"The Working Poor" -- a GOP Invention?

[K8-EEE]

When I think of the poor people in my community growing up in the 70s, I think of them struggling with money, yes, but not impoverished.

Of course being kids, you know whose family has the nice houses and stuff, who can afford 2 cars, to get their kids bikes, to eat out, to have the extra money for little nicities.

But this is a different reality today where a person can work a 40 hour week for a major corporation and still make below the poverty level, I think that is a product of "trickle down economics." Did anybody notice that our current LOL "recovery" does not seem to be doing any good for impoverished people, especially the "working poor?"

[Bozita]

1. "The Working Poor" -- The fastest growing segment of American society

compassionate conservatism at its best

[tom_paine]

2. The "Working Poor" have always been with us

But after all the gains by the Middle Class after WWII, suddenly the working poor were fewer and richer.

That trend began to reverse during Raygun, and now wealth disparity approaches pre-Depression levels.

[Sugarbleus]

18. I'm one of "those"..

I wrote into a talk show several weeks ago and stated nearly the same thing--there is a mini/neo-depression going on right under the noses of the power elite. No "film at 11" so no one sees it (except the ones and their friends who are actually living it).
There are sooooooooooo many things wrong and going unaddressed; I get extremely depressed and have to turn it all off every few days so as not to have a stroke.
I could go on and tell stories of what this one and that one is going through but all of you/us already know it.
Hail to the Grief :(

[damnraddem]

24. Yes, indeed.

My parents went through the Depression and knew what it was to be among the working poor -- and always in fear of becoming the nonworking poorer. WWII, unionization, a strong U.S. economy, and political action reduced the size of the working poor. The GOP, and their DLC stooges through NAFTA and other initiatives, have reversed that trend. Those whose parents had escaped are in danger of again falling into the working poor, or the unworking poorer; and many have taken the fall, especially in the past three years. We need to change the trend. Dumping Dubya is just the first step.

[camero]

3. I hate that bloody term.

The "working poor" term is just a conservative invention to keep us all ostracizing the unemployed and disabled. We are all poor regardless of whether we're working or not.

I agree someone should be able to work a 40 hr week and stay out of poverty but we should also care about the people who are not working at this time. This "recovery" only benefits the wealthy. There are jobs being created. Just not here but overseas.

[BiggJawn]

Well, what convoluted P-C term SHOULD I call myself?

Frankly, I LIKE "Working Poor". short, and to the point. Sorry if it shows a lack of "sensitivity" towards the poor who don't work, but hey, poor is poor, I just happen to have a job.

[camero]

13. Anything to keep us fighting.

That is what they want. So then we don't see how they are robbing society. So you're "working (or deserving I should say) poor" and everyone else who is poor is a "loser" or "lazy".

Not beside the fact that there have been more than 3 million jobs lost since Bush took office. You can have the term if you like. But it only divides. It does not raise your standard of living one bit.

[Tansy_Gold]

15. I see your point, but. . . . .

. . . . I don't think the term was coined to distinguish between "working" poor and "lazy" poor, but rather to indicate that even people who are working and SHOULDN'T be poor -- i.e., they are following the traditional work ethic -- still are. So instead of being a phrase coined by the repukes, I think it's more a phrase coined by the liberals to point out that hey, trickle down DOESN'T WORK. The distinction then becomes between the "working" middle class and the "working" poor: both are "working" but one is comfortable and one is not.

Now, maybe that doesn't work (pun intended) for you. :shrug: I'm not sure exactly what phrase would apply accurately. I guess my contention is that there isn't a value judgment assigned to "working poor," but rather a suggestion that work alone isn't enough to get one out of poverty.

Just my dos centavos.

[camero]

16. The term goes back to the 80s

I heard it the same time as "deserving poor". It was linked to it by the repubs. They linked it with the "welfare queens".

Actually BiggJawn used a term last night that I thought fit exactly. The "educated poor". It includes people who at least have a high school education and are either underemployed or out of work.

