How Many Folks here make under Fifty Thousand Dollars a year? And does that effect who you support?

[stravu9]

I 'm kind of trying to see if the working poor support one candidate over another because they , personally , really need the economy to turn around and how many support their candidate for more academic reasons? Or certain issues they personally find important?

I will fess up that , as a Social Worker I do what I do out of love and belief in helping the helpless it's obviously not about profit so , yes I make well under $50 k a year and could use a better economy which is why I support Edwards.
He has talked about "The Two Americas " for as long as I can remember so I believe his plans to change things like FDR.

What about you other folks?

[Jed Dilligan]

1. $45,000 contract until the end of September,

then I'm not sure what. I may make $50,000 for the first time in my life this year. And yes, the experience of poverty has always strongly affected my voting.

[angrycarpenter]

2. $27,000

I wanted Dennis, will settle for Edwards, but I suppose I will take what someone else chooses as usual.

[El Pinko]

3. 50K or less is "working poor"?

According to the census and the IRS, 51% of American families (71% of individuals) would qualify as "working poor" under that definition.

[Berry Cool]

6. Thanks for the reality check, El Pinko.

I consider myself pretty well off for someone living where I do with no kids to support. And believe me, I KNOW what it's like to be part of "the working poor."

[stravu9]

7. I'm trying to include people who live in very expensive urban areas like NYC or

San Francisco where the average apartment is about $1265.00 per month!

[CRF450]

25. Damn thats crazy high!

My house is an 1,800sq ft. double wide (nice house too) sitting on 2 acres and I'm paying that much for it.

[stravu9]

31. I know! Why...

do you think I'm back in Missouri?

[El Pinko]

79. Actually, the average rent in SF is $2400. $1200 gets you a studio.

But rents (and home prices) in SF are way out of whack in relation to incomes. I'm not saying that $50K affords a nice lifestyle, you'd have to live in the sticks to live comfortably on that, but $50K is generally not considered "working poor". Unfortunately, with fuel, housing and food factored in, the cost of living in the last 7 years has gotten exorbitantly high while incomes have not kept up, so a lot of people who are supposedly "middle class" now feel like the working poor (or are up to their necks in hock maintaining the illusion of "middle class".

[tavalon]

21. In Seattle, it damn well would be

[stravu9]

23. Yes, I know!

It's like they are deliberately trying to miss the point!

[lumberjack_jeff]

57. I'm two hours from you. It's a middle class income in the real world. n/t

[Political Heretic]

80. $25K or less here.

I support Edwards.

[XboxWarrior]

4. I make only 25,000 rupies......

I have a degree, and I drive a trash truck.......(LOVE'N IT)

it pays my bills, and I get to live in the Rockies.

I just hope I die before I need health insurance.

(or a pistol, ala thompsom)

I am in no way hoping the Gubmit will help me.

NOT in my lifetime.

[ret5hd]

10. I think a more apt screen name for you might be "MandibleWarrior".

Just sayin'.

[Berry Cool]

5. Does making under $50K qualify everyone as "the working poor"?

That seems quite a blanket statement.

In New York or Los Angeles, sure. If you live in Milwaukee and you have five kids, and you and your spouse collectively earn no more than $50K, yeah.

But I can tell you that a single person living in East Jesus, Ohio, who made $50K would be considered the richest man in town.

[stravu9]

OF COURSE NOT! Like I say elsewhere, I don't know where people are from..

Most of my clients in Missouri whose children can get Medicaid , free lunch and food stamps make about $22 thousand a year gross.
But I lived in San Francisco for a few years, made higher wages and spent $1200.00 per month for my apartment!

[Berry Cool]

52. Fine, but that's San Francisco reality. You can't apply it broad brush.

You can't label people "poor" just because they don't earn enough money to live well in some outrageously expensive city they don't even live in.

If you're going to do that, I reserve my right to refer to everyone who makes over $50K as "the robber baron filthy rich." :rofl:

[stravu9]

9. You really didn't answer the question about who you support and if your income

effects it.

