Free Republic

One phenomenon of the modern economy is affluence that doesn’t feel like it. You work, earn and spend quite a lot, yet it seems you’re getting nowhere. Some new economic analysis helps quantify just how many people might be characterized as the “wealthy poor”— and it’s a surprisingly large chunk of the overall population. A new paper by economists Greg Kaplan and Justin Weidner of Princeton University, and Giovanni Violante of New York University, finds that about 70 million Americans may live in families they describe as “wealthy hand-to-mouth” households. These are families that own assets such as homes, cars,...

Today in America, the lawless and lazy American victicrats hide behind the title "the poor". These individuals masquerade as victims and seek sympathy from the American people so they can pursue their narcissistic ambitions. The tragic TRUTH and REALITY of this matter is that these have reaped upon themselves the horrific consequences of their LAWLESS and LAZY lifestyles (Rom. 1:18-32, Gal. 6:7). These masses have been oppressed by their compounded acts of lawlessness and violence and are never held responsible or accountable to society by the Left and Moderates in Washington. Those who try to overcome this decadent and lawless...

Todd Wilemon, a managing director at NYSE Euronext and a Fox Business contributor, was foolish enough to do an interview on health care with The Daily Show (a program about which I had a bit to say over the weekend), and the results are approximately what one would expect, which is to say, he came off like an inarticulate jackass. The headline quote came when Mr. Wilemon was asked about what poor people who cannot afford health insurance should do. His answer: “Stop being poor.” For that, he is being treated as the second coming of Marie Antoinette (the cartoon...

The Vatican announced an immediate end to new hires, wage-increases and overtime in an effort to cut costs and offset budget shortfalls. Pope Francis, with input from the Vatican’s central accounting office, also determined that volunteers could be used to help provide the labor needed to make up for the hiring freeze and eventual attrition. Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, sent a letter, dated Feb. 13, to the heads of all Vatican offices, institutions and agencies. He said the budget forecast for 2014 “necessitated the immediate adoption of some measures needed to contain” personnel costs. In its last...

There is no material poverty in the U.S. Here are a few facts about people whom the Census Bureau labels as poor. Dr. Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield, in their study "Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor" (http://tinyurl.com/448flj8), report that 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning; nearly three-quarters have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more. Two-thirds have cable or satellite TV. Half have one or more computers. Forty-two percent own their homes. Poor Americans have more living space than the typical non-poor person in Sweden, France or the...

It turns out that you can bring produce sections to poor neighborhoods, but you can't get poor people to eat healthier food. This comes as a shock to liberals who believe in the comprehensive theory of victimology -- that all problems afflicting people who fall into ethnic, sexual, or other identities regarded as victims are due to external factors, not to their own choices. Patti Neighmond writes for NPR: In inner cities and poor rural areas across the country, public health advocates have been working hard to turn around food deserts - neighborhoods where fresh produce is scarce, and greasy fast...

Thomas James Perkins is a stud. If he weren’t an octogenarian, I’d ask for his hand in marriage because he courageously and eloquently defends free market capitalism. Perkins is the founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). He is also the ex-husband of the world’s reigning best-selling author alive: American novelist and San Francisco resident Danielle Steel. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a three-paragraph op-ed by Perkins in which he defended free market economics. The liberal media, especially the Silicon Valley tech blogs, went up in arms. HOW could he have...

Unless you are exceptionally coldblooded, it's hard not to be disturbed by today's huge economic inequality. The gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, wider than most Americans would (almost certainly) wish. But this incontestable reality has made economic inequality a misleading intellectual fad, blamed for many of our problems. Actually, the reverse is true: Economic inequality is usually a consequence of our problems and not a cause. For starters, the poor are not poor because the rich are rich. The two conditions are generally unrelated. Mostly, the rich got rich by running profitable small businesses (car dealerships,...

This year President Barack Obama and his party will begin their campaign against “the rich” while emphasizing the “gap” in wages between those on top and those on the bottom. Their solution will be to increase the minimum wage, raise taxes on “the rich” and increase government spending. They will exploit ignorance and envy to maintain power. Their solution will make the gap larger and create an endless recession. Unless reversed, the result is likely to be a financial collapse, wiping out savings, retirement accounts and putting almost everyone in the country into the category we now call the "working...

The economic picture is looking brighter these days. The federal government announced Thursday that economic growth had picked up to its fastest pace in two years, while employment growth over the past five months has averaged a healthy 185,000 new jobs. But as evidenced by a report out Thursday from the Corporation for Enterprise Development, nearly half of Americans are living in a state of “persistent economic security,” that makes it “difficult to look beyond immediate needs and plan for a more secure future.” In other words, too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck. The CFED calls these...

