She receives 49 cents a day in FoodStamps, the maximum for a single adult in Walker's Wisconsin.

[jodymarie aimee]

I publish 2 letters a month for our DEMS since 2009....This is my December Letter for our Friday paper..Portage Co Gazette...It is not my usual clever funny or poetic letter, but I HAD to write it....you will see why...Jody Hurrish.

THE 2 SANTA CLAUS STRATEGY


God wants you to be rich, if you're poor you deserve to die in a ditch. And everybody said Amen. Recently a Catholic lady told me she is a Republican because "I don't think poor people should take from the Government." I busted out crying "How can you say that?" You see, I spend considerable time among and helping the elderly disabled and poor. 48% of Americans believe poors are morally inferior and deserve poverty. It's even higher among Christians, like the Catholic lady.

70% of poors are children elderly and disabled. Hating the poor is the bedrock upon which our country rests. The system has inoculated us against hating the rich. Republicans need pluralistic ignorance to enact their agenda. The GOP has used a two Santa Claus strategy to con America for 45 years. By 1974 Nixon resigned and Democrats kept winning. We were the New Deal (Santa) Party. Republicans(Scrooge) hated the idea of helping working people. How could they be Santa? Tax cuts!

Reagan embraced voodoo economics, benefiting the wealthy and not to be discussed in public. Republicans forced Dems into Santa Killers by raising taxes. Republicans thought they'd died and gone to Heaven, redefining Government. Elites rolled out tales of parasitic poors to deflect anger from themselves.

I would like you to meet April, 67, disabled from being thrown down cement stairs. Diagnosed in 2009 with the neck/back/arthritis of a 99 year old. Her annual income is $11,000. She lives in a HUD building where rent is 30% of income/assets. Of the 71 tenants 12 own automobiles. April's car has no bottom and she just put $700 into repairs. Her last grasp on independence, leaving her with $134. in the world. She's never owned a cellphone, house, washer/dryer or decent car. She receives 49 cents a day in FoodStamps, the maximum for a single adult in Walker's Wisconsin.

So you see, April is "taking" pennies a day for eats and a HUD building with no bathtub/garage, from her Government. Words not in her vocabulary: DVR, restaurant, dentist, optometrist, vacation, airplane, movies, security. You get the picture. April lives a teeny tiny life. Her family's uncomfortable with her poverty. How'd we get a poor in our family? They regard her as if she's from another planet, which of course she is. She cannot afford a Supplemental Medicare plan. Many of her neighbors are missing teeth, plural.

Yet if you met her, she's pretty, brilliant, funny, generous and nicely turned out. You'd never peg her as a poor. Poverty hiding in plain sight. April is not leeching off America, the Republican lady has it exactly backwards. Free only exists for the affluent.

April has a message for the Republican lady. "It hurts to be poor. It hurts even more to be berated out of ignorance. You could not survive one day in my life". Merry Xmas to all my brethren.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Dickens had it right when he gave us Scrooge...

and good old American muckrakers did it even better exposing the oil, railroad, and Wall Street barons.

But we never learn. Too many of us refuse to hate the rich and defend the poor because we want to be rich and don't want to be poor.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Two years ago I attended a live performance of "A Christmas Carol" at our

small neighborhood theater. Several times tears rolled down my cheeks even though Scrooge was funny. Afterward, I spoke to an older, refined gentleman sitting beside me. I said I could not understand how people of faith could watch (or read or view on TV) that work and still act so brutally against those with less. He said it was taught in the churches that people with money were blest by God and the poor were not.

Maybe Bibles should be replaced by Dickens.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Many Protestants are influenced by the idea of predestination, even though...

they might deny it.

Predestination means you are already chosen by God to be saved, and comes from a wacky reading of Revelation. Since you are one of the chosen, you will naturally be successful and wise.

It's nuts, but has pervaded the religion for some odd reason. It is, by the way, one of the things the Catholic Church is not guilty of. Catholics believe in forgiveness and the ability to gain salvation. Lutherans and others, too.