[salin]

54. but that question really is directly tied to the results of thequestion.

I make around 50K and have health insurance, own a home (no mortgage), a car (no loan payments), and live moderately comfortably, and am able to put a decent aside for savings each month (not enough for retirement anytime soon, but enough that were I to hit a rough patch, I should be able to live for more than a year and meet all of my financial obligations - something I would guess that some making much more than I could not state - due to having higher monthly debt obligations. So how I answer your question would skew what you are attempting to get at. The better question is not based on annual income - but on money left after bills on a monthly (or annual) basis. This covers the difference in cost of living questions more effectively and doesn't insult folks.

By the way, I have lived in a couple of very high cost of living areas (metro DC, and SF Bay Area) so I "get" the (skewed) question - but since this board covers a much broader area than the highest cost of living metro areas in the country - I would consider reframing the question in terms of the amount of money left over after paying bills (and basic living expenses) each month. That really gets at what you are trying to ask. Do people who are struggling to make ends meet, have different voting preferences than those for whom financial crisis is more than one month or one big unexpected bill away.

[Berry Cool]

56. I would say whom I support is not all that affected by my personal income

because I do not look at candidates just in terms of "how would they benefit me" but in terms of "how would they benefit everyone in the country--including those who have it the hardest."

Unlike Republicans, I'm not "I-got-mine-and-screw-you" selfish. I am also all too aware that what I have could be yanked out from under me tomorrow. I am also aware that I only have what I do have largely thanks to a government that saw an investment in grants and student loans for the daughter of a TRULY "working poor" single mother as a good investment. (And it's something two of my siblings, who took a few courses but never finished college, do NOT have.)

Back in Jimmy Carter's America, imperfect as it was, a teenager like me was considered to be worth educating if for no other reason than that I could get a degree, get a job, and pay the investment in me back through taxes on the higher income I would have as a result of my education, not to mention becoming a decent citizen, which was also considered worth the investment. Imagine that.

I'm not so sure that if I were that teenager today, I'd be able to go to college. The attitude of my country would be "You want to go to college? Then why didn't your mother who makes poverty wages save the money for you to go? Why is your deadbeat father who didn't pay his child support half the time not paying for it? Oh well...guess you can't go...OK then, here are some loans, but remember, it's going to cost you at least $10,000 this year at a state school, probably $13,000 by the time you graduate. So you better get some scholarships, because otherwise you will be about $45K in hock when you graduate...plus interest...Sound scary? Oh well then, I guess you don't have many alternatives other than to get a minimum-wage job and try to live on it."

To make a long story short, I look for the tide who I hope will raise ALL the boats. Not just my own personal dinghy.

[stravu9]

69. Point Take however...

I think you are kind of rude and I've decided to send you to the corn field.

ignore.

[CRF450]

15. No kidding.

My brother (single) makes around 50k a year, and here in my town where he lives, cost of living here is pretty low. Though not alot of money can be made here, he commutes about 40 miles to and from Norfolk VA where he delivers fuel to gas stations for Eagle Transport. Should he move to Norfolk, he'd end up spending alot more money because of the greatly increased cost of living their. Just like him, I'd prefer to commute 30+ miles to avoid the high cost of living in a big city. Thats how I'm living right (and single) now making around $35k a year, the only debt I'm in right is house payments (and my dirtbike, I only owe 3 grand on it), and I'm paying that off as fast I can.

[stravu9]

18. City living is expensive !

and if you try to maintain a car and your building doesn't have parking, you have to also pay rent to store your car.

[CRF450]

24. I'm actually paying more than my bro for a house

He fananced/bought half of my Aunt's house for around 100k. I bought mine for a little more than twice that much. But since both of my vehicle are paid for I can still pretty well afford it. And I'm happy living in it.

And since I'm living in the country, I get more bang for my buck for how big of a yard and house (1800sq ft.) I get:) Cant see myself living in a cramped up space in a noisy city.

