Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

a reply to: CB328

Called priorities. Perhaps the cable, cell, xbox/ps4's, new cars, and numerous flat screen TV purchases need to be placed on hold in favor of food, rent, clothing, and school supplies. Don't give me that crap, work a second job and go to school at night for a better 1st job that supports your family. I have two careers and haven't taking government assistance EVER. Personal responsibility goes a long way to be self sufficient, if you have none, you wont have the latter.

originally posted by: staticfl
a reply to: CB328

Called priorities. Perhaps the cable, cell, xbox/ps4's, new cars, and numerous flat screen TV purchases need to be placed on hold in favor of food, rent, clothing, and school supplies. Don't give me that crap, work a second job and go to school at night for a better 1st job that supports your family. I have two careers and haven't taking government assistance EVER. Personal responsibility goes a long way to be self sufficient, if you have none, you wont have the latter.

So you believe middle class should require working two jobs?

How about instead taking some assistance for a little while in order to support yourself while building yourself up to the point where you can actually do that?

I couldn't make it through the first page without posting. You people have no clue what folks who have limited income go through. I am a paramedic. My wife is currently a full time student and I have a 4 year old daughter. I make 50k a year workeing for the highest paid EMS service in my state.

We constantly struggle to pay bills. I do not have an expensive car, I have a car my dad GAVE me with 140k miles on it that's approaching the need for a new clutch. I do not have internet at home, too expensive. I do not pay for cable, basic comes with the townhome we rent. My wife and I have cell phones with a national discount carrier.

After rent, utilities, gas, daycare, educational costs, health-care, and food I have more money going out than coming in. You people that characterize everyone that struggles as lazy or not having their priorities right need to shut the hell up. You have no idea what you're talking about. There are very real problems with upward mobility in this country period. No President has fixed any of it. Not Obama not Trump nobody. Educate yourself before you speak.

" It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"

a reply to: staticfl

Called priorities. Perhaps the cable, cell, xbox/ps4's, new cars, and numerous flat screen TV purchases need to be placed on hold in favor of food, rent, clothing, and school supplies.

when you post like this do you even read this?

new cars xbox?

do you have any idea what you are even saying anymore?

also flat screen tv's are incredibly cheap you can afford to buy one making 30k a year, in fact it's probably one of the very few things you can afford that actually gives you a modicom of comfort because you literally can't anything else with so little money

I don't blame people for having a TV or cable at least they have SOMETHING to enjoy damn ya'll are oppressive, stop expecting people to live with less than what you live with it's disgusting

Eight years of Liberals in charge will do that to a country... another eight and that 'half' would have been 99%, with the 1% elite giving the serfs just enough to survive... as long as they were obedient. Socialist heaven.

a reply to: mus8472

Have you looked into mintsim? Super cheap rates.

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: staticfl

Called priorities. Perhaps the cable, cell, xbox/ps4's, new cars, and numerous flat screen TV purchases need to be placed on hold in favor of food, rent, clothing, and school supplies.

when you post like this do you even read this?

new cars xbox?

do you have any idea what you are even saying anymore?

also flat screen tv's are incredibly cheap you can afford to buy one making 30k a year, in fact it's probably one of the very few things you can afford that actually gives you a modicom of comfort because you literally can't anything else with so little money

I don't blame people for having a TV or cable at least they have SOMETHING to enjoy damn ya'll are oppressive, stop expecting people to live with less than what you live with it's disgusting

The poor in America live quite well... you won't find too many flat screens and xbox's in favelas. Nor will you have air conditioning. Microwaves. Jordans.

The poor in America are so destitute that obesity is their biggest health issue...

originally posted by: CB328
Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food, in spite of Trump's tax cuts, tarrifs and other policies. Directing policy at the elites has not and will not help regular people in this country. Only going back to our roots of a non-corporate, non-commoditized society with lots of union and government jobs will be able to fix the disaster that is the US. The average income has barely increased for decades while the cost of housing has tripled and the number of good jobs available for non-phd's has shrunk drastically. No amount of trickle down hoaxing can fix it.


money.cnn.com...

My impression of USA as an outsider, is that "back in the day", your vanilla middle class family had two brand spanking new cars, a swimmingpool and not a care in the world. These days the same familiy work as burger flippers at some joint, and they drive an old banger held together by duct tape.

My impression may be colored by TV and movies - but from what I can tell, not only has the actual middle class shrunk into borderline poverty - in the process taking the low paid jobs from the really poor, but money is thrown after the affluent people in the other end of the spectrum at an accelerating rate.

