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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Kevin McCullough :: Townhall.com Columnist
Why Team Obama Hates Poor People
by Kevin McCullough
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We heard a lot about those who were unable to "make it in America" during the 2008 campaign. Despite the clear record of opportunity that America has delivered for more people across every race and from every nation in the history of this earth, we were reminded again and again from then candidate Obama that poor people existed.

We were told a lot of things about them as well.

We were told that they were inept in their efforts to help themselves. We were told they were too dumb to make clear choices. And we were told constantly that the only way they would be helped is to grow government, shrink economic opportunity, and make them the modern enslaved demographic, to a government who couldn't care less what happened to them.

Democrats, and the progressive left in particular, exploit the poor, they use the poor, they write speeches about them, and manipulate their "unrepresented voices" in debates. But one thing is increasingly clear from the Obama administration and the popular left in America, they don't have any interest in helping them.

It is easy to explain how this can be true from a macro-worldview position looking at the President's policies. The bailout, the stimulus, the omnibus, and the proposed budget all do nothing to assist a poor person in finding independence and they all aim to create an enslavement to entitlements that dehumanize the individual, create embarrassment for their family, and ultimately rob that person of one of the most cherished gifts God grants us--the satisfaction of personal achievement.

But moving beyond Obama's budget policies, take a look at how the administration has teamed up to hurt the poor families of America with the program of "Cap and Trade." Essentially "Cap and Trade" is a punitive tax that in language would be levied against the largest production companies in our nation. But since no company in the history of mankind has ever absorbed a tax, the real persons being punished for their production means are the consumers of the goods that company produces. The company, by simply passing on the cost of the tax to the consumer, is eventually hurt by the increased prices and perhaps slower consumption but they don't pay the taxes. Companies NEVER pay taxes.

Customers who are in desperate need of what that company creates are the ones who have no choice, and are helpless in doing anything about it. The poor are impacted to a greater degree because of their own lack of capital to be able to fund entrepreneurial options to avoid such companies.

The administration especially hates the working poor. People who are trying to get themselves out of tough circumstances have been targeted by this administration to be forced into even worse circumstances--especially if they disagree. This would be largely accomplished by "card-check" legislation that President Obama promised union bosses he would see passed personally.

In making such a promise what President Obama has pledged is to take away the rights of the working poor who otherwise would be given the constitutional right of a secret ballot. Obama's policy direction on this matter would open up the working poor to direct harassment, threats, and even violence for the simple crime of not agreeing with the union boss. Disagreement that would not even be discovered if the secret ballot was left in place.

And it's not just the administration, but also many of the President's supporters that demonstrate this contempt for the poor... ...like prominent Obama supporter Melissa Etheridge.

Etheridge has joined a growing group of militants who engage in homosexual behavior who are now threatening to withhold their taxes from the administration or state governments until the ingredients of what constitutes a legal marriage can be redefined so as to apply to an entire cadre of sexual unions.

Since the left constantly tell us how generous they think this nation should be, by allocating the tax dollars that you and I put towards poverty relief, one would think that the personal paying of taxes would be a solid priority to the left.

And yet, at the first sign of someone not getting an entitlement they believe the entire History of Western Civilization owes them, they refuse to fund the things they say they believe in.

What liberals REALLY mean is that they would prefer law abiding people to fund government programs, but they really feel no personal compulsion to do so.

And this point brings us to the core of this premise...

President Obama lied to the American people in his silly analogy of a bus driver being limited as to the amount of money he could donate to charity in his prime time press conference last week. It was factually inaccurate and he portrayed himself, a wealthy American, as a "victim" in being able to personally donate to those in need. He did all of this to somehow justify his administration's latest attack against the poor in attempting to limit the taxable deductions of tax-payers towards the ministries and programs that have done the most good in helping the poor in America.

Taxing citizens more prevents them from being able to give to charity more. Taxing citizens more, and also punishing tax-payers for contributing more than a certain percentage of their income is the equivalent of declaring all out war on charitable organizations.

Any way you slice it, some say every way you do, Obama and his ilk show contemptible disdain for the poor.

They do so while using them, manipulating them, and exploiting them for their own political intentions.

And if Jesus were on this earth, he might just make a whip, beat them, and call them vipers.

What are we willing to do?

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About The Author
Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "'Xtreme' Radio and columnist based in New York. He blogs at www.muscleheadrevolution.com. His second book "The Kind Of MAN Every Man SHOULD Be" is in stores now.

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Poor people
The sad thing is that poor people love Obama.
And they always will.

the musclehead revolution is over
thank the lord.

Musclehead Rev. is NOT over
It's not over genius....

And you SHOULD be thanking the Lord for people like Kevin McCullough,who isn't afraid to speak the TRUTH about Obama and his band of nit wits!

Kevo you ROCK! keep fighting the good fight! And NEVER stop spreading the TRUTH! :)

Some people REALLY do appreciate it. :D

~KBURD

Not just...

Almost, Kevin...

It's not just Obama and his "well-intentioned" programs that punnish poor people the most, but ALSO just about every Democratic politician... with the same tragic results.

Easy example; tax the job-creators... and the poor usually get the first pink slips, or they simply don't get hired.

And the real tragedy... that so many of our poor still believe that Democratic politicians are their real friends.

Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing... and by their FRUITS you shall know them.

Beware, indeed.




Prayer
I keep hearing over and over that we should pray for Obama, that we should pray that his administration will succeed... I'm confused. Do we pray for a president to be successful, when he's signing BILLIONS of dollars away to companies that screwed up and should go under... a president that calls babies a mistake, who is on board with the abortion agenda... who agrees with the homosexual agenda?? AND SO ON... We want him to be successful at his job?? I vote we pray for him to get truly saved, pray that he will repent and no longer be used by the enemy. I feel we really are nearing the end... of everything as we spoiled Americans know it. When you can't speak your mind, because your views are Christian in nature; for fear of being fired from your job... yeah, it's time for US as a nation to repent and turn to Yahweh(God).

Its a sad and very un-PC
fact that the huge majority of poor people here are stupid and/or lazy. A few are just terribly unlucky. Folks come in here from all over the world, no education, can't speak English and 4 or 5 years later they are prosperous. These people have nothing but contempt for those born here, given the opportunity to take advantage of $100,000 worth of k-12 education, and get nothing out of it. People who mess up their life like this can not be expected to figure out what's going on. If they become so numerous as to take over, its good bye America, as we knew it.

They won't like him...
when they see prices rising again for things they buy as they already are - inflation, in other words, to pay for his extravagant spending, just like Bush. Gas has hit $2 a gallon and it's on it's way up again. That's the tragedy of these bleeding heart liberal Democrats and compassionate conservative Republicans. Their "humanitarian" spending taxes the poor the most.

Being used and abused...
The easily fooled masses who blindly chanted for and followed Barry Soetero (aka his Islamic name, Barack Hussein Obama), the PreZ...
are in for a rude awakening. He was using them to get to where he is now.
An non elected man in a very powerful office with a grotesquely vile Congress made up of evil greedy democrats.
Obama is incapable of regular hate, as he is working for his single minded goal of total distain for all Americans. It is beyond hatered as the jihadist is set on destroying the USA.

He's not my president and to be honest, the Muslim (and do not tell me he is not a jihadist Islamic radical, as he would still be Barry Soetero if he were a decent human being)... this evil man will destroy the USA with the willing democratic controlled Congress.

Sick/Disabled people that r US Citizen
This new president couldn't care less about people like me that r on a SSDI budget. Who cares if we don't eat because I make $35 over the limit 4 food stamps don't qualify for QMB or can't afford medicines Part D nor other medical insurance because They r giving all our money to people that r NOT citizens. What I get bearly pays my bills & does not pay for my meds. MAKES ME SICK& embarrassed to be called an American.I worked all my life for what? I got hurt & screwed at the same time. Soon to be a homeless one& staving. I am on the USA Diet ~ pay bills,4 medicine can't go without& go without the rest & starve bcause I can't afford food. I eat once a day. Just let me die, I say. THANKS PRESIDENT OBAMA

Keep giving away the $$$ to CORP. GAINTS
One more things. Lowing the interest rate does not help sick & disable nor poor people - when we cannot get loans. I got hurt/sick. Waiting almost 3 yrs for SSDI to be approved. Run through my savings & sold everything I had to keep my home. My bills/mortgage got behind - so my credit stinks. HOW R U HELPING THE LITTLE PEOPLE??? SICK/DISABLED, POOR. I see kids homeless coming out of the woods to go to school. REALLY HOW R U HELPING THE LITTLE PEOPLE??? You r only helping out GAINT CORPORATIONS that use the govt. for bailout they NEVER pay back. These corporate giants never helps us. They help their own kind ONLY! MAKES ME SICK to be called an American!!!

Sad Reality
The sad reality is that some people are too lazy and too stupid to go out and do anything for themselves but that's their choice. They are fat on food stamps, a lot of them sell their food stamps for dope and they are just lazy and buy into the mantra that is fed to them by the Jesse Jackson's of the world. "Oh, the white man has kept me down..." There are too many successful people of color in this world for this to be believeable. The only slavery going on is done by the so called "black leaders" and this government who pays them to stay poor. Obama stems from Illinois. What did he do for the people there for the last time I checked nothing changed. They still live in fear in their neighborhoods from the gangs that run rampant and they still are believing the same Dems that have told them for years and years that they are there to help them. Help them what? Stay exactly the way they are? The true racists are the Dems and liberals and it has always been that way. Sell em' out to get that vote. Now we have Obama who promised change. What's the change? More food stamps to exchange for more dope? People have got to wake up.

