Poverty

[run4it]

I just keep thinking about 500 BILLION dollars spent on a stupid, useless war.......

you forgot "poorly planned", 'unwarranted', 'misguided', etc

[run4it]

Why is this not an issue in the coming presidential elections??

Because the only two candidates really focusing on it are a fringe gnome-looking geek with a hot wife and a soft spoken also-ran with an expensive haircut.

[mesue]

...
Why is this not an issue in the coming presidential elections??

Because we are headed there ourselves. Only, we don't see ourselves as poor, just in debt.
All debts must be paid. If you had to pay all of your debts today, where would that leave you? Not you specifically, just you in general.

[CSense]

I just keep thinking about 500 BILLION dollars spent on a stupid, useless war.......

I think that's at least doubled, it's somewhere over $1 Trillion

Cost of Iraq war could surpass $1 trillion
Estimates vary, but all agree price is far higher than initially expected

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11880954/

[buffy]

from mesue: Because we are headed there (poverty) ourselves. Only, we don't see ourselves as poor, just in debt.

All debts must be paid. If you had to pay all of your debts today, where would that leave you? Not you specifically, just you in general.

He paid a debt, he did not owe
I owed a debt, I could not pay
I needed someone, to wash my sins awaaayyyy...


...and now I sing
a brand new song - "Amazing Grace"

Christ Jesus paid the debt
that I could never pay

[buffy]

so anyways, I believe that poverty can become a type of prison; I also believe that poverty should be temporary. You work hard and by virtue of hard work, you rise out of poverty.

everyone seems to be in debt, I know WE have education debts.

[mesue]

He paid a debt, he did not owe
I owed a debt, I could not pay
I needed someone, to wash my sins awaaayyyy...


...and now I sing
a brand new song - "Amazing Grace"

Christ Jesus paid the debt
that I could never pay

Amen.
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a Crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
- Elvina M Hall
Isaiah 1:18

[mesue]

so anyways, I believe that poverty can become a type of prison; I also believe that poverty should be temporary. You work hard and by virtue of hard work, you rise out of poverty.

everyone seems to be in debt, I know WE have education debts.

I've been there, done that. I live to say that you can go from sleeping in parked cars to owning your own home.

[Michele J]

I've been there, done that. I live to say that you can go from sleeping in parked cars to owning your own home.

These stories need to be told ..I remember a time when I was shoving newspaper in my shoe because I had a hole in it...I had to get thru the week and knew on payday I could go to amvets and get some shoes.I could of called my parents and of course they would of bought me some shoes but I wanted to prove to them and myself I could do it on my own..And I did

[MAD BLUE BIRD]

How many acres of US land is farmable? How much of our produce is exported. How much of our meat producing farms are selling their product to the government who turns around and sells it overseas? I lived across from farm lands that lay docile for many years and talked to the farmers only to hear. "nope, government don't want me to grow anything this year" Who is sick and tired of hearing our food banks BEG for food every holiday season? (and who hasn't had the thought cross their mind, "why is it only during this holiday season do we hear to give alms to the needy?" and why are their sheves EMPTY?) How many people are on food stamps?

We have to take care of our own first. Stop exporting our products unless every person has a belly or a cupboard full of food. You want business from other areas to come to Buffalo. With Buffalo's diverse seasons, there is potential for growth in helping to feed our poverty stricken right here in our own city.

Stop feeding and caring about other countries and take care of our own. What do we get in return but to be pissed on and laughed at for our jackass leadership and foolishness.

There will be times in peoples lives where they cannot provide enough for their families and will swallow their pride and seek assistance so that their kids will get meals and health care and a roof over their head and our government should be in a position where that is not a burden upon them, but a privilage to give back to the people who put them in office.

as Sylvan says (spit ding....or something like that... )

[HipKat]

Amen.
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a Crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
- Elvina M Hall
Isaiah 1:18

Great!! THink he can spaer a couple a bucks for my Ameren Cilco Bill?? (Gas/Electric)

[HipKat]

so anyways, I believe that poverty can become a type of prison; I also believe that poverty should be temporary. You work hard and by virtue of hard work, you rise out of poverty.

everyone seems to be in debt, I know WE have education debts.

that sounds good, but incomes haven't changed in decades.
A job that paid 8.50 20 yrs ago pays about the same now, yet costs have gone up many times over.
Hard work today barely pays the bills, if you're an hourly employee.

[Bannister]

that sounds good, but incomes haven't changed in decades.
A job that paid 8.50 20 yrs ago pays about the same now, yet costs have gone up many times over.
Hard work today barely pays the bills, if you're an hourly employee.

Speaking of which, I read a book not too long ago called "Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America" which was fascinating. The author conducted a social experiment and went to four different cities in America. In each city she got a job (usually paying minimum wage or near that) and tried to support herself in each place. She stayed for about a month in each location. It was an eye opener for her. Basically, she couldn't do it. She couldn't pay all of her bills, eat, buy her required uniforms for work on the salaries she made...and she was busting her butt while she was doing it. I think some of the jobs she had were: waitress, maid, Wal Mart employee...

http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-N...1136750&sr=8-1

[HipKat]

Speaking of which, I read a book not too long ago called "Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America" which was fascinating. The author conducted a social experiment and went to four different cities in America. In each city she got a job (usually paying minimum wage or near that) and tried to support herself in each place. She stayed for about a month in each location. It was an eye opener for her. Basically, she couldn't do it. She couldn't pay all of her bills, eat, buy her required uniforms for work on the salaries she made...and she was busting her butt while she was doing it. I think some of the jobs she had were: waitress, maid, Wal Mart employee...

http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-N...1136750&sr=8-1

If you break it down, on average, the typical family pays monthly (and I bet some of these are low):

Rent - 500
Utilities - 150
Telephone - 80
Cell Phone - 50
Cable/Internet - 100
Gas (Auto) - 50
Auto Insurance - 80
Food - 1000

total - 2010


You need to NET 468 a week to pay that.
That's 11.70 an hour NET!!!!

Before taxes, you're talking, what, 14, 15 bucks an hour?/
And that's to just get by.

That's where I am, but I gross 10.00 an hour, plus small bonuses.

[MAD BLUE BIRD]

Add in

car payment..?

water bill/ quarterly...?

trash pick up..?

homeowners insurance...?

credit card debt..?

anything else.