I am sick of this

[I_UndergroundPanther]

Poverty isnt easy. On top of having no money no way to save,
We spend every penny we get.

Because of that,the poor,those on ssi and ssdi we get money we spend it yet we have to choose between food,medicine or rent because poverty.but we are the ones that are the backbone of the economy with our guaruteed spending.

The fuckers who think the poor and disabled have an entitlement mentality I'd like to see thier pampered asses live on what poor people live on for 6 months. Too chicken shit to do it I bet.

Also we who get ssi and ssdi we never get brought up in ANY political speech. Its always working class, working families not working poor.


Its like poverty is a bad word, people in poverty are pushed aside like we have unworthy lives because of disability low payments ect.

Feel like a useless eater.

I have dreams but with the money I live on those dreams cant manifest. It hurts..

One of my dreams is getting my teeth implanted so eating is easier.

What rich asshole has dreams like that? None because they just have to make an appointment and its done.

The inequality makes me sick,angry and sad.

We dont need rich people,they need us.
I am so tired of being legislatively and politically invisible.

Tired of the penny pinching shell games played with benifiets.

Say, I get a five buck raise in ssi,but my food stamps go down six bucks. Prices go up but its the same or less to live on .

It fucking hurts.
Like trying to eat.

[Omnipresent]

1. I know.

We on the left, have to get better at messaging to reach those in the middle of the political spectrum.
Trying to reason with people on the far right so that they can understand how their greed and selfishness is hurting the poor is pointless.

[Joinfortmill]

2. I hear you.

[soldierant]

37. ***

[LogicFirst]

3. Senator Kirsten Sinema knows your pain,

but she doesn't care. Please send your post to her.

[WVreaper]

19. Be sure to cc Joe Manchin

[FoxNewsSucks]

28. Joe Manchin Don't Care

Just ask the people of WV

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

45. +1000

[Hortensis]

4. NBC too. They opened the evening news with a sex crime filed against Andrew Cuomo.

Just a misdemeanor, but undoubtedly announced -- and reported -- at this time to distract from and lessen the impact of the imminent finalization of our giant Build Back Better bills.

And their many anti-poverty provisions. Hopefully something in there will help you directly, not just indirectly.

[BigmanPigman]

5. I know, I know.

I am so used to counting pennies I wouldn't know how not to. It is my way of life and is ingrained in me. I still haven't received the 2nd $600 stimulus that was lost in the mail last April or my Fed Tax refund from last May. I need the checks but the fed govt is too fucked up to get their act together.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Me neither!

Tax advocate said to wait 30 days. They probably want to audit little people. Let the oligarchs skate.

[kacekwl]

6. Preach my friend. Teeth in my

head is also a dream of mine but at 60,000 dollars plus I'm sure I'll die toothless and smile less.

[blueinredohio]

12. I have dentures, implants were way too expensive.

[LittleGirl]

52. I have a partial

Because the expense and afraid my jaw would reject the implant(s) I need and the costs are too high. A decade ago, they wanted 2500 each. I need 3+.

[Bettie]

7. I hear you

I've been there.

[lambchopp59]

8. Been there.

No unselfish act goes unpunished.
I took some COVID recovery time off recently, also to assist my elderly brother through his back surgery.
Canned chili hot dogs and Ramen get really old after a while. Skipped my blood pressure pill every other day.
I can finally fill my Rx tomorrow after I'm paid.
Blue Cross covers none of it.

[Autumn]

11. lambchopp do you know you can get meds cheaper from Canada? I have one pill that costs me $130

for a 30 day supply and an inhaler that costs me $246 for a 30 day supply. I get a 90 day supply of each of them for just $206.

[lambchopp59]

29. I'm closer to Mexico

But I'm out of my lisinopril, so I'll have to fill it tomorrow morning before work.
I plan on a trip mid-november to Calexico, get my passport card updated and see a dentist in Mexicali for a checkup and cleaning. I camp at the hot springs and have a wonderful soak too... if it's open again.
Next fills of all my meds will happen there later on.

[gerryatwork]

47. I get my inhaler..

… from Canada. In the US it costs around $275 for a month. Medicare doesn’t pay for it because they “prefer” or insist I use a different brand that doesn’t work for me.