[Berry Cool]

59. Same here.

In the Cleveland area, you can actually rent a decent, roomy one-bedroom apartment for three figures a month. There are places in upstate New York where you can buy an older, but very decent, house for $40,000 or so. Those are just two examples. In places like that, earning less than $50K a year as a single person doesn't automatically make you poor. It depends. Is it $10K? Yeah. Is it $45K? My God, you're loaded. But could you buy a house in the Silicon Valley? Could you afford a Manhattan apartment with a WINDOW in it? Ha! Well, OK, no. But that's part of why we live here. I'd rather have a one-bedroom apartment in Cleveland than a Manhattan shoebox full of roaches that I can barely turn around in where the "kitchen" consists of a hot plate set up in a closet. I wouldn't want to move to a place like that unless I was making at least six figures.

[CRF450]

78. I might have a friend or two move in and pay me rent.

Which would help alot in paying off the house. 3 bed/2 bath house, so, plenty of room for extra people instead of just living by myself.

[Bluerthanblue]

8. 1/4 of the $50,000 here- and I

have chosen Obama- I would have NO problem voting for J.Edwards if he gets the nom, and actually align most with DK- but I do not see America ready for what we SHOULD have (DK's platform).

The reason I chose Obama over Edwards, was because my own economic situation takes a back seat to other characteristics. I understand J.Edwards anger- and that wouldn't hold me back from being fully and activly behind an Edwards presidency.

I can't make the same claim for a Clinton presidency. She would more than likely get my vote, but not with any excitement, hope or joy. I wish it wasn't like this, but it is.

peace~

[proud patriot]

11. I make $12,000 a year

My husband about $15,000

I'm writing in Gore in the Primary .

[KG]

12. under 50k

and i think all the candidates suck.

once in the WH, dem or repook, the plight of the working poor will be the last thing on their minds or agendas.

[greenbriar]

13. combined 125,000 hubby and I Hubby is the bread maker

We both support EDWARDS

We never forgot our scraping and scrapping through college


neither has Edwards

[stravu9]

14. Understood and appreciated!

!

[Speck Tater]

16. Haha. You rich city folks are so funny. $50K? Get real.

If I could make 50K in one year, I'd work one year and take the next 5 years off and live on all the excess money I'd have laying around! 50K is just an insane amount of money. The problem is people have grown accustomed to the belief that they are entitled to drive a brand new car with $500/month car payments, and live in a half-million dollar 4,000 sq ft home in a gated community in the suburbs, and buy designer clothing, and blow a hundred dollars on a night out (Cripes! $100 feeds me for a month! And I eat GOOD!), and buy the latest iPods and iPhones, and the 8 foot plasma high def TV.

What are the necessities of life? Air, water, food, clothing, shelter from the cold, community, meaningful pursuits, and occasional entertainment. Everything else is a luxury. I have little sympathy for people who spend 90% of their income on luxuries and then complain that they don't make enough money. If you really want to improve your quality of life don't look for the solution in more consumption. Look for the solution in the basics. People are convinced that buying more stuff will make them happier, when numerous studies have shown just the opposite to be the case.

Say no to the life of quiet desperation.

"Simplify, simplify, simplify." -- Henry David Thoreau

[greenbriar]

17. while it looks like we make a huge amount of money..we have huge bills

house
car
student loans ect

[CRF450]

19. Not to mention, some of our "luxuries"...

We rightfully afford and make use of when not working our asses off.

[stravu9]

22. That's My point!

What if you have a couple of kids and they BOTH need braces.
Or the laterals to the street sewer lines need to be replaced. The city doesn't pay for that you do.
What if your car goes belly up or you need a new roof? A new furnace?
What if you need surgery?

[greenbriar]

26. did the 4 grand furnace last year

that hurt

[stravu9]

34. Yes, I always worry about folks on a fixed income!

If they have no savings or credit what do they do? Freeze?