[TheRealNorth]

28. I always associated predestination with calvinism

I'm not sure which of today's protestant denominations came out of the Calvinists. I always assumed most grew out of the Lutherans.

[TreasonousBastard]

59. Right, and I would have mentioned Calvin if I wasn't having...

a brain fart while posting that. (How could I forget Calvin?)

Anyway, you could say everything grew out of the Lutherans back then, since Luther was the big megilleh, but Calvinists were most definitely not Lutheran and became Reformed, Congregationalist, some Presbyterians, and a few others.

The concept of predestination, however, is somehow attractive to many people and has managed to sneak into our consciousness. Early colonists were often Calvinist, or leaned toward their rather liberal political thought, and picked up some of the crazy.

[hostalover]

45. Many years ago (42, I think) I was talking with some young Mormon missionaries

whom I had befriended and let them visit me and my kids from time to time. I was not interested in becoming a Mormon but I liked these young men and enjoyed learning about their religion. One thing I remember--they assured me these were the "end times" and God had purposely chosen those of us who were now on earth and we were stronger and better. There is one obscure mention in the Gospels where Jesus and his disciples encountered a blind man who had been born blind. One of the disciples asked Jesus what the man had done in the "prelife" to have received this punishment. The missionaries used this reference to prove there was life before birth.

Hope I made sense. It's been awhile!

[summer_in_TX]

55. Methodists aren't taught that, as a rule.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

The church tends to be very active in trying to live up to that and in social outreach to those in need.

"Christ has no hands and feet but ours."

[raging moderate]

56. Very true.

Our Methodist churches take turns with other like-minded churches, hosting homeless people for a week. We set up beds in some of the Sunday School rooms, provide supper, breakfast, and a sack lunch. My church has committees that work to help refugees, poor people, and even (illegal immigrants-shhhh!)

[TreasonousBastard]

60. My UU church participates in a similar program with other local churches, but only for...

one night at a time.

My Quaker meeting in New Jersey had a program where we took them in for a week at a time.

[Recursion]

34. Scrooge believed in workhouses

They were a universal jobs guarantee: places that anyone could show up at any time and do 10 hours of piecework (that was a normal work day at the time) in exchange for a small stipend and two hot meals. Ebenezer Scrooge supported this concept, which today in the US would be considered far-left socialism.

[Hamlette]

2. the amount would be the same in any state

Walker isn't the only Scrooge.

[watoos]

13. I think the states can control disability pay and food stamps, but yeah, nobody is getting rich.

I wrote a letter to the editor in my small right wing town. It was about how I felt our country had become less civilized, even from days centuries ago.

I go to stores shopping and I see the red kettle bell ringers standing out in the cold and I tell them to move into the space inside the double doors. They tell me they are not allowed, people complained so the Salvation Army brass told their workers they had to stand outside. For crying out loud if you can't give or don't want to give to the Salvation Army put your indignant head down and walk past them. I always check with them if their hands are warm, if they say no, I walk a couple stores down and buy them packets of hand warmers. Merry Christmas is right.

[TexasBushwhacker]

32. I don't give to Salvation Army because of they are a church

If I want to contribute to a church, I will contribute to my church. I contribute to my local food banks, homeless shelters, etc. I don't think it's appropriate for church to be soliciting contributions outside a business.

[EarnestPutz]

46. Wow. Please rethink your position on this one.

Two stories come to mind.
A friend lived on the Gulf coast of Mississippi when
a hurricane leveled his home town a few years ago.
He went to FEMA and they gave him forms to
to fill out. He went to the Red Cross and they gave him forms to fill out. He went to
The Salvation Army and they gave him a cup of coffee and a bologna sandwich. He's
supported them ever since.
Second story. When The United Appeal got in trouble for six figure executive salaries
a few years ago, the major charities were questioned about their salary structure.
All the big ones, like The Kidney Foundation and the Heart Association had embarrassingly
high salaries. At the bottom of the list was top person in the Salvation Army, a "General",
who at that time made less than 10 grand a year. They are Christians who act like it.

