"No poor person ever gave me a job"

[maxrandb]

That statement is one that the “right-wing” always throws out when confronted with the failure of “trickle-down” tax-cuts for the wealthy. My sister-in-law, who has had her brain turned to mush from inhaling too many fumes from Limbaugh’s waste-hole, threw this at me the other day. I responded; “and a poor person has never fired me and then drained my pension plan”.
It shut her up and it caused me to try to come up with some more arguments to counter the “No poor person ever gave me a job” crap.

- No poor person ever charged me a $5 fee for the pleasure of holding my money.

- No poor person ever denied me medical care because I had a pre-existing condition.

- No poor person ever foreclosed on my house.

- No poor person ever shipped my neighbor’s job overseas.

- No poor person ever tripled my interest rate because I missed one payment.

- No rich person ever "gave" me a job either...I got it because my labor had value.

And like Elizabeth Warren said; “no rich person got rich without the society and infrastructure we all helped to build”.

[Atman]

1. Fuckin' A. +100 squared

:headbang:

[Divine Discontent]

106. +1 zillion.

Get it here now, or one of a million other designs! http://www.zazzle.com/republicans_2012_keeping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128659602907896843?rf=238107662556833486eping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128659602907896843?rf=238107662556833486

[liberal N proud]

2. No rich person ever got rich without stepping on a few poor persons

[DFW]

120. There are exceptions to that

Who did JK Rowling or Bill Cosby ever step on?

[eilen]

129. In respect to JK Rowling

She did get support from the public welfare system/the commons while she was writing her first Harry Potter book. While she didn't step on anyone (that we know of), she did get help.

[DFW]

138. Of course she did

No shame in being on public help if you're without a job and have no means of support.

But her subsequent success didn't come because she hire a few hundred people to work for her at slave wages with inadequate
health insurance. But my point stands: not everyone who managed to earn a lot of money did it by exploiting others. Some just
got lucky. It doesn't make them evil.

[eilen]

146. I guess my point is that she was able to do what she did

with the help of the public/gov't funding. She did not succeed in a vacum.

[DFW]

148. No argument on that point

But as a (trying) first-time author myself, I also know that perseverance and luck are
factors in getting a book published. Joanne Rowling, from what I hear, had to write something
like 20+ agents and/or publishers before any of them would even take a chance on her Harry Potter
project.

Of course, afterwards, I imagine every agent or publisher who turned her down later felt like
the Decca agent who turned down taking on the Beatles, saying that guitar bands were on their way out.

Still, in the end, it was HER creativity that was justly rewarded. Lots of people got rich peripherally,
such as booksellers, actors, film theater owners, etc etc. Rowling didn't trample anyone to the way
to being a zillionaire. On the contrary, she brought a whole lot of prosperity along with her.

[treestar]

142. Could have been someone

Especially in show business.

[kentuck]

3. Good responses!

kic and rec

[Drale]

4. No poor person would ever create a system

in which on mistake can ruin your entire life.

[dkf]

7. That's life.

Geez of course one mistake can ruin your entire life. One OD, one night drinking too much and driving, one burst of an explosive temper...

[Drale]

11. I meant more economical rather than in society in general

something like choosing a major in College that all of a sudden there are no jobs or I'll go further and say No poor person would create a system which is so stressful that there is a 6 to 8 week waiting period to see a psychologist.

[dkf]

27. What you are arguing for is no consequences.

I guess every person wishes they had none but they aren't necessarily happy when there are none for the guy next to them.

[bvar22]

48. It would be nice if there were some "consequences"...

...for failed Wall Street Bankers.
The TRUTH in America today is that there are few "consequences"
for those RICH enough to Buy their Way Out.


Yes, Virginia,
there really are TWO Americas,
and they are very, VERY different.


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Raster]

95. Unfortunately, no poor person had the means to buy their way out...

...they are forced to live with the consequences, no matter the cost.

[LanternWaste]

143. Would be nice to have few to no consequences for an underinsureed policy holder

" for is no consequences..."