The same inhaler costs $125 for a month in Canada. But I cut that cost in half by ordering a 400 mcg dose that I take one puff a day, that lasts 2 months instead of a 200mcg dose I need to take twice a day and only lasts a month. Still why should anyone have to pay $62.50 for something that Medicare should fully cover.

That’s how our govt has trained us. Thinking $62.50 is a bargain because the other alternative is $275 a month.

Like some others here at 73 my ONLY source of income is SS. Luckily I’m on the high end of their scale waiting until 70 to collect and own my home outright.

But still.

[Autumn]

9. It seems to have become a game to see what the poor and disabled will tolerate .

It's like the word poor is not in most politicians vocabulary, the middle class is doing fine yet they are the only ones that seem to matter.
My heart hurts for you.

[stillcool]

10. I think there's a lot of fear

out there, but there are a lot of people who do not know what nothing is. There is something to be said for the lessons we've learned. Hard, hard lessons. We will be fine. Just breathe.

[PatrickforB]

14. You aren't the useless eater by any means. It is the billionaire parasites, the

oligarchs, that have ripped off our treasury for decades to line their pockets while leaving us with less and less and less.

The truth is our Congress has been waylaid by corporate capitalism and has not used our tax dollars for programs that materially benefit us for decades, since the passage of Medicare in 1965. To be fair, FMLA was good. They always talk about 'reining in entitlements,' but that's bullshit. We squander trillions on foolish tax cuts for billionaires, forever wars, the war on drugs and so on, but expanding SSI, SSDI, Medicare, Social Security? Not so much.

What we need to do is raise taxes to get back some of that money the oligarchs have stolen, and balance the scales.

Why on earth is it OK for corporations to pay in only 6.8% of the government's tax revenue while individual taxpayers like the ones on here pay in 86%? WHY????

And why do people like you and millions of others have to live in grinding poverty? WHY????

It isn't right and those in power now had better realize that we are in an actual war - the oligarchs, the billionaire parasites, have waged class warfare on us for decades, and now they are flying the black no quarter flag, gearing up to cheat massively in the mid-term elections, and impose a theocratic dictatorship for us while the oligarchs continue to have a free hand.

In other words, the same thing Hitler did.

Let's hope certain members of today's Democratic Congress WAKE UP and realizes that this isn't just rhetoric, that we are actually in a civil war. Mostly, I think they are getting it, but there are a couple notable holdouts.

And why the heck haven't they gotten rid of the filibuster? And where's our HEALTHCARE? And our cheap prescriptions? And our affordable college?

WHERE????

[KPN]

51. +1000!

[markie]

15. "I am sick of this" you and many more

of us... "One of my dreams is getting my teeth implanted so eating is easier" you and me both... I just don't have to tens of thousands of dollars it will cost!!

[ShazzieB]

34. Add my name to that list.

I wear an upper denture, but I don't have enough bone left on the bottom to keep a lower in place. It greatly affects what I'm able to eat.

Maybe we should start a club.

[traitorsgalore]

16. But all the conservatives here think some faux political "win" is worth more than you and your needs

They think me, you and 80% of Americans should swallow the old "we have to work with conservatives" bullshit and just wait, wait, wait for something better that will surely (LOL) be just around the corner.

[VicNEO]

17. I was 6 of 7 of a widowed woman in Columbus OH in the 1970's

I remember heat being turned off, closing of rooms in house to conserve heat. No AC. Raised in standard Catholic heavy neighborhood. Mom did all she could went back after dad died to get Masters in Journalism. Was told she was qualified but ineligible for jobs due to kids- both number and ages thereof. She afford all 7 of us opportunity for higher Ed- post Catholic k-12 education. (Hello Pell Grants).
My grade school is now over 4K/year. High school is like 13k/year. Junior year I was told my recent records could not be released cause she was behind on tuition “business is business- we’re here to make money”. 1983. I felt and lived the Reagan trickle down BS. Feels like the MC has never recovered/seen any appropriate hands- up.
Fast forward. 2021- spouse and I(no kids). Economically well off in my mind. Still paying off student loans…
And my millennial nieces/nephews. They’re screwed.
I can only imagine our circumstances if we weren’t melatonin lacking..
I’m so frustrated with it all.