[Doreen]

37. One of the years when I worked being a bell ringer they stationed me at Walmart. Walmart did not

want us near the building but said we could stand on the line separating the the side walk from the parking lot. Because I was not allowed to back up I nearly got hit several times. I told the Salvation Army and they said that was just Walmart's rules. They did not give a shit.

The last year I applied to work I noted because of my disability that I would need a stool to sit on occasionally to get off of my bad legs. The fat fucker who was the Captain rushed me out of the building like I was the plague. I have never gone back or given since then.

I have been in the building but that was because I volunteer for Mobile Ministry with my mothers Episcopal church feeding the homeless. MM no longer uses the SA building which I am fine with.

[Hamlette]

53. no, states do not control food stamps or Social Security disability

a few states add to one program or the other, for instance you get extra food stamps if you live in rural Alaska and California adds a bit to Social Security disability but the vast majority of the states give the federally mandated amount for each. A state cannot give less.

[Hortensis]

3. WI Republicans should be so ashamed.

It's not confined to WI, of course. That attempt by right wing extremists to restyle Jesus into one of them seems to be taking hold. The idea is that Christianity's had it wrong for 2000 years, Jesus isn't a libtard at all and never was.

[GoCubsGo]

23. Sociopaths are incapable of feeling shame.

They don't care. They never did. They've always been all about "I've got mine. Screw you."

[Hortensis]

30. But, GoCubs, we're not talking about the

roughly 1 out of @30 people who are sociopaths, but over 100 million "normal" conservative Americans. And it's not true for them. Sure we're frustrated, but we need to see them for what they are.

How today's Republicans became what most are now is complex, of course, but one thing is scary-obvious in all this: whole peoples can go scary-bad fast when they follow bad leaders, and with better leaders they can go better. Fast. This is also the case with some on the left.

Another thing is known: that ever since the Reagan era began in 1980, by the harnessing of new technology to manipulate them conservatives have been increasingly turned to follow authoritarian anti-liberal, anti-democratic leaders. A free, liberal internet turns out to be a major tool for oversetting liberalism.

(That also has been happening to a much smaller degree on the left, though, and it's desperately important that we realize it. In 2016 what turned out to be a small but sufficient number on the left were persuaded to help the right impose what was obviously increasingly fascistic leadership on America. Not that they understand it that way, of course.)

Your money would be safe, though, if you were to bet your own $0.49 that a lot of WI Republicans are not happy about this. In fact, a few of them helped elect a Democrat to govern their state just a month ago. The legislature continues its corrupt minority Republican rule only because of intensely corrupt gerrymandering, and the rethinking of some conservative voters in the face of its despicable policies is likely to continue.

[misanthrope]

57. I think you're referencing psychopathy

My understanding is psychopaths are born without the capacity for feeling those things. Sociopaths are made and have some capacity for emotional relation but don't always use it in ways you or I might.

However, I'm not a psychologist, just someone who has read a lot about it.

[ck4829]

4. "Here you go... a banana peel. Enjoy."

[scarletlib]

5. That woman is Catholic in name only.

[erronis]

6. Thank you jodymarie aimee - a very powerful piece.

[Luciferous]

7. 49 cents a day?! Are we a third world country now? Shame on Walker and the Republicans!

I would like to see them survive on that!

[raccoon]

20. To answer your question, yes, the US is a third world country. Nt

[TheBlackAdder]

8. A lot of Evangelicals believe if the Spirit is not within you, it's something about you.

.

If God has forsaken you, there is something wrong with you, that you are not blessed. Those who believe in a two-stage baptism are the worse, because they believe that once you speak in tongues, the Holy Spirit lives within you for the rest of your life and no matter what you do, it's sanctioned by God and you will sit by the right side of Jesus in the afterlife. That's why so many of these types are assholes, because they pretend to speak in tongues to be admitted into the club and are sanctimonious and convince themselves that they are holier than thou. Whatever they do, they will go to heaven.... no matter what.

