Posted on 04/25/2011 9:51:17 PM PDT by Mark Landsbaum
We are rightly concerned with the poor, who always will be with us and to whom we owe our support and aid. Of course, it’s quite another thing for the government to take from you to give to the poor. The presumption that the government can be compassionate with someone else’s money is absurd on the face of it.
Robin Hood was a thief first, and the ends don’t justify the means. Every theft does someone some good. But that doesn’t justify theft.
But being poor is quite another thing in itself. What is poverty? . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at orangepunch.ocregister.com ...
Privatize most things to spur private sector employment, for one.
Privatize most things to spur private sector employment, for one.
I can tell you are a compassionate man.
Those who have too little are truly poor and deserving of help.
But I see so many who cry poor but have many things, expensive things, things that take up their time that could be put to productive use.
A red white and blue spigot in the sky?
Frankly, yes.
It is partly a question of definition. The left has continually increased the threshold for being considered impoverished. The current threshold is about $11,000 (varies depending on family structure) and about 14% of Americans fall below that line.
But this is the caveat:
While cash benefits from government assistance programs are included in a family's income when calculating the official poverty measure, benefits received in-kind such as food stamps, Medicare or Medicaid, employer provided health insurance, housing subsidies, and other social services are excluded. Taxes that families pay and tax credits they receive such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) do not enter into the official poverty determination.
In addition, the census figures concern income, not wealth. So those with substantial assets and insubstantial income (e.g. many long term unemployed) erroneously show up as impoverished. My older brother lost his job in 2008 as a corporate exec. He has four kids and a wife, got a nice severance package and took 2009 off to spend time with kids. He has since been hired back in a similar position with another firm. He fell below the official poverty line in 2009 but no one would doubt that he is wealthy.
These statistics and other info is available at U of Michigan's National Poverty Center Website: http://www.npc.umich.edu
In the United States, one can obtain Food, Housing, Healthcare for FREE through Food Stamps, HUD, Medicaid, etc. So yes, prosperity I guess does come from a Red, White and Blue Spigot.
The type of poverty that you mention in your post: not enough food, clothing or shelter, outside of addicts and those with severe mental disorders is rare.
This info correlates with my own observations as a volunteer with the St. Vincent DePaul organization for many years in several locations. I can also compare it to foreign countries in which I have lived. Specifically the Philippines and Indonesia.
The common sense solutions have voiced a million times.
Nothing is done, and the electoral process has been undermine and compromised my tens of millions of illegal aliens and hundreds of thousands of imported American hating foreigners.
How bad can it be when it's said American poor are better off then those in Haiti...wow
We've come a long way...
Lemme guess, your comparing America's poor to corrupt 3 world nations?
You're a government employee or collecting government benefits?
What a pile of babble.
Then tell me, how are all these people who lack adequate health insurance losing everything they own, including their homes?
Why don't you tell me the number of people who have lost their homes. Mosts states have exemptions for homes under bankruptcy laws. Florida has an unlimited exemption. Regardless, suffering from illness and poverty are generally separate issues.
Lemme guess, your comparing America's poor to corrupt 3 world nations?
I was comparing what is defined as "poor" here as opposed to elsewhere. It was Dr. White who suggested the definition under discussion: not enough food, clothing, or shelter.
What a pile of babble.
Lemme guess your either to lazy, stupid or liberal to add any useful info to the discussion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.