[salin]

60. I lived in the SF Bay Area in the nineties on about 20K

and was able to keep a several thousand dollar "cushion" in the checking account for emergencies. Granted I was in grad school, and knew that it was temporary (but that I would have to leave the area in order to work and begin to save and do things like buy homes and cars on nonprofit salaries, and I did that - it is a *choice* to do so). On those salaries I would agree that it would have been "working poor". However, even in the Bay Area - at least on the Penninsula (during the tech boom) I would NOT call 50K "the working poor" - those earning that, who were in working poor situations - had a spending/debt (choice) issue. I LIVED it - and if you choose to keep being insulting to others - than I can return the favor. If one lives in a very expensive market - DONT BUY A HOUSE unless the income allows it, then all of the extra expenses go to the landowner. I didn't buy until I lived where I could do so in a place where I would be able to SAVE enough to create a safety net in accessible funds to cover for all of the expenses (but the surgery) that you describe - and make sure that in my 50K job that I have health insurance.

Ironic - you define my income as on the edge of the "working poor" - yet from your postings, I would guess that I have a much greater securty net that I have saved to create.

To equate decent salaries to those of folks who are working at service jobs that pay 10 or less an hour (and who earn less than 20K unless they work two jobs) - is really blind to those that TRULEY struggle. Even at 20K in the Bay Area - with little safety network, I recognized that a) I was earning a high-power degree that would let me earn more later and give me job security and b) that there were many who were earning FAR less than I, and having to also live in the expensive SF Bay Area. I would suggest that your post indicates that you do not really *get* how many people live on significantly less than that in your area - and somehow survive - and that our concerns should be for HOW they survive. They could be we in a flick of a moment per employment opportunities, health crises with huge costs, etc. To over inflate what level is "crisis" or "working poor" (living on the edge - paying the way but with no cushion) - is to be very blind to the reality of many, many Americans living around you in the same high cost of living area.

[stravu9]

63. I Deal With Teh "working poor "everyday. They come in for Medicaid food stamps daycare etc.

A single Mom with 1 child making 20k does not have Medicaid she is way over income.
So if she become ill and cannot work or loses her job they a a few paychecks away from losing everything.

I WORK AT THE SOCIAL SERVICES OFFICE BUDDY!
I SEE MISERY EVERY DAY AND I BET I "GET IT " MORE THAT YOU !
"From MY postings?"
I talk them down when they weep at my desk, I offer them alternatives to Medical care if they do not qualify .
I get them set up at clinics or food bank, half way houses, homeless shelters and Nursing Homes!All for a whopping $916.32 semi monthly for my pay!
Who do you deal with everyday at your job SUNSHINE?

[salin]

73. Let's not play the I get it more than you game

I can trade stories from working with families in Detroit in the early nineties in the height of the "crack wars" - to the Bay Area - to now with families in the midwest struggling with homelessness. That was my exact point. Your putting a level of 50 K which is FAR higher than these families make - diminishes the real crises these families face by including folks who have to make hard choices (rent vs own) but can make choices to keep themselves able to survive (maybe not save a lot -but save enough to weather the sorts of crises you refer to in the thread (a new furnace, etc.)

I have lived in poverty. I have lived around poverty. I now work with an impoverished community - and though I make what I consider a very healthy salary at 50K (comparatively - and I still live and spend mostly like I did when I lived in and near poverty which is how I SAVE now instead of "upgrading my lifestyle" to my earnings) I no way equate what I make with "working poor." Your initial post is insulting both to those earning (and living decently) on that income or lower - and to those that are truley the working poor.

Rant at me that I don't know as much as you want. And I Laugh.