.

[GoCubsGo]

24. Yep. A.K.A. the "Prosperity Gospel" that a lot of these TV preachers spew.

[TheBlackAdder]

36. That's a little different, more of a scam where the more you contribute, the more you'll receive.

.

The hucksterist of hucksters pull that scam on their congregants.

John Oliver did a fantastic multi-show bit on that, where he set himself up in a church and all.

.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. "Free only exists for the affluent". So true.

[mountain grammy]

10. And in Colorado, a blue state with benefits

it's largely the same because, even with a higher minimum wage and better health benefits, the income required to rent is beyond reach. The number of homeless is staggering.

[SWBTATTReg]

29. Ironic, isn't it? One of the 'better' places to live in this country supposedly (and please., ...

I'm not knocking any state here), because of higher min. wages and health benefits, among other things, cause demand for housing to go up, which cause higher housing prices in some areas. Coasts, urban areas, etc. all see this trend.

Often times, the stock of lower income properties can't keep up. I think states are realizing this trend and some are attempting to address this disparity in housing stocks. I've yet to see any really affirmative, working policies that seem to work. I know in some cases, some businesses are encouraging lower income workers by helping to find affordable housing for their workers, in other cases they simply move the factories (like we see so much now a days).

So kind of a limbo land here...stuck in between higher urban housing prices and suburban and rural areas who are very reluctantly allowing housing for lower income families to be built.

[mountain grammy]

33. It's a huge problem in Colorado

The cost of housing is insane..I live in a resort area with no shortage of million $ mansions that sit empty most of the time while locals are paying half or more of their income to live in a dump. The solution in Winter Park Co? Build housing for locals. It’s working, but not many towns have the will or the backing from voters. But with businesses running low on employees, solutions are needed.

[ProudLib72]

35. Don't get me started

I listen to the CPR division of NPR, and all they talk about is how great our economy is doing. Denver metro is projected to gain 50K jobs in 2019. Well, maybe in tech and pot industries. But that does nothing for the poor already living here because you know that most of those jobs will be filled by people from out of state.

I live in Boulder for the moment. Did you know that there was an old school downtown that the city was figuring out what to do with? There were a lot of people who wanted to convert it into a homeless shelter or reduced cost housing. Nope! That's not what the city needs to "grow". And this is coming from Boulder that is supposedly extremely liberal.

[llmart]

11. Wonderful piece and thank you for reminding us of why we're Dems in the first place.

I am not poor. I was financially comfortable my entire adult life and now consider myself to be comfortable in my senior years (so far). However, I grew up poor and I can attest to the statement "It hurts to be poor." You never forget what it feels like to be poor.

And let's face it. It's still a fact that single women are more likely to live in poverty when they are older. The jobs they held in their earning years could very well have been important jobs, but the pay was nowhere near a living wage. I have a sister who was always single. She has two degrees. She was a social worker, a librarian and served her country in a war zone. She's now 78. Her Social Security check is less than $600 a month. She lives in HUD housing, no car, her landline/utilities and internet are subsidized. HUD housing isn't always in the best neighborhoods. I challenge anyone to want to trade places with her.

Thank you, Jodie for what you do for others.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Digging It, Jodymarie!

Great LTE.

[watoos]

14. There must be a boom in Dominionists.

What a freaking religion. Rich people deserve to be rich because they are God's chosen, no matter how they obtained their riches. Poor people deserve to be poor because they sinned against God and God looks down on them, punishes them. Damn, that story in the bible about it being easier for a camel to make it through the eye of a needle than a rich man make it into heaven must have been debunked?

The people in our church, (Catholic) buy Christmas presents for poor people in a neighboring town. The response is growing bigger and bigger every year. Then I look at how our area voted and we voted 80%-20% for Trump. Something just doesn't add up.

