GOP War on Poor People

When we talk about the poor, the word 'Poor' is always associated with minorities and this is a group the GOP is having trouble appealing to and it's latest actions will only make it harder for them to appeal to them in future elections.

 In a country where more and more people are living in poverty, why is the GOP branding itself as the party that hates the poor? Increasingly threatened by demographic changes, since November the GOP has sought to make inroads among Latinos while not losing more ground with America’s women. But their latest move will merely reinforce that they stand for punitive policies that target exactly these demographic groups, as they represent a significant segment of the growing population that is poor.

The Republicans are fighting a deliberate battle against the poor. It is audacious, insensitive and ugly. Republicans have clearly decided that the War on the Poor is good politics such as the case when it comes to food stamps.  Republicans seem to think people on food stamps must just be lazy -- or worse. Republicans are ideologically incapable of imagining a world where people can't find a job because there aren't enough of them. In other words, they won't let themselves understand the world we live in. They think food stamp use is at record-highs, because people are drug addicts or just shiftless, not because the recovery has been so weak. This insistence that our problems are all supply, and no demand, is why Republicans have opposed any and all attempts to stimulate the economy.

FYI: Food Stamp Use is Highest in Red States such as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, the Carolinas, Texas, etc.

 The number of Americans relying on federal help to get food has been climbing for years now. It’s not just the unemployed relying on the vouchers....seniors, veterans, school children and the disabled are among the groups hit hardest in this Great Recession. And the Republicans in Congress have a great idea that will save money and take care of the hunger problem: Cut America’s “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” completely…

Myths About The Poor

Myth #1. The poor are poor because they are lazy. This is the biggest myth of all. The typical“poor” person in America works 40 or more hours a week. He also spends countless hours commuting to and from work and tending other tasks because when you’re poor you have to do everything for yourself. And the jobs they typically have are among the most physically demanding there are.

Myth #2. The poor are poor because they are irresponsible with their money. It is true that most poor people have what is known as “bad credit.” But what is one to do when your monthly expenses constantly outpace your income. I’ve heard Republicans complain that if poor people would stop spending their money unnecessarily and put some away they wouldn’t be so poor. Gees, how clueless can you get. Poor people pay their bills until there isn’t anything left. They agonize every single month over what to pay and what not to pay. There’s no “what do we do with the left over money” because there isn’t any.

Myth #3. The poor are subsidized by welfare. Wrong, most people who are counted as “poor” don’t get any public assistance at all because they don’t qualify. Those who do mostly receive some kind of food assistance, but only of they are severely disabled or have children. And the vast majority of those people work full time at jobs like police officers, firefighters, and members of the U.S. military. I personally believe that welfare does not subsidize the poor; it subsidizes the employers who refuse to pay an equitable wage.

But there other reasons the Right-Wing have such disdain for the poor. These reasons have to do with the habit of dehumanizing your enemy in order to ease your conscience. And the best way to do this is to invent myths about your enemy and then repeat them until you believe them yourself

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point, although my views are generally conservative, I have a deep passion for issues dealing with the poor. No one asked to be poor...Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor, Being poor is seeing how few options you have, Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap, Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you. Republicans, stop being so damn hard on the poor at a time when everyone....EVERYONE is having a hard time with the ongoing sluggish economy & the lack of jobs being created at this juncture. No one wants nor asked to be poor!