Would be nice to have few to no consequences for an underinsureed policy holder with a catastrphic acute onsite disease. I imaginbe they're not neccesariy happy either. I also imagine they too wish there were no consequences.

[Pacifist Patriot]

13. Sure it's life, but there is a difference between

a system that affirms human dignity and one that makes certain types of mistakes punitive when they needn't be.

[dkf]

25. Have you seen our prison system?

[Pacifist Patriot]

26. Yes, why?

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leftyohiolib]

34. "That's life"? there are mistakes you do to yourself , like od, then

there are mistakes someone else does that ruin your life, like steal your pension. you know you cant state the sky is blue on this site without some ________ jumping on you for something petty.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

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

[liberation]

57. "new" Dems sure do sound exactly like "old" republicans.

don't they?

[fascisthunter]

59. weird way of justifying something that is BAD for most people

you must be verrry lucky, that or souless... maybe both.

[chervilant]

72. That's it

Final straw...

Go to ignore, go directly to ignore; do not pass Go, do not collect $200...

[Ken Burch]

102. "That's life" is a cop-out statement

Reducing everything to "That's life" makes us all helpless pawns of economic and political bullies.

[ck4829]

119. "That's life" should also be about being able to correct your mistakes

With the systems we've currently got; the usage of credit in applying for jobs, discrimination against the unemployed, these high rates, loans that can't be paid back, and more, is less about 'life' and more about stigma. Why not just brand people with hot irons?

A part of life is about mistakes, the consequences of those mistakes, and learning from them. There are consequences that should be long lasting, and there are those that should only exist for short periods of time. Why must everything economic related be placed in the first category?

[RetroLounge]

121. One troll on DU...

:puke:

RL

[Quantess]

123. That one doesn't even try to hide it anymore.

[devilgrrl]

132. Here's to hoping Life happens to you, sooner rather than later.

Heartless ghoul.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

147. I would be happy with a tombstone. To the admins even read their own fuckin website?

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Most excellent. :) K&R n/t

[orwell]

6. Poor people give lots of people jobs...

...by their needs for food, shelter, clothing and other services.

If the poor population were eliminated overnight, demand in the society would fall dramatically.

It is demand that creates jobs, not people.

In fact, the lack of demand by a population reeling under massive private debt is why we are in the recession in the first place.

So yes sparky, poor people give us all lots of jobs...

[maxrandb]

12. One of my first jobs

was at a local Grocery Store chain in Ohio. I worked in one of the stores in a poorer section of Columbus where about 20-25% paid in Food Stamps or recieved Aid for Families with Dependent Children.

Were it not for those social safety net programs, none of us, from the manager to the bagger would have had a job...not to mention the bakeries, truck drivers, distribution centers, vendors and even the farmer growing the produce and rasing cattle who benefited from the folks that shopped at that store.

[eilen]

130. That's right

I work in a hospital. Most of our patients receive some kind of government program-- Medicare, Medicaid.

[Pacifist Patriot]

16. +1

[Arkansas Granny]

22. Exactly right. They spend what they make which creates a demand

which has to be filled so people are hired. They spend what they make . . . .

[dana_b]

45. that was just what I was going to say

poor people give lots of people jobs and people who don't think so are blind.

[caraher]

63. Very important point easily missed

This RW meme works because people confuse the person who signs your paycheck (or their superior) with the people whose needs make your job possible. The real job creators are the people we see in our mirrors each morning!

[Raine]

76. Yes, EXACTLY

too bad the "high and mighty" can't seem to understand that.

[moonbatmax]

115. This!

I first picked up on this one a few months back when some pundit or blowhard
was banging on the old "support the job creators" plank again:

WE are the job creators.

WE, the ones who buy stuff.

WE, who pay bills, who pay rent, who (try to) pay off our loans,

WE are the ones putting up the money that goes into employees' pockets.

It's certainly not the employers, at least as long as they're turning a profit.
It's OUR money they take, OUR money they pocket,
and whatever's left of OUR money
is what they pass on to their employees.

They may "create" the jobs,
but WE pay the salaries
that make those jobs possible.


Don't let anyone tell you what it's like for the job creators.