[Farmer-Rick]

16. The stupidity of the rich are blessed by God theology is so obvious

Look at all those rich drug lords and criminals. Wow those mob bosses, that murder and abuse, sure are rich. The evil corrupt politicians who retire with undisclosed wealth are Gods chosen?

If your God rewards the holy with wealth here on earth, he sure loves criminals and murders.

[Loubee]

17. High impact writing. Please post this widely. Thank you!

[backtoblue]

18. K&R

Very nice writing jodymarie.

Thank you for this.

[bullwinkle428]

19. I just listened to some of these "Club for Growth" assholes, going on and on

about the debt. Their narrative, try as they might to cloak it with ambiguities, targets people like April directly. Sitting there all day in their fucking think tanks...truly some of our lowest forms of life.

[elocs]

22. I am 66 and retired and live in WI. My income is just over $12,000/year.

I am under the 100% federal poverty level.
When you are poor you need to go after every benefit available to you and take every advantage you can find.
This month I will get around $1 a day in food share which will be reduced to 80 cents a day because the COLA will increase my SS check by $23. I guess the price of food is not considered to have increased.
But I go to the food pantries every month and get most of my food from there so I never go hungry.

Now I retired at 62 and since I was under the 100% FPL I qualified for BadgerCare which is the Medicaid here for single adults without children.
It pretty much paid for everything and a 90 day prescription only had a $1 copay. Then when I turned 65, Medicare kicked in and BadgerCare was over. Not good, I paid into Medicare for years but it would actually cost me money for my healthcare when BadgerCare did not.
But here then I found out about the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program (QMB) which pays my $134/month Medicare part B premium.
But my deductible for Medicare healthcare would be $2,000 every 6 months which would be 2 months of my income (but fortunately I am healthy).
Then I kept seeing those ads for the Medicare Advantage plans and checked into it and got on with United Health Care. I pay no month premium, prescriptions are $1.25 copay, and I have dental care and vision with eyeglasses as well (I just went to the dentist and had a checkup and work done and I will get a vision test and glasses this month as well). So I'm in good shape as far a healthcare goes.

Housing costs me around $400/month. I've lived in the same mobile home for 27 years now which is old but the roof doesn't leak and it's comfortable for me. I'm a few blocks from the bus line and within walking distance of stores. Any homeless person in town would love to have it. Since I am poor I qualify for fuel assistance and last month I received a credit for $700 which will pay my energy bill for 4 1/2 months. Next month I will file for the Homestead Credit here in WI which will bring me another $500.
Phones? I haven't paid for phone us in years. I have a Google Voice internet phone for the house and a free cell phone under the government's Lifeline Assistance Program.

So at the end of each month I have a couple of hundred dollars left over and even have $2000 in savings.
It's not easy being poor but you really need to go after every benefit and program available to you because the rich have no problem doing that for themselves as well. And sometimes you need to search and look for those benefits and help because that information is not always given out freely.

[shanti]

25. Good for you!

It really is important to go after every benefit that you can find, when you have a low income. When I was raising 3 boys on my own and in college, I did just that too. I was on welfare (still available in the 80's), food stamps, subsidized student housing, free childcare, and Medi-Cal, and managed to make it work. Three growing boys eat a LOT!

The thing is that a lot of people just don't have the ability to navigate the tangled system where they make you jump thru so many hoops to survive. You have managed to do this, so I congratulate you!

[elocs]

27. Thank you. Yes it's important to be able to jump through the hoops

and follow the path step by step to get what you need. Too many don't or can't persevere and give up and go without what they should get to make their lives easier.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

47. you shouldn't have to jump through hoops

This is deliberately complex to discourage people.

Food, shelter, health care and education should be easily obtainable by all. The only qualification should be that you're human.

This stuff makes me mad. We need to remove Republicans and then remove the obstacles they've installed between people and their needs.