I lived in DC on 14K a year. I lived in Ann Arbor/Detroit for 19K and worked with the desperately poor - and knew that when I took that second job to make 26K that I was finally able to create a safety net and that I was in a far better situation than most of whom I worked with. Was I concerned about financial crises? Of course I was, but I never lost sight of how much more reslient in a crises I could be - and in great part because I kept spending like I lived in poverty. I never bought a house or car, until I could afford one, and afford to create a financial cushion (10K accessible money)- and I worked like a dog to create that cushion. And I recognize that those earning minimum and even "living wage" jobs do NOT have that ability - so I do not look down upon those that can not create that safety cushion. However those who make as much or more than I - even in the Bay Area (where I LIVED for years) - I have a little less sympathy. If one is 50K and "working poor" in the Bay Area - than one is over spending. I can see that one can save little, find it hard to buy a home and a new car - but one should be able to rent, and buy used cars. I do not consider that as a definition of "the working poor" - I consider that mroe to be economically wise.

Just today even on my "working poor" salary (your definition) I spent money on a child's school clothes - because this impoverished families circumstances had deteriorated so much that clothes were no longer in the budget - and the child's single pair of school pants were terribly ripped and torn up. In no way would I confuse my "working poor" (your definition of 50K) with this child's family's situation. It is the equation of those who are moderatlely struggling to save (but can live) with those who are working but still at or close to poverty that I find so insulting.

[stravu9]

75. Sure what ever you say.

I'm sending you to the corn field now.

Ignore

[salin]

76. Gee thanks.

Sad thing is the arrogance of what you consider the "working poor" when you purportedly work with the *real* working poor - those who work full time (or full time and a half) and still can not/or can barely - meet monthly expenses. IMO conflating the two (hard to cover big bills vs hard to pay regular bills) is problematic. Though you are not reading this (per your "ignore" statement) - I would suggest again, that if you really want to get a gauge on what people are thinking (per vote preferences) per their voting preferences and their economic circumstances, I wouldn't give a flat number that fits ONLY in a few extremely high cost of living places in the country.. that one rephrase the question to how much income one has at the end of each month after one pays all of one's bills. That would take into acoount the difference in cost of living in different areas of the country.

For example at 50K in Indiana I am able to save 500-800 a month (discipline - but little real sacrifice), but if I still lived in the SF Bay Area that saving level would be much less - how much less is what is important ... as to whether or not that savings could be enough to cover emergencies such as you state (furnace, roof, etc.) And that context would change (given the circumstances) how one might answer the original question per voting preference.

Peace.

[pitohui]

41. so you consider health care and medicine to be a luxury

you said: Air, water, food, clothing, shelter from the cold, community, meaningful pursuits, and occasional entertainment. Everything else is a luxury

i don't believe you pay your own bills because there are a couple of significant necessities missing

health care and medicine are not on your list of necessities, which proves to me right there that you have never run a household, how old are you, 15? living at home with mom?

a few dollars saved on eating cheap groceries and never going out doesn't make up for your lack of health care, one serious injury or illness and you lose everything


oh, and i notice you have no retirement savings either

come back and tell us about the "luxuries" in the budget when you have figured out what the necessities are

[mcscajun]

20. $27,000, and you can Bet it does and Will affect who I support.

It's certainly not the only issue, but it's a Damned Big One.

[stravu9]

39. Understood!

:7

[Manifestor_of_Light]

27. Unemployed for quite a few years.

Unable to get a job despite 23 yrs of education, three college degrees, including a J.D. and yrs of experience in the legal field. Now their big catch-22 with the employment agencies is that they want people with "recent" legal experience. I think that's irrelevant, since the purpose of the legal system is NOT to change unless there's a good reason, unlike science and technology. They're insulting me, like I forgot everything I ever learned about the legal profession since I was a small child.

Age discrimination is the big factor, I believe. Employers don't want people with serious educations, because I might make them look bad by doing something intelligent, or asking a pointed question.

No health insurance and no retirement pension and no unemployment.

I'm moving out of the city because the property taxes and insurance and electricity costs are driving me out. Me and my partner can't find jobs, and my partner's last job was killing him -- physically and mentally. He was turning into a horrible person and only taking home $20K a year -- and paying ten dollars a day to PARK HIS CAR!! And he has a BS and MS in Math/Physics that he wasn't using, as well as a degree in Video Production. He got penalized for being innovative and creative (like some incredibly complex database programming), and doing things quickly. They didn't pay him overtime either. He got his overtime when they fired him and he sent them an Excel spread sheet with every day of his work for five years, with his overtime detailed on it.

