Behind the poverty numbers: real lives, real pain

[mfcorey1]

At a food pantry in a Chicago suburb, a 38-year-old mother of two breaks into tears.

She and her husband have been out of work for nearly two years. Their house and car are gone. So is their foothold in the middle class and, at times, their self-esteem.

"It's like there is no way out," says Kris Fallon.

She is trapped like so many others, destitute in the midst of America's abundance. Last week, the Census Bureau released new figures showing that nearly one in six Americans lives in poverty — a record 46.2 million people. The poverty rate, pegged at 15.1 percent, is the highest of any major industrialized nation, and many experts believe it could get worse before it abates.

The numbers are daunting — but they also can seem abstract and numbing without names and faces.

Associated Press reporters around the country went looking for the people behind the numbers. They were not hard to find.

http://news.yahoo.com/behind-poverty-numbers-real-lives-real-pain-151738270.html

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Bill just said it ,40% to the 1% for the last 10 yrs

[lunatica]

2. And the government kicks you while you're down

Still forcing people to choose between paying for car insurance and food. Isn't this country just grand?

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Peachy!

[closeupready]

3. It's funny how you can see people like Michelle Bachmann say shit like this:

>>"I didn't realize that it could go so bad so fast," she says now. "I was working. I was trying. I felt like I was doing everything I could. But everyone was saying I needed to do more.

"They say, 'It's your fault. You don't need to live off the government,'" Wells says. "For some people, yes, it is their fault. ... I didn't deserve to lose my job. I worked as hard as I could."<<

(the bolded portion.)

As she continues collecting farm subsidies, taxpayer-subsidized health insurance and her Congressional salary. :puke: Hypocrites! :mad:

[SpiralHawk]

4. "it's like there's no way out."

The chilling chant the Republicons intend to impose on many millions more.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. It's a miracle that we see any coverage of this in the media at all. Most of the time

the poor are kept invisible.