The American Poor
For perspective, as budget issues continue to take center stage in Washington, and welfare programs are considered sacrosanct by Democrats, here is information from a US Census Bureau report in 1990:
* 38 percent of the persons whom the Census Bureau identifies as "poor" own their own homes with a median value of $39,200.
* 62 percent of "poor" households own a car; 14 percent own two or more cars.
* Nearly half of all "poor" households have air-conditioning; 31 percent have microwave ovens.
* Nationwide, some 22,000 "poor" households have heated swimming pools or Jacuzzis.
"Poor" Americans today are better housed, better fed, and own more property than did the average U.S. citizen throughout much of the 20th Century. In 1988, the per capita expenditures of the lowest income fifth of the U.S. population exceeded the per capita expenditures of the median American household in 1955, after adjusting for inflation.
Emphasis mine. Now, 14% isn’t a whole lot, and 22,000 even less so, but when Democrats talk about not paying for tax cuts or programs "on the backs of the poor", just realize what "poor" means in the US. I’m sorry, but if you have a swimming pool or Jacuzzi, you aren’t poor, and money can be saved on these programs. This was 20 years ago, and spending has only risen.
As an aside, I’ll bet that people getting assistance from, say, The Salvation Army, don’t get hot tubs from them.
Filed under: Doug • Economics & Taxes • Government
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For a counterbalance to the complete misreading of the census information and Doug’s rationalization of his party’s punishment of the poor and elderly to enable tax cuts for the rich, read:
http://www.fair.org/extra/9901/rector.html
Actually that link is mostly for you, Doug. I’m still holding out hope that since you’re among the sane half of Republicans that hasn’t questioned Obama’s citizenship, maybe evidence of your party’s abuse of the public trust will eventually sink in.
As your link notes, the “war on poverty” has done virtually nothing; the poverty rate has remained the same throughout. The article takes issue with the amount spent to remain at the status quo, but the status quo it remains. (And Rector covers this issue in my link. The Census bureau ignores any assistance that is non-cash in its totals.)
All I’m saying is that Democrats are disingenuous when they say they want to cut waste and fraud, but consider programs that provide the poor with Jacuzzis sacrosanct. Look askance at such spending, and Republicans are accused of hating black people and want to throw grandma out on the street. Unfortunately, this demagoguery has worked through the years, while the spending continues to rise and the poverty rate stays unchanged. In our current fiscal crisis, everything, entitlements to defense, must be on the table.
Given all those conditions, America’s poor demography aren’t really technically poor especially if you compare them with the poor of third world countries. People with air-conditioning units, microwave ovens, jacuzzis and those who own their own homes are even considered middle class in contrast with other nations.