[elocs]

61. I don't believe the process is deliberately complex, no more than for anything else.

For instance, for Food Share, they want to know your income and for you to provide proof of it--that's not unreasonable. They want to know how many people live in your household and how much your rent or mortgage is. How much you receive is based upon these things. So if you don't provide what they are asking, then you don't get the benefits.
The process is not difficult, but it takes discipline. If you need help in completing what needs to be done, then you need to ask. If you don't ask for help, don't provide the requested information and proof, you don't get the benefits.

All of these programs get ripped off for thousands of dollars which only hurts those who truly need it.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

64. I've been through it in an earlier time

It's deliberately complex to support the propaganda about "welfare Cadillacs", so they can cut the budget for the social safety net in order to feed more to rich donors.

[elocs]

66. You need to follow the steps and provide what information or proof that is requested

When they say they need the information in 2 weeks you just have to do it. When it's time for your benefits to be renewed you can't just blow it off and expect to still get them. If you need help you can get help, but you can't just give up and decide it's too hard.

The biggest thing is finding out what benefits and other things that can help you out. Every little thing helps, and it's not just government programs. A church 6 blocks from me has a meal every Monday for anyone who wants to come. Now I don't go for the meal but they also give out pet food and this past Monday I got a 24 pound bag of cat food that will feed my cats for months.
The amount of food I get from Food Share is piddly compared to what I go out and find myself at food pantries and other places. Personal responsibility does matter.

[SWBTATTReg]

31. Wow. I am amazed, and impressed at your tenacity and strength of character and you teach ...

all of us (among others here on DU) a lesson on humility and the human spirit. Thanks so much.

One point you do make (a very valid one) is that sometimes the states makes deciphering the laws, rules, and regulations so difficult, in order to obtain benefits.

This is especially true when a portion of the population at need, is often times physically and mentally challenged, and needs lots of help to interpret these rules, regulations, and laws. You are obviously an expert, unfortunately, in that you had to figure it out or go hungry.

Perhaps you already do this, but you would be a great help to lots of people in WI in need of help, if time permits. Too bad you couldn't make a living at it, otherwise you'd probably would have to pay a price for doing so (can't make too much money either).

Bless you.

[elocs]

39. "can't make too much money either" That's exactly true.

I retired because I didn't want to work anymore than I had to work.
Many of us spent decades working jobs that were hard and physical and we want to stop as soon as we can.

Now I'm close to the upper limit of the federal poverty level so that even if I worked a part time job I would make to much money and thereby lose some of the benefits I get now. Ultimately it just wouldn't be worth it.

But an irony is now that as poor as I am my credit score is over 800, the highest it has ever been.

[Kaleva]

26. I got about $.50 cents a day in SNAP benefits here in Michigan

My budget from 2013:

"Income

$1119 SSDI
+$16 SNAP
---------
$1135 Total

Expenses

$75 Phone & Internet
$33 Natural gas for heating, hot water and cooking
$39 Electricity
$88 Property taxes and homeowners insurance
$25 Garbage pickup
$48 Water & sewer
$150 Payment on hospital bill
$8 Netflix
$120 Food, personal hygiene
$16 Dog food
$90 Cigarettes
$34 Dog's medications
$5 My medication
$100 Miscellaneous, clothing
-----
$831 total expenses

$1135
-$831
------
$304 available for discretionary spending "

[Hermit-The-Prog]

48. now is that leaded water or the expensive, safe stuff?

[Kaleva]

49. It's expensive as we are paying for a new water supply system

[Hermit-The-Prog]

50. Flint has been crowded out of the headlines

There is so much that needs to be done. It's hard enough to imagine what parents in Flint are going through, and then realize there are human catastrophes in the making everywhere because of RW rule.

May voters and non-voters alike read the OP's report and be moved.

[llmart]

62. I'm assuming from your budget that you own your house?

If so, how does that figure in to receiving any assistance? Do you pay for health insurance? I'm in Michigan also and am curious. My Soc. Sec. is $957 per month.