You already know.





EDIT: Posted prematurely, had to fix/finish. OOPS! :blush:

[klook]

124. Good one - thanks

This whole "Job Creators" crapola about billionaires being the only reason any of us could hope to be employed has gotten pretty old.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. How about

lots of poor people create their own fucking jobs?

That's true of lots of tradespeople, artists, writers, bloggers, consultants, animal workers (dog trainers, kennels, etc.), landscapers, lawn care folks, painters, construction workers, etc. Even some professionals.

While lots of these folks are happy to exist outside the corporate world some would prefer to work in the corporate world but are denied the opportunity.

The people who have to earn an income - the working class - create jobs. Either by creating demand or by being forced to create their own source of income and earnings.

[raccoon]

9. Recd. You rock. nt

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Hey, maxrandb. What do you think of this?

I love your reply so much I'd like to share it.




:hi:

[maxrandb]

17. Not a problem

Glad you thought they were good responses.

[maxrandb]

20. You didn't get my favorite

"No poor person ever fired me and then drained my pension plan"

[OneGrassRoot]

23. Ah, didn't copy and paste well.

Let's see what else comes up by the end of the day and maybe we can have a finished graphic that people can post on FB, etc....if okay with you.

:hi:

[muffin1]

38. Thanks, OneGrassRoot!

I shared, too! ;-)

[maxrandb]

78. BTW OGR

I think I would be extremely proud and humbled if someone wanted to share this.

[movingviolation]

108. I just shared yer pic on facespace

Hope ya dont mind.

[maxrandb]

151. No, I don't mind at all

Just saw the graphic the Grass Roots created on the Americans Against the Tea Baggers...errrr, I mean "Party" facebook page.

I feel like Navin R. Johnson!

[OneGrassRoot]

122. Updated graphic here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/d5vJ8WdIyJcDDcqD0mYc9w?feat=directlink (direct link to larger image)



(the above link is the only one I can insert here at DU)

[OneGrassRoot]

125. This horizontal version works much better on Facebook:

:)

[MinneapolisMatt]

14. Excellent.

:yourock:

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. Shoot, it wouldn't let me recommend twice.

:-)

[Scuba]

18. No rich person ever "gave" me a job. I worked hard for every job....

...but my job opportunities were created by poor People (among others) who needed healthcare.

[bluerum]

19. "Poor" people buy a lot of stuff. A LOT. This purchasing power drives the factories to manufacture,

drives the store to maintain inventory, provides opportunity for repair services etc. etc. So I would say, without "poor" people you might not have a job.

[socialist_n_TN]

21. The answer to this is simple..............

and always has been. In a market economy, NO ONE don't "creates" jobs. DEMAND creates jobs. The job destroyers in the 1% don't care about demand because they can make more money off of capital than they can by creating something that the public wants to buy. And as Lenin said (paraphrasing) if there's a demand for hanging rope, there'll be a capitalist somewhere who will sell it.

But agitationally those thing about what a "poor person" hasn't done to us work well.

[WinkyDink]

81. The point, as I see it, of the term is to associate the rich WITH GOD, THE CREATOR. It's all about

language and the subliminal use thereof.

[unionworks]

110. thanks

I've been shouting the same thing from the rooftops for a while now. The arrogance of these bastards.

[Ikonoklast]

24. No poor person ever bought out my company and fired half the employees

in order to pump up the stock value making the stock options for the worthless short-sighted CEO MBA Pirate recently hired by the board worth ten times as much, as he already knows he has a three year window to personally loot as much value from the company as he can before he throws the husk of it back onto the regular shareholders and gets fired, but only after cashing in his options and getting his $10,000,000.00 Golden Parachute as a going-away present.


No poor person ever asked me for contract concessions, saying that "We are all in this together for the long-term health of OUR company", all the while negotiating in secret to sell the company out from underneath the employees whose concessions made the company more attractive to the prospective new owners who are a venture capitalists that are going to carve the company up as they do not want to run a business, they only want to loot it of as much value as they can, throwing the employees to the wolves in the process.