As far as expenses, we haven't bought a car in 15 years, nor have we spent money unless something broke down. The cost of auto insurance, homeowner's insurance and property taxes and electricity are horrendous, and I don't consider those to be luxuries. For two months last summer my electric bill was $375.00, for the cost of air conditioning so I wouldn't get sick from the heat -- heat and humidity kills people, and where I live, A/C is a necessity. That was at 15 cents a kilowatt hour, with 3 phase electricity which is more efficient.

I fell out of the middle class during the Clinton administration -- that's when the good jobs and increasing income stopped.

To hell with corporate america.


Supporting Edwards.

[stravu9]

29. God Bless You! That is so Sad!

Let's keep hope alive!
All The Best!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

83. Thanks. America throws away its bright people.

We live in a mediocracy, folks. If you're bright, you'll get mowed down.

And if you get fired, you're blamed for it, because you were stupid enough to believe that if you went to college, worked hard, and got that advanced education you'd be marketable. My parents scrimped and saved to send me to college. I paid for graduate school myself, while I was working and going to night school on the "pay as you go" plan.

They had gone to college too, and education was one of their highest values. We were middle class because Dad had gone to law school on the G.I. Bill and he'd bought a house with a 4% VA loan, just before they stopped them in 1953. A $9,000 house with $84 a month payments! The house was a real dump but that was a lot of money back then.

Ha!!! The job market is a total farce and the reason people in America are not employed is NOT because they don't have a good education. There are plenty of us out there who are quite well educated and skilled, but they don't want to pay us anything but peanuts. They don't want to promote us, or pay overtime, or even hire us in the first place if we're over 40 - might cost too much in health insurance costs, you see.

Corporate America can go fuck itself, for the way it treats everybody.

[rzemanfl]

28. I moved to Florida and pay the "sunshine tax" I also gave up

what used to be a profession when I moved here for peace of mind. I was doing fine until the 2000 selection, since then my stress level is as bad as it was when I was practicing law. I make under 50k now.

[Iktomiwicasa]

30. 50K???

That's MORE than 12 average people make annually in my community.

[varelse]

32. I never thought much about my own income

it's well under 50k a year and I can't afford things like my own home, or children, or even supporting my parents as they grow older... but maybe that is one reason I supported Kucinich (and damn near voted for him in the California Primary) and now support Edwards as my second choice.

Thing is, my own financial situation is fine, in spite of the fact that the area I've settled in ranks very high in the cost of living - I think it's in the top 10 cities. I'm saving money, even - most likely because of my upbringing, there's so many things other people feel they must buy, that I don't even think about any more (or never did). I buy furniture, dishes, clothing, and appliance at yard sales, flea markets, and in thrift stores and think nothing of it.

It's not my own income or my own situation that drives my (extremely limited) involvement in politics. It is the future that inspires me. The future of all humans, everywhere, and all life, everywhere.

*It's also the single mom working two fulltime jobs and living in a campground or a parking lot, or the one working graveyard while her kids sleep in the camper parked at the sweatshop. It's the genius IQ child struggling with emotional and behavioural problems who might not ever realize his full potential because the $$ aren't there to provide counseling, or to get him into a good college where his brilliant math and science potential would be realized - for the good of all of us.

It is all the lost and wasted human potential, from all the bright, compassionate, hard working, ambitious humans I have met in my life, who have simply been ploughed under. That, and not my own income level, is why I tend to vote for the guy who has experienced homelessness and poverty, or as an alternative the guy who is openly recognizing the same waste of potential that I see - and if he's faking that, he's doing a damned good job of it.

