Is this FB Status True?

[LaydeeBug]

By the Obama standard ~
4 people in a house hold living on $22,000 are considered ABOVE the poverty level,as well as 2 people living on $14,000 & 1 person living on $11,000 all ABOVE the poverty level.

(end)


Really? i'm thinking...REALLY?

[babylonsister]

1. Did a person or org. post that? Did the WH? nt

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arcane1]

2. I've read it twice and still don't comprehend what it's trying to say

Considering how terribly written it is, it's likely not true.

[LaydeeBug]

4. I think he is trying to say that the Obama Administration lowered the standard

for what is considered poverty.

[arcane1]

12. Ah, I see.

In that case, I'd reply to it with "Oh wow! Where did you hear that?" and see what happens.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. That's totally false

The household poverty threshold has actually went up since 2008, not down.

[Capitalocracy]

23. Yep, sure has. Believe me, I know...

it makes it even harder for me to get back to the U.S.

[meegbear]

3. Facebook is on the internet and if it's on the internet, it must be true

[LaydeeBug]

6. ok, smartass. nt

[meegbear]

17. LOL

:hi:

I actually did a quick search to determine who determines the US poverty levels, but couldn't find anything concrete as to which agency.

Edit: I found a link ... http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml

[Broderick]

8. I heard it told that they have the internet on computers now

Who would have thunk it!

[dtexdem]

21. How do they get all those tubes to fit?

;-)

[Broderick]

24. hehe

[sarcasmo]

7. When I was single and made about 15,000 back in the early 90's

it was near impossible to live on my own. Roommates are what helped me get through the low pay scale. With wages dropping they are having to drop the scale in order to justify an ever eroding middle class.

[RKP5637]

19. Yep, fudged statistics to get the right answer. Same with unemployment. Same with

inflation. Same with ... Skewed methodologies to get the right answer. We used to do it all the time in the corporate world. Gov. is no different.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. It's close but not accurate

4 person household poverty threshold: 22,350

2 person household poverty threshold: 14,710

1 person household poverty threshold: $10,890

I'll also point out this is only for the contiguous US and DC. Alaska and Hawaii have higher numbers.

Linky: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml

[Capitalocracy]

20. May seem low, but it's enough to keep me in exile outside the U.S.

I married a woman in Argentina, and in order to sponsor her as an immigrant spouse, I have to make 125% of the poverty level in income. $18,387 a year is more than I've ever made in my life. So I'm stuck in Argentina (as long as I want to stay with my wife, that is).

[Lone_Star_Dem]

25. Is that an Argentinian requirement?

Or a US one? Either way, it seems wrong and horribly unfair to me. :(

[Capitalocracy]

26. Nope, that's a U.S. requirement.

I have to prove I make 125% of poverty level income for our household size (would be higher if we had kids, for example) and sign an agreement that if my wife ever applies for needs-based benefits, like food stamps, the government can sue me for the cost of giving them to her plus lawyer's fees.

She also has to go through a full medical examination and sign a statement that she's not a terrorist and that she is not now nor has ever been a member of the Communist Party. (NOT sarcasm)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

27. That is pretty screwed up.

I had no idea we had such archaic requirements on bringing an immigrant spouse into the country. I'm not surprised, really, but that's some kind of messed up.

[Capitalocracy]

29. Now that you know that...

listen for the BS that Republicans start spewing about immigration and how the legal immigration process is more than sufficient and too many people are coming in and they're not being taken care of, etc... Anchor babies are also a total myth, btw, having a baby in the U.S. in no way qualifies you for family immigration, at least not until that baby turns 18 and meets that same income level standard.

Things are tough for us financially in Argentina, and with the crime rate, I'm worried about being killed by some thief who is disappointed about how little they find on me since I'm very obviously American. But on the plus side: I know if I ever get sick I'll have access to free hospital care. Because the U.S. is one of the few countries that's still in the dark ages on that front.

I went to the dentist yesterday and had a few cavities filled and got x-rays for the equivalent of about $60 total. I couldn't help but think about that guy, Kyle Willis, who died from brain swelling from an infected tooth he couldn't get taken out. When I lived in the U.S., I hadn't gone to the dentist since I was a kid.

