Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
What should be done for the poor? (Original Post) moosemike Oct 2015 OP
Raise the damn minimum wage already. KamaAina Oct 2015 #1
Give them plenty of money. nt bemildred Oct 2015 #2
They are owed beer and travel money. RadiationTherapy Oct 2015 #3
And frop. don't forget the frop. nt Erich Bloodaxe BSN Oct 2015 #4
"wealth redistribution" Skittles Oct 2015 #5
Hear, hear! smirkymonkey Oct 2015 #19
The first thing able poor need is a decent job. Seriously, that's our major problem. Yo_Mama Oct 2015 #6
Raise the wage floor--by a lot. Warpy Oct 2015 #7
Because Repubs believe moosemike Oct 2015 #8
WPA and CCC-type programs REP Oct 2015 #9
I second that - ruffburr Oct 2015 #12
Can't have a useful discussion about what to do Cal Carpenter Oct 2015 #10
I always wondered where that quote was from. It's one of my favorites. smirkymonkey Oct 2015 #20
Jobs for the able. Mentors/navigators for social services, for all who need them. MH1 Oct 2015 #11
Stop stealing from them, starting with their labor. rug Oct 2015 #13
Too many part time jobs moosemike Oct 2015 #14
Any evidence of what you posted? Kingofalldems Oct 2015 #17
Fox and Fiends, er, Friends says it's so!!! Skittles Oct 2015 #23
Boom! Kingofalldems Oct 2015 #24
I NEED MY X-RAY GLASSES TO SEE THROUGH YOU Skittles Oct 2015 #21
Ask them what they need and give it to them. hunter Oct 2015 #15
Open borders, basic income, maximum wage, maximum wealth, foreign aid. frizzled Oct 2015 #16
Start a civil war in this country and invade foreign ones. Great plan. Throd Oct 2015 #22
More social programs won't cut it. romanic Oct 2015 #18

RadiationTherapy

(5,818 posts)
3. They are owed beer and travel money.
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:43 PM
Oct 2015

They are owed a great deal of slack. Slack can be provided and permitted in a variety of ways. I prefer we start with minimum housing and minimum income and see what happens.

Skittles

(152,967 posts)
5. "wealth redistribution"
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:46 PM
Oct 2015

it's a matter of FAIRNESS

why do repukes scream about the minimum wage but think giving tens of millions of dollars to CEO's is just A-OK?

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
19. Hear, hear!
Wed Oct 28, 2015, 07:58 PM
Oct 2015


I am so damn sick of these greedy pigs pushing for more tax cuts (only for the very wealthy, of course. Not for the middle class) and whining about every little scrap thrown to the most disadvantaged in society. It's truly revolting.

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
6. The first thing able poor need is a decent job. Seriously, that's our major problem.
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:49 PM
Oct 2015

There will always be ill/disabled, and social programs work well for them.

But for people who are completely able to work, the crappy economy is causing life-devastating consequences, and social programs alone aren't that much of a help over the long run. They want a real life, not another social program.

And then some people end up poor because they are poor. They don't have the money for transportation to get to the job that would give them the money for transportation. We ought to have more grant programs that get people the resources to have a life.

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
7. Raise the wage floor--by a lot.
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:51 PM
Oct 2015

Increased wages mean increased demand and increased demand creates even more jobs as well as revenue for various levels of government, which then do infrastructure programs, creating more jobs.

Poor folks aren't stupid and they're not lazy and they don't need caretakers. They need jobs that pay the bills with a little left over for fun now and then.

At the same time, raise taxes on the richest--by a lot--the only way to escape them by investing in industrial infrastructure, providing seed money to bring manufacturing back to this country. The loss of so many key industries is a national security risk far greater than any imagined bogeyman from abroad.

Oh, and put the Pentagon on a diet.

Elderly and disabled people need help, as do suddenly abandoned women and children. However, anyone with the means to get off public assistance does so as quickly as possible. What everybody else needs are jobs at wages that make work worthwhile.

moosemike

(14 posts)
8. Because Repubs believe
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:51 PM
Oct 2015

"God helps those who help themselves". Therefore they judge who they deem worthy of receiving money. If you're rich you obviously worked for it and therefore you deserve more. If you're poor its because you're a lazy a$$ and you deserve to starve. Red state mentality.