Programs are to poor and for bureucrats
Live with the poor and see how much they value liberty and despise government. I have many stories but here is a favorite. "Yes we have low income housing for elderly, but it is all in high crime areas." Like a $25 raise in unemployment benefits Big Whoop!

Suffering is suffering
If we had national health care, the USA would be pretty much perfect as far as I'm concerned. Okay there are a lot of problems but so many would dissolve once this got enacted. As it is, despite preferring to live here, I always get a nostalgic pang when I return to my birth country (UK--now US citizen) with my daughter. She gets sick like small children do. In the UK is see her getting top treatment and free drugs, anywhere, any time of day, with no forms to fill in or sign, nothing--just treatment, fast.

My birth family lives in the UK. My brother has schizophrenia. He is totally taken care of by the state:

free drugs
free travel pass (for unlimited travel around London)
free accommodation (in a quite nice house with about three other people with mental illnesses and staff)
nurse onsite
key worker, social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist, therapy--free

My ex-colleague from NYU whose son has schizophrenia published about 500 books to make royalties to pay for his son's treatment.

National Health Service of the UK: YOU ROCK

LOL - Excellent
Thank you so very much. I finally have a religious reference I absolutely agree with.
" And if Jesus were on this earth, he might just make a whip, beat them, and call them vipers.
What are we willing to do? "
Yes, I watched the money changers and their libtard trillion dollar money changers exchange talks- and the inflation that will hammer the poor to mush is coming.
I suspect " You brood of vipers you den of thieves" fits exactly. Then we have the references to their pious praying - which for a libtard is standing up on TV and telling all of us how much they care - and extolling their gigantic tax collector programs, which if one recalls, the tax collector was robbing away and swore to pay back 4 times the theft - I appears even that tax collector was a government con artist stuffing his pockets to the hilt for years.
Thanks for nothing libtards. You've gone past reality into the free homes and free money goofball world of total economic destruction.
Ever since your insane rise in the 60's, the USA has had gigantic problems building from your endless idiocies, now your indoctrinated since birth retards are raping the ship in their last ditch effort of lies and cover ups.
It's 100% corruption, 100% of the time, with 100% opacity, then in weeks a tiny trickle of info, then your own outrage for WHAT YOU'VE DONE just days before, then your demand for ANOTHER round of the same.
SCREW YOU.

JEREMIAH'S RAGE

If the Prophet Jeremiah were resurrected from the dead and living in 21st century America I imagine him focusing his righteous rage on the unprecedented growth of government power and thundering the following words to the people, the Congress and President Obama:

'By the Immutable Law of God, the Holy Law of right and wrong and reason; the Law of historical progress in morality and freedom, America is about to tragically learn that God is not government or politicians high priests. And those who deify government and raise it to the sky, who ignore the commandment: "Before me you shall have no other gods" will be struck down by His mighty hand and blown away like dust from the places of power!'

They Don't Hate Poor People
They hate everybody. They just use the poor as a tool.

Timothy
Perfect example of why we are doomed. How many times in your post did you use the word "free"?

You are an idiot. EVERYTHING gets paid for by somebody. You just don't want it to be you.

Nothing worse......
There is nothing worse, than to take away from the dignity, of any human soul.

This administration is doing everything so *ss backward's, upside down...wrong...it's unbelievable.

If this is Chicago politics......then Chicago sucks.

Unfortunately, there are some good people in Chicago, who have to live under this type of crap.

As for Etheridge and the like......please shut up!

WOE IS ME!
Woe is me for not taking the opportunities offered while I could, now I need government to give me everything I failed to do when I had the opportunity.

Shame on the Democrats for their role in keeping poor people poor by blaming others instead of promoting opportunity.


More and More Pathetic
This guy's columns get more pathetic as the weeks go by. To disagree with a leader's policies and/or actions and present an articulate argument as to why other policies would be more effective would have been a better approach to writing this column.

Darlene #12/#13
It is not the responsibility of anyone else to help you because you need to help yourself. If you had no job, why did you try to own a home? It seems that should have been sold in order to conserve money. Home ownership is not an 'investment' it is an expense and there is nothing wrong with renting. I am not an uncaring person, but what exactly do you expect from the American people? Do you have a family that might be able to assist you? A church? You have mentioned SSDI so you are receiving some sort of government assistance. Have you heard of generic drugs? I have known many people who cite such experiences as yours and 95% of them were frauds, whiners, and complainers; 5% truly were in dire straights and in 100% of those cases adequate and timely assistance was sought and found. Perhaps you should scale back your lifestyle, scale back your expectations, and think of ways to help yourself. You can do so if you choose. And if you hate being called an American, why don't you save up some money and relocate to another country and try living there?

economics is the means, not the ends!!
Great article! McCullough has brought strobes to the seedy corners where Liberals hide so many dirty secrets! Talk is soooo cheap, as promises roll off those silver tongues. But snake oil is all they give us peons, when there's power deals to be made for the takeover of banks and businesses, control of nations - 'tomorrow the world?'

Lefty's just can't understand how free enterprise even works, let alone succeeds in feeding masses, inciting innovation, building nations, and ultimately providing freedom and success for all! Perhaps greed and narcissism block the big picture... Silly Libs: economics is the means, not the ends!!

But Mr. McC doesn't quite get it either. Businesses are slapped with rules of commerce, gov't regs, safety req's, ...ALONG WITH local, state, and fed taxes. They provide medical, vacation, education, retirement pkgs, work and pay incentives... The list is long for what must be absorbed into the price of a product, and still allow profit enough to improve it, compete in the market, keep happy employees, and sustain a lifestyle to make it worthwhile!

So (yawn) of course those taxes are passed on to consumers! So are the benefit pkgs, and pay incentives, and every other expense, whether demanded by the government or negotiated by unions! How else did he think those costs were paid?

What's so difficult to comprehend here... well unless you're a Lib, still fantasizing about that "free ride" your glib leader offered up - for votes!

I have never gotten a job from a poor
person. When the Big 'O' has finally make us all poor, there will be no jobs to be had. Then wew will stand in lines... to get a loaf of bread from the giverment... to get a doctor checkup from the givernment... to get a weekly stipend for voting for the giverment's programs. We will all be slaves to the giverment.

Timothy wants:
"free drugs
free travel pass (for unlimited travel around London)
free accommodation (in a quite nice house with about three other people with mental illnesses and staff) nurse onsite key worker, social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist, therapy--free"

I don't know if Timothy is being facetious; but nothing is 'free'. Someone, somewhere, somehow paid something for his 'free' everything. Whether it is for his 'free' liver transplant supplied by an aborted fetus to the working stiff that paid the cost of the doctor's fee. Nothing is 'free'. The people like Timothy want to live off someone else's labors and pain.

Reality Check
“The bailout, the stimulus, the omnibus, and the proposed budget all do nothing to assist a poor person in finding independence and they all aim to create an enslavement to entitlements that dehumanize the individual, create embarrassment for their family, and ultimately rob that person of one of the most cherished gifts God grants us--the satisfaction of personal achievement.”

Ridiculous. Government assistance programs are not intended to enslave anyone. No one is forced to accept money from the government. Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare, food stamps, etc., are all voluntary.

The “satisfaction of personal achievement” is not a gift from God. This notion is an American cultural one, not a biblical one. Similar to the also-associated-with-the-Bible notion of “God helps those who help themselves.” There’s nothing in the Bible to support these kinds of notions.

Government assistance programs
are not *intended* to enslave anyone.

There's that *intent* again. All good as long as the *intention* is good, right? Results don't matter!

No matter the intent, the result has been virtual enslavement, for all of us, the poor and the taxpayer. Jeffrey, your analysis is wrong.

On second thought
“What liberals REALLY mean is that they would prefer law abiding people to fund government programs, but they really feel no personal compulsion to do so.”

Isn’t that kind of a broad generalization based on Melissa Ethridge’s supposed intent to withhold paying taxes until she has the equal right to marry?

“Taxing citizens more prevents them from being able to give to charity more.”

And that’s one reason the Obama administration is giving tax breaks to 95% of American families.

The author titles the article, “Why team Obama hates poor people.” Well? What’s the answer? The author never says. What does Obama gain by hurting poor people, if that’s what you believe?

Is the author gay? Because he’s writing like a typical angry gay drama queen.

Jeffrey and generalizations
"Isn’t that kind of a broad generalization based on Melissa Ethridge’s supposed intent to withhold paying taxes until she has the equal right to marry?"

No, it's a broad generalization based on BHO's nearly-perfect record of appointing tax cheats, including Geithner.

Also, considering how many American families pay no taxes, giving tax breaks to 95% is an impossibility.

Finally, are you the Jeffrey who is open to arguments for pedophilia? Because you should then be arguing for their right to tax-protest like the talented Ms. Etheridge.

Help the Poor
This is said during every election cycle for the past 30+ years. It is just a politician's way of getting their vote. As an example, the young lady interviewed after voting, that said her new President would take care of her car payments, and house payments, and put food on the table. She actually believed that promise.

This is unfortunate, as she believed the "words" without looking into the "actions" of the candidate. Just like Candidate Obama's volunteers that lined up for their $30 giftcards for volunteering and helping get the vote out, then no gift card after they worked, and the Park project in Chicago that he was in charge of where a 100k was spent, but still no park. It is easy to say it: It takes an adult to do it.

Doc and deflection
Of course I’m “open” to arguments about pedophilia. What’s to argue about? Pedophilia obviously exists, given what we know of Catholic priests’ behavior. I totally disagree with the Catholic Church condoning it though. I believe it is wrong for an adult to indulge his or her sexual desires for children. Especially when those adults, such as priests, hold particular power over children.

mccullough
so if jesus miraculously appeared today he would turn into simon lagree and start whipping people? thats odd. i thought jesus was about love thy neighbor and turn the other cheek and all that stuff.

