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jodymarie aimee

(3,975 posts)
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:08 PM Nov 2018

"I don't think poor people should take from the govt" I busted out crying, "How can you SAY that?"



Every day we get to the gym at 4:45AM and wait for the doors to open..usual group...I stay far away from the Rs....I write letters since 2009 for DEMS and those Rs are not fans !! So we are standing outside the gym and this lady in her 70s ..comes with her huz.....she always wants to chat....this AM I outright asked her if she was an R...."yes, but we don't discuss politics..." You know who says that...Rs..DEMS are eager and proud to discuss politics, in my humble opinion....

Anyway since she is a big Catholic and came to Dad's funeral( he was Catholic priest and died a year ago).....I ask..."because of abortion?" No...then I asked if her parents were Rs...as sometimes in this tiny town you kind of inherit political stripes...No..

HERE IT COMES....

She says " I don't think poor people should take from the govt...get these free things for not working"..now I had a bad weekend...sinusitis/sore throat and broken car...on its last legs and when it goes so does my transportation....

I busted out crying and said "How can you SAY that? In WI single poors/elderly/disabled get pennies a day in FS...then went on to tell her that some folks who live in my HUD bldg make as little as $4grand year..I said "How can you SAY that?" again and I walked away crying..she called after me, but did not approach....when the doors opened I noticed she was whispering to her huz....

It hurts to be poor and it hurts even more when these Rs berate us out of ignorance....they could not survive 1 day in our lives..thank you for listening... I had to tell somebody..
49 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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"I don't think poor people should take from the govt" I busted out crying, "How can you SAY that?" (Original Post) jodymarie aimee Nov 2018 OP
Some kind of Catholic she is. LisaM Nov 2018 #1
People don't know that the Catholic Church was a powerful supporter of unions. olegramps Nov 2018 #14
Exactly!!! Beacool Nov 2018 #43
Don't look to most Christians on the right realmirage Nov 2018 #2
"Christians" like that are causing the church to die cpamomfromtexas Nov 2018 #3
So sadly true. efhmc Nov 2018 #39
If I may recommend a follow-up should she approach you again... better Nov 2018 #4
Amazing klook Nov 2018 #5
Amazing and sad. better Nov 2018 #28
I would add the billions given in corporate welfare, income inequality also onit2day Nov 2018 #22
yeah but... druidity33 Nov 2018 #37
Many years ago, a friend of mine klook Nov 2018 #6
+1 Proud Liberal Dem Nov 2018 #7
+1, ditto. erronis Nov 2018 #10
This! geardaddy Nov 2018 #24
If you are interested this is my Nov letter...I am rich in many things, just not MONEY. jodymarie aimee Nov 2018 #8
Good for you, Jody. Good for us and for your readership. erronis Nov 2018 #12
Excellent. dchill Nov 2018 #15
Beautifully written. Wow! hostalover Nov 2018 #17
Doubt my MO paper would publish a letter like this. Excellent writing onit2day Nov 2018 #32
Beautiful.. Hulk Nov 2018 #38
I am a big fan of your writing, jodymarie aimee! ZZenith Nov 2018 #41
I used to drive older ladies like her to the opera lunatica Nov 2018 #9
Ask them mgardener Nov 2018 #11
that is their blind spot Locrian Nov 2018 #16
How much gov money will it take Alwaysna Nov 2018 #23
My oldest daughter is very Catholic ismnotwasm Nov 2018 #13
I am so grateful to be a liberal Democrat. hostalover Nov 2018 #18
Some people will never understand PatSeg Nov 2018 #19
She sounds like a Paul Ryan Catholic. (Good riddance, you smug pr*ck!) CaptYossarian Nov 2018 #20
Part of the problem that I've noticed is that the rightwingers see what they consider abuse of the hostalover Nov 2018 #26
Abuse of ER's? Isn't the ER where republicans told people without insurance to go? Merlot Nov 2018 #35
I debated about whether or not to include that. My son knows that many hostalover Nov 2018 #36
And most people have no clue at all PoindexterOglethorpe Nov 2018 #21
That's the secret to RW electoral success. sandensea Nov 2018 #27
Right-wingers know how to stoke self-righteous sentiment in middle-class voters sandensea Nov 2018 #25
You and I have had this very Wellstone ruled Nov 2018 #29
True colors marieo1 Nov 2018 #30
Your Dad was a Catholic Priest? MiniMe Nov 2018 #31
Dad was in WW2 at 17 jodymarie aimee Nov 2018 #33
Thanks for explaining MiniMe Nov 2018 #34
Rich Trumps who pay not taxes are just fine I'm sure. bitterross Nov 2018 #40
Most people like that... JohnnyRingo Nov 2018 #42
This woman sounds ignorant, more than malicious. Beacool Nov 2018 #44
Here's the thing about many/most Republicans. LuckyCharms Nov 2018 #45
There used to be a time when people, including religious, believed in govt. help for poor lovemydogs Nov 2018 #46
Yeah, modern Christianity seems to be a perversion of what it used to be. Zing Zing Zingbah Nov 2018 #48
Rich people take much more money from the government Zing Zing Zingbah Nov 2018 #47
If you see her again, give her a copy of these: catbyte Nov 2018 #49