My thing is I have been sick with diabetes and if I live today it will be a good thing. So please don't use the term "working poor" to put others down. I know you haven't but there is a danger of it being misinterpreted.

We are "educated poor".

Edit: for typo, doh.

[BiggJawn]

17. I'm glad you saw that post.

But what is "underemployed"? I think of it as people who are in 30-hour jobs where they get screwed out of benefits because they're not "full-time".

And if your'e worried about terms being mis-used, then "Educated Poor" is not that good, either.

Ever hear "if you're so SMART, why ain't you RICH?"

Believe me, Camero, I don't mean it as a put-down, I use it to diferentiate myself from those who have equal my education and work, but 3X my pay.

[camero]

22. Yeah, I've heard it.

I'm glad you saw mine too. It all boils down to how we judge one another. Maybe we just let the republicans take our vocabulary.

We should be looking for ways to bring our jobs back. The reason we're so smart and not rich is rape and pillage by the upper class.
That's what I always tell them.

Even though I can't necessarily rate myself as smart. Cause if I was "smart" I would have left my siblings in a bad situation and kept my money instead of being generous with it.

It was a good post that you made last night, thanks. :)

[catmandu57]

10. I hate it also

If you're working then one shouldn't be poor and the goddamn ceo's should'nt be payed 200 times what a line worker makes.

[K8-EEE]

12. Well How About Disney...

Where they ship the artists jobs to Thailand and then the top exex get like, $80 million Christmas bonuses? Do you think I'm kidding?? I wish I was.

[loftycity]

4. The US Duh Ship goes down

This is the worst. You are so right on.
What is does.. it drags everyone else down. And the corporations are so deluded...that pretty soon no one is going to be buying anything..because we cannot afford it. They are shrinking the largest buying base in the world. It's not going to just sink us..the whole world will go down with the US Duh Ship.

They are laying off people in China...even they can't do it cheap enough. And that's not good...that's where some serious anger is going to start boiling over.

[K8-EEE]

9. The Middle Class Is Disappearing

It seems like you need a LOT of money just for essentials. I do believe that simple basics...shelter, food, medical should be within reach of every full-time American employee.

[BiggJawn]

5. Yeah, but unlike a lot of GOP "inventions", this one's REAL.

Nice house? 2 cars? Afford bikes? Not me.

Sure, I eat out a lot, but it sure as hell ain't no damn place you gotta make reservations for and STILL slip the Maitre D' a sawbuck to avoid sitting by the kitchen scuttle...

I don't see how people who work at Walmart or Prion-Patties make it.

[K8-EEE]

7. Definitely Things Were Easier For My Parent's Generation...

The house they bought for $30,000 in 1966 is now worth $600,000!

I could never afford a house in the neighborhood I grew up in. And he bought it when he was still in law school and working as a clerk, my mom never had to work. Things are much different now.

[loftycity]

8. Prion-Patties thats a good one

That was priceless---I needed a good laugh..
I'm a snappy hour diner myself..has to be half price.
I made more in the 80's than I do now...not exactly your vision for the future?!?

[BiggJawn]

20. In buying power, I'm worse-off, too.

here's just an example:
1977, I made $16,000 a year working in a factory. I owned a $4500 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

2004, I make $38,000 a year, that same Harley would now cost me over 25 Grand. I KNOW the MSRP is only 16 Kilobucks, but..."Supply and Demand", my local dealer asks and gets 25.
Even best-case, 25 years ago, it cost 1/4 a year's pay. Now it's 1/2 a year's pay. (using MRSP) In reality, it's almost 3/4 a year's pay.

Gasoline then was 50 cents a gallon. today, it's $1.51.

10 years ago, my dream was to make 40 kilobucks a year, but then, 40 kilos was SOMETHING.

A buck just doesn't give as much bang these days. 25 years ago, UAW members would have envied my 38 kilobucks, now I can't even get an invite to wash dishes at the country club...