[LoisB]

18. AMEN!

[LakeArenal]

20. I once heard a WI republican talking about how poor people aren't really poor...

Paraphrasing now:

Did you know 93% of so called poor people have refrigerators?

That 90% of “them” have TVs!!!!

And there’s all kinds of programs to get free cell phones.

That unemployed people are lazy slobs.


We have had poor times in our early life.
We lived on baloney and breakfast cereal.
Now a days I wonder how people buy those things now so pricey.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

33. What a vile ass.

So, the soldier who got their legs and arms blown off fighting for everybody to be alive and free are lazy slobs because they can no longer work?

[mountain grammy]

21. So true. In America it's all or nothing

When often all people need is a little help.

[Nanuke]

22. Guess which one?

I have three older brothers who are each self-made millionaires. My parents were middle class—Dad a career army person (enlisted man) and Mom a secretary. Our family values were based on hard work and delayed gratification. All four of us graduated college—two brothers on the GI bill, the other two with modest support and working while living at home.

Two of my rich brothers give a lot to charities, volunteer at homeless shelters and staff food pantries every week. One of these two brothers (the richest) is even on the local ACLU board. Two helped me financially when I needed loans during a sad divorce years ago. Two of the three brothers live by me in MN but one of the three moved to Florida where he lives in a gated community and enjoys not paying a lot of taxes. He does not believe in giving to help others because everyone “gets what they deserve.” He is CEO of a large company that leads the privatization trend for government services.

Two of my rich millionaire brothers are Democrats. One, on the other hand, voted for Trump.

Can you guess which one?

[Johnny2X2X]

23. There's a disconnect for a lot of people

Last edited Fri Oct 29, 2021, 08:21 AM - Edit history (1)

I think the majority of Americans don’t understand how close to the edge they themselves are. How most of us are one bad break and a few months from losing most or all of what we have. People don’t get the fact that everyone who is down and out has a story similar to what their own could be. We have the illusion of security, but it can all be gone in a blink.

We absolutely must restore a social safety net that allows the least fortunate among us to live in dignity!

[onecaliberal]

38. My husband had a massive stroke 5 years ago.

We lost his 175,000 a year salary. From one day to the next. Our lives felt like dice tumbling down hill. The system is broken in so many places. We are invisible, we are always the first to be tossed aside. The way we treat our old people in this country should be criminal. It’s shameful.

[Johnny2X2X]

44. Very sorry to hear that

I hope your husband is doing well.

Was talking about retirement with a friend the other day. My take is that no matter how much you have, unless you die quickly at home, we all end up in the same place, a state run nursing home. He tried to dispute this, but I then showed him the average cost of good private nursing home facilities. Your going to spend $1/4 Million a year at a private facility, so how much money do you have left after you've been retired for X number of years?

You die quickly, or you end up in the same state run nursing home as everyone else, unless you are legitimately rich. So everyone should be supporting enhanced care for the elderly, just about all of us are going to end up in the same place, let's make that place as nice as possible.

[leftstreet]

24. DURec

[Diamond_Dog]

25. We had WIC and food stamps when my kids were small

and it was a life saver. Is that still around or did the Republicans get rid of that, too? They are so afraid a poor person will live high on the hog courtesy of the federal government. What a joke.

[mahina]

26. Imagining a society that doesn't make money a god.

That values cooperation and helping each other.

The ones who will thrive will be those who can build communities to help each other. Capitalism has completely failed us.

[Evolve Dammit]

27. It doesn't have to be this way, but we are hostage to rich people and corporate greed. It sucks.

[hunter]

30. I think we should be paying people to experiment with lifestyles...

... having very small environmental footprints.

As someone living on the edge you are already an expert at that.

I've been there before and there's no certainty that I won't land there again.

We could judge the success of these experiments in terms of happiness, not any sort of artificial capitalist "productivity."

Paying for the art of living lightly upon this earth, imagine that...

[I_UndergroundPanther]

31. That brought tears to my eyes.

I always dreamed of building a small self sustaining community of like minded folks.