Obama wants to help....?
Just like he wants to HELP all of the fetuses whether they belong to poor, middle or wealthy income groups and not just in this country!!

I will dare the wrath of the liberal word police and call Obama a RACIST because he is against EVERY RACE of EVERY unborn fetus. He is no respecter of anything except his own mirror reflection.

Roy
That’s just one of the obligatory elements of a TH article:

- Jesus is on my/our side; it’s always amazing to me how many people think they can predict JC’s behavior if he were here with us, even without one shred of biblical evidence of Christ’s feelings on the subject.
- President Obama is spawn of the devil and out to destroy the US
- Homosexuals want to assist Obama in his plot to destroy America
- Liberals are: loons/stupid/hate America

Look for any and all these elements in any given article on this website. In fact, I suspect that TH gives its authors a template to use to write with, with blanks for article title, specific Democrats who are channeling the devil (in addition to Obama), and what Biblical verse supports their point of view.

A "Poor" American
I may be "poor" (financially), but I'm a heck of a lot better American than Obama can ever hope to claim to be.

And as for the "Card Check" thing.....
I am a union member (yes, I voted for it), BUT if that becomes law, then when it comes time for us to "vote" on the issue again (well, I guess we wouldn't be "voting" would we),and someone (anyone) approached me with a card and asked me to sign it - whether there was anyone else around me or not - I would tear the card up and either throw it in the union organizer's face or throw the pieces to the ground and "grind" them with my foot into the dirt!

I will NOT be bullied, for will stand for anyone else (even if they don't agree with my position) to be! NO BULLYING!! EVER!!

Obama the 'Punch Drunk' POTUS

Nero fiddled while Rome burned - Barack Obama giggled and laughs on 60 minutes until Kroft asked Obama if he was "Punch Drunk".

Barack Obama has been tutored, mentored and trained, his entire life, for the time when he could destroy America.

Many good Americans were deceived into voting for Obama, just like many good Germans were deceived into voting for Hitler.

Once evil is in power, whether it is personal or National - evil is very difficult to overcome.

America will be scarred for life, just like a man or woman who became personally overcome by evil.

Obama Socialized Psychopath or Sociopath

Most American Citizens wonder why Barack Obama has selected and placed, weak and incompetent people to positions of power.

The most obvious are Joe Biden and Tim Geithner.

Both of these men crave influence, respect, and power, but they lack the necessary competencies to achieve their desires.

These incompetent 'Morons' do NOT understand, that Barack Obama has chosen them specifically because they are incompetent and must depend on Barack Obama for their positions.

The consequent dependency, on this Sociopath - Barack Obama - makes them permanent manipulatees, expendable pawns to absorb the harassment that should be directed towards Barack Obama.

Barack Obama knows he is unable to expound his thoughts without a Teleprompter, so he picks a human 'Gaffe Machine' like Joe Biden who is even worse than he, that would replace him should he fail.

Barack Obama wants the American Economic System destroyed, so that he can replace Capitalism with Socialism, so he picks an absolutely incompetent 'Rube' Tim Geithner, to head up the Treasury and then announces great confidence in Geithner.

Barack Obama is dedicated to the destruction of the American Economic System.

I have tried to do the math
but consistently fail at it. Top wage earners not only pay more taxes, but they are also limited in their deductions. This has to be an impact in overall tax rate. What is the REAL tax rate at the top when both are put together.

I expect to hear in comments about how the lower wage earners pay more because of Social Security (FICA) and Medicare being levied on them while the top escape this tax. This argument is not germane until Social Security and Medicare are funded as line items in the general budget rather than being set-aside programs. Further, these programs also take advantage of the upper echelon payee. The payees at the top will never recoup their payments while at the bottom they get about 150% of theirs.

joel
am i being sarcastic? i guess that depends on your point of view. but i will tell you this. if this is your idea of what a savior is like i think i'll pass. and in doing so, i won't be rejecting anything except your narrow minded belief in what a diety should be like. i kind of like my god to be a little more forgiving than simon lagree. sorry 'bout that cuz, thats just the way it is.

Jeffrey
You may want to look at the rate of pedophilia in places other than the Catholic Church. While this subject is sickening it does not only exist in the Catholic church. It is no more prevalent there than anywhere else in society including other Religions, it just gets all of the press. To say that the Catholic condones pedophilia does nothing more than show your obvious lack of thought. Any other talking points you wish to drop on the rest of us today. We wouldn't want to be charged with not allowing you to get r done.

Jeffrey
Someone beat me to it, but your statement, "And that’s one reason the Obama administration is giving tax breaks to 95% of American families." is laughable.

How many American families pay income tax? Look it up; you might be surprised.

Then come back to this column and explain how we are going to give those 95% of the families the break.

Why they follow Obama?

"CHARISMATIC PSYCHOPATHS are charming, attractive liars. They are usually gifted at some talent or another, and they use it to their advantage in manipulating others. They are usually good talkers, and possess an almost demonic ability to persuade others out of everything they own, even their lives. This subtype often comes to believe in their own fictions. They are irresistible."

Jims Jab
The Vatican issued a missive in 1962 that said that the church needed to avoid any sexual abuse scandal, move priests from one parish to another to avoid such scandal, keep any knowledge of child molestation secret. Notice how sexually abused children broke the story, via their lawsuits, rather than the church voluntarily coming forward, acknowledging the problem, and getting help for these kids. This has been going on for over 40 years.

If this were a corporation, we’d all be staging a boycott, wouldn’t we? We would demand the CEO go to jail. Why is the catholic church immune from punishment? Why have no Vatican figures, including the pope, gone to jail?

The church chose to hide and deny. I call that condoning. If people can accuse Obama of condoning abortion, as they often do on this forum, simple because he leaves it to personal choice, conscience and medical advice, then the church absolutely is condoning child sexual molestation.

Try this analogy: if Iran had done to Iraq what the US has done to Iraq, for the same reasons, we would all be up in arms and screaming for the UN to do something.

Morality is about actions, not actors. Moral relativism, based on the belief that it matters WHO is acting, rather than WHAT s/he is doing, is immoral.

1962
Give me a break, that Pope would be hard to put into Jail. By the way I would hope that any Priest, or anyone else for that matter, would be put into jail for abusing children, sexually or otherwise.
You would be hard pressed to collar anyone more than the left with moral relativism.
As far as abortion, I would argue that leaving it to personal choice, once the choice of having sex has been made, is a perfect example of Moral relativism.

Jims Jab
It might be hard to put a pope in jail but not impossible. Just because he heads a religious sect doesn’t mean he’s immune from legal prosecution. Mormon leader Warren Jeffs comes to mind, in a separate case of Christian sexual deviance. If you believe that someone should go to jail for sexually abusing children, how do you feel about their boss, who protects them from being discovered and prosecuted?

I’ll need examples of the political left’s moral relativism before I can agree that they’re any worse than the political right.

My stance on abortion is that it should be legal, safe and rare. I don’t care who gets one, although I understand that many women say publicly they’re against it until they face an unwanted pregnancy. There’s no moral relativism to my position.

Joel-De Oppresso Liber 8:12 AM post.

Well said, friend. Great post.

And don't worry about the left mis-quoting the Bible, or using it out of context.... they do that frequently.

And most times... on purpose.

After all, why do you think they gave us PC or what is called political correctness?

A little censorship-lite, perhaps... trying to shame us some?

And why do you think they're trying so hard to convince us of moral relativism, such as...

... there's really no truth, except "of course" for that statement.

... there's no right and wrong, except "of course" when THEY've been wronged.

And why do you think they're trying to cram deconstructionism down our throats, such as...

... our Constitution being a "living document" as in being fully "flexible" to THEIR whims, or to the political flavor of the day.

... or as in Bubba Clinton telling us, "Well, that depends on what the meaning of the word is is." Sure, bro.

Because without those 3, and a few others... they simply cannot win their arguments.

And they know it!

And so they keep trying to fool more and more people, and so many including the poorest of the poor keep falling for it... and keep suffering.

But the question remains... what is the "silent majority" going to do about this...??? That's right, the way too many "do-nothing" conservatives who are equally at fault.

Tea parties, April 15th.

What's your family worth?


Chris in GA -- Reply #30
Chris, and any and all people who read this:

Obama has NEVER produced ONE poor person that he helped OUT of poverty -- NOT ONE.

In the 1990s, Obama was put in charge of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge -- $100 MILLION dollars was funded to help improve Chicago public schools. It was an ABJECT FAILURE. The Chicago public schools are in worse shape than ever, and notice how Obama NEVER bragged about the ONE thing he was put in charge of -- because it FAILED. Money was instead given to fringe groups like ACORN, and other fringe charter schools that frittered-away 100 MILLION DOLLARS!

This pathological narcissist only wants POWER FOR HIMSELF. He has NO INTENTION on HELPING the poor or anyone else, for that matter. He just wants to PUNISH THE RICH AND MIDDLE CLASS AND MAKE US ALL POOR AND DEPENDENT ON THE GOVERNMENT.

Look up Ali Sina and Dr. Sam Vaknin via Google. There are some articles that have documented pathological narcissism, and how our new president appears to be one of these.