[Flatulo]

104. Amazing - you just described in perfect detail the last three companies I worked for! nt

[HughBeaumont]

28. That, like all conservative bumper-sticker cliches, is a part without a whole.

No poor person ever gave them a butterfly either.

Companies don't hire out of some sense of noblesse oblige. Companies hire when there is DEMAND, i.e. poor people spending excess income not tied up in bills and cost of living expenses.

[RedCappedBandit]

29. Your sister in law is probably right

A poor person wouldn't have given her a job, because being the self centered right wing Limbaugh listening type that she is, she would never consider working in a field where you're actually employed to help those in need.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

30. Besides, It's Not Even True

Poor people gave me plenty of jobs. My grandma was retired and living off of Social Security (aka "sponging off the government" in rightie-speak), but she still paid me to mow her lawn every week. My neighbors did too, and none of them was rich.

And when I got older, I worked for a fast food restaurant that went bankrupt, a lumber yard that is now out of business, and I drove a truck for a company that also went out of business. When I graduated from Law School and passed the bar, I worked for 2 different small law firms who were constantly in danger of having their doors padlocked because of all the money they owed to various creditors. They weren't "poor people." They were worse than that. Poor people have nothing, or close to it. These companies manipulated the American credit/banking system, so they had LESS THAN nothing.

And now I work for myself. I'm not even close to rich. But I gave myself a job.

So yes, "poor people" create jobs ALL THE TIME.

[FloridaJudy]

103. The other day I was riding the handicapped bus to the store

And as the driver pulled up to a stop light, there was a ragged couple sitting on the median with their dog. The driver rolled down his window and yelled "Hey!" The woman walked up to him and he handed her a ten dollar bill. He remarked to me "I see them all the time, and feel bad I can't give them more".

I know what those drivers make - since some of them are a chatty lot - and it isn't nearly enough for a job that requires intelligence and skill, as well as some pretty heavy lifting, although not a lot of formal education. What that driver handed over represented a hefty chunk out of his paycheck.

If the "job creators" had even a fraction of the compassion and generosity of that driver, this country wouldn't be in the sorry shape that it is.

[rugger1869]

31. Bum on the Plush

The Bum of the Rods and the Bum of the Plush
by Fry Pan Jack

The bum on the rods is hunted down
As the enemy of mankind
The other is driven around to his club
Is feted, wined and dined.
And they who curse the bum on the rods
As the essence of all that is bad,
Will greet the other with a winning smile,
And extend the hand so glad.

The bum on the rods is a social flea
Who gets an occasional bite,
The bum on the plush is a social leech,
blood sucking day and night.
The bum on the rod is a load so light
That his weight we scarcely feel,
But it takes the labor of dozen of men
To furnish the other a meal.

As long as you sanction the bum on the plush
The other will always be there,
But rid yourself of the bum on the plush
And the other will disappear.
Then make an intelligent, organized kick
Get rid of the weights that crush.
Don't worry about the bum on the rods,
Get rid of the bum on the flush.

[treestar]

32. She is wrong in that the reason she has a job is that

her employer has paying customers. So why stop at the employer - she has a job because a number of poor and middle class people buy enough of her employer's product.

Or even rich people. They buy the products. Fine. But are not likely to be in the same pool, unless she works for a maid service or Mercedes Benz.

Short sighted, as if most Republicanism.

[reggie the dog]

35. poor people have given me jobs

i worked at a super k mart, many clients were poor, i had my job thanks to them idem for when i worked at venture

i also teach and have plenty of poor students.....

[glowing]

36. The latest ass hat bs I hear in FL from the loonytoons is:

Thank God there are rich people so that they can give people jobs. We are lucky that they exist. We should do everything to make sure they remain rich so that they keep creating jobs. If it wasn't for these rich people, life would be so horrible in America. If they keep feeling that people are against them, they will leave the country and take their money and take the jobs away.