olegramps

(8,200 posts)
14. People don't know that the Catholic Church was a powerful supporter of unions.
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:26 PM
Nov 2018

Priests in local churches ran seminars on unionism along with basic literacy classes to help people pass the test for citizenship. Because of their activism them became a target for rightwing and clan criticism.

Beacool

(30,244 posts)
43. Exactly!!!
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 12:30 PM
Nov 2018

To this day Catholic Charities is one of the largest, if not the largest, NGO in the world.

 

realmirage

(2,117 posts)
2. Don't look to most Christians on the right
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:20 PM
Nov 2018

for jesus’ tenets. They have no clue. They just call themselves Christians cause they think it’ll get them into heaven and make them look good in their hypocritical community.

better

(884 posts)
4. If I may recommend a follow-up should she approach you again...
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:34 PM
Nov 2018

So her issue is with tax dollars going to the poor, right?

Leviticus 23:22

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.


What programs like food stamps really represent is the government (the people, collectively) setting aside the gleanings of our harvest (our tax dollars) for the poor among us, exactly as her Lord commanded.

klook

(12,134 posts)
5. Amazing
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:45 PM
Nov 2018

how this basic teaching is ignored by so many of the pompous pious. Thanks for posting.

klook

(12,134 posts)
6. Many years ago, a friend of mine
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:50 PM
Nov 2018

who’d fallen on hard times was paying for his groceries with food stamps. An asshole right-winger behind him in line was muttering all this stuff about the “god-damned gummint.”

My friend turned to him and said, “I AM the government!”

He said the guy looked like he’d had cold water hurled at his face. That shut him up but quick.

WE are the government. Never forget that.

 

jodymarie aimee

(3,975 posts)
8. If you are interested this is my Nov letter...I am rich in many things, just not MONEY.
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:58 PM
Nov 2018

If you are interested this is my Nov letter...I am rich in many things, just not MONEY...my talent is writing and I work hard for my DEMS...

I write a DEM letter each month for my local paper since 2009. Here is my celebration of our DEM wins!!!

64 MILLION DROPS, A BLUE WAVE


Who's looking all sexy and swingy in that new blue outfit? America, that's who. Apparently the leprosy caravan committed massive voter fraud in return for Oprah cars. Notice the wall to wall caravan coverage abruptly stopped November 7th? Democrats' extraordinary nationwide grassroots resistance overcame a Republican seawall of suppression, purges, and gerrymandering. Slogging through all the horrors of the last two years, we routed the Rube Army.

A beautiful blue wave was unleashed from sea to shining sea. A day after the Inauguration four million of us marched. In place. This month we marched to the polls. This is historic, brothers and sisters. We had the largest Democrat House pickup since Watergate, and they're still counting Senate races. Tidbit : Hundreds of thousands of ballots from Democratic Districts were locked in the PO closed by the Trump bomber and destroyed. They didn't receive them by deadline.

Pundits be damned, we're not a divided country. Democrats carried the popular vote by over seven million and have won six of the last seven Presidential Elections.

Thanks to the fear-mongering fascist there were actual murders and attempted assassinations during this campaign. In America. The demagogue complained a hate crime caused him to have a bad hair day. We repudiated this vile man. Clear eyes and full hearts won.