Mom in Wisconsin

Helping the Poor
Are you helping the poor by taxing businesses? The answer is no, you are not helping the poor, you are hurting the poor. Business will simply pass on that cost to their customers. When you levy a tax on soemthing like gasoline, who gets hurt the most...the poor gets hurt the most. When they say we need more energy efficient cars, or safer cars, or less polluting cars,or more miles per gallon what happens? Well, of course that increases the cost of that car. Who gets hurt the most, when the price of a car is increaeed, well of course the poor. Waht about Unions. Well, when you pay someone more money, that means the price of goods and services increases. Who gets hurt the most, the poor of course. It is a phony argument that I have wondered for years, why they are not attacked on the very points I have just made.

hail to the chief
The Chosen One has a meek track record for sure. Never governed anything, and as stated, anything he did chair was a disaster. Chicago has the largest dropout school rate in the country. More violence and poverty. Obama never talks about that. The Mystic wonder is a fraud, charlatan, and empty suit. He is President in name only. Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Schumer, and Emanuel run the country. Obama is merely the shill.

The Disturbing Duo?

Obama(The prompter)?

"They can be very effective in presenting themselves well and are often very likeable and charming. To some people, however, they seem too slick and smooth, too obviously insincere and superficial. Astute observers often get the impression that psychopaths are play-acting, mechanically "reading their lines."
[Hare, 35]."


Biden (The Gaffster)?

"...They may ramble and tell stories that seem unlikely in light of what is known about them. Typically, they attempt to appear familiar with sociology, psychiatry, medicine, psychology, philosophy, poetry, literature, art, or Law. A signpost to this trait is often a smooth lack of concern at being found out."
[Hare, 35].


Hey, if the shoes fit... :-)


Just wondering
"He is President in name only."

Does that make him a PINO Noir?

nobama hates the poor
This was shown by his charitable giving--one per cent per year such a generous man.

poor people
Well well,He had better start liking someone as he is sure making a-lot of poor people!

a in fla
You sure like the boreing stuff as I see your little a on here Quite a bit.
Stick with Allen Combes or your brother Jesse Jackson if you think TH is so boring!!

Abortion is NOT rare
It may be safe, and legal, but it is not rare.

Estimates are around 40 MILLION since 1973.

Not so rare, eh?

Yes, Jesus did whip people...
The Money Changers. Not only that, he destroyed the temple.

No such a wussy, hippie-type, eh?

If you actually read the bible for youself instead of accepting what pansies and liars say about it, you would know that.

And about that Second Coming of his... it won't be as a nerdy, little Metrosexual.

He will be coming as a warrior. Read the bible, prove it to yourself what it says.

I DARE YOU!

Etheridge has the right idea........
except for the wrong reasons like most of the delusional LGBT community. Let's not pay our taxes and have Etheridge as a distant affiliate. She distant because she believes in the normalization of suicidal sexual behavior and the genital mutilation for those with gender identity disorder. But it's a big tent, right, Michael Steele, whatever it takes to rein in Congress and the Executive from unprecented and unnecessary spending. This is probably the only time where conservatives should openly embrace the LGBT community.

Poor are punished.
Obama's comment about folks clinging to guns and religion during the campaign showed a distinct disdain for the poor and the less elite in this country. He isn't the first Democratic hypocrit and won't be the last to gain and retain power on the backs of the poor by guile and deceit.

It's not just card check that will hurt the poor, but Obama's loyalty to the teachers' unions sentences the children of the poor to the same rotten schooling that they have now. Then there is the unspoken tax on the poor - the lottery.

Charities which help the poor without the costly overhead of government programs will feel the pinch when donors are hit by higher taxes. These charities do a much better and more efficient job of getting relief to the poor. Witness St. Vincent de Paul Societies in our cities.

There was a great deal of truth in this article. Thank you.

Tim
"It may be safe, and legal, but it is not rare.

Estimates are around 40 MILLION since 1973.

Not so rare, eh?"

Nope it's not. But I don't always get what I want. And it doesn't help when you have "abstinence only" education, or religions that prohibit the use of condoms.

Jeffery
I keep hearing about ninety-five percent of the people getting a tax break.

Can you explain WHAT that tax break is.

a) Obama is going to let the Bush tax cuts expire in, I believe, 2010. Bush tax cuts saved me a grunch -- and I'm not rich.

b) The cap and trade is going to kill me in West Virginia and increase my Florida power bill over $50.00 per month. I expect it will be more because the figures I seen are computed for the entire state of Florida. I live in an area where power is generated by coal.

c) And there are other things being proposed.

Liberals would head for the nearest field, in mass, if Obama told them eating grass was a good thing.

Addressing lib nonsense - 1
Excellent column. The anti-capitalist attacks of the current administration are the greatest assault upon this country’s poor that have ever taken place. Governmental intervention has done nothing but make matters worse: creating a welfare state that has materially increased poverty, building a retirement program that is an unequivocally poor deal for recipients (and is now bankrupt), interfering in health care in a manner that has only vastly increased costs (as in the US) or resulted in markedly poorer (and rationed) care - wherever universal (sic) healthcare has been imposed, and undermining the market system which has created EVERY job, greater prosperity (especially for the poor) and vastly improved prospects for all.

But some liberals simply can’t be bothered with actual facts or history.

First, one correction for one who is not a delusional member of the Left. Pistol, I must disagree that “the huge majority of poor people here are stupid and/or lazy”. Some are. But instead I would argue that a great many poor people in this country (and elsewhere) fall into two categories. First, a large percentage of poor people are relatively young and will rapidly climb to higher levels of prosperity over time. A good argument can be made that these people should not be included in the poverty data at all (along with seniors who have little income but have already paid for their home and can live comfortably of retirement and investments but fall below a line based upon income). Members of the second (and larger) group have been suckered by a governmental system that grossly distorts market incentives. Who would give up government handouts and incur the costs of daycare and gas and wardrobe, etc. to get an entry-level job? That's the path to better jobs that will eventually make them better off but the failed welfare state interferes with that dynamic.

Addressing lib nonsense - 2
This massive distortion in the incentives that make the marketplace work is a major reason why Welfare nearly DOUBLES poverty. It is also why the argument that such programs aren’t a form of enslavement because they are “voluntary” is so imbecilic (though perhaps not as much as the belief that Obama ever intended to give tax breaks to 95% American families when, in fact, that ludicrous stance has already been abandoned and he has wholeheartedly endorsed regressive (corporate) taxes that, as McCullough points out, fall most heavily on the poor). THAT is the “reality check”.

The National Health Care Service in the UK PALES in comparison to US healthcare. You are less likely to get access to physicians, less access to diagnostic tests or treatments, less time with your physician etc. The fact that advocates of nationalized healthcare don’t want to admit is that rationing of healthcare under so-called “universal” systems KILLS as many people per capita as die from delays receiving care (used as a proxy for lack of insurance in the US) and the care in the US that is actually dispensed is superior across the board (discredited WHO rankings notwithstanding).

The Biblical sidetrack of this conversation is interesting. Scripture tells us that Jesus drove the money-changers from the temple with what evolved into a cat-o’-nine-tails. It is interesting because scripture is pretty much unanimous that the behavioral dictates apply to the individual and not to any collective body intervening between the deity and the people (particularly one that alters policy in a way to discourage charitable giving). [For the uneducated, regardless of one’s religious beliefs, the Pope is the head of a sovereign entity and immune from prosecution for any crime.]

Oh, not THAT foolishness again
"Nope it's not. But I don't always get what I want."

So, in other words, you are willing to abandon all government handouts because you are willing to look at the facts and realize that no matter how much you "want" them to be effective they demonstrably are not?

"And it doesn't help when you have 'abstinence only' education..."

Do some actual reseach instead of cherry-picking the talking points memos. The fact is that, while those with an interest on BOTH sides of the issue tout the studies that show their side is more effective, the identified statistical difference in the aggregated research is within the margin of statistical error. The talking point that "abstinence only" education leads to more out-of-wedlock births is pure bunkum.

"...or religions that prohibit the use of condoms."

Last time I checked, those same religions prohibit out-of-wedlock sex. Last time I checked, NO ONE has EVER gotten pregnant from abstinence. And only a blithering idiot would argue that one ignoring the latter religious edict is simply avoiding condom use because of the former. No one is THAT stupid.

Please Excuse Jeffrey from MI...

The State of Michigan is now a third world country thanks to 6 years of Democrat rule.

Our compassionate Governor has created a 'trickle-up' economic system (as promised by Obama). So far she has made the State #1 in unemployment and turned the 'trickle' into a gusher of citizens leaving the state to escape the lunacy (Obama praised her).

Anyone from Michigan giving compliments to Liberal-Democrats has to be suffering from deep emotional wounds (or serious brain injury).




Dumb and Dumber
F1etch, you have posted a bunch of hogwash.

If national health care systems are so inadequate, why is there no clamor in nations (i.e., every industrialized nation, and some not-so-industrialized nations, EXCEPT the US) to dump their national health care systems? What we have in the US is a system where some people have excellent access to health care, and a sizeable minority has no access. Our per capita costs are the highest in the world.

“But some liberals simply can’t be bothered with actual facts or history.”

The typical childish generalization that accompanies any weak conservative argument.

“Who would give up government handouts and incur the costs of daycare and gas and wardrobe, etc. to get an entry-level job?”

Well, our local community college posted a job for janitor. It got over 700 applicants. I’m guessing that most people would rather work, for a higher income and benefits, than for a lower income and no benefits.

“It is interesting because scripture is pretty much unanimous that the behavioral dictates apply to the individual and not to any collective body intervening between the deity and the people (particularly one that alters policy in a way to discourage charitable giving).”

Well, no, there was no United Way or Salvation Army in Christ’s day. It’s hard to imagine he would object to these organizations pooling contributions from individuals to help the needy. It is marvelous when one individual helps another directly. But it is foolish to ignore the leverage available to organizations, such as charities or the government.

“…the Pope is the head of a sovereign entity and immune from prosecution for any crime.”

