U.S. Poverty Rate Rises; Christians say Public Policy is Key

[ShockediSay]

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 Posted: 9:27:53AM EST

The nation’s poverty rate rose for the fourth consecutive year, bringing the rate to 12.7 percent of the population last year, according to statistics by the Census Bureau.


The Bureau on Tuesday said over 37 million people were living in poverty – up 1.1 million people from 2003.

The last decline in the overall poverty was in 2000, when the census found that 31.1 million people – 11.3 percent of the population - lived under the threshold.

According to Jim Winkler, the General Secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society, the poverty is due in large parts to the nation’s public policy priorities.

“This is beyond a simple matter of ups and downs in the economy,” said Winkler. “The policy of this administration has been to aggressively redistribute money from the poor to the rich.” - - -


http://www.christianpost.com/article/church/2271/section/us.poverty.rate.rises.christians.say.public.policy.is.key/1.htm

[Raster]

1. Who would Jesus steal from?

"The policy of this administration has been to aggressively redistribute money from the poor to the rich.”

There you have it.

[demnan]

2. Bush is "supposedly" a Methodist

But he sure doesn't have the blessing of his church for his policies, does he?

[atreides1]

4. N/T

The only "Method" Bush understands is how to screw the American people, those who aren't rich anyway.

[Miss Chybil]

5. Nope. The Methodists opposed the war before it began. He's

no Methodist. Methodists are pretty liberal. His views seem more like Southern Baptist, or something like that.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Let's face it. Bush's views are going to be the same as the

segment of the population that will give him the most lip service. To have views of your own you have to have at least a minimal understanding of the topic and the ability to care about something besides yourself. From what I've seen, Bush lacks these qualities.

[StuckinKS]

3. Maybe

someone should tell this bit of information to the idiot in the White House. Like maybe his United Methodist minister?

[ShockediSay]

9. Wonder how many NOLA residents will be pushed

Wonder how many NOLA residents will be pushed into poverty and homelessness. Whatever happened to "we are all in this nation together."

Ans: "Infectious greed" - - Alan Greenspan.

[CBHagman]

11. Aren't there already plenty of poor people there?

Granted, the next months are going to be awful, economically speaking, but I think many of them were already in pretty dire straits.

[AspenRose]

15. He goes to church?

Seriously: How many photos have you seen of him attending service on Sunday?

You saw the Clintons going every Sunday.

:think:

[EC]

7. Wealth Redistribution, Wealth Redistribution,

Wealth Redistribution, Wealth Redistribution, Wealth Redistribution, Isn't that what the RW scream at all us socialist? :sarcasm: I guess it matters whom it is being redistributed too and from.

[Lindacooks]

8. FINALLY, a Christian organization that gets it AND speaks out.

The only time there has ever been a significant improvement in the lives of a large number of people has been when the federal government gets involved and helps. Charities, churches, nonprofits are all good, but they can't do enough.

[deacon2]

10. There are many actually

Check out the United Church of Christ. We had a member of Code Pink who had just been with Cindy Sheehan speak to us after church last Sunday. When the Dobson madness was going on about Spongebob, UCC ran an ad showing our leader welcoming him into the church.

Also The Sojourners. Their site is like an oasis in a sea of my brain-dead brethen.

You won't always agree with them - but as good Democrats, we know its our birth right to never even agree with each other!

There are a few more that escape me at this time, but it's a growing - and good - thing. The common point among all these groups is pointing out - and attempting to mitigate - the economic injustice of this administration and the illegality of the war in Iraq. A good place to start at least.

But in the end our country must reject these most Un-Christian values of Mr. Bush and his henchmen.

[Iowa]

12. Good point Lindacooks...

I worked for many years as a professional in a human services occupation with the State. I worked with people who were down and out. Charities and churches simply were not players - period. The one exception in my area was the Salvation Army. But the rest were so insignificant that they didn't even appear on the radar. I had a large Rolodex containing the phone numbers of many resources, and there wasn't a church, charity, or religious organization in there (except the Salvation Army).

Regarding non-profits, some were definitely players, but what many people don't realize is that most wouldn't even exist without government funding. Example: Goodwill Industries. I was responsible for buying their services on behalf of the State. They wouldn't lift a finger without being paid - and they charged as much as they could get by with. Their fees were very high, and we had to watch them constantly to ensure they followed through and didn't cut corners. Their execs are very well paid, but their front-line staff are not. They operate very much like a "business" in that regard. While they are private and non-profit, their services are bought and paid for with tax dollars, and they are paid VERY well. Although they owe their existence to government funding, they were operated by pro-business, anti-government services, safety-net shredding Republicans - the likes of Fred Grandy (Love Boat's Gopher) - who were hellbent on further privatizing services being provided by State employees earning a decent living. Needless to say, I give my used stuff to the Salvation Army - NEVER to Goodwill.

[OhioBlue]

13. i guess this mean some bush

hack will lower the poverty threshold to better the numbers.

[xchrom]

14. that's the way bush and 50 million other{or however many}

people wanted it.

this is satisfying to people who voted for the malicious simpleton.

our fellow country men and women are as much to blame as bushco.

[kmwakak8]

16. hmmm

even satan can quote scripture. I believe we've met the anti Christ