Oprah: 30 million people working full time, living on poverty level wages

[NVMojo]

depressing ...very depressing.

[boobooday]

1. Not just depressing. Shameful.

And infuriating!
:mad:

[NVMojo]

9. you are right, shameful, and Cheney gets back $1.8 million in tax refund

makes me want to puke ...

[boobooday]

11. I am a graduate student

And I owe money this year.

And I will puke, at least virtually: :puke:

[EFerrari]

19. I had to quit grad school two chapters away from my dissertation

because my partner became ill.

It's crazy. Wasteful and inhumane.

[Jayhawk Lib]

14. Cheney and his wife

donated a lot of money to charity. I can not remember where I read the out of 8 mil in income they donated 6 mil.

The poor things only had 2 mill to live on.

[peacebaby3]

2. I was just about to post about this show. I was proud of Oprah for this

show. I was in tears through a lot of it.

She was really speaking up about the ridiculous $5.15 min. wage.

[fooj]

3. But...but Little Lord Pissypants says our economy is strong.....

Lying rat bastard.

[Rose Siding]

5. It is! - Cheney got a 1.8 million refund.

Depends on what your definition of "is strong" is :(

[jsamuel]

4. i may be one

:hi:

What qualifies as poverty level?

full-time for $8 an hour?

that is actually pretty good compared to $5.15 an hour

[Warpy]

15. The formula for the poverty level is wrong

andf they've fiddled the market basket of basic foodstuffs for years, thanks to Greenspan.

Officially, a family spends 1/3 of its budget on food, or about $6000 a year if they cook all meals at home and hamburger is a once a week splurge. That means the official poverty level for a family of four is $18,000/year.

Well, in real life, food hasn't inflated as quickly as everything else, so that family spends 1/6 of its budget on food. Even with Greenspan's parsimonious market basket of $6000/year, that means the REAL poverty level is $36,000/year for a family of four.

I am a nurse. I worked 12 hour night shifts with nursing assistants who were parents. Some of them had home care jobs that ran from noon until 6, leaving them about 4 hours after the night job to catch a little sleep. Some of them worked 4 nights a week in one place, 3 nights in another. That means some very serioulsy exhausted people are taking care of hospital and nursing home patients. Think about that.

I am glad Oprah is calling attention to the starvation wages that service workers are expected to survive on. I just hope she manages to start something.

We sure can't count on any wimpy Democrats to bother.

[jsamuel]

16. yeah, that is about right, i am one

:hi:

after my wife graduates, we should be in much better shape

[RayOfHope]

21. That's my family

"that means the REAL poverty level is $36,000/year for a family of four."

That's us.

[htuttle]

6. At first I thought you were talking about Oprah herself

I wondered, "Why would Oprah live on poverty level wages if she was making 30 million per year?"

:eyes:

It is depressing, however.

[Systematic Chaos]

7. If you are earning less than $8 something an hour...

...you're earning LESS than the equivalent of the minimum wage in 1974. Three guesses why our standard of living is going straight down the crapper, and the first two-and-a-half don't count. :(

[0007]

8. Has the superpower slide into third world status?

'Tis all about corportae America and those high payed CEOs, isn't it?

[The2ndWheel]

10. Because.............

if poverty didn't exist....................come on..................all together......................there would be...................be no economy..............wouldn't have capitalism................

We had slavery, then a new source of very cheap energy(which is why slavery ended, at least here), then when women and blacks were considered human beings and unions became strong, we then had more automation and the outsourcing we know and love today.

Poverty isn't going away. That's not how economics works.

[Cobalt Violet]

12. 37million Americans live in poverty.

30 million of them are working. And many millions more are living pretty close to poverty.


I noticed the show didn't even mention corporate greed.

[devilgrrl]

13. Well perhaps those people should just find second jobs

:sarcasm:

[Child_Of_Isis]

20. They are too lazy to work 16 hours a day. eom

[KittyWampus]

17. And what is defined as poverty level wages is even MORE depressing

[leftstreet]

18. WOW! I bet people will TAKE TO THE STREETS NOW

:eyes:

Why doesn't she step up to the plate and start mobilizing people, instead of showcasing them in another hankie vapors show.

Travel Feature

Billionaires On Vacation

The 400 Richest Americans--aka the Forbes 400--have a combined total net worth of $885 billion. So where do these 800-pound financial gorillas like to spend their vacations? Like the old joke goes: Anywhere they want.

From the ski slopes of Aspen and Gstaad to the beaches of Mustique and the Hamptons, instead of staying at a resort many billionaires (and millionaires) prefer to own multiple homes around the world--partly because it's always nicer to sleep in your own bed and partly because, well, they can. Of course, when you're an ultra-high net-worth individual your home can be as big as a resort--and also as luxurious, complete with maid service, golf, tennis and a private chef.
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/travel/2002/09/19/0919feat.html

Exxon Chairman Gets $400 Million Retirement Package Amid Soaring Gas Prices

April 14, 2006— Soaring gas prices are squeezing most Americans at the pump, but at least one man isn't complaining.

Last year, Exxon made the biggest profit of any company ever, $36 billion, and its retiring chairman appears to be reaping the benefits.

Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes.

Last November, when he was still chairman of Exxon, Raymond told Congress that gas prices were high because of global supply and demand.

"We're all in this together, everywhere in the world," he testified.
:grouphug:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1841989

[mondo joe]

22. So it's revolution in the streets or nothing?

Jeeeezus Christ, what an unfortunate response.

Awareness leads to change.

[leftstreet]

24. Who said anything about a revolution...

:shrug:

Looks pretty peaceful to me.

[graywarrior]

23. Only 30 million! In a country of over 285 million?!

Come on, there's more than that. I see them all over the place. My agency deals with them all day long. It's way more than 30.

[killbotfactory]

25. They are too lazy for hard work!

Oh wait, did you say full time?

They should work smarter, not harder!

*lights a cigar with a 100 dollar bill*

[lastknowngood]

26. She doesn't give a F**k! She shilled for Arnold and the Shrub.

n/t