"By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been." -Bill Gates In his annual letter, Bill Gates opens with a statement that I've been saying for a few years. In fact, my investment thesis begins with global peace and prosperity. It's amazing how many people snicker at this notion without ever taking a second to consider its authenticity or merits. (Of course, I've been ridiculed for reading income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. There is so much misinformation out there, with less research and more rhetoric, than anytime I can remember.) Connect the dots,...

...Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (Fla.-Dem.), said she hopes to see funding restored for food programs that benefit South Florida residents. "The need is absolutely still there," she said, "In fact, we've had increasing need with the recovery of the Great Recession. We're coming out of that recovery, but there are still many gaps." Wasserman-Schultz said she will continue the fight in Congress for funding needy families in South Florida.

Folks, I am a poor boy who would like to be helped and educated by someone who knows what they're doing--what they're talking about. I have been reading some, but there are a lot of basic things I don't yet understand. How much money would I need to start the whole shebang? Can you use online stock sites to purchase shares, or do you have to go through a broker? You get the picture. My friend said that me thinking about penny stock trading is like trusting Lou Costello or Jerry Lewis to assemble an H-bomb. I'm looking for advice,...

**SNIP** The Medicaid fight offers hope for Democrats whose 2014 election chances took a hit from the embarrassing October rollout of the insurance exchanges, said Ed Rendell, the former Pennsylvania governor and ex-chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In states like Florida and Pennsylvania, Medicaid may make a difference in governor’s races, he said. “You’re telling people who don’t have health care now that you can give it to them, and that’s something that can get people off their duffs and turn out the vote,” Rendell said in a telephone interview. **SNIP** “We’re having a desperate struggle to pay for...

After the last century, it shouldn't even be controversial to assert that the more a nation focuses on income inequality, the more it hurts the poor. After all, there have been whole societies formed around the slogan Marx popularized, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" -- and they've universally been lousy places to be poor. Would you rather be poor in America or Cuba, Vietnam or the old Soviet Union? If the question doesn't answer itself, P.J. O'Rourke's quotation about traveling to the Soviet Union with a gang of Communists should answer it for...

A resident and a sister arrange flowers at the Little Sisters of the Poor's Mullen Home in Denver, CO in this undated file photo. Credit: El Pueblo Catolico/James Baca. Washington D.C., Jan 3, 2014 / 05:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Despite the claims of the U.S. Justice Department, the demands of the federal contraception mandate threaten the continued works of service performed by the Little Sisters of the Poor, their attorneys say. Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the religious sisters in court, charged that the government's claim amounts to “doublespeak” and...

Economic equality will never be possible because some people are too stupid to get ahead in the modern world, said Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, in a speech that is igniting a wave of criticism. Nick Clegg, Britain’s deputy prime minister, accused Mr. Johnson of “unpleasant elitism.” In the speech honouring the work of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Mr. Johnson said natural differences between humans will always mean some will succeed and others fail. “I am afraid that violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if...

Assets become targets of the states ___ Most people think they’re exempt from the estate tax (often called the “death tax”) because they don’t have $2 million. A lot of people with low incomes do have some assets, however, and if they have used any Medicaid benefits, their heirs may be in for a shock. Depending on state law, the state may have the right to everything, up to the cost of Medicaid benefits received — house, car, bank accounts, tools, annuities, piano, furniture, everything — and not just 50 percent of it. This situation is not exactly new. The...

Obama Steals Food From The Poor To Pay For Michele’s ‘Let’s Move’ Program Posted 6 hours ago by Dave Jolly Filed under Entitlements, Ethics, Government Spending, Liberalism, Politics Millions of food stamp recipients are finding their government supplement smaller this month. The federal government made sizeable cuts to the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) otherwise known as food stamps. This cut will affect 47.6 million Americans or about 1 out of every 6 people. Under the new guidelines, a family of 4 will see their food stamps drop from $668 a month to $632 a month. While $36 dollars doesn’t...

Uncertainty and struggle are what we most often associate with poverty. Not knowing if you can still afford to pay next month’s bills and worrying over how much more you can cut back when you’re already barely getting by. This way of life has become more associated with the middle class than with those at the very bottom. The statistic that shows that average black household worth is at $4,955 while average white household worth is at $110,729 is often quoted, but these numbers are not comparing similar things. The $110,729 and $4,955 don’t reflect different standards of living; but...