Have you heard of Slobodan Milosevic? He was president of Serbia and later Yugoslavia. He was arrested by the UN and held in a prison in The Hague while on trial. Trust me, if the pope pulls out a revolver and shoots his boy-toy and the world finds out about it, he’ll be held accountable.

Fletch
Stop clinging to your guns and your religion.

“So, in other words, you are willing to abandon all government handouts because you are willing to look at the facts and realize that no matter how much you "want" them to be effective they demonstrably are not?”

That depends. What do you consider a government handout? Public education? Unemployment insurance? Medical exams for poor pregnant women? Immunizations for poor schoolchildren? Because the government does all of these and much more.

“The talking point that "abstinence only" education leads to more out-of-wedlock births is pure bunkum.”

Well, we can agree to disagree. One of the country’s more famous out-of-wedlock teens, Bristol Palin, told us the abstinence-only programs don’t work. I guess I was willing to take her word for it, along with every article on the subject I’ve read. Notice that improved diet has lead to humans reaching sexual maturity at an earlier age. Notice that cultural norms show people getting married later. I can tell you’re a real smart guy so I’ll leave you to do the math.

“Last time I checked, those same religions prohibit out-of-wedlock sex. Last time I checked, NO ONE has EVER gotten pregnant from abstinence. And only a blithering idiot would argue that one ignoring the latter religious edict is simply avoiding condom use because of the former. No one is THAT stupid.”

I don’t believe in the Immaculate Conception, either. We agree on something! Only a blithering idiot would ignore the human propensity to have sex! If people, young people, unmarried people, are going to have sex, let’s care enough to abandon our 2,000 old religious ideas and teach them about how to have sex safely. Because people really are that stupid.

Actually Carlos
Michigan is a third-world country thanks to the ineptly run Big 3 automakers, who have been losing market share for over 20 years now. You think Flint, Jackson, Saginaw, Warren, etc. are in the shape they're in because of Granholm?

I just read the Rick Wagoner has resigned, to be announced tomorrow and effective immediately. GM has lost over $83 billion on his watch. Good riddance!

Jeffrey?

"...if the pope pulls out a revolver and shoots his boy-toy..."
----------------------------------

Obviously Daddy made you sit in a pew when you were a little boy.

Sure, you no longer have to sit in a pew buddy - but did you have to remain a little boy?

What do we call this behavior in Michigan? ... Oh yeah, you're having a "Hissy Fit"!




No Carlos
Mandatory church attendance stopped at about the age of 10. Physical abuse from my devout Catholic stepmother continued well beyond that though.

With estimates ranging close to 40% of Catholic priests, and Vatican staff, for being gay, I just assume Ben is gay, too, and enjoying the occasional tryst with a youth that Catholic leaders have been enjoying for 40 years.

Michigan
You are correct Jeffrey. The question is why have they been losing market share and what have they done to get it back. Their problem is much more than the corporate execs. These companies should not, and I believe will not, be bailed out again until they are willing to completely restructure. If the Unions, bond holders and corporate are unwilling to restructure then they should file for Bankruptcy. There is absolutely no reason to prop them up only to do it all again in 2 years.

Nice try, Jeffrey
MY facts actually hold up.

"If national health care systems are so inadequate, why is there no clamor in nations ... to dump their national health care systems?"

Gee, maybe because of the same disinformation campaign taking place here?!?!

"What we have in the US is a system where some people have excellent access to health care, and a sizeable minority has no access."

THAT is hogwash. In fact, essentially EVERYONE has access to healthcare (albeit because the government has effectively outlawed pro bono care and forced use of their system it is hugely expensive. About 23 million in the uS lack health insurance coverage (the Census Bureau performs TWO studies - the one they concede is LESS accurate one yields 47 million; I'm using the other).

"The typical ... generalization"... is proven by your inaccurate assertion about healthcare in the US.

"Well, our local community college posted a job for janitor. It got over 700 applicants."

And that alters the market dynamic ... not at all. Anecdotal evidence is useless.

"It’s hard to imagine he would object to these organizations pooling contributions from individuals to help the needy."

How disingenuous. That is entirely different from government compelled taxation to fund charity and you know it (as you know it is the central issue.

"Have you heard of Slobodan Milosevic?"

Should the Pope be deposed that would be relevant. Until that time the Vatican is a recognized sovereign state and its ruler is protected under international law.

National Health Care
The following countries have some version of national health care for their citizens:

Afghanistan*, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq*, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the United Kingdom

*Universal health coverage provided by United States war funding

There you go. Keep in mind: this is a simple list of countries that have some sort of publicly sponsored health care system. For instance, Sri Lanka may be far from having a true, working universal health care system like France, but prescription drugs are provided by a government-owned drug manufacturer. This qualifies as "some sort of publicly sponsored, universal health care system."

The US evidently provides Iraq and Afghanistan with national health care. Note that it's not just those damn socialist Europeans providing their citizens with universal health care.

You lose, Jeffrey
"What do you consider a government handout? Public education? Unemployment insurance? Medical exams for poor pregnant women? Immunizations for poor schoolchildren? Because the government does all of these and much more."

With the exception of the first, they are each lesser examples of government failure (compared to welfare, social security, medicare/medicaid), but, demonstrably, yes.

"Well, we can agree to disagree."

No. You disagree becasue you don't like the facts that I presented. I have presented the results of the actual research. You present another (always useless) anecdote. That you (obviously) cherry-pick what you choose to read is your problem, not mine.

"I don’t believe in the Immaculate Conception..."

Why do liberals who have lost the argument invariably change the subject to irrelevancies? NO ONE has ignored the propensity of humans to have sex. It bears not at all on the complaints you have provided. Either people follow religious dictates or they do not. In either case, the prohibition on condom use is irrelevant to the abortion debate. As anyone who is NOT a blithering idiot can grasp.

Facts and logic to liberals - like holy water to vampires.

Hey, Jeffrey, got another anecdote?

National Health Care
Gee, government has intruded into healthcare in countries around the world and hasn't given up power they've acquired.

I am shocked, SHOCKED!

Next we'll hear how "successful" the Cuban health care system is! Hint: Only if you're a tourist.

That the US is attempting to win the "hearts and minds" in war zones has no bearing on the issue whatsoever.

What's really silly...
...is that anyone would actually believe that a listing of countries with nationalized healthcare is anything resembling a case for its efficacy?

Fletch
Your facts hold up? What facts?

“In fact, essentially EVERYONE has access to healthcare (albeit because the government has effectively outlawed pro bono care and forced use of their system it is hugely expensive. About 23 million in the US lack health insurance coverage.”

Whether it’s 23 million or the more widely believed 46 million lack health insurance, how does that mean that EVERYONE has access to health care? Because anyone can waltz into an emergency room, when their health issue gets bad enough? Is that how you’d like to manage your health?

What “market dynamic” are you talking about? People want to work. If they can’t find work, they can’t work. If you have any evidence to the contrary, share it with us.

“That is entirely different from government compelled taxation to fund charity and you know it.”

It’s not compelled if you want to do it. That’s the difference between people like you and people like me: I want my tax dollars to go to helping disadvantaged people. You’d rather hold you’re your money for more stuff.

No, the head of a sovereign state need not be deposed in order to be accused of and tried for criminal behavior at the International Criminal Court.

Fletch
You are dead on.

Here in Arizona if you make under the Federal poverty line you are automatically insured under AHCCCS(State Medicare). Every citizen over 65 has Medicare, and anyone who is disabled is also entitled to it.

Children in grade school receive free immunizations, free dental check ups, free vision and hearing screenings. Any child is covered under some governmental health program if their parents do not have coverage.

If you are unemployed AHCCCS covers you automatically.

The class of people who struggle are those who make more than the Federal poverty level and buy their own insurance.

And finally all 500,000 illegal aliens have access to ALL health care any citizen does.

Who's Losing?
“Why do liberals who have lost the argument invariably change the subject to irrelevancies? NO ONE has ignored the propensity of humans to have sex. It bears not at all on the complaints you have provided. Either people follow religious dictates or they do not. In either case, the prohibition on condom use is irrelevant to the abortion debate. As anyone who is NOT a blithering idiot can grasp.”

Why do conservatives think they win an argument just because they posted their opinions? The use of condoms is extremely relevant to the abortion debate: if you want fewer abortions, get the people having sex who don’t want a child to use condoms (or Plan B bills, whatever) so they don’t get pregnant in the first place! It’s not rocket science!

“Facts and logic to liberals - like holy water to vampires.”

The typical childish generalization that accompanies any weak conservative argument.

“Hey, Jeffrey, got another anecdote?”

No. It sounds like they’re too difficult for you to comprehend.

“What's really silly...
...is that anyone would actually believe that a listing of countries with nationalized healthcare is anything resembling a case for its efficacy?”

I don’t think anyone would. But it does make an interesting point of discussion that so many countries would choose to offer national health insurance to their citizens. It seems like a “who’s who” list of socially advanced, and/or up-and-coming economic powers. And now that American businesses are calling for it, so that they don’t feel like they’re at a competitive disadvantage, it will probably be adopted here in the US.

Joel-de
If I may sir, I would like to put forward that it is not even the Federal governments chartered role to work in any way on behalf of the individual, at least legislatively, as there are some judiciary functions as a result of the multi-state jurisdiction of the federal government. Nowhere in the Federal Convention was the individual a subject for consideration, other than making sure that the people would get behind the Constitution. Though reps became the subject of the popular vote, even this had more to do with the states being more justly represented on the basis of size, than seeing to it that the individual was getting a say concerning the Federal government's involvement in their lives. The state governments were always considered to be the one's that were to legislate in whatever way for the people, and it was "the people" or society, or the community, that was the concern, not any special group.