[jwirr]

33. Many years ago people would get together to sponsor immigration

for an individual. Ask your family if they will sign behind you if it is possible for them to do it.

[Capitalocracy]

38. Yeah, there are family issues involved as well.

My dad was going to co-sponsor, but then he was like wait, if she gets food stamps they can sue you and me? Well, seeing as how I have absolutely no faith in you... and that was the end of that.

But people shouldn't have to depend on having a family with a certain amount of money to be able to marry who they love, if you ask me. Not that anyone did. ;)

[StandingInLeftField]

10. NPR did a story this morning on growing poverty.

The threshold they cited was family of four @ $22,000 a year was the poverty line. Can't remember which government agency used that threshold, but it was one of them.

[kctim]

11. Looks like they are saying the poverty level cutoff should be alot higher than 22,000

[TreasonousBastard]

13. Yes, BUT...

go to the source:

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml


And note that HHS poverty thresholds are not poverty guidelines, nor are they universally agreed to.

Interesting FAQ at that site.

[Claudia Jones]

15. correct

Those numbers actually come from a formula that has been used by the government for about 40 years. But, yes, I agree with you. The official poverty level is absurdly low.

[Warpy]

16. What's wrong with it is calling it the "Obama standard."

Obama's got nothing to do with determining the poverty line. It's a formula that's been outdated for 30 years but that is still being used to determine it, a formula that doesn't reflect the massive growth in housing, health care and energy costs.

Facebook posters have more and more of an agenda these days and their postings are generally taken from Astroturf emails generated by Koch funded right wing stink tanks.

[LondonReign2]

18. Agreed

The status seems to try imply Obama personally sets the poverty line. Rather silly. The poverty line is sadly, ridiculously low for such a rich country, but that has nothing to do with Obama.

[Capitalocracy]

22. Yeah, if that's "according to Obama" it was according to Bush, too

and everyone else

[tkmorris]

28. Glad someone got to the heart of the matter

I thought I was going to have to point that out.

The numbers posted are, given a bit of wiggle room, true. They have exactly ZERO to do with Obama however. Whoever posted that on Facebook is clearly trying to use it to denigrate Obama, and doing so in a way that is deceptive at best. I am a long way from being Obama's biggest fan but stuff like this is just juvenile.

[Capitalocracy]

31. If you look at the interests behind those numbers...

from a cynical leftist view like mine, there are reasons they would be fairly accurate. On the one hand, if the numbers are too high, then they have to hand out food stamps to more people. On the other hand, if they're too low, then more people qualify for immigration.

[jwirr]

35. However, it is usually the poor who know about these levels from

various applications and those who are not poor are the ones with the power to change them. I suspect most congress persons and WH residents do not even know this little detail. It has been under the rug for so long that if they ever knew they have forgotten.

Until more people know this and that they are not all that far from that level themselves nothing will get done.

[Angry Dragon]

30. In DC $172,000 is concidered modest, in the rest of the

country $22,350 is poverty
Seems to be a very large gap there, only a $150,000 gap

28 people living together could have a modest income .......... the New American Way

[jwirr]

32. That may be true but if it is this does not reflect on Obama. That level

has been around for years and has not changed. It is used to determine such things as fuel assistance, HUD housing rents etc. It needs to be raised if it is still that low. The cost of living has gone up a lot in the last ten years.

[Capitalocracy]

40. No, it has changed. It changes.

It's based on an archaic formula and doesn't necessarily change to meet with the times, but it fluctuates pretty much on a yearly bases. It is higher now than it was before, and if you see my previous posts in this thread, it's actually making things more difficult for me.

What really bugs me is how far the minimum wage is from the poverty level.

[Posteritatis]

34. Always assume Facebook status forwards are either false or highly slanted. (nt)

[EC]

36. Obama doesn't set the poverty rate... n/t

[MADem]

37. Is this another Bad Obama thread? Where is your link? What are you talking about?

What "FB status?" Whose? Who posted it?

This is gibberish as it stands now, and I am going to UNREC it.

[Capitalocracy]

39. I think the OP saw something and was looking for information about it

and DU is a good place to go for that, I think.

[LaydeeBug]

41. Thank you, and I was. When I criticize Obama, it is about Social Security and Health Care

two things that he has done ridiculously bad on...just sayin'.