When 70% of the economy is based on consuming, its is the little peons that are enriching the top 1% of the country. If the people who support 70% of the economy are struggling to make ends meet, then the entire country is going to become anemic. AND when those on Wall St are betting on the commodities and creating bubbles with the basic necessities of life like food and oil (which helps to produce and get food to market) is manipulated because there is no regulation and it is legal, then the country that is suffering from high unemployment is going to be worried about paying for food (which we all know has become really expensive) and the gas in their gas tanks to get them back and forth to work if they still have work. The places of business are not hiring, when in many places it is more than obvious they need to. And those in jobs are being asked to do more and have normally taken a pay cut or haven't received a raise since 2008. The money is continuously siphoning up to the top 1% and that top 1% has bought itself politicians who have insulated these wealthy people from paying an even fair tax rate. We have 2 wars that were put on a credit card, a medicare program that was put onto a credit card (which has allowed private insurance and pharmaceutical companies to infiltrate medicare for a cost increase.. and now the rest of the country has been mandated to purchase from these vultures), and we have a Depression that is hitting main street and harming the tax revenue into the govt and state coffers due to high unemployment and the real estate market that has still not found the bottom.

In 2008, people were hoping for another FDR moment in the country to right the wrongs from 30yrs of voodoo, trickle down economics. It is obvious to everyone that we need major investment on our basic infrastructure, a path off of oil, a real policy that could deal with the housing crisis, an accountability of the big banks and Wall St that gambled away wealth, and a health care plan that allowed everyone regardless of where they worked or how much they made the ability to seek out medical care when they needed it (most support a medicare for all approach). Along with that we have major corruption within many of the alphabet agencies including the FDA and the EPA. It is more than past the time to right the wrongs that need to be addressed, but as long as politicians can essentially be bribed to look the other way or fight about a deficit when we need a stimulus WPA/ CCC types of initiatives, we will not get back onto that right path.

I'm so glad for OWS. I'm so glad there is a movement and a voice that is saying "NO, this is wrong. WE are mad! We reject this path the "leaders" of this nation are taking us on." The sky is the limit with the possibilities of making a country and a world work for all of its people.

[maxrandb]

42. That is the most destructive thing to come from "Ray-gun"

This "awe-shucks...you ought to just be thankful you have a job" screed you hear every day.

At one time in this country, we valued labor. Now, we value wealth, but not the labor that helped create that wealth. It's like every person who makes it to a comfortable spot thinks they got there by themselves. "Look at me"! "Look at how great I am!"

The entire country is screwed like a "soup sandwich". If you listened to the folks who lick the testicles of Grover Norquist, you'd think that in the 50's and 60's, when the top tax-rate was 70-90%, we didn't have any "rich" people in the country.

To me, it's never been about "re-distributing wealth"...it's about "re-distributing power". There is so much power concentrated at the top...(and let's not forget that according to our Supreme Court, with money comes power and influence)...that even the things that we know need to be done legislatively, can't be done.

Not many would complain about the top 1%'s wealth growing over that past 30 years, if the bottom 99% had also seen their wealth grow at a similar rate.

[Marr]

37. No rich person ever gave me a job. Middle class people have.

So I don't really know what that line is supposed to mean anyway. As far as I can tell, the only jobs being handed out by rich people are gardener, maid, propagandist, loud mouth thug, etc.

Maybe I'd feel differently if I was in one of those professions.

[muffin1]

39. K&R n/t

[Hotler]

40. k&r n/t

[Luciferous]

41. Ha, great response!

[mistertrickster]

43. And no rich person ever gave me a job either. Middle class folks gave me

a job.

Actually, they didn't GIVE me a job. They needed me to provide a service for them, and I was compensated with money. We didn't GIVE each other anything.

[Johonny]

44. I thought the American dream is that anyone can work themselves up

If your sister denies upward mobility than what exactly is her American dream? There are many "rich" people that were once "poor" people. There will be a lot less in the future if we continue trickle down economsucks.

[geardaddy]

46. K and R

:applause:

[Tsiyu]

47. No "rich" person ever "gave" me a job.

They don't give away anything - except to lobbyists and politicians.

They OFFERED me jobs and I worked hard for every penny I ever EARNED and happily paid my federal taxes on what little wages I EARNED.