Kidnapping babies, forcing toddlers to stand trial LOST. Sister Simone and Nuns on the Bus WON. Bubba shooting machine guns to celebrate Fathers Day LOST. The Parkland Kids WON. Mandated work for poors who receive pennies a day in FoodStamps LOST. When we start eating the rich, the first BBQ will be in Puerto Rico WON. Americans drooling over themselves at hate rallies LOST. Women, college kids, LGBT, Muslims and compassion WON. Kneecapping Mueller LOST. Dem House investigations WON.

"There are good people on both sides" LOST. "How hard can it be? Saying Nazis are bad ?" WON. Brett Kavanaugh: "I liked beer. I still like beer" LOST. Oliver Wendell Holmes: "One's mind stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions" WON. Crappy white guy terrorism LOST. Elected women bringing light, strength and intellectual maturity to DC WON. Me the President LOST. We the People WON.

Head to the Sanity Cellar Dorothy, the President had a white hot breakdown on TV eight hours after the results. Trump and Fox panicked and pretended they won. I don't watch Fox News for the same reason I don't eat from my toilet. Their levels of ignorance would shame medieval fanatics.

Trump wants to have his cake and will eat it, hoard it, freeze-dry it, and carry the frosting in his pocket for later. Nixon was impeached for lying to the American people. Trump is on his 9,000th! After two years of playing defense, we get to go on offense. Democrats took control of the Peoples House and in two years we're coming for the other one.

Published Portage Co Gazette Nov 16 Jody Hurrish

erronis

(14,955 posts)
12. Good for you, Jody. Good for us and for your readership.
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:12 PM
Nov 2018

I suspect a lot of RW types pay a bit more attention to these opinions than they'll admit to their fury friends.

 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
38. Beautiful..
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 08:11 PM
Nov 2018

Wealth seems to corrupt most right to the rotten core. I'm not poor, but I'm sure not wealthy by any stretch. I can no longer afford a small house to rent, so I'm living where I can afford...in central Mexico.

My kids will inherit nothing when I leave. My SS, half teacher's pension and my VA disability will "poof" when I take my last breath. I count my blessings and recognize I have it good...damned good compared to many.

I feel for the struggling and the poor. I resent the rich, not because I envy their wealth, but because I deplore their turned backs to their brothers and sisters who need a helping hand that they can afford.
I seriously believe we need to return to the days of 90% tax brackets...a stiff inheritance tax, and many other forms of taxation and relief to balance out American's plight. Those that share their wealth are few and far between, and I believe what most share is disgraceful in nearly every instances.

You have a wonderful gift that money can't buy. Keep up the good fight. You are right about it all.

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
9. I used to drive older ladies like her to the opera
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:01 PM
Nov 2018

It was a volunteer job which I did so they could go out and do the cultured things they loved.

Once they all complained quite bitterly that they could no longer wear their fur coates because of the disgusting fanatics who throw paint on them. It was a real pity party.

They live and commiserate with each other in their own world. And in their ignorance they are blind to the people who volunteer their time to take them places. Evidently we are invisible like all the rest of the help.

Don’t let people like that make you cry. They are so not worth a single tear. And you’re right that they would never survive being poor.

mgardener

(1,799 posts)
11. Ask them
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:12 PM
Nov 2018

How much does Trump take from the government?
I dont think we will ever know....
Between the not paying taxes, the 4 bankruptcies, the perks he got for his Washington DC hotel....
And Mar a Largo plus his golf courses. He will receive more from the tax payers then anyone of us would receive in a lifetime.

Locrian

(4,522 posts)
16. that is their blind spot
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:44 PM
Nov 2018

They equate the rich with "good" people and the poor with "bad" people.
Everything else they see as "just rewards".

It's a very stupid way to view the world - and leads to blind spots that the "bad" allow the rich people to use their power to loot the country with their power advantage multiplying the damage.







Alwaysna

(574 posts)
23. How much gov money will it take
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:24 PM
Nov 2018

To investigate, prosecute and hopefully imprison Trump and company? I don't know but using government money for that-priceless!

ismnotwasm

(41,921 posts)
13. My oldest daughter is very Catholic
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:21 PM
Nov 2018

And believes obligated to give to the needy, to embrace the stranger. That love is love

She wouldn’t personally have an abortion but she doesn’t believe it should be illegal.

