Americans are desparately poor, and Conservatives don't seem to give a fuck.

[maxsolomon]

My Mother-in-Law passed 2 weeks ago, and we put a lot of her home healthcare items up on Craigslist, for free. 4 wheel & 2 wheel walkers, a shower chair, a wedge pillow, a toilet seat extender. Nothing fancy.

I got 15 responses in 2 hours and took the post down, started trying to be fair about who would should get it. 1st responder first? Worst tale of woe?

I wound up giving one of the 2-wheel walkers ($60 new) to a woman who sounded dirt poor. She drove from Graham, WA to Seattle to get it. 50 miles. She was white, overweight, probably mid-50s (same as me), had a bum knee. I wound up also giving her the shower chair I'd promised to the 1st responder, because she so obviously was going to need it.

Contrast that to yesterday's mind-melting article on Ben Carson's attempts to destroy HUD in the face of people spending 70% of their monthly income on rent: http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/07/27/nyt/as-affordable-housing-crisis-grows-hud-sits-on-the-sidelines/

Carson doesn't want Section 8 recipients to get too comfortable in their homes. He can't seem to recognize that people are elderly or disabled, UNABLE to work, and they won't ever get better. Where are they supposed to go? What work are they supposed to do?

His solution? Triple the minimum rent.

[dawg]

1. Actually, they really do give a fuck.

They are outraged at the small scraps of public assistance that such people still receive, and they are tirelessly working to eliminate them. Just thinking about it gives Paul Ryan a stiffy.

[maxsolomon]

2. somewhere, someone is getting something that they don't deserve

but show them an individual case like this lady, and it tugs at their heartstrings, like Reagan cutting personal checks.

its so easy to condemn others in the abstract. its the key to the appeal of the GOP and the anger I hear every day at the homeless in Seattle.

if only jesus had said something about this topic...

[kacekwl]

3. Didn't you get the message,

the economy is booming !

[maxsolomon]

4. But wages are stagnant, and out of the workforce is out of the workforce.

I got the message - I'm at work today trying to keep up.