1. When you don't have money for laundry detergent and bathroom tissue, this is poverty.
   
2. When you have to beg and plead with Duke Power to keep the lights on until November, when they can't turn them off by law if on social services, this is poverty.
   
3. When you can't sell excess property and forced to pawn, this is poverty.
   
4. When you are dependent on Government for survival, this is poverty.
   

Politicians don't know anything about poverty, but you do.

What went wrong, and what would be the things that would help fix it?

is pure fiction as we know, because there are elements of socialism mixed in. I have no problem with making money and getting rich off a product that fulfills a need in the marketplace. However, there should be an income floor, guaranteed healthcare, and due to the abandoned housing stock, there is no reason why anyone in America should be homeless. And we can do all of this for no more than 10% of the budget, about $170B.

What the other side thinks of capitalism isn't, when workers and consumers are exploited for obscene profits. Wal-Mart, for example, can pay its workers $10.10/hr or more nationwide and not lose money, they may actually gain more profit with more sales,

What a shame and disgrace.

to have at least one fixed dwelling to lay his or her head.

But, see, that would be communism or socialism and we can't have that in Jesus-land. Oh, no, that wouldn't do, now would it?

the "free market" hasn't found a way to work this out yet.

Yes lets keep the War to Provide Democracy going in some Middle East Shit-Hole going.

When I took issue for Barry's War continuing the post was banned. (For using the word Barry)

And some of the Jury comments looked like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin were here to moderate and show how "disrespectful" I was to the President.

Poverty is the issue BUT many of those elderly who are starving--- vote for the repukes based on 3 issues, religion against Islam, abortion and racism.

It should be quite a bit higher.

disgraceful.

For the life of me I can not conceive of living on a minimum wage with just myself and to add children to the mix would not work. It isn't people are lazy as some try to portray it is the low wages which will never allow them to get away from food stamps and rent assistance.

when what the situation calls for is major surgery so we can reverse this downward spiral we are in.
Whats really needed is to slash every business tax break and make it so a companies taxes are based upon how many of its employees are living in or around the poverty level.
Higher the number the higher the tax lower the number the lower the corporate taxes.
Plus to combat it for retail grocery chains (including walmart) they could make it so the chain cannot participate in the ebt program if it has to many employees on assistance and to keep them from discriminating against hiring people on ebt it should be illegal for even asking if a person has applied for assistance, receives it or has received it.
Furthermore if a company offshores any jobs from this country to another country to save on money their corporate taxes need to start a climbing higher and higher.

to raise the minimum wage and letting it stagnate for years in the naive hope that the companies will pay their workers a fair wage that they can live on.

institute a Guaranteed Annual Income for all citizens and permanent residents, irrespective of employment status, that would be sufficient for life's necessities.

But, again, that would be socialism or communism and we can't have that in Jesus-land.

However, the biggest problem with that would be the need to control inflation. Ever notice that when Social Security goes up so does Medicare? No coincident. People who rent apartments will know that everyone has more disposable income and will raise the rents accordingly. There would have to be so many regulations placed on businesses before the first new check went out.

form of the Earned Income Tax Credit which basically gives people a tax credit (a reduction in the tax they owe, rather than a tax deduction) if they meet a benchmark for certain earned income.

I propose expanding the EITC and making it not contingent upon employment status.

As for inflationary pressures, the Fed has various tools to fight inflation, not least of which is raising interest rates by selling bonds and thereby pulling money out of circulation. (When bond prices fall due to Fed bond sales, interest rates rise, b/c they are inversely correlated with bond prices).

I actually think there is so much slack in this economy right now that inflationary pressures are non-existant. Indeed, I would say the Fed should keep on eye on the threat of a deflationary spiral instead, as those can be far harder to fight, especially when you have idiotic Republicans controlling one branch of Congress.

When President Clinton increased student loan limits, look what happened to college tuition. Bottomless pockets. Electric companies begged to be deregulated, said competition in the market would actually lower the prices. There isn't any regulation to speak of and look at the price of electricity in states that went along with deregulation. Competition? pffft. A handful of companies across the planet own most of the farmland, control the markets, look at prices at the grocery stores. Do you even see a product that doesn't cost less than $1? If we complain, the same fricking companies that deny climate change, blame climate change for the higher costs. Unless we strip corporations of their tax exempt status, and roll the long-absent revenue into infrastructure, non-military economic growth, and reinstate the regulations that elevated the common good for almost 100 years, somebody can put a floor under the poor, and the rich will pull off the roof.

it or not, though, the idea was also taken up in some form by . . . you'll never guess . . . Richard M. Nixon.

The ascent of Reagan put the kibosh on any possibility for it. It's an occasion for a 'What might have been' reflection among those of us who pay attention to recent American history.

It is hard enough getting companies to locate in poverty stricken areas now. Can you imagine the mass exodus of businesses away from low to middle income residences if you implement your desires. It would be a disaster.

going to get better.

In their world there are three classes. The rich who we should all thank for their supporting us all, the proud working class and the poor who are all on welfare by choice because they are lazy.

I their world a JOB will give you everything you want. A house with a picket fence and a stay at home wife, and behind door number 2: A NEW CAR (every few years). Just stay away from drugs, go to church and pray and all this can be yours!

The reason they believe this is because they got all of that and is was EASY for them. What's YOUR excuse? You must be a loser, a sinner, or a liberal. (Same thing to them)

Liberals don't have jobs. We are all on welfare. Really, that's what they're saying.

....knowing they voted for the same guy as someone who has a silo in their yard.

would be more.

That is according to Timothy McVeigh..., I mean Geithner (I get my killers mixed up). It's all detailed in his book Stress Test, available now, about how they shoved this whole plan to keep the assets of the wealthy inflated down the bankers throats, else we would all be so much worse off.

Kinda like Robin Hood, if he had been a toady of the Sheriff of Nottingham, instead of having moral principles.

Period.

We need to file for bankruptcy

more tax cut for the 1% should fix it.

wage earners has declined by 28% since 1980. Funny, they increased when a Democrat was in the Whitehose and declined when a Republican was in the Whitehouse. Happenstance , i guess.

Life is Good!

every self-professed christian should be ashamed and working their asses off to end this.

K&R

interests of the rich. If this means oppressing the masses, so be it.

to accept their poverty quietly - even to the point where some believe it is a sign of holiness.

Over on Discussionist, a con posted this same report and essentially said that the reason for the poverty rate going higher is the fact that there are government efforts to combat it in the first place. Really! That's what they think. That logic fails completely, but of course logic isn't something cons do very well. I'm sure we're all aware that they believe that you help people by not helping them. It's conservative anti-poverty magic! Help them by not helping them. They believe in tough love as a motivational tool apparently. Essentially ignoring the fact people are hungry, homeless, or work at Wal-Mart and still can't get by. Republican solution? Tough shit, starve and die, we don't care.

They only say they care if they can't get away with NOT caring.

So why is my SSID only $9,000 a month?

Oh yeah, I forgot. I killed myself working for the government, and now they'd just like me to die and shut up.

$9,000 per year, yes?

Yeah, $9k/year. If I made that much a month I wouldnt really have any room to complain.

who the hell anywhere in this country can live on $11,670? I don't care if it's Nebraska. One person cannot live on that.

What a country.

Is just kidding themselves.

that number will increase ten-fold.