The cost of education now seems pretty much out of reach of anyone besides people being paid $50,000 for a days' work - ie actors or talkshow hosts.

I raised an eyebrow when I found out the salary at which the US Top 1% start, is as low as $380,000 or something in that region. It certainly is a Metric Manure Ton more than I make, but still - with the shape of the curve being pretty much vertical at that point, it tells a story of a pretty apalling average for the lowest 99%.

It is of course impossible to wrestle money out of the greedy hands of a Colbert or Lawrence and "hand it out", but it should be clear for anyone looking into the data, that money put in the pockets of the rich, pretty much stay there.

At the end of the day, it is very handy for the rich that "the peasantry" is plentyful - easy to get people to do crappy jobs for crappy pay.

Thanks tRump! You are doing a bang up job of ruining our once great country.

the people saying the poor in America are so horribly destitute have probably never spent time outside of America.

Rarely do our poor people die of starvation, rarely do they die from exposure, rarely do they die from rampant disease. (please note I am talking about the working poor not the homeless)

could their lives be better sure, could people do more to help them, probably. But the absolute worst of our working poor are still living way better than many people around the world.

Now I return you to your regularly scheduled you just don't know....

originally posted by: Uberdoubter

originally posted by: CB328
Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food, in spite of Trump's tax cuts, tarrifs and other policies. Directing policy at the elites has not and will not help regular people in this country. Only going back to our roots of a non-corporate, non-commoditized society with lots of union and government jobs will be able to fix the disaster that is the US. The average income has barely increased for decades while the cost of housing has tripled and the number of good jobs available for non-phd's has shrunk drastically. No amount of trickle down hoaxing can fix it.


money.cnn.com...

My impression of USA as an outsider, is that "back in the day", your vanilla middle class family had two brand spanking new cars, a swimmingpool and not a care in the world. These days the same familiy work as burger flippers at some joint, and they drive an old banger held together by duct tape.

My impression may be colored by TV and movies - but from what I can tell, not only has the actual middle class shrunk into borderline poverty - in the process taking the low paid jobs from the really poor, but money is thrown after the affluent people in the other end of the spectrum at an accelerating rate.

The cost of education now seems pretty much out of reach of anyone besides people being paid $50,000 for a days' work - ie actors or talkshow hosts.

I raised an eyebrow when I found out the salary at which the US Top 1% start, is as low as $380,000 or something in that region. It certainly is a Metric Manure Ton more than I make, but still - with the shape of the curve being pretty much vertical at that point, it tells a story of a pretty apalling average for the lowest 99%.

It is of course impossible to wrestle money out of the greedy hands of a Colbert or Lawrence and "hand it out", but it should be clear for anyone looking into the data, that money put in the pockets of the rich, pretty much stay there.

At the end of the day, it is very handy for the rich that "the peasantry" is plentyful - easy to get people to do crappy jobs for crappy pay.

Money in the pockets of the rich does not stay there... do you people seriously think rich people keep mounds of cash or horde it so they can dive in it like Scrooge McDuck? They are lighting cigars with $100.00 bills. Only buffoons who do dumbsh* t like that are broke rappers, not real rich people. Yeah, Bill Gates is making it rain at the strip club.



Where do you think private equity and venture capital funds get their money to invest in new businesses? All that wealth is being recirculated through investments seeking higher returns. They also give away a lot of money to charity. Go look around your city at museums, churches, schools, hospitals, operas, parks, homeless shelters, etc. You will find that most of these things are actually funded by the rich. That's why their names are on the freaking buildings...

originally posted by: Edumakated
The poor in America are so destitute that obesity is their biggest health issue...

Obesity is the biggest health issue for most Americans, not just the poor. The problem is that unhealthy junk food is cheap. Healthy food that's actually desirable is expensive. Soda is cheaper than water. A pound of Kraft singles are 1/4 the price of a pound of fresh cut cheese. Walmart food is loaded with chemicals and preservatives.

Some of this is supply and demand, better food is going to rise in demand, therefore increasing the price. With healthy food being in vogue these days it naturally becomes more expensive. Throw in that healthier food also has a naturally shorter shelf life and the demand issues multiply. Poor people simply don't have the income necessary to shop healthy.

It's tough to eat healthy for a single person on less than about $250/month (and near impossible on less than $150). When your income is say $10/hour, you're looking at about $1400/month. Paying $250 in food is 18% of income, nearly double what the suggested rate in a budget is.