The main gist would be a creation of an asshole free zone anyone with a dark triad personality type,narcissism,sociopathy or authoritarianism would not be welcome in the asshole free zone.


Anyone who is a narcissitic selfish rich entitled asshole nope do not even apply.

And addicts could not live there even though I know its a terrible disorder.

Its because of the chaos ,tragedy and abusive shit and that they invite things that would disrupt the purpose of the asshole free zone's purpose.

Since relapses happen I can't trust them because of the nature of the disorder so they cant live in the asshole free zone.

Also no right wingers ,no conservatives,no pushy religionists,
definately no magats. Strictly on the left side only.

It would be designed to see what would happen if people of like mind lived together without toxic people around.

What would happen if they were to live together in a self sustaining community without cults,abusive asshole people and people that bring destructive drama and trauma.

A place that would maximize happiness,peace,and sanity. Different each one,but also equality for everyone. A true democracy.

[hunter]

35. .

[BeckyDem]

36. Hugs to you.

Big time.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. I grew up relatively poor.

When I was fourteen years old my mother packed up the five children still at home (oldest brother was away and in the army) and moved us from northern NYS to Tucson, Arizona to escape her abusive, alcoholic husband and the cold upstate NY winters. It was the very best thing she could ever have done for us.

She was a nurse, an RN, and knew she could get a job anywhere. And so she did. Back then, in 1962, nurses made a pittance. Mom worked as many extra shifts as she could get because we desperately needed the money. There were times I didn't see her for weeks on end, because she was sound asleep when I got up for school, and she left for work before I got home from school.

A year or so later I got a Saturday babysitting job with a nearby family. Took care of two little girls while the parents worked at a nursery. It paid $3.00 a week, which sounds pitiful until you look at an inflation calculator, and it works out to about $26.00 today. Most Saturdays when the mom of the family was driving me home, I'd ask to stop at the grocery store on the way home so that I could buy food for our dinner. The mom was always astonished at that request. Me, I couldn't imagine spending that money on myself when we so desperately needed food.

And the reason I got that job was this: When we first moved to Arizona the year before, my mother was caught completely off guard by needing to pay for the schoolbooks. My first year, my freshman year, she was able to pay for them. The next year, she asked the bookstore manager if she could pay the books off over time. He said yes, and then a few weeks later I was called into the school office and told our book bill was cancelled. Clearly, they understood our family's great financial need.

So when the babysitting job was posted, even though I signed up for it, I figured I stood no chance at all for getting it since at least five or more others had signed up ahead of me. But I was called into the office and told it was mine, if I wanted it. Clearly, my school understood my family's need.

Around that time I also got dental work through a local (Catholic) charity, for which I have always been grateful. For some years after I would designate my charity contribution to go to that specific clinic.

It's why I currently do volunteer work at a local homeless shelter. Yeah, I've been relatively poor, but I've never been homeless. Not even real close. But even relatively poor makes me understand how thin the line is between being okay and being homeless.

[yellowdogintexas]

40. Is there a dental school in your area?

If so, find out if they operate a dental clinic. The dental school in Nashville had one and that was where the student dentists trained (under supervision of an instructor). Sort of like a residency in medicine.

It is worth investigating.

Law schools often have a similar arrangement for simple legal needs like wills, advanced directives etc.

[airmid]

41. I get ya...and since the Pandemic food stamps are now gone for our household, we

are down to one meal a day again. Start a job next week…but that will reduce our benefits for food. And now I will have to add extra gas and uniforms to that.

[MiHale]

42. Right there with you...

I find it amazing that in poor neighborhoods people are more apt to help each other than in richer neighborhoods. Lived in both…prefer poor neighborhood.

[piddyprints]

43. Been there.

Poverty does indeed suck.

