For those of you that feel poor people are the scum of the earth.. (percentage, paycheck)

[marilyn220]

Are you also under the FALSE impression that if the government stopped subsidizing them that ALL of your 2% tax dollars will be RETURNED to you??

Many of you are under the impression that the reason the country owes TRILLIONS is because of government "handouts" and the poor is to BLAME for all of this country's financial ills.

Do you really believe that your pre-tax $500 a week salary will suddenly jump to $600?

If so, then you are a FOOL! If anything taxes will STILL be raised for some other crap the government deems necessary and you'll have streets full of homeless lining the sidewalks, back alleys and abandoned/foreclosed houses begging for change and food.

Also, please understand that ANYTHING the GOVERNMENT has a hand in is a SUBSIDY. This includes MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. Doesn't matter if you paid into it. If the GOVERNMENT has to GIVE it to you, then it's an ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM.

[Dayton Sux]

My issue with the poor isnt the welfare state aspect of it, its more...er...aesthetic.

That they are uncouth.

[CaptainNJ]

they also smell bad.

[Retroit]

I have no problem helping out those who cannot help themselves, but they constitute a small percentage of the handout recipients.

And, yes, I am just as angry about the subsidies to corporations and banks.

Also, it is way more than 2%: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1258

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Dayton Sux

My issue with the poor isnt the welfare state aspect of it, its more...er...aesthetic.

That they are uncouth.

Not all of them. Most poor folks know how to conduct themselves.

Also, in case you haven't realized it, many former middle class folks have been put in the "poor" category due to this recession and many upper middle class is where the former middle class used to be and sinking further.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Retroit

I have no problem helping out those who cannot help themselves, but they constitute a small percentage of the handout recipients.

And, yes, I am just as angry about the subsidies to corporations and banks.

Also, it is way more than 2%: Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

I am too, especially to those who ship jobs oversees or purposely claim they have "no qualified applicants", so they can get people from other countries to do the same jobs for much less than what they would pay an American citizen.

ETA: Thanks for the updated link on where our tax dollars are going.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

I am too, especially to those who ship jobs oversees or purposely claim they have "no qualified applicants", so they can get people from other countries to do the same jobs for much less than what they would pay an American citizen.

Are you also upset about the foreign companies that make products overseas using cheap labor selling their products here?

[Dayton Sux]

Not all of them. Most poor folks know how to conduct themselves.

True, I was thinking about the people I see while riding the bus...which is a mixed bag.

BTW, there's a good book out about the poor..the working poor which is probably most of them..."No Shame in my Game"....probably describes my fellow riders pretty well....

In No Shame in My Game, Harvard anthropologist Katherine Newman gives voice to a population for whom work, family, and self-esteem are top priorities despite all the factors that make earning a living next to impossible--minimum wage, lack of child care and health care, and a desperate shortage of even low-paying jobs. By intimately following the lives of nearly 300 inner-city workers and job seekers for two yearsin Harlem, Newman explores a side of poverty often ignored by media and politicians--the working poor.

The working poor find dignity in earning a paycheck and shunning the welfare system, arguing that even low-paying jobs give order to their lives. No Shame in My Game gives voice to a misrepresented segment of today's society, and is sure to spark dialogue over the issues surrounding poverty, working and welfare.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Retroit

Are you also upset about the foreign companies that make products overseas using cheap labor selling their products here?

Yep!! I've also notice that products aren't saying WHERE the products are from anymore. Have you noticed this too??

I think after all the backlash against China's cheap dangerous garbage, manufacturers are no longer saying where these products are made from any longer.

I remember watching a documentary on how Nike's products are made in one of those foreign countries. The women made something like $2 a day (I think) and worked for hours on end. There were armed guards all over the place. I'm not cool with Apple's products being made in China for slave wages by an educated workforce either.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

Yep!! I've also notice that products aren't saying WHERE the products are from anymore. Have you noticed this too??

If so, they are in violation of the law and you should report them.

...every article of foreign origin ... imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit in such manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. 19 USC § 1304 - Marking of imported articles and containers | LII / Legal Information Institute