[Kaleva]

67. Being on SSDI, I have Medicare and I own my own home

Bought it for $24,000 back in 2000.

[llmart]

68. Thanks for the info.

Michigan has a Medigap supplement subsidy (not through the government) that reduces my supplement payment by $40 a month. It helps a bit. I also own my home but the property taxes and the condo fees and the utility bills add up to quite a bit.

Don't you just love it when articles in retirement magazines or online tell you the best states to live in when you retire? They're always like somewhere in Idaho or South Dakota, etc. as if now that you're older you should move away from everything that's familiar to you and your friends and family, and start over at 70, not to mention the cost of moving if you were so inclined.

Michigan is certainly not on the list of low cost states in which to live.

[Solly Mack]

38. K&R

[Honeycombe8]

40. Some of the meanest people I've met are this new brand of far right evangelical Christians.

They're in it for themselves. Their road to Heaven. Their road to prosperity.

When did faith become all about God wanting you to be prosperous?

[left-of-center2012]

41. I get 83 cents a day

My EBT (food stamps) is $25 a month here in Albuquerque,
based on my minimal Social Security income.

[BeckyDem]

42. Oh I do like the way you think. +1

[McCamy Taylor]

43. A Catholic who does not honor the poor is a lapsed Catholic going to Hell.

[lovemydogs]

44. It hurts me to see the poor demonized

It used to be that as a country we helped the poor. We did not see them as awful.
But, that was before republicans became sociopaths.

There has to be a reversal in the mindset drilled into people's minds. That immigrants are devils. That poor deserve to suffer and die and families ashamed if a member falls on hard times.

That we need to worship the rich and give away our hard earned tax dollars to them and do it with a smile.

That the rich are good and perfect and deserve to take America's money away from kids, elderly and disabled.

We as democrats need to fight back and shame those who believe the republican sociopathic hate

[llmart]

63. I really like your post.

I do believe this attitude started with Reagan. "Worship the rich" - yes, way too many people think that anyone who is rich is really, really smart. Well, now we have an example in front of us every single day of how stupid someone can be and be rich (Trump). A lot of those rich people are rich because they were handed the money from their parents, not because they worked hard for it. In my experience, the ones who worked hard for many, many years and are now well off financially are more likely to remember what it was like to struggle and they now give back to their communities.

As some people say here on DU, the Democrats need to take back the narrative and change it! We used to be the party known for helping the less fortunate.

[at140]

51. Jeff Bezos could help the poor tremendously

Jeff Bezos has net worth of $150 Billion. He can donate $10,000 to 14 million
poor people and still have $10 Billion left over.

That would make a huge difference in lives of 14 million poor.
But not affect Bezos's living standard much.

On the other hand, we could increase taxes on 100 million middle class
people by $1400 each and give $10,000 to 14 million poor.
But that would make a significant dent in lives of middle class people.

[Ohiogal]

52. You speak the truth jodymarie

Very powerful piece. Don't ever stop your insightful writing

[BlancheSplanchnik]

54. Powerful and eye-opening.

[rlegro]

58. Gov. Scott Scrooge

Some background on his tough-love, tough-shit approach to "helping" Wisconsin's fixed-income and underemployed poor:

https://newfoodeconomy.org/wisconsin-scott-walker-snap-welfare-reform/

[calimary]

65. This is what we have to overturn. Foundational shit like this.

This whole “government BAD!” And the ever-popular “lazy moochers” canard. And people believe this.

The whole “God wants you to be RICH!” rot.

Ask yourself: when’s the last time the gas giants of evangelical America spend any time talking about the Scripture story about Jesus and the rich young man”? (Rich Young Man: how do I sign up, Teacher? Jesus: go sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and come follow Me. RYM goes away, sad.)

Or ask yourself: when’s the last time you heard some pompous holier-than-thou reference that Jesus Quote about how a camel can get through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man can get into Heaven?

They really don’t care about the Message of The Christ they claim to worship. Especially when they already worshipping money.