Not Once.

[cali]

All morning I've been listening to the House debate on the payroll tax holiday extension. And though dems have said some good things, not once, not one single time by one single member of Congress did I hear anyone speak of the poor or the working poor, just endlessly going on about the middle class and the elderly. It paints a vivid picture of how we view the poor in this country: As Unmentionable, as Unspeakable, as Shameful, as Fearful, as Hateful. This at a time when 48% of us are poor or "low wage".

Houston, we have a problem.

[Autumn]

1. cali, the poor don't matter to them

they don't exist in their world and they are doing nothing to help the elderly.

[MjolnirTime]

2. If poor people would vote a s a bloc, this would never happen.

Unfortunately, most of the rural poor have been subverted by the GOP via social issues.

[The Doctor.]

7. More accurately:

By the corporate owned Media and GOP in order to keep the people divided.

[redqueen]

8. Disenfranchised groups (such as the poor)

are far less likely to vote. They get the sense that their concerns won't ever be addressed, so they think it's pointless, so they don't bother. And various forms of social media back up their beliefs, repeating the mantra that it doesn't matter, and that no matter who gets elected nothing will ever change.

Despite the fact that this isn't the case (significant change is glacially slow, but quite obviously has happened), people stay home in droves. Result? Certain issues are underrepresented, and change is slowed even more.

It's a vicious cycle.

[99Forever]

11. Considering what has ...

... happened in the recent past to the less fortunate, as compared to the very privileged, it's pretty damn clear our concerns AREN'T ever going to addressed. Not by "the system" in place at this time, "voting" and even working our asses off within "the system" have afforded almost no relief. The view from the bottom isn't pretty and it seems NO ONE that could help, cares a wit about fixing it.

I'll vote, but only selectively.

[yodermon]

12. "if poor people would ________"

Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If you're poor, you're trying to earn enough to even EAT (and other basic necessities).
Political organization takes time, $$, etc.
which of course is perfectly fine for the 1%.

[fascisthunter]

16. thank you for that reply

So often do I read assumptions made about the poor without really knowing or realizing what they go through.

[MjolnirTime]

25. I've been poor most of my life. Try not to make assumptions.

[smokey nj]

20. I wish I could recommend your reply.

[MjolnirTime]

24. all it takes is a vote.

[DeathToTheOil]

3. K'd & R'd

[Laelth]

4. Agreed. This is a serious problem. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[Orsino]

5. To the one-percenters and their lackeys, the rest of us *are* the poor.

We are in their way.

[Odin2005]

6. We do not exist to them. Fuck the Establishment, it needs to go.

[99Forever]

9. When you haven't seen a paycheck or...

.. an Unemployment Benefit for a year or two, it gives you a whole new perspective how easily our "elected" officials can ignore you and your plight. The poor and the desperate have no representation in Washington DC. We don't even rate lip service any more. It frightens me to consider where this Nation is headed. What an awful legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren and beyond.

[Cleita]

10. This country only cares about the middle class and that is why most Americans, who have jobs and

are able to make their ends meet, ignore the homeless and those "down on their luck" or unable to care for themselves. The fact that the homeless, addicts and others without recourse have been descending on the Occupy camps and are giving the Republicans fodder to criticize the the encampments shows that even the people whose hearts and minds are mostly in the right place are reluctantly including these people in the movement but actually wish they would go away. The fact that we have this whole demography among us that in South America would be called the shirtless ones or descamisados points starkly to the fact that they are the very symptoms of what is wrong with this country, yet it's the middle class that is being referenced and no one else, who really could use societal help to be reintroduced into the mainstream as productive citizens of this country and therefore consumers not only helping the middle class but the rich as well.

[cthulu2016]

13. "the middle class and the elderly" are reliable voters

And, of course, economic down-turns do tend to have the demonization of the poor as a cultural feature.

[McCamy Taylor]

14. The middle class and the elderly ARE poor. This is some pretty wierd divide and conquer

you have going here, pitting the "poor" against the folks who can not afford their rent, their meds, their food---in other words, the poor.

It smacks of those who claim that Americans should not complain---at least they are not Somalians.

[cali]

18. huh?

what the heck? I'm dividing and conquering. And no, the middle class are not poor in the sense of homeless are people like me who depend on the food shelf to supplement their food stamps. I keep the heat at 55. And due to an accident I had in September, my situation is even more perilous. The fact is that middle class in NOT same thing as being poor. It's just not. And YOU should know that.

you have a lot of nerve accusing me of pitting the poor against anyone.

[bigtree]

19. sorry to hear things are so tough for you, Cali

better days

[txlibdem]

15. I love Capitalism. I have always loved Capitalism.

I love our current system of government.

[fascisthunter]

17. are you serious, when you say you love our current system of government?

[blindpig]

23. Enjoy your chains. n/t

[bvar22]

21. The last time "The Poor" were mentioned by our Washington Politicians...

...was the day John Edwards withdrew from Campaign 2008.
I KNOW you hated him,
but I give him credit (warts and all) for at least standing UP FRONT in our Party and calling attention to the plight of The Poor in America.

K&R




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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[ehrnst]

22. People avoid thinking of themselves as poor - Poor are "other people"

Even if they are scraping by - people want to think of themselves as middle class, because there is a stigma of failure attached to "poor."

[NorthCarolina]

26. They work for the 1%

and view the poor as a scourge on America who would be better off dead....all in good time.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

27. This is so sadly true.

Everything revolves around lip service to the middle class. It's as though compassion for the poor is unseemly.