Of course the Left hates the poor
Libs. have cursed minorities in cities, particularly, to be captives of an unemployable underclass mired in drugs (the drug culture was not a cons. idea); illegitimacy and sexual profligacy (sexual irresponsibility was not a cons. idea); and trapped in an ed. system that no longer teaches reading and math (lib. ed. nonsense has no cons. basis).

Yet, Reps. and cons. accept without fighting back the constant assault they they are racist and sexist and bigots yadda yadda.

It was the Dem. Party that started the Civil War. It was the Dem. Party that invented Jim Crowe and segregation. It was the Dem. Party that fought civil rights and filibustered the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964.

How history is distorted and perverted.

Reps. and cons. just don't believe in creating plantations for people to languish in while the fed. gov't and other pol incarnations ruin the lives of entire groups.

But the Left has carved the US up into black, white, brown, red, and yellow, women, and the elderly very neatly and forced all to fill in those little boxes on all forms that daily embed racial discrimination ever further into the frabric of Am.

TEAM OBAMA LOVES POOR PEOPLE
That's why they spare no effort to create MORE of them.

Holding the Bag

“Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.” John 12:4-6.

Whenever men start making a big to do about giving money (not theirs) to the poor, it is almost always with the same motive as we see above with Judas Iscarioit, because he wanted to line his own pocket with money, not the poor’s. Just as Judas held the purse strings back when, who holds the purse strings today?

Gary Gordon

* CALL TO ACTION * Press Congress NOW *
It is VERY VERY important that as many members of congress hear from us today, tomorrow and all week if possible. See the call for action on my post now and act immediately if possible. START a MOVEMENT RIGHT NOW!!!! The new spending proposal are coming and its TIME TO ACT - AND DO NOT LET UP ALL WEEK!!

I have tried to make this very easy with a post and CALL TO ACTION you can forward to everyone you know will hlep. FAX, call and email Congress for the next week and forward the call to action to as many as possible via email and here at TH found at http://activated.blogtownhall.com/

We must act with the SAME SPEED that Obama is trying to push through spending. LET THEM KNOW WE WILL PUSH TOO and NOT LET UP! NOW is time to act more than ever! GET ACTIVATED!

A Charitable President?
We are being told to continue to give from a man that until he decided to run for president in 2007, never gave more than 1% of his income to charity. Hypocracy runs rampant on the Left. The V.P. still gives less than 1% to charity. Liberals are quick to invoke christian values to sell their plans, but seldom are examples of those same values.

phone it in
I was expecting McCullough usual crazyness, but this one was just kind of lame. So he attributes to Obama a lot of things he never said. Ho-hum.

Then we get the idea that Cap and Trade will cost the poor money, which would be true if it was done with no payback, but wouldn't be true under the likely Obama plan which involves using the money collected through Cap and Trade to offset those costs to the poor.

But the column ultimately is conservative a priori nonsense. The idea that companies can just pass along taxes to their customers requires a lack of understanding of how the free market works. If those companies could increase profits by just increasing prices they would have already done it.

There is nothing here to address the fact that poverty rose under Reagan, fell under Clinton, and then rose again under Bush. Until conservatives explain that, there is no reason to take them seriously when they claim their side is better on helping the poor.

Still losing, Jeffrey
Your facts hold up? What facts?

Those pesky things contrary to each of your posts.

"Whether it’s 23 million or the more widely believed 46 million lack health insurance, how does that mean that EVERYONE has access to health care?"

Because, obviously, lack of health insurance is NOT the same thing as lack of access to care. People are not dying in the streets in the US becasue they cannot get medical care. Again, socialized medicine is MORE deadly than US heathcare. It is not up to me to "manage" health; it does not change the fact that the access exists.

"What 'market dynamic' are you talking about?"

The one I described in detail is EXACTLY what happens. By distorting the incentives to work with handouts, the effect is to massively increase poverty. This is a demonstrable fact. Deal with it. This is why poverty has essentialy doubled under welfare (those below the poverty line and those only over it due to "assistance") despite a general increase in prosperity.

"It’s not compelled if you want to do it."

That is one of the dumbest comments I've ever read. It is compulsory if there are penalties for non compliance. Whether you "want to do it" is irrelevant.

"That’s the difference between people like you and people like me"

Yes, I reject a demonstrably failed system in favor of successful private alternatives and you wish to belive you "care" without bothering to discover whether your method of "caring" works.

"No, the head of a sovereign state need not be deposed in order to be accused of and tried for criminal behavior at the International Criminal Court."

Examples?

Jeffrey's collapsing arguments...
"Why do conservatives think they win an argument just because they posted their opinions?"

Why are liberals too stupid to grasp the difference between "opinions" and "fundamental logic". It's simple. If one follows religious doctrine, there is no pre-marital sex so a prohibition on condom use is irrelevant to the discussion. If one does not follow religious doctrine, then one pays no attention to the prohibition and it is irrelevant to the discussion. The issue you presented was NOT condom use, but rather the religious prohibition on its use.

You lose. Also you make yourself look bad when you cannot grasp the obvious.

Facts and logic to liberals - like holy water to vampires. If it's just a generalization, then why do you insist on demonstrating it?

"It sounds like they’re too difficult for you to comprehend."

Anecdotes are quite easy to understand. Now understand this: in any logical discussion of ANY issue, anecdotes, BY DEFINITION, are absolutely USELESS as a refutation of research and statistical data. Again, deal with it.

"But it does make an interesting point of discussion that so many countries would choose to offer national health insurance to their citizens."

That giovernments accrue more power to themselves? Hardly.

"It seems like a “who’s who” list of socially advanced, and/or up-and-coming economic powers."

Every one lags behind us economically. That a list including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, [Cuba], Costa Rica, Oman, Russia, and Saudi Arabia would be so described is just silly.

Addressing a lack of understanding
...of how the free market works.

The simple inescapable fact is that Cap and Trade will cost the poor money. That taxes levied widely upon businesses are invariably passed (nearly in their entirety) into prices charged to consumers and thus constitute a regressive tax falling most heavily on those who can least afford it is well established in both economic history and historical precedent.

Companies cannot increase prices to increase profits becasue of competition, but when the whole of industry is faced with an additional cost of doing business, the required rate of return on investment does not change and every business effected raises prices to reach a new equilibrium and the cost is borne by the consumer.

Then there is the leap completely off the good ship reality. It is absurd on its face to argue that there is any "payback" provision that would "offset" the costs to the poor but when one can't grasp the fact that, according to the Census Bureau, the IRS and the Congressional reports, the poor got RICHER under Reagan and POORER under Clinton and absurdly argues the exact opposite, such disconnects from reality, I guess, must be expected.

Until liberals explain THAT, there is no reason to take them seriously when they claim their side is better on helping the poor.

Lon
"There is nothing here to address the fact that poverty rose under Reagan, fell under Clinton, and then rose again under Bush."

As my screen name indicates, I am a social worker and have been one for 25 years. I can explain a lot based upon my years in the field- corrections and alternative/adjudicated teens education. In my experience, overall gov't dependence and abdication of personal responsibility has increased on a variety of levels, all due to the implementation of liberal policies and practices. Data is gathered to reflect what is desired rather than what is.

For example, my job has changed divisions 5 times in 25 years; from division of public welfare (no longer in existence by that name), to corrections, to education, to children and families, and now back to education. Each program reflected a "cut" when my job was reallocated- yet nothing changed- there was no cut. Similarly, the definition of poverty changes with the research instrument; the best gauge is to look at what is happening and not to gov't statistics.

We have all but done away with educational standards, pathologized willful behaviors (special ed/mental health), offer "family" meals in some school districts, offer daycare in the middle schools for student's babies, and cannot make "value judgements" when kids are being abused (so we can't intervene- only posture). None of this was true 25 years ago.

Reagan was mopping up after Carter and social service data reflected the 70's mess; Clinton enjoyed the .com boom and the redefinition of "poverty"- and the data relflected fewer dependents because of reallocation of services; and Bush II was quite liberal and a a multitude of entitlements galvanized under his socially weak watch.

Think as you will, but conservative principles have helped people far more than gov't programs in my experience- which is personal as well as professional.

Fetch
You’re persistent in your ignorance. I guess that’s a strength. Somewhere, somehow.

“Because, obviously, lack of health insurance is NOT the same thing as lack of access to care. People are not dying in the streets in the US becasue they cannot get medical care.”

Well, duh. But if you don’t have health insurance, you postpone getting preventive medical care. You don’t get physicals. Chances are, if you don’t have health insurance, you can’t afford health care. Until the pain becomes so unbearable, you go to the emergency room. And even then, they still bill you, and at emergency room rates, not out-patient rates.

What “handouts” are you talking about that distort market forces? Give me some examples. Even at the risk of using (gasp) real-world anecdotes.

“That is one of the dumbest comments I've ever read. It is compulsory if there are penalties for non compliance. Whether you "want to do it" is irrelevant.”

Dumb? Have you read your own posts? I was responding to someone’s observation that government assistance “enslaves” people. I said, no it doesn’t: you don’t have to participate. Your reading comprehension skills are lacking.

“Why are liberals too stupid to grasp the difference between "opinions" and "fundamental logic".

I’m a liberal and can distinguish between a fact and an opinion. Is “fundamental logic” conservative code for “opinion”?

“Anecdotes are quite easy to understand. Now understand this: in any logical discussion of ANY issue, anecdotes, BY DEFINITION, are absolutely USELESS as a refutation of research and statistical data. Again, deal with it.”

So show me some research and statistical data. Deal with them.

“Every one lags behind us economically”

Really? What do you think China’s or Brazil’s economic growth rate is these days? And China’s a communist country, with a largely centrally planned economy. And how many kids do you think live in poverty in Saudi Arabia?

