are.

But I think it's true...people who get the most government assistance often actually have higher standards of living than many people who get no assistance at all.

The value of the full package of welfare benefits for a typical recipient in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia exceeds the poverty level. Because welfare benefits are tax-free, their dollar value is often greater than the amount of take-home income a worker would have left after paying taxes on an equivalent pretax income.
•In 40 states welfare pays more than an $8.00 an hour job. In 17 states the welfare package is more generous than a $10.00 an hour job.
•In Hawaii, Alaska, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New York, and Rhode Island welfare pays more than a $12.00 an hour job--or two and a half times the minimum wage.
•In nine states welfare pays more than the average first-year salary for a teacher. In 29 states it pays more than the average starting salary for a secretary. And in the six most generous states it pays more than the entry-level salary for a computer programmer.
•Welfare benefits are especially generous in large cities. Welfare provides the equivalent of an hourly pretax wage of $14.75 in New York City, $12.45 in Philadelphia, $11.35 in Baltimore, and $10.90 in Detroit. For the hard-core welfare recipient, the value of the full range of welfare benefits substantially exceeds the amount the recipient could earn in an entry-level job. As a result, recipients are likely to choose welfare over work, thus increasing long-term dependence.

www.cato.org...

A social safety net is a fine ideal..If the funds were used strictly for the three needs,Food,Clothing and shelter. The problem a lot of people have is that the funds get spent on wants . Electronics (TV's cell phones and the like )Alcohol,and yes even illegal drugs....Abuse of the system is what makes so many people soured on the whole system.

Mitt says the poor are doing just fine and he want to focus on the middle class. What he doesn't say is that he wants the middle class to become poor; that way the former middle class will be doing "just fine".

What a jagaloon!

Yes, they are doing just fine... the ones who know how to "maximize" the benifits.

Not to mention all the days of not having to work. Just sitting around trying to figure out lifes purposes gets you a paycheck in America.....

Doing no job day after day after day..... You either do something about it or you become a victim of it..meaning the free loader life... which of course is the Democratic plan and has been since 1947 (ish).

reply to post by Drew99GT


Well its nice to see the MSM has done their jobs well.

Lets blame the problems of the country on the weakest link.

The US Gov has spent 11 Trillion on Bailouts , ELEVEN TRILLION, and the bad guys are the poor.

You people are supposed to be smarter than that.

Yeah, I call BS on these so called surveys/studies... Nowhere do I see it taking into account homelessness.

My household makes above the poverty level, and I go without eating so that my children have food at times.
After 3 years, my wife and I are finally getting a 2nd car.
We have no VCR, DVD, cable television, nor TiVo. (however, we swtiched to NetFlix straming through the computer years ago because it is much cheaper than cable)
We receive limited state assistance, just WIC for our son... no heating, food, health assistance at all due to having income above the requirements.

Although I do take into consideration the extreme disparity between cost of living in the US. Currently I reside in the northeast, and it is one of the more expensive places to live in this country.

Originally posted by GeorgiaGirl
reply to post by Drew99GT

 

I agree with you completely, but in just a minute a million ATSers are going to come out of the woodwork and tell you that you are evil and/or mistaken, and also tell you how wrong you are.

But I think it's true...people who get the most government assistance often actually have higher standards of living than many people who get no assistance at all.

What about the poor who do not get government assistance or assistance from churches or shelters? Being poor does not automatically place you on assistance and cause goodies to rain down from heaven. I will bet that many poor were not counted in these surveys. Did they scour the deserts for homeless vets camped out? I seriously doubt it.

I do not get any assistance, but I do own two computers and use my fathers internet access to try and start my own business doing 3d modeling, uv mapping, texture painting and animation. I am also learning to do voice overs for animation projects.

I also paint houses and do light carpentry and demolition when I can find the work. Being as I live in Arizona and have to compete with illegal aliens for those jobs, I have to charge a fraction of what I should be making.

Nobody surveyed me. And I am willing to bet that many more poor folks were not surveyed as well.

Originally posted by jtap66
Problem is, all of Mitt's policies and beliefs will further the GOP's decimation of the middle class.

So...

And Obama's policies have helped the middle class how? Oh right, my health insurance premiums went up 50 bucks a month. Thanks Democrats!

Originally posted by jtap66
reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck

 

That was my favorite part of Mitt's answer. He says they have a safety net, without mentioning that he and the rest of them want to dismantle it.

Where has he said he wants to dismantle the poor's safety net? Because if he did, I might actually vote for the guy!

Originally posted by Tw0Sides
reply to post by Drew99GT

 

Well its nice to see the MSM has done their jobs well.

Lets blame the problems of the country on the weakest link.

The US Gov has spent 11 Trillion on Bailouts , ELEVEN TRILLION, and the bad guys are the poor.

You people are supposed to be smarter than that.

AMEN! HALLELUJAH!! TELL IT BROTHER, TELL IT!!! Your message though will fall upon deaf ears as the message from Moses fell upon deaf ears of the Israelites as they danced around the golden bull in the desert.

reply to post by Drew99GT


Just yesterday we saw a Airline was to lay off 13 to 15 thousand people.

When their severance packages run out , I suppose they will become more lazy bums.

You people are a sick joke, your being robbed by the Gov, and blame the people worst off.

The Middle Class are disappearing as a group. Can you guess which Direction they are going??

reply to post by Drew99GT


[color=#FF0000]Beware of Democrats and Republicans!! They are all PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS. Millionaires and lawyers looking out for themselves and their kin while screwing the average American. Americans can never be free until they rid themselves of CRIMINAL GANGSTERS who have to band together in bands called parties which are no better than MS13, The Latin Kings, or any other number of illegal criminal enterprises that prey on the weak and unwary.

Americans need to elect CITIZEN STATESMEN who are not beholding to criminal gangsters who give them backing and financing.
[color=#FFFFFF]
CITIZEN STATESMEN who are not PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS and who love America more than they love power and money.

CITIZEN STATESMEN who will represent us instead of Lobbyists for corporations who ply them with under the table cash and benefits.

CITIZEN STATESMEN who will represent us instead of RULING OVER US.

[color=#3333FF]Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin. It is a dirty, soiled currency backed by graft and greed that will no longer purchase honest representation for the American voter and taxpayer.

The true patriot is not the man who defends a corrupt government. The true patriot is the man who defends the Constitution from that corrupt government.

Originally posted by groingrinder


What about the poor who do not get government assistance or assistance from churches or shelters?

They're probably like me. They work their asses off and live day by day and don't have disposable income for goodies. I at one time probably could have gotten on welfare, and because I work in section 8 housing areas a lot, sometimes i regret not going on welfare! I know my back gives me the middle finger for not doing it when I come home from working my butt off.

Originally posted by Drew99GT

And Obama's policies have helped the middle class how? Oh right, my health insurance premiums went up 50 bucks a month. Thanks Democrats!

So there it is.....

This isn't a bash the Poor thread..

This is a Protect Romney thread.

Now all the dumb claims makes sense..

Originally posted by Tw0Sides
reply to post by Drew99GT

 

Well its nice to see the MSM has done their jobs well.

Lets blame the problems of the country on the weakest link.

I'm not blaming the countries problems on the poor, I'm just saying they don't need as much help as the middle class!