*these are people I have met, and known, and I could list more, but I'm not writing a novel here :P

[stravu9]

37. Being a Social Worker , Trust me , I know them too!

Some of them struggle valiantly to bring themselves up from poverty!
I have had about 20 clients who were buying houses lose them due to this housing market crash. They are so disheartened now. A few are having to be treated for depression because of it!

[OHdem10]

33. Retired so my support of Edwards and in case something

causes him to drop out, I would go to Clinton. My passion is social
justice and I want better for the country. Yes, they would be
better for me as an Individual.

[Iktomiwicasa]

36. Doesn't matter who is elected...

...nothing will change here on the Pine Ridge reservation. HRC, BO, JE, they all could care less.

[scarletwoman]

35. I may crack $25,000 this year. At age 58, it will be the most I have EVER made in my life.

I raised two kids as a working single mom on less than $10,000 a year for YEARS.

I will vote for Edwards if he is -- by some miracle -- the Dem nominee. If he isn't, I will write in Dennis Kucinich. Fuck the corporacrats.

sw

[stravu9]

38. I'm with you !

:)

[begin_within]

40. I'm self-employed, made $23,000 in 2007, supported Kucinich, now support Edwards.

I supposed if I was Barbra Streisand, yes I would support Hillary, and if I was Oprah Winfrey, yes, I would support Obama.

[taught_me_patience]

42. Fiance and I - 200k +

However I was making 24k five years ago while living in Honolulu. That was a bummer and a struggle that I'll never forget. I support Obama. I like his message of hope and feel income does not affect my decision about who I'm voting for.

[stravu9]

46. Hawaii is Beautiful

and VERY expensive, Glad you are doing well now!

[taught_me_patience]

48. Beautiful and LIBERAL

thank god. Los Angeles is beautiful, liberal, and also very expensive.

[Habibi]

43. We made $55K in '07

between the two of us. That's about par for the last couple of years, since we each got downsized from our respective tech support jobs (IBM and Kodak) back in '02. Self-employed contractors now. Paying through the nose for income/SS tax and health insurance. We're relatively debt-free *at the moment* but realize we're walking on thin ice, as we've both just turned 50 and we understand we're one medical crisis away from disaster.

I'm voting Edwards. Hubby's probably voting Obama. In the primaries. In the general--whoever the Dem nominee is.

[stravu9]

45. Many of us are!

I see it daily! You never know!
God Bless!

[unapatriciated]

44. combined lame and I might hit 50 this year.

after four months on a picket we left higher paying jobs a couple of years back (the new contract discriminated against new hires) and had to start over with new company. You all know we support Edwards but Kucinich will always be my first choice. We are still better off than a lot out there.

[Habibi]

47. That's just it, isn't it?

Seems like the poorer I've become the more I realize I have. Funny, that. I give more to charity and "causes" than I did when I was making $50K+ on my own. :)

[unapatriciated]

51. years ago I don't remember where.....

but a statistic in an article showed that lower income households were more likely to donate to charities then higher incomes. When my son became ill years ago we spent a lot of time in and out of Childrens. His illness left him disabled but I was grateful, he survived where other's did not.

[ThoughtCriminal]

49. About 35k last year

Down from over 100k in 2004. But the biggest part of the drop was voluntary. Quit job, started our own company, sold the upscale house and used profit to by a smaller, less impressive home - for cash.

The business has not done as well as we hoped, but we get by because we have zero debt and own our house. Biggest problem has been health insurance. We were able to get it through our company, but the premiums were rising something like 15% a year despite raising our deductables. Last year, my wife got a job that does not pay well, but included health coverage for much less than we could get.

We're voting for Edwards.

[stravu9]

71. Good Luck in the Business!

:)

[ThoughtCriminal]

77. I should add

I would be voting for Edwards if I was still making $100k.

[Quantess]

50. I have never made more than 30,000 salary

And I have a master's degree. Sad, huh. I should have majored in business.