You’re silly.

Fletch
"No, the head of a sovereign state need not be deposed in order to be accused of and tried for criminal behavior at the International Criminal Court."

Examples?

Sure. Why, here’s something hot off today’s presses:

Reported today on Yahoo.com:

“By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 29, 12:54 pm ET

DOHA, Qatar – Qatar's leader embraced Sudan's president in a red-carpet welcome Sunday as he arrived to attend an Arab Summit in his most brazen act of defiance against an international arrest warrant on charges of war crimes in Darfur.

For host Qatar — a key U.S. ally that is home to American warplanes and more than 5,000 U.S. troops — the Arab League meeting beginning Monday also showcases its desire to stake out a prominent role in regional affairs even at the risk of angering the West.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had promised to attend the 22-nation gathering after assurances from members they would not enforce the International Criminal Court's arrest order issued March 4. But his lavish arrival sent an apparent message that al-Bashir will have a center stage role at the two-day meeting.”

Sitting heads of state can be arrested and tried by the ICC. “Fundamental logic” might indicate that a sitting head of state can’t be permitted to use the title or power of his office to protect himself from war crimes and the like.

Of the many odd observations
in this article, the author never does tell us "why" Obama hates poor people. It isn't obvious to me why Obama would hate poor people. I think the title is misleading.

Old Social Worker-NJ
Well Said!! About 29 Years ago a young man (late 20s I'd guess) transferred here from KC, Mo Which he said he "had been forced to relocate" because of things like Social/Racial tensions, etc.. In general, he was the most bitter, negative Human I had ever met..He constantly demeaned *the Government* as wanting to totally control, dictate to the populous, etc. etc..I thought HE needed help, BUT HE WAS RIGHT!! We have, in fact, created a Nation of Parasites!! Can we fix it?? I doubt it>

Poor Jeffie - 1
You’re persistent in your ignorance.

"But if you don’t have health insurance, you postpone getting preventive medical care."

Postponement is not the same thing as lack of access, but, again, the fact is that more people per capita DIE from care rationing under socialized medicine than die of delays receiving care (that postponement) in this country. So, as an argument in favor of socialized medicine it fails miserably.

"What 'handouts' are you talking about that distort market forces?"

ALL of them. In this case specifically, Welfare, WIC, food stamps, etc. - even the minimum wage. It is a simple fact that EVERY anti-poverty measure has been a failure as ... an anti-poverty measure.

"Dumb? Have you read your own posts?"

Have you read yours? You were responding to MY statement:

“That is entirely different from government compelled taxation to fund charity and you know it.”

...and said...

"It’s not compelled if you want to do it."

The statement is imbecilic. Pretending that it was a response to something else is caled a 'lie".

"I’m a liberal and can distinguish between a fact and an opinion."

Obviously not.

“So show me some research and statistical data. Deal with them."

A quick search on the internet should suffice. Maggie Gallagher is perpetually citing the studies that defend her view juist as libs select the ones that support theirs. Where is "every study you've read?"

Poor Jeffie - 2
"What do you think China’s or Brazil’s economic growth rate is these days?"

Look, you don't have to be an economist like me to grasp that growth rate is NOT a measure of economic strength (try GDP per capita). In the cases you've chosen in particular, high growth rates result in no small part from their abysmally poor starting point (because of the embrace of socialist policies).

"And how many kids do you think live in poverty in Saudi Arabia?"

The poverty rate is so high that figures are not even reported. Their unemployment rate runs typically about triple ours.

You’re silly.

BTW, I am aware of the expansive powers that the ICC has accrued to itself in the past few years. It is, in fact, why the US has refused to sign the treaty and refuses to recognize its authority over American citizens. What powers it claims and what powers it may actually exercise in the real world are two entirely different things. As your own example demonstrates, the ability to enforce its arrest warrants is something the ICC has yet to manage. Do you have any examples of anyone actually ARRESTED and TRIED by the ICC without having first been deposed? Hint: no such examples exist.

Educating Jeffie
To help with your laziness, look up the research by Hannah Bruckner and Peter Bearman; Robert Rector, Kirk Johnson and Jennifer Marshall; and J. Richard Udry, Berman and Kathleen Mullen Harris.

The data on standard of living (GDP per capita) can be found in the CIA World Factbook. It also contains a number of statistics of use such as infant mortality rate (albeit, the Factbook only repeats the officially reported figures and doesn't comment on the significant distortion of figures - such as infant mortality - by numerous countries).

Information about wait-times and mortality due to rationing of care can be found in countless sources such as Health Canada (the official site) or the Fraser Institute if you want it in a nutshell. The UK offers similar data from its official sources. You might also look into the work of John Goodman, Gerald Musgrave and Devon Herrick and if you want proof that the US provides the best care quality, look up the work of Gerald Anderson and Peter Hussey "Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data"...

That should get you started anyway...

One last
"Of the many odd observations in this article, the author never does tell us 'why' Obama hates poor people."

Who knows? One judges a man by his actions. The policies he has embraced are universally detrimental to the poor: the greater embrace of socialism, job destroying spending (it is impossible for government to "create" jobs on a net basis - the jobs "created" come at the expense of a greater number of jobs lost because the resources were removed from the private sector), regressive taxation in the form of corporate taxation, cap and trade, etc.

In the final analysis, such dogged insistence on policies so detrimental to the poor leads to only three possible conclusions: a) Obama hates the poor, b) Obama couldn't care less about the poor and pursues policies designed to accrue more power to himself no matter what happens to them, or c) he is a complete moron.

Actually, before you even suggest it, I don't think he's a complete moron ... and I think there is a more plausible explanation than that he actually hates the poor. But that just leaves...

Susan
"a lot of them sell their food stamps for dope"

They don't get food stamps that they can sell now. They get a simple card. You apparently forget there are elderly and disabled people that rely on food stamps too. Not all are worthless and lazy. The poor give more than the wealthy do:

"while the rich do give more in overall dollars, according to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, people at the lower end of the income scale give almost 30 percent more of their income."

"Many researchers told us lower income people give more because they think they are more likely to need charity or know someone who needs charity"

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2

Middle Class Giving
I should have included the following from the same ABC article:

And what about the middle class? Well, while middle-income Americans are generous compared to people in other countries, compared to the rich and the working poor, they give less. "The two most generous groups in America are the rich and the working poor," says Brooks. "The middle class give the least."

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=2682730&page=2

Jeffrey MI (Mental Illness)
" And that’s one reason the Obama administration is giving tax breaks to 95% of American families. "
Obama and the demcorats have encouraged increased government spending by several fold, and there is no chance on this earth that 95% will get a tax break, and only an insane person would believe that. If it actualy begins to come true, the USA will have a monetary default, and the US government would collapse.
Insane people believe things that cannot come true.
Liar or lunatic, or both, doesn't really matter.

Obama
not only holds the poor in such contempt that he would destroy their opportunities in order to further his own political career, he does the same to an even more helpless demographic: newborn babies who are unfortunate enough to have been born to a confused teenager.

Just in case Lon comes back
...though it's not likely. Facts rarely warrant a response from him:

"There is nothing here to address the fact that poverty rose under Reagan, fell under Clinton, and then rose again under Bush."

The fact that the poor got richer under Reagan and poorer under Clinton only half refutes that nonsense. The second half is refuted by basic economics and common sense. Anyone with half a brain can grasp that presidents are not all-powerfull Wizard Kings who can wave their magic wand and change circumstances immediately upon taking office (this is why liberals like to repeat the specious "Democrats are better for the economy" idiocy).

The fact is that the poverty rate rose drastically during the recessionary period Reagan inherited and then fell steadily until Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait shook the world economy. Once that was resolved and before Clinton took office, it resumed its steady decline until Clinton left the economy in recession once again. By the standard definition it began under Clinton. In any event, the leading economic indicators showed its inevitability as early as 1998.

There are a number of policies Reagan undertook that can be credited with improved economic conditions. There are FAR fewer under Clinton and most (welfare reform, capital gains tax cuts, mishandling universal healthcare enough to kill it for years) he did reluctantly at best.

The trend is EASILY explained with basic common sense and merely the most basic economic understanding. Alas, if liberals actually HAD these traits...

Thanks, Roy
No- this cannot be fixed. Its like the old lady who swallowed the fly; alot of sensless reactions to perceived "needs". For example, I see kids regularly diagnosed with depression or bipolar disorder, and they meet alost none of the diagnostic criteria. Before you know it, there is a cry for millions of dollars and programs for the thousands of "mentally ill" kids. Hospital systems write for the grants, get the funding, and "launch" program after program. From there, the hospital has to keep their numbers ( participants) up to keep the program going. This means kids can go to the hospital with an axe embedded in their head and be put in a program for "depressed teens" if the numbers are needed. I see this happen on a regular basis (well, the axe is an exaggeration, but you get the picture). Now we have "an epidemic" of depressed teens. Why people want more of this horse cr@p is beyond me.


Oldsocialworker
Your post is right on. Teaching hospitals live and die by grants. It has become their job security. I have seen more money wasted than anyone can imagine. Kids will be pushed into these studies . Lots of teens go through periods of depression and confusion. All part of growing up. You are right in the fact that to get the numbers any teen who is admitted to a hospital will be an automatic target. My daughter was admitted to the hospital at 16 for surgery. She was seriously depressed about it. She was depressed because she missed her friends, she couldn't get to the school dance and because she was an excellent student she was worried about her grades. Surely she would have been a target, although as soon as she got home and surrounded by her friends her depression was gone in about five minutes. I cringe when I hear about all of the children that are put on drugs because they might not be attentive all the time in class. I hate when I hear a group of mothers talk about having their teenagers on antidepressants so they won't be "blue". I heard this morning that all teenagers should routinely be tested for depression but now there is no need to test for prostate cancer on a regular basis. Once grants are provide for this research we will hear that the problem is much more serious than anyone realized and it will need to be studied for years and more and more participants will be needed. Perhaps this will ultimately help Obama. If we get these young people on drugs they will be much easier to indoctrinate when they are forced to serve in his mandatory/volunteer service.

oldsocialwork
So your basic take on the fact that the evidence opposes your worldview is to say damn the evidence and switch to anecdotal evidence instead.

