Posted on 06/21/2019 1:35:32 PM PDT by reaganaut1
“We have . . . almost half the people in the United States living in poverty.”
— Former vice president Joe Biden, in remarks at the Poor People’s Campaign presidential forum, June 17, 2019
What does it mean to be poor? Biden took an expansive view at a presidential candidate forum hosted by anti-poverty advocates.
The Census Bureau calculates the poverty rate in different ways. Using the official poverty measure, 12.3 percent of U.S. residents were below the federal poverty line in 2017. Using the supplemental poverty measure, the rate was 13.9 percent. Biden says it’s much more: almost half the country.
We surveyed several leading researchers on poverty, and almost all agreed Biden was including people who are not poor.
The Facts The Biden campaign told us he was using the supplemental poverty measure (SPM) and counting every individual and family whose income was below 200 percent of the poverty line. That formula gets him to 140 million people, or 43.3 percent of the U.S. population in 2017.
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said the Poor People’s Campaign, which hosted the candidate forum where Biden made these remarks, uses the same formula.
“Poverty spans every race, creed, color and sexual orientation,” the Rev. William J. Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign said at the start of the forum. “... All of those numbers combined makes up 43.5 percent of this nation — not 30, not 23, but almost half of this nation — and any nation that ignores half of its people, half of the people, is in a moral and economic crisis that is constitutionally inconsistent, economically insane and morally indefensible.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Reminds me of a George Carlin bit.
“Think how stupid the average person is, and realize half are even stupider than that!”
So romney’s 47% is close to Biden’s truth ?
WP has kicked El Groper under the bus.
Normal MSM logic would say the WP is back to supporting Hillary.
We live in a time of astonishing wealth. Go to any big box store, like Costco or Walmart, and think about the shelves stocked with food and every item imaginable. When I did my MBA I discovered that Walmart had over 200,000 products. The average store stocked 70,000. Now realize that there are thousands of those stores worldwide, each one stocked. We live in a country where the “poor” can be grossly obese. Probably several times a week I think about how fortunate we are to be living here and now.
So, what is it half the people are missing? A new car? When I got my first job some of the other bagboys went out and bought Corvettes. I don’t recall how new they were, but they were Corvettes. Pretty much, we live in a time when the average person lives better and longer than kings did just 100 years ago. God bless air-conditioning and refrigeration. Tonight I will have food somebody else prepared in a factory half a world away. Poor? No.
If poverty means struggling to live in a house that is beyond one’s means, not driving a current model car, not being able to comfortably eat out often, not being able take resort vacations a couple of times a year then Biden is probably correct.
Poor people, texting on their little iPhone 9 screens.
They probably don’t even have Bluetooth headphones...
And this guy is a contender? Joe stop please stop just go away. His poor wife. As Nancy Kerrigan said “whyyy”?
Biden’s definition of ‘poor’ is anyone having less than his son, Hunter.
Don’t knock Hunter he’s perfect democratic presidential material. He’ll screw anything that moves even if it is his sister-in-law, does cocaine and he’ll deal with any government that is willing to put money upfront. Not so slow he probably took after his mother. Now there’s a contender.
America’s “poor” are the envy of the world.
I bet if you polled this half the country would agree with him.
Democrats bring non-productive people into the country. Those people get welfare. They are listed as “poor.”
By doing that, the country has a permanent “poor” problem. The moment the problem gets better, they bring in a half million or so more non-productive people, and the number of “poor” rises.
Intelligence deficits? More like 75%...
BTW, this is from the WaPo.
Rush is Right. The media has the full-court press on to get Joe out of this race.
The poor in this country have 60+” big screen TVs and cell phones.
Real third world existence eh Joe.
Another million man march count. According to the center for poverty research at UC Davis, the highest it’s ever been is 22.4 percent in 1959. And if you don’t count the illegals that can’t find work and live on the streets or with relatives, the last full count was done in 2017 and was 12.3%
Joe must have been misunderstood. He normally is when he opens his mouth.
rwood
Democrats have been in power for 50 years
(Snicker, snicker)
Or half the population pays no income taxes.
Or half the population pays no income taxes.
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.