The least among us get left behind again

[unapatriciated]

So save some of the rebate money for your local shelter or food bank. They will need your help. This time bush isn't just leaving flood victims behind he has decided to leave all of the poor behind from coast to coast. By starving the children of the poor, with no increase in food stamps as the cost of food climbs higher and minimum wage stays stagnant. Forget the unemployed vet who still can't find a job, he can go sleep under a bridge somewhere when his unemployment isn't extended. But hey America go shopping and in six months we can dispose of it in our landfills.

Now before you flame me I know some of you on this board need essentials but some of you are also talking about buying comfort items. It's a very high price we are paying for a new big screen tv. We should all be disgusted with the concession Pelosi made. If we the middle class don't speak up for the least among us who will?



"Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed to drop increases in food stamp and unemployment benefits during a Wednesday meeting in exchange for gaining the rebates of at least $300 for almost everyone earning a paycheck, including those who make too little to pay income taxes.

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2008/01/11/Economy.Stimulus/

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. Why flame reason? We've extended unemployment benefits

every time there's been a downturn. * is a disgrace.

[lonestarnot]

4. 10 Fucking billion a month for the war lies.

[unapatriciated]

5. Because a lot on this board are talking about

buying essentials and I wanted them to know that I didn't think they should feel guilty for getting very much needed financial relief. But on some of the threads people are talking about buying new toys and I could not believe that they didn't realize that the poor are paying a huge price so middle america can go shopping.

[Fredda Weinberg]

13. Thank you n/t

[Cant trust em]

2. The stimulus package is far from perfect

Was it REALLY the best deal we could get? Or is this just another case of the weak democratic majority?

[unapatriciated]

9. well it sure wasn't a good deal for the poor.

I'd rather they keep mine and put it in our social programs. I'm not even middle class(clear less than 20,000 a year combined with lame's maybe 45,000) but we get buy and don't need more stuff.

[Cant trust em]

18. I'm totally with you

An extra $600 isn't really going to do anything for me. Thanks for being a real Dem who is interested in redistributing income.

[old guy]

3. * is just an idiot,

but Pelosi should know better. Shame on her calling herself a Democrat. Shame, shame,shame.

[Cant trust em]

19. These are not my San Francisco values

[madrchsod]

6. she`s been selling us out from day one

i admit that i actually defended her. boy was i wrong.

[madokie]

17. yep me too

[shaniqua6392]

7. We are giving 10% to Gleaner's Food Bank here in Detroit.

We try to give to them every month. The rest is going straight into our fire proof safe. I will not give them the satisfaction of spending it or even putting it in the bank. We will pretend we never got it.

[unapatriciated]

10. Great , that's what we all need to do

Unless you need it for essentials don't give it right back to the corporations.

[nancyharris]

15. For every $100.00 you put in that fire-proof safe of yours

remember that in 5 years you will only have $61.00 in your safe. ($24.00 Federal Taxes you paid before you put it in the safe and $15.00 you lost to inflation over the 5 years). Your safe is fire-proof but not inflation-proof

[angrycarpenter]

8. this package is a boon for the credit card companies

and mortgage companies. People will use this money to pay debts. I am no economist but this seems like just throwing money at a problem so that they can seem like they are doing something about it without it taking up too much of their time.

[unapatriciated]

11. your right except they are doing it on the backs of the poor.

[angrycarpenter]

12. That always goes without saying

advocates for the poor are openly ridiculed in government and marginalized. Conservatives refuse to do anything unless it hits the poor in some way. They do not help the poor, they punish them for the bad taste of not having a trust fund.

[Hidden Stillness]

14. Yet Again, Top "Democrats" Just Have No Connection to This Country

Quickly, I think there are basically four reasons why this bizarre, unhelpful thing passed: 1) As mentioned on reply #8, the corrupting, excessive influence of corporations and lobbyists, shifting all legislation to their benefit and interests.
2) I heard a little bit of a Senate hearing on this, and by the kinds of pseudo-"experts" they invite, and the kinds of questions they themselves ask, you can tell the problem and what kinds of stupid legislation will come next. I heard "explanations" for what kinds of spending stimulus measures are needed, and it was exactly the opposite of what the Federal Government's own statistics for G.D.P., healthy economy, and all the rest going back 70 years or more, show--they claimed "entrepeneurs," that annoying word, need tax cuts for "investment," when that is the least likely to help things. What is needed are direct cash payments to poor and middle class people with bills and things that need to be done--repairs of vehicles and home, etc.--that will flow into the economy instantly. Also, because of their Republican mind-set, they all appear to be unaware of the depth and extent of the problem out here. For example, I remember the statistic even from Molly Ivins several years ago, which has not changed--one-fourth of all minimum wage workers are homeless; they do not make enough money to live in a home, yet work 40+ hours a week! Also, just heard, the price of homes nationally, was down over the course of the whole year, for the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s; there is something terrible happening out here, that needs drastic solutions, and changes.
3) I think the highest level "D"LC, etc., "Democrats," with their fleets of commercial consultants, "framers," and etc., really have themselves bamboozled by the equally isolated Republicans, so that they believe--still--that they will be hammered by the American people if they raise taxes, help the poor, etc. I think this is actually still the case with these rich people.
4) They are so used to being craven, pleading with Republicans to like them, not hit them, please don't obstruct again, please let's be unified if we crawl and do everything Republicans want, that they are afraid--really afraid--to now have to fight. They have this so built up in their minds, that they don't dare take on pricks like McConnell. Democrats of every earlier era would have been on the floor of both Houses of Congress, and during every single hearing, yelling, accusing, and demanding a solution here (as only Dodd finally is), rather than this endless, disgusting capitulation that is so embarrassing and destructive to us all.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

16. But for the fact,...I have a supportive family, am unusually resourceful and have close friends,...

,...I doubt I would be surviving to this day. Every damn day I cope with the "shame" of being a highly educated impoverished person who never intended such difficult times while acknowledging the repercussions I knew I could suffer as a political dissident.

I'm compiling a journal of my personal experiences OF LIFE, LIVING with or among (YUP) others whom I love or like or barely tolerate. Their interpretations have always influenced my life the same as my perceptions have touched their imaginations. I was and never will be a person NEATLY pegged by modern "Western" (capitalistic, self-serving) society. I'm an enigma just because I acknowledge both BOLD facts and REAL feelings.

H2OMan offered a short frame about the fabric of humanity. I hope to offer a non-fiction report, someday.

Meanwhile, I tell everyone I know how poverty or chronic hardship can drive the most intelligent, most moral, most resourceful or most caring and compassionate to desperation. No good person should ever be DRIVEN to desperation. But, we live in a culture driven by a corporate media obsessed with greed.

We are resilient. I hope we are so resilient that we MARCH ON MEDIA, someday soon, and TAKE OVER THE FOURTH WING OF OUR DEMOCRACY!!!

Yeah.

[kelligesq]

20. I thought I heard those that earn less than $3000 p/y wont get anything...

did I hear right, Those that could really use that money the most, get nothing?