REP

(21,691 posts)
9. WPA and CCC-type programs
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:54 PM
Oct 2015

The WPA and CCC not only built parks and roads, they employed historians, researchers, archivists, artists and many others who helped preserve and restore our nation's history, along with numerous other significant projects. They provided real, meaningful work at living wages to all kinds of workers. Our infrastructure is crumbling; our parks and other community spaces need improvement; there is always a need to perserve and restore historical documents and other records; new murals need to be painted; new dances need to new feet, etc. These won't solve every problem but it would be an enormous step forward.

There will always be a certain small percentage of people who just can't manage but are legally competent. We need a system of social care support workers to help them manage their basic living expenses (and meds, if applicable) and a cash and voucher benefit to keep them housed, fed and clothed.

ruffburr

(1,190 posts)
12. I second that -
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 08:15 PM
Oct 2015
These programs should have been instituted immediately after the Bush economic Crash, Jobs and infrastructure replaced , it can't get any better, OH that's right the Republicans wouldn't want that , Unless they were getting kickbacks and cherry picking the Corporations/Contractors ie: Halliburton or some such.

Cal Carpenter

(4,959 posts)
10. Can't have a useful discussion about what to do
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 07:59 PM
Oct 2015

without first asking why we have so many poor people, why this number is growing as our so-called civilization 'advances'.

The fix can't work if you don't first identify the problem...


“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” -- Dom Helder Camara

MH1

(17,537 posts)
11. Jobs for the able. Mentors/navigators for social services, for all who need them.
Tue Oct 27, 2015, 08:05 PM
Oct 2015

We have a lot of social programs that are essentially inaccessible to many who need them for various reasons. Maybe someone would need a car to get to wherever they need to go to apply. Maybe they just need an understanding of the process that they don't have.

Also we need to figure out how to make nutritious food and basic health services (like dental) accessible.

It takes more than money. Throw money at someone who doesn't know any better what to do with it than get stoned, or get the crappy food that's the only thing available locally, that's all that will happen and it doesn't really help the person much in the long run. (Although it's better than throwing them in jail.)

hunter

(38,264 posts)
15. Ask them what they need and give it to them.
Wed Oct 28, 2015, 10:12 AM
Oct 2015

Affluent and wealthy people don't know shit about being poor and have no business telling the poor how they should live.

How to pay? Tax the uber-wealthy out of existence. They made this mess. They own it.

 

frizzled

(509 posts)
16. Open borders, basic income, maximum wage, maximum wealth, foreign aid.
Wed Oct 28, 2015, 12:17 PM
Oct 2015

Make it a criminal offense to have over a certain amount of wealth, say two million dollars.

Tax everyone at about 80% and put it into foreign aid.

Start taking over countries where we can with a view to forming world government. Yeah, it sounds a bit imperialist, but capitalism is killing people.

romanic

(2,841 posts)
18. More social programs won't cut it.
Wed Oct 28, 2015, 07:52 PM
Oct 2015

I have a relative who got laid off back in 2012 from her manufacturing job and now work part-time in retail. She gets food stamps to help for her child (she's a single-mother, not by choice. Her baby daddy is a fucking deadbeat loser whose in jail on child support charges - they broke up before she found out this douche had two other kids by another woman -_-) and lives in a Section 8 apartment. She hated the process of getting food stamps and hates being at the mercy of constant threats of it glitching or her food stamps getting cut; she also hates the area she lives in because it's full of crime and the regular visits from her landlord who views her openly with disdain despite the fact she keeps her apartment spotless from ceiling to floor. She goes to school full-time to become a nurse and pays for daycare in the morning and sends her son to relatives in the afternoon and is working herself to death because she doesn't want to depend on the government or social services or whatever anymore. It's a long and draining process to get these services and she hates it.

Point is, all these programs may lend a hand but it's degrading to the person who WANTS to work and make a living for themselves without feeling like they're judged for getting the help in the first place.

To help the poor, we need to stop sending our jobs overseas, stop letting China/India/whatever manufacture all of our goods and invest in manufacturing here in our country, invest more into trade schools and bring these services to high schools (especially in low-income districts), raise the minimum wage while addressing inflation, stop cutting social security, and tax the wealthy while relaxing taxes on the middle-class.



Latest Discussions»General Discussion»What should be done for t...