I am so sorry, that this woman thinks that way is disgusting and not Catholic in any way I was ever taught. I’m not religious now, but wow that is wrong on a deeply human level, Not just a religious one

PatSeg

(46,804 posts)
19. Some people will never understand
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:00 PM
Nov 2018

what it is like to be poor and as with many experiences, trying to put it into words is really difficult. You have to live it day in and day out for a long time to understand the pain and fear the poor go through. It is like a terminal disease that takes away your last shred of hope and dignity.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
20. She sounds like a Paul Ryan Catholic. (Good riddance, you smug pr*ck!)
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:04 PM
Nov 2018

The only good welfare to them is corporate welfare. All their other beliefs come from Ayn Rand, a Russian adulteress who wrote total crap. These trolls never heard of Dickens. The damn fools also think there are no whites on welfare, even though a majority of them are on it.

When they cut social spending at every turn, they think they're starving a bunch of non-whites. This goes with slashing healthcare and lack of spending on "those" schools. They use their institutional racism to please their corporate overlords and the 1% mutha-----s that take up too much of our oxygen. The whole lot of them can rot in hell.

hostalover

(447 posts)
26. Part of the problem that I've noticed is that the rightwingers see what they consider abuse of the
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:47 PM
Nov 2018

system up close and personal. They see the food stamps, the homeless with their handmade signs, the free lunch kids, the abuse of ER's (my son, an ER nurse goes on and on about this), and so on. They don't see the massive misuse of our tax dollars and they're uninformed and many don't want to be informed. How many times I've said, "Well, I'd rather my tax money goes to somebody on food stamps than to buy a $500 hammer for the military." Fortunately own kids have heard me rant enough times that they get it, even my ER nurse son.

hostalover

(447 posts)
36. I debated about whether or not to include that. My son knows that many
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 06:53 PM
Nov 2018

of the patients who show up in his ER are bonafide patients with nowhere else to go. He has no problem with them and usually they do need medical attention, which they get. His frustration comes from the repeat patients (he knows some of them by first name) who come in only wanting drugs, which are prescribed in small doses. Some will use ambulances as a means to get to the hospital and expect rides home. Then there are the frivolous patients (true story, a man came in with splinters in his thumb). I'm sure my son exaggerates some, but he's a good man and a solid Dem--just a tired one sometimes.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
21. And most people have no clue at all
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:05 PM
Nov 2018

how vast corporate welfare is.

Lots of companies that make huge profits pay no federal income taxes. THAT'S an outrage.

sandensea

(21,530 posts)
27. That's the secret to RW electoral success.
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:49 PM
Nov 2018

They know middle-class voters resent a minority individual (especially a mother w/ children) receiving $160 in food stamps a lot more than they resent some Benedict Arnold corporation, headquartered in the Caymans or Luxembourg, chiseling $2 billion off their taxes, receiving $1 billion in other subsidies, and then laying off 10,000 Americans just for shits and giggles.

Human nature, I suppose - plus a lot of ignorance.



sandensea

(21,530 posts)
25. Right-wingers know how to stoke self-righteous sentiment in middle-class voters
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 03:45 PM
Nov 2018

"I work my tail off, and these brown people live off my hard-earned tax dollars," the message goes.

It's very effective, and allows white middle-class voters to rationalize what would otherwise be very difficult to justify.

 

Wellstone ruled

(34,661 posts)
29. You and I have had this very
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 04:00 PM
Nov 2018

discussion over the years. My Hometown is a carbon copy of yours. And the disgusting thing is,this people are in their 60's and 70's and for the most part,all received the best public Education in the world only to subscribe to a Political Agenda that their Education told them to avoid for the betterment of Society.

MiniMe

(21,677 posts)
31. Your Dad was a Catholic Priest?
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 04:21 PM
Nov 2018

I thought Priests having sex was frowned upon.

And don't Catholic Priests take a vow of poverty?

 

jodymarie aimee

(3,975 posts)
33. Dad was in WW2 at 17
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 04:56 PM
Nov 2018

married Mom, 7 kids..in the 70s the young weren't going into vocations, so the bishop opened it up to the layity. Dad went back to theology school and was ordained in his 40s...had 3 churches...they had to move into the priest house, quit his straight job and be on call 24/7....he did take celibacy and poverty...but since he already had Mom, got to keep her...if she died, he could have nobody else then...

he always felt guilty not going in young, I think...in those days one son went into the seminary...he had alot of different jobs and hated them all....in the end he got the job he was good at...