It is certainly unusual of you to become crankier and more disparaging of generation as you age. Most people remember their own generations as being wastrels and have deep respect for the ones that follow.

But I am afraid I am still inclined to stick with the evidence rather than your unbiased observations.

reply to: oldsocialworker

I continue to be impressed with your sagacious, salient, literate posts which, with their cogent wisdom, enervate and give lie to so much of the liberal PC hackneyed drivel that we see proffered by the establishment ilk about public education, guvment encroachment and spending, etc.

Keep showing the light!

Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

a post worth a reprise
re:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Pistol Location: FL
Reply # 103
Date: Mar 29, 2009 - 1:16 AM EST

Its a sad and very un-PC
fact that the huge majority of poor people here are stupid and/or lazy. A few are just terribly unlucky.

Folks come in here from all over the world, no education, can't speak English and 4 or 5 years later they are prosperous. These people have nothing but contempt for those born here, given the opportunity to take advantage of $100,000 worth of k-12 education, and get nothing out of it.

People who mess up their life like this can not be expected to figure out what's going on. If they become so numerous as to take over, its good bye America, as we knew it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There were Vïet Namese "boat people" who came here barely able to speak English, yet only a few years later graduated from Harvard with honors. In theory, that "culturally biased" SAT alone would have derailed them, because how could they possible smoke the SAT with English as a second language and america as an acquired culture?

Could it be inherent aptitude and hard work?!
Imagine that!

I accidentally flagged my own post! ;>)

a post worth a reprise
re:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Pistol Location: FL
Reply # 103
Date: Mar 29, 2009 - 1:16 AM EST

Its a sad and very un-PC
fact that the huge majority of poor people here are stupid and/or lazy. A few are just terribly unlucky.

Folks come in here from all over the world, no education, can't speak English and 4 or 5 years later they are prosperous. These people have nothing but contempt for those born here, given the opportunity to take advantage of $100,000 worth of k-12 education, and get nothing out of it.

People who mess up their life like this can not be expected to figure out what's going on. If they become so numerous as to take over, its good bye America, as we knew it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There were Vïet Namese "boat people" who came here barely able to speak English, yet only a few years later graduated from Harvard with honors. In theory, that "culturally biased" SAT alone would have derailed them, because how could they possible smoke the SAT with English as a second language and america as an acquired culture?

Could it be inherent aptitude and hard work?!
Imagine that!

F1etch
A few things to consider when addressing Lon's statement:"There is nothing here to address the fact that poverty rose under Reagan, fell under Clinton, and then rose again under Bush."

Low-skilled immigrants, concentrated among Hispanics, outnumber the high-skilled. They drag down median incomes and raise poverty and the number of uninsured.
Hispanics numerically account for all the increase in the number of officially poor. Similarly, immigrants represented 55 percent of the increase of the uninsured from 1994 to 2006, says the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Census counts only money income -- wages, salaries, dividends, interest payments. But compensation growth is increasingly channeled into fringes. From 2000 to 2007, only 53 percent of the increase in average compensation came from wages and salaries, says economist Gary Burtless of the Brookings Institution. The rest went to health insurance (21 percent), pension contributions (19 percent) and payroll taxes (6 percent). Americans understandably feel they're on a treadmill. They don't see fringe benefits in their paychecks, and small year-to-year cash gains barely register.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/156921/page/1

Income statistics don’t tell whole story
Income statistics, however, don’t tell the whole story of Americans’ living standards. Looking at a far more direct measure of American families’ economic status — household consumption — indicates that the gap between rich and poor is far less than most assume.

At the average wage, a VCR fell from 365 hours in 1972 to a mere two hours today. A cellphone dropped from 456 hours in 1984 to four hours. A personal computer, jazzed up with thousands of times the computing power of the 1984 I.B.M., declined from 435 hours to 25 hours.

While foreign competition may have eroded some American workers’ incomes, looking at consumption broadens our perspective. Simply put, the poor are less poor. Globalization extends and deepens a capitalist system that has for generations been lifting American living standards — for high-income households, of course, but for low-income ones as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/opinion/10cox.html?_r=1

All DEMS
Hate Poor people, look at what they have done to my Race,
When I was young,
My father told me , Son there is nothing that a Black Man cant do. Never let anyone hold you back. If they knock you down, get up and soon YOU WILL MAKE IT. NEVER GIVE UP

Now black kids are told there is nothing you should have to do look what your ancestor did for this Country.

Yea and we have been promised for over 50yrs by DEMOCRATS and their leaders, VOTE FOR ME AND ILL GET YOU OUT OF POVERTY. lets see

WELFARE= 8 out of 10 Black Children Fatherless
FOODSTAMPS= Corruption amonst Blacks, we sell them for drug money
FREE GOVERNMENT HOUSING= Rampage them , they are not ours
MEDICADE= Get it while its still there ,dont need insurance
UNEMPLOYMENT+ Who needs a JOB when the Government will give us everything for our VOTE

Guess what people

WE ARE STILL 0N THE LIBS PLANTATIONS AND WILL NEVER GET OFF THEM IF ALL THEY DO IS GIVE US JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE PROGRAMS I MENTIONED ABOVE, that put us on the PLANTATIONS TO START WITH

You want to help the poor, take them, no make them go back to some type of VACATIONAL schools and learn a TRADE. Get them JOBS

Giving poor people BIG FREE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
has not and NEVER will get poor people
OUT OF POVERTY

NICE TRY LIEING TWO FACED LIBS


agree here
re:
"Giving poor people BIG FREE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
has not and NEVER will get poor people
OUT OF POVERTY"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We have spent $11 TRILLION on Great Society/welfare programs... yet over the same past 40 years, social pathologies among blacks have SOARED-- illegitimacies, crimes, gangs, drug use, dropouts... this despite many taking advantage of AA and moving well up into the middle class, often via well-paying guvment jobs.

Some facts about America's "poor":

[per census data]

* Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning.
* Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes.
* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
* Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

Our "poor people" are the envy of much of the world. See more at the link below.

Note, e.g., that Mexico is a relatively strong player among Latin American countries in overall economic statistics, yet their poor flock to America for much better pay and far better freebies... and öur friend"the Mexican guvment instructs ILLEGALS aliens on how to milk American largess and send it home.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/welfare/bg2064.cfm

gatorbait
Right on the money! This shouldn't be a surprise from the party of Indian removal, the re-institution of slavery in the late 1830's -1840's, and Jim Crow segregation. The biggest mistake the Republican Party ever made was when GW Sr. accepted defecting Dixie-crats during the civil rights movement. They have been tared with the 'racist' brush ever since. What happened to the spirit of James Meridith? All he wanted was to be able to attend the higher learning institution of his choice, TO BE TREATED LIKE ANYONE ELSE, not because of some feeling of entitlement based on minority status. (Our constitution is a document defining INDIVIDUAL rights and liberties, and recognizes no groups, per se.) Brave folks like Meridith, Sowell, Rice, etc...are the true achievers, not the Sharptons and Jacksons (Jesse type).

poverty is relative
economic study for the Swedish think tank Timbro:

American households were considered "low income," meaning they had an annual income of less than $25,000. If Sweden--the very model of a modern welfare state--were judged by the same standard, about 40% of its households would be considered low-income.

In other words poverty is relative, and in the U.S. a large 45.9% of the "poor" own their homes, 72.8% have a car and almost 77% have air conditioning, which remains a luxury in most of Western Europe. The average living space for poor American households is 1,200 square feet. In Europe, the average space for all households, not just the poor, is 1,000 square feet.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110 005242

Writing About The Poor
This is the second article on TownHall.Com that I have read today raving about the embarrassing way the "Poor" are being treated by the Obama Administration,the Democrat Party, and Liberal Republicans. With April 1, 2009 only a few hours away, I couldn't help but wonder why both of these excellent writers and advocates for the "Poor" refused to mention the most vicious and punitive tax imposed on the Poor Smokers in the history of America by a Smoker. Since Obama couldn't stop smoking, maybe the writers agree that punishing all Smokers (The Poor) with more taxes will help their President to stop smoking. That way they want have to ban the President from the White House, like they ban other Smokers from restaurants, bars, and clubs.

Rich
great column. They also show contempt in thire tax ideas. IE: the cigarette tax of .65 cents to pay for SCAP. The poor are more inclined to smoke the the middle and upper middle class. The very wealthy smoke in such small numbers that they won't be paying the tax. So we tax the poor to pay for the health car of the poor and middle class. Strange indeed.
Kirk

Want to know why...
Not having medical insurance is a bad thing? Why fuel costs so much? Why education is expensive? Why the poor have a hard time getting a good paying job?

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html#pa ge1

Have fun with all of that.

oracle1 sol
Ever stop to consider how quickly people with jobs can lose them or become disabled, end up in poverty and still own those things? Would you consider a vehicle essential if you lived in a rural area? Would you offer to take someone around to job interviews or doctor appointments? Why do you use a microwave? Would you do without one? As far as a tv is concerned, don't you think the poor need to be equally informed as you do so they too can make a difference? They are not all fat and lazy liberals.
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