The amazing thing is the poor here are wealthier than the middle class in most of Europe.
Not really. I work with the truly poor here as part of a faith-based construction mission. Many folks here in the US really are quite poor. That does not make them miserable, however. And it does not make 37 million people destitute.
Some are miserable, some are destitute.
Poor in America can be brutal, but where one draws the poverty line IS a matter of perspective.
Perhaps (perhaps) 1/2 of the folks below our poverty line are on par with European middle class, but certainly not all.
I always like to ask uppity Europeans and their admirers here in the US if they'd like us to have a robust European economy too? The European economic situation is pitiful in comparison.
Here is a good comparison of the EU versus the US economies.
http://www.timbro.com/euvsusa/
Here is a quote from the study:
" If the European Union were a state in the USA it would belong to the poorest group of states. France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany have lower GDP per capita than all but four of the states in the United States. In fact, GDP per capita is lower in the vast majority of the EU-countries (EU 15) than in most of the individual American states. This puts Europeans at a level of prosperity on par with states such as Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia. Only the miniscule country of Luxembourg has higher per capita GDP than the average state in the USA. The results of the new study represent a grave critique of European economic policy."
What is also amazing is that we measure poverty based upon household income, and that does not include the value of government subsidies such as food stamps, school lunch, aid to dependent children, earned income credit, medicare, disability payments, and the fair market value of government and subsized housing. If I recall correctly, Germany includes all the government freebies in calculating the number of people living below the poverty level.
"The amazing thing is the poor here are wealthier than the middle class in most of Europe".
Wendelin is a liar. He's trying to keep the acceptance of the political streams that carry him.
If you'd be a CEO of a company like Porsche you'd lie and do politics as well. That's the job.
Beeing poor in france or in germany nevertheless will not really bite you. Of course it's a difference if you're poor in montana's country side or Detroit - but if I was an uneducated social drop out - I'd prefer Germany over the US any time especially if I had kids to bring up.