[OldBaldy1701E]

46. Hey, at least you got SSDI/SSI

They told my broken old ass to stuff it. A three year battle with lawyers and everything, and they said kiss off. I have paid into that system since I was fucking twelve years old, and their reply was to say "Tough shit." I have less than half of my teeth left. Tough shit, baldy. I have not worked in over seven years because of various health issues. Tough shit, baldy. I have done my part for this country and their reply was to act like they do not know me. The inequity in this country is considered normal and the fact that it is still as bad as it is proves to me that even those who want to act progressive are, in fact, not as progressive as they want us to believe. This could be fixed. All we have to do is stop playin this biased game. But, we won't. Why? (Don't answer, that was a rhetorical question. I am well aware of why, and that answer also proves to me that this will never be fixed as things now stand.) My only comfort is that I won't have to deal with this much longer. One way or the other.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

54. What happened to you

Is so wrong unjust and morally bankrupt I have no words.

Fuck forever the billionaires and the millionaires and their sycophants and enablers that cause awful situations like yours to happen all over this country.

[OldBaldy1701E]

57. You don't know how many times

I have wanted to go lay in the floor of a session of the legislature jus to remind them that their desire to be 'economically viable' has repercussions. Because, as they way things stand. those vultures do not even know the word 'consequences' and it is WAY past time the general population shows them how it works. But, we both know how that will go... it is too easy to make sure you do not see me or anyone like me. Gated communities, loitering laws for any place that the wealthy have their businesses/offices, Making sure they only go to places that are in their 'bubble'... too easy.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

58. Totally agree with you

Add in those barbaric anti sit devices and middle arms on benches.

I wish people would bust that bubble the rich put around themselves confiscate thier wealth and share it with everyone except the preivious rich.

Let the rich try to sleep outdoors like they make the homeless do with all the torture instruments on the street the rich put there that the poor and homeless have had to deal with for decades.

I hate wealthy people and like a republican or a fundie christian, I do not trust them at all.

[OldBaldy1701E]

59. If we would just

stop worshipping that green piece of paper, most if not all of the inequity in our society would disappear. BUT... the brainwashing was very thorough and very powerful. Hell, I just read about some dude on Reddit who, deciding to aid his brother in discouraging his niece from marrying some dude, helped her write out a budget projection that basically spelled out her doom. Because everyone should be independently wealthy by the time they are 25.

[JudyM]

48. Messaging is so crucial. The living situation of folks in poverty should have a media spotlight

instead of seeming like something abstract. Especially when the repukes are readying to pass tax breaks for corps and the rich we should be blaring the reality of poverty all over the news. We should be doing it now when we’re trying to get more social spending. Putting individual stories and faces out there would help.

We all feel you even if we aren’t there in it with you.

[WinstonSmith4740]

49. Been there.

After my husband passed, and I lost his survivor benefits for over a year because (and this is the ONLY time this can be said about a Clark County, Nevada teacher) I made "too much money". It got REAL ugly for a while there. If I couldn't live in it, put it in my gas tank, eat it, or feed it to my pets, I didn't spend money on it. I got 3 months behind on my mortgage and it took me a year to get caught up, because banks are, after all, banks. The regular payment PLUS extra money I sent every month which I thought was going to the principle, was going first to interest, then to late fees, then to the escrow fund, and whatever was left over went to the principle.

So when these self rightous assholes start spouting about how the poor will only fritter money away if they get it is infuriating. I forget now what the jerk was bloviating about (might have been a minimun wage increase, or something that would benefit the working poor) but few years ago I saw one saying "these people" would only sock that money away for "a rainy day". Obviously completely unaware that the poor are dealing with a torrential downpour every day of their lives and can't AFFORD to put any money away.

But hey. When you take bribes from corporations and sock it away in an offshore account somewhere, I guess you think everyone is as slimey as you.

[calimary]

50. And the irony is, those who spend whatever assistance they get

are, in vast majorities, propping up their local economy. All that money goes right back to the grocery store, gas station, pharmacy, etc.

[Dreampuff]

53. 😢😢😢

This problem isn't addressed because of the arrogance of those in power in this country. They have to continue the propaganda that this is the richest and most powerful country in the world and everyone is happy and well cared for here, we have the best military and weapons and we have the best healthcare system in the world and on and on.

If any of them admitted there was a problem, then people would expect them to do something to fix it. It's just easier for them to ignore the problem and pretend it doesn't exist.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

55. Its financial abuse

These rich parasites and republican party are doing to millions of the poor in this country.

It HAS to stop.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

56. 40 years of Voodoo Economics!!

This was inevitable. The Nazis weren't.