[salin]

53. I think that the 50K definition of the "working poor" is contextual

Most of my working life I have made much less than that - and now I am about at that level - as a single person, still trying to live on the budget rules that I used on my lower wages - lets me save at a fairly decent rate, and I certainly would not compare myself to some of the families that I work with as "the working poor." I think it depends on how many people are supported on that amount - and where one is living (per the local cost of living.)

[Individualist]

55. under 20K, retired, and live alone unless you count my cat

and I have to pay taxes on that less than 20K. Unlike Social Security recipients, retired federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System have to pay taxes on what we get.

[Zywiec]

58. Thank you for doing what you do n/t

[stravu9]

62. Thank YOu!

:)

[lumberjack_jeff]

61. This year: under $50k and Edwards

2004: $100k Dean
2000: $60k Bradley

I don't have a great track record.

[stravu9]

74. Yeah! I know what you mean!

But Go John!

[B Calm]

64. I hate to admit it, but I'm now making under 50. I plan to vote for the working

man's candidate, JOHN EDWARDS!

[GreenPartyVoter]

65. $30,000 for a family of 4. I supported DK. I guess my support now goes to Edwards.

[stravu9]

72. MineTOO!

Go John!
:dem:

[usaftmo]

66. Being in the military guarantees a salary under

50 grand, but that won't stop me from voting for a Democrat. Personally I'm most in-tune with Kucinich, but I will definitely not have any negative feelings if the Democratic nominee is someone else.

If we spend too much time/attention/effort arguing with each other, those harsh feelings will hurt whoever the Democratic nominee is in November.

Sorry for the off-topic rant.
:rant:

[tyedyeto]

67. Way less than $50K............Less than $20K

I haven't given to any candidate but I have given to food banks, both local and here on DU (America's Second Harvest)

I'd rather my extra $10 or $20 dollars go somewhere for the less fortunate than for any candidate.

[KillCapitalism]

68. I make ~$35K/yr. in St. Louis, Missouri.

I would consider myself to be solidly "working class" here. I definitely don't feel like I'm middle class, and I'm no longer working poor thankfully. I support John Edwards because his I believe his policies are the friendliest to working class people like myself.

[kineneb]

70. $14,000 (two people), disabled poor

it does influence my choice in candidates. Not that I am sure that my vote will actually be counted... but I will still vote.

[Political Heretic]

81. 25k or less here.

I support Edwards.

[countryjake]

82. Waiting on tax refund to pay last yrs bills/$24k-two people...solid working class

Like this topic, I don't believe that any of the remaining candidates fully grasp what "working class" means. For me to put any further trust in politicians who will see to it that their class interest continues to profit off our labor, would be denying the struggle that I, my parents, grandparents, and every ancestor have fought to end such oppression. I've lived long enough to have seen one too many politicos make good sense, grand promises, glorified speeches, and then go on to deliver gross sell-outs to the hard-working people of this nation.

Medical care is a luxury that my family gave up during the Clinton Era, we both have health worries, but we live with them, and our medicine grows in the garden; bad roof means buckets to catch the drips, til we can save up for a bucket of Snow; our 17 year old car dies, we walk; insurance of any sort moved beyond our means with this current administration, it's the "can't get blood from a turnip" attitude found in traffic courts across the country these days; furnace is run two times per day, if it breaks, a friend fiddles with it to get it going again, but bundling is what keeps us warm, plus duct-taped plastic and draped comforts over windows, and one trusty old milkhouse heater; majority of our food comes from the volunteer work I do and our garden; we don't do "shopping" and wouldn't, even if we could afford it.

Getting by with what we have is the lifestyle of most the people we know, never owned a new car or tractor, fancy appliances, microwave, cell phone, big huge tv, dvds or electronic gadgets...we are one of three homes in our neighborhood who have ever even had a computer and we share this one (often to read aloud posts at this site, as disgruntled, disenfranchised, ground under Democrats) and I can tell you, folk use clothespins to hang their clothes out, not to cast a vote for president.

We'll continue to work on making things happen, here at our local level, which is quite hard enough, but community will be the focus come Nov. as the nation has passed us by, once again.