Half of America in Poverty? Right-Wing Ass Clowns don’t want you to believe it’s true!

[tony human]

[Excerpt] Almost 50% of Americans are in poverty or at a "low income" level. “Low income" is defined as earnings between 100 and 199% of the poverty level, which places every American family making $50,000 or less at a near-poverty level. The Heritage Foundation argues that "The average poor person, as defined by the government, has a living standard far higher than the public imagines... In the kitchen, the household had a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave." Thus, if you have a fridge and microwave you cannot be poor or in poverty!

Total expenses for the family in the bottom (poor) half of America are:

24% taxes

27% housing

34% food, health care, child care, transportation, household needs

12% energy

 

That's 97% of income. The richest family among the poor 70,000,000 households is left with just $1,500 for a car, appliances, a TV, a cell phone, a loan repayment, an occasional night out. It comes to $30 a week, barely enough to take the family out for a pizza. Right-Wing Asswipes and their supporters bemoan the amounts of government aid being lavished on lower-income Americans.

 

The fact is that only 4,375,000 families (out of 70,000,000 in the bottom half) received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 2010, with a payout of about $400 per month per family. To begrudge poor people an extra $400 dollars per month is the height of despicable nastiness. Conservatives complain about the TVs and refrigerators owned by low-income people. But it's the height of ass-clown insensitivity to admonish people who are trying to survive in a perversely unequal society.

[tony human]

AHHHHHHHHH, ACHILLES. GOOD LUCK TO YOU BROTHER!