Posted on 09/03/2007 2:25:28 PM PDT by crazyshrink
But, if poverty means (as Edwards asserts) a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm housing, and clothing for a family, then very few of the 37 million people identified as living "in poverty" by the Census Bureau would, in fact, be characterized as poor.
The average "poor" person, as defined by the government, has a living standard far higher than the public imagines. The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
(Excerpt) Read more at heritage.org ...
Interview of Robert Rector:
www.larslarson.com/NationalHeadlines/235111.aspx
John Edwards says there are 2 Americas.
Liberal / radical types don’t want any reasoned discussion of how the poor are better off nowadays than they have been in the past. Nor do they want to hear that some people fall below the poverty line due to job losses, for example, and then when working again, rise up out of poverty.
And yes, the war on poverty got started in the ‘60s with LBJ’s Great Society. Why doesn’t John Edwards criticize the failures of that war strategy when he talks about fighting poverty? Is it because LBJ was a good Democrat like him? Can’t speak ill of any other Democrat?
liberals have selective memory.
So if we get rid of the illegals, poverty goes way down. If we refuse to admit more uneducated immigrants/shut off illegal immigrants, then by definition we will almost rid ourselves of anything that can remotely be described as poverty. Add in people not encouraged to work and presto, there is no more poverty.
Now we know why big government types encourage illegal immigration and welfare dependency. Without those 2 things they would have no justification for more government spending.
It has come to my attention that some people in this great country have to mow their own lawns, drive cars lacking iPod connections, play tennis on asphalt rather than clay courts, and drink domestic wine.
Shocking, but true.
Poverty in the US has no particular parallel to poverty in the third-world.
My neighbor is a good example. He originally came as an illegal years ago, and worked in the fields his whole life, as did his wife. Somehow, between the two of them, they managed to buy a house, and put their kids through school. Even until relatively recently they both still worked the fields, he as a farm foreman, and she still doing stoop labor, but their son is educated here, and himself now earns a reasonable living. They drive nicer cars than we do.
The key to rising out of poverty is an unbroken family, and a willingness to work hard and keep at it. Even without any specific skill over time you will manage to build a life you can be proud of.
In a relatively free industrialized economy like ours, poverty is usually a transitory thing, when you are starting off, when you are between jobs, when you are hit by some personal tragedy. The things that make poverty into a long-lasting trap are these: broken families, substance abuse, broken families, and substance abuse. Broken families and substance abuse.
Agreed. Your comments are more thoroughly covered in the entire work of which I chose not to post or provide a direct link. I only posted the exec summary.
The second link is to an interview Mr. Rector did with Lars Larson more fully discussing his work, including family issues.
That’s why they all want to come here. Ever hear of anyone trying to sneak into Nigeria or Haiti?
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