Poverty in America: Great Wealth by Most People’s Standards
From 2012.
Taxpayers in America are told by Democrats that we are guilty of a lack of concern for the poor. We should therefore consent to more taxes.
Here is a chart on what it means to be poor in America.
This was published by the conservative research organization, the Heritage Foundation.
The accompanying report had this information. You will not see this on the network TV news shows.
For decades, the living conditions of the poor have steadily improved. Consumer items that were luxuries or significant purchases for the middle class a few decades ago have become commonplace in poor households, partially because of the normal downward price trend that follows introduction of a new product.Liberals use the declining relative prices of many amenities to argue that it is no big deal that poor households have air conditioning, computers, cable TV, and wide-screen TV. They contend, polemically, that even though most poor families may have a house full of modern conveniences, the average poor family still suffers from substantial deprivation in basic needs, such as food and housing. In reality, this is just not true.
Although the mainstream media broadcast alarming stories about widespread and severe hunger in the nation, in reality, most of the poor do not experience hunger or food shortages. The U.S. Department of Agriculture collects data on these topics in its household food security survey. For 2009, the survey showed:
96 percent of poor parents stated that their children were never hungry at any time during the year because they could not afford food.
83 percent of poor families reported having enough food to eat.
82 percent of poor adults reported never being hungry at any time in the prior year due to lack of money for food.
Other government surveys show that the average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and is well above recommended norms in most cases.
The politics of guilt and pity get politicians elected. It also creates envy by the poor. They think the rest of society has not done enough to help. The demands are never-ending.
Would a person in India regard poverty in America as a curse? How about one of 600 million farmers in China? Or anyone in sub-Sahara Africa, except South Africa?
In the name of helping the poor, the welfare state expands into every area of our lives.
Continue reading on Heritage Foundation.
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Published on February 27, 2012. The original is here.