[DieboldMustDie]

6. Since its high point in 1968...

the U.S. minimum wage has declined in value by nearly 40%. About 2/3 of that came under Reagan, but it went down slightly even during the Carter and Clinton years. To get back to the 1968 level it would have to be increased to roughly $8.50 today.

[mopinko]

11. raygun's plan

i always thought that st. ronnie's plan to whip inflation was to allow a flood of cheap imports, which both lowered prices, and caused unemployment. that lead to a lid on wages, and helped to destroy unions. if your union can't keep you working, and can't get you a raise, you start to resent paying your dues. it helped that they were easily able to go after mob control of many of the unions. this is a chapter all it's own, but the thing is, ron's boys used it to their advantage.
dean's insistance that the unions built the middle class, and the prosperity of the 50's is one reason that i support him.

[htuttle]

14. I think that if a person has a high school degree

They ought to be able to expect to get a decent 40hr a week job that not only supports them, but allows them to buy a house and support a family.

That's honestly how the world was when I grew up around Milwaukee. There was an expectation that as long as you graduated HS, you could land a factory job, and that would allow you to start a family.

A person hasn't been able to do that in the US since Reagan started looting our economy with his 'voodoo economics'.

Milwaukee used to be full of homeowners. Now it's far more renters. It's not because people are lazy, it's because their jobs went overseas years ago.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. I have a college degree and I can't find a job.

I was born right after the end of the baby boom and was always told that if I went to college, I would be alright. Imagine how we felt when we found out that it was a lie. We are still thinking in a 1970 paradigm where education automatically equals prosperity, but the reality bears a strikingly different picture. I know several college grads that are working minimum wage jobs (in fact, two) in an attempt to keep their heads up.

"Educated Poor" is the best way to describe the folks that would have been in the middle class 30yrs ago, given their education. Now folks are facing mid-career changes due to outsourcing or shifting of production, wondering why they went to college, when they could have worked the same job with only a HS degree.

It all comes back to the disparity between the "rich" and "poor" in this country. A small percentage of the population holds the destinies of millions in their greedy hands. It is easier for some folks to hire immigrant workers, and pay them less, than elevate a impoverished population to the level of a living wage.

[trackfan]

26. I must have been on the cutting edge of the educated

poor. I graduated from UCLA in 1981, and immediately got a minimum wage job ($3.35/hr). I didn't hit the $10/hour mark until the early '90s.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

28. Ooooh... I remember those $3.35/hr dys.

I think my fist job paid that.

edit: Good Luck!

[Nikia]

19. I don't see it as a negative term

There are some people who are naive and think that if someone is poor that they must not be working, at least full time. I think that is good to remind people that not all low wage earners are teenagers living at home with their parents or the spouse of someone with a decent income. If one is trying to support oneself on $7.00/hour, they will have difficulty. If they have to support a couple of children as well, that is almost impossible. Something must be done so that a full time job means that one is not poor. It doesn't mean that the non working poor should not be helped.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

23. With my bills...

I need at least $12.00/hr to pay all of my bills*. Minimum. That includes my student loans. You know, the loans that I had to take out to pay for the education to make me a productive member of society? Give me a good job. It'll be a pleasure to work them off.

edit: * denotes living expenses only, no luxury items included!

[K8-EEE]

25. I Agree -- Education=Middle Class Is Not Reality

Not in GWB America, that's for damn sure.

We have all been told (and I believed) that education/hard work were the map leading out of poverty, just pointing out that this is no longer true.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

27. Amen! Somebody else gets it.

Thats whats so damaging about this immigration bill.

[solinvictus]

29. Working Poor

I agree that this seems to be the growth sector in the US population. The middle class dream of working hard, getting ahead, and owning a home seems to be vanishing. Education won't do it anymore. I had people with post-graduate degrees working for me as $8/hour temps in a data imaging center.

[camero]

30. That's because "getting ahead".....

Has now been reduced to cronyism, nepotism, and the good old boy network. And don't ever get sick. Honest.