MiniMe

(21,677 posts)
34. Thanks for explaining
Mon Nov 26, 2018, 05:33 PM
Nov 2018

Really none of my business. I'm not even Catholic, but I do have family that is. Those were 2 rules I know. LOL. Sounds like your dad found something he enjoyed and was good at.

 

bitterross

(4,066 posts)
40. Rich Trumps who pay not taxes are just fine I'm sure.
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 01:14 AM
Nov 2018

The stunning lack of thought and logic with these people never ceases to piss me off.

JohnnyRingo

(18,581 posts)
42. Most people like that...
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 12:20 PM
Nov 2018

...are only two weeks away from welfare themselves if their source of income ends, and we all know how easily that can happen these days. Even secure pensions go belly up without warning.

Nothing is more humbling than hunger.

Beacool

(30,244 posts)
44. This woman sounds ignorant, more than malicious.
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 12:35 PM
Nov 2018

A lot of basically decent people have been brainwashed by years of republican rhetoric. I'm sorry that she upset you so much.

Take care of yourself.

LuckyCharms

(17,287 posts)
45. Here's the thing about many/most Republicans.
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 12:38 PM
Nov 2018

I feel that their political beliefs are centered on what OTHER PEOPLE are doing. What other people are getting. Why should these people be getting assistance? Why should that woman be able to get an abortion? He doesn't look disabled to me. and on and on.

For some reason, they fail to realize that every single human being is merely seconds away from a personal/financial/health disaster.

They do not recognize that we are all not dealt the same deck of cards. Everyone is not like them. Each of us are shaped by our years of living, and what has happened to us during those years. Some people have had it easy, some people have thrived in spite of impossible circumstances, and some people have succumbed to impossible circumstances. Being poor is not a failure, and in many respects, being poor will strengthen you.

For example...the asylum seekers. I admire these people so much. They have the clothes on their backs, and not much else. They walked/traveled 2,000 miles to escape onerous conditions. These people are tough as nails. These people have true character. I would rather have a person like this in my life than any Republican.

Don't let them get you down. They are brainwashed. They are misguided. They are weak. Many of them are dead stupid. They cannot understand that no matter what they may have in life, we are all going to end up dead someday, and their judgments foisted upon others will be irrelevant.

lovemydogs

(575 posts)
46. There used to be a time when people, including religious, believed in govt. help for poor
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 12:46 PM
Nov 2018

Growing up I was aware of and had the belief instilled in me that the poor needed help. People who did not earn enough, single mothers, people who lost their jobs, ect.
LBJ's war on poverty was started during my childhood.
I grew up middle class and while we were not religious my parents had us go to Sunday School, as kids did in those days. We were taught to have compassion for the poor and those facing tough situations.
I was in Jr. High and High School in the 70s when women and minorities were asserting their rights. And helping the poor was even more of an issue.
It was in the 80s as a young adult that it suddenly became something to grouse about. Lazy minorities and women having babies to collect welfare. Eating steaks on food stamps.
During that time I was a divoriced mom going to college with 2 kids. I was on welfare and got food stamps. Believe me, buying steaks was not possible if you wanted food to stretch for a month.
There was not enough to pay for rent and utilities with your monthly check. You looked for apartments with utilities included.
You bought used clothes and shoes.
And the beginning of shaming people for their circumstances began. Very subtle and very slowly.
But, in the last 15 years it has exploded and people now hate the poor.

Zing Zing Zingbah

(6,496 posts)
48. Yeah, modern Christianity seems to be a perversion of what it used to be.
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 01:15 PM
Nov 2018

The teachings of Jesus were all about helping the poor. Seems like Christians have gotten away from that and focus more on weird stuff like the Book of Revelation... morbid end of times shit. They also focus on the parts that support their views on oppressing women and gay people. They seem to have become a group of people united in hated of others.

Zing Zing Zingbah

(6,496 posts)
47. Rich people take much more money from the government
Tue Nov 27, 2018, 01:06 PM
Nov 2018

We all are taking something from the government when we send our kids to public schools or use public parks. We collectively pay into the government and take from it. Poor people have the right to do this just like anyone else and they have a much greater need than the rest of us.

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