Calorie intake is simply too high, but calorie dense foods tend to leave one feeling hungry unless they eat a lot of it. Then there's the flip side too which is that employment is starting to involve less and less physical activity. In the $10/hour range I think of jobs like gas station attendants and cashiers who are mostly stationary, office workers, retail positions, call center operators, data entry, and so on. Few of these jobs outside of positions like a truck loader in a warehouse, waitresses, and a few others are high in physical activity so burning calories doesn't happen either.

There's always exercise as a remedy for that, but I don't think it's fair to blame poor people for being obese on a lack of exercise, when a lack of exercise is a problem plaguing most income demographics.

a reply to: Uberdoubter

Basically. The lifestyle that was middle class 20 years ago is now reserved for upper middle class. Most Americans finances are in shambles. Debt is high, savings are low, income is going down, and assets are declining.

Just look a few posts back and someone accused me of saying an extravagant lifestyle was some minimal retirement savings, a single car in a 4 person (dual income) household, and one week of vacation a year.

What used to be considered poor has been elevated to the middle class, because a true middle class lifestyle has slipped out of reach of most people.

There are a lot of reasons as to why this is the case, and that's what we mostly argue about and discuss, but there's no doubt it's happening.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
the people saying the poor in America are so horribly destitute have probably never spent time outside of America.

Rarely do our poor people die of starvation, rarely do they die from exposure, rarely do they die from rampant disease. (please note I am talking about the working poor not the homeless)

could their lives be better sure, could people do more to help them, probably. But the absolute worst of our working poor are still living way better than many people around the world.

Now I return you to your regularly scheduled you just don't know....

What you just described is a hallmark of any developed nation. America is sliding out of that club.

Sure, many undeveloped and developing nations have poor people in far worse conditions but those aren't the countries we should be comparing ourselves to. We should be comparing ourselves to Germany, France, Japan, UK, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and so on.

originally posted by: Edumakated
Money in the pockets of the rich does not stay there...

I get your point, but I want to challenge you on this. Most wealth does not trickle down. Lets take a tech startup as that's what I'm most familiar with (though I'm not great on all the terminology). Lets say the first round of funding starts, I think that's called series A? And the company raises $2 million. That will probably hire a team of 5 for a year at a cost of $500,000. The remainder of that $2 million will go towards corporate expenses such as equipment, legal fees, office space, taxes, and so on. Of that $2 million, you're looking at 1/2 that recirculates among the upper tier professional classes (consultants, c level execs, lawyers, etc), 1/4 on equipment that can be liquidated and recovered if the investment goes bad, and only 1/4 of it that trickles down to the labor force.

It's true that the rich are spending money, but most of what they're spending goes to other rich folks.

Yea I know I am living in germany right now, I watch my neighbors working multiple jobs to keep a roof over their heads. When I talk to them about the economy they don't seem to think its so rosy a picture like the news likes to paint it.

They have all the same problems America does, every time I go for a run in the woods I see the shelters homeless/transient people build so they can get out of the weather.

Its just not something polite people talk about, its the main reason I laugh so hard when people tell me how much better Europe is.
I just went to Serbia recently, beautiful country, wonderful people, food was great the towns still looked like a war zone.


Also much like America the average European stays in their bubble 335 or so days a year, they typically go to the same vacation area and never ever travel outside their comfort zone.
This gives them the same slanted opinion many americans grow to have about anyplace outside their bubble.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: CB328

When was the last time all Americans could afford rent and food?

August 15th 1960?

originally posted by: Edumakated

...

Where do you think private equity and venture capital funds get their money to invest in new businesses? All that wealth is being recirculated through investments seeking higher returns. They also give away a lot of money to charity. Go look around your city at museums, churches, schools, hospitals, operas, parks, homeless shelters, etc. You will find that most of these things are actually funded by the rich. That's why their names are on the freaking buildings...

No matter how you slice it, the trickling must have changed during the past decades. I would make a qualified guess and assume that the majority getting close to no trickle is increasing, while upper management (who never seems to be subject to downsizing) can basically bathe in the stuff.

Over here in Norway, we don't have a tradition for the whole "Rich Douchebag Memorial Hospital" thing, but differences between rich and poor is increasing even here.

Guess what happens with increased differences between rich and poor? More crime. The rich douchebags will of course not care if the world burns around them - they have tall fences and locked gates.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
Thanks, Obama!

Really. You cannot see past that. You think this is caused by the previous administration. I thought you would be able to see past the left / right narrative.

The system is falling people