And poor people in my community have offered me many jobs. REcently, a working class friend's car broke down. He knew I was hurting financially so he paid my electric bill in exchange for driving him back and forth to work til his car was fixed.

Two other friends on disability have paid me a bit to help them move and clean. Another friend offered to pay me a little to clean up after some renovations when he heard I needed some work. He's a photographer/videographer who doesn't earn a whole hell of a lot.


It's not any kind of wealth-building career, but poor people have fed me, loaned me their cars and helped me pay my bills. I, in turn, have helped others out of the slave wages I've earned in the last fifteen years.

The wealthy couldn't care less if I starved.

[B Calm]

49. No rich person ever gave me a job. It's always been demand by customers

for a said product that creates jobs. Without demand, the rich man has nothing to sell, thus no jobs are created. Thank your employer, who is your customer for your job.

[kestrel91316]

50. K&R

[RegieRocker]

52. I said that

no rich person got rich without the society and infrastructure we all helped to build

[Mimosa]

53. K&R Right wing nuts use that phrase a lot. n/t

[RegieRocker]

54. 56% of small businesses fail before their 4th year.

They had employees and the owner was poor in almost all cases before the business was closed and after. End of story.

[pezDispenser]

55. Ask Sam Walton if poor people create jobs

[yellowcanine]

56. Also likely that no "rich person" did either - all by themselves, anyway.

As far as that goes, poor people do give people jobs. They consume goods and services just like rich people do. Actually a poor person's dollar is way more likely to find its way into the economy than a rich person's dollar. So it makes sense to make sure that poor people have dollars to spend.

[Utopian Leftist]

58. No poor person ever

"trickled down" my leg and then told me it was raining. ;)

[Enthusiast]

60. We have to fight these assholes! kr

[soryang]

61. Corporate capital expenditures go up with tax increases...

Failure to raise marginal rates of income taxation on the rich and their corporate holdings only encourages ostentatious wealth, hoarding and speculation. This was known in the 18th Century as the alienation of capital from the stream of commerce. It is a phenomenon characteristic of societies with entrenched aristocracies and other privileged institutions immune from taxation and indifferent to benefits of tangible capital investments. Capital expenditures receive tax credits and deductions to escape higher marginal tax rates and serve to maintain the means of production, infrastructure, employment and consumption via the arteries of tangible commerce. This as opposed to usury, scams, subsidies, graft, profiteering, monopolies, conquest, fraud and speculation, which are the current means of doing business in Washington DC, Wall Street and other elite centers of power.

[GirlinContempt]

149. Great post, read it people!

[JoeyT]

62. No rich person ever gave me a job either.

I started my own business. But I did notice the richer a person was the harder it was to get them to pay for the services they contracted.

[Atman]

64. Actually, a rich person gave me my current job.

And I love it. Very generous. Health insurance which covers my whole family, and they contribute half of my deductible. Oh, wait...I work for Democrats. I work long hours during election years, but I get lots of time off during "odd" years. But I won't for a minute dis "rich" people just for being rich. I dis the rich people who are total douche bags and don't understand that it's hard working people like me who helped them get rich in the first place.

[B Calm]

70. What do you do? Do you work as a gardener, maid or do

you make a product for sale to CUSTOMERS? If it's the latter, the customer created your job!!

[Atman]

75. Of course the customer created my job.

Where did I say anything different? My customers, however, happen to be politicians. I work for a Democratic/Progressive advertising agency. And the work we do goes ONLY to union print shops and mailing firms. We keep a lot of people employed, I guarantee it.

[maxrandb]

74. I guess I work for a rich person too

I get great health care, free for the entire family. Have a very generous retirement program, tons of travel, relatively cheap life insurance and free use of state of the art gyms and recreation facilities...BUT I do work for the Federal Government.

I'm active duty military.

Funny, but I remember when we used to describe America as a "rich" country...but when we said "rich" we didn't only mean wealth or material things.

Of course, that was before Ray-Gun

[Atman]

77. +100

:hi:

[saras]

65. What's wrong with "That's not true. What do you mean?"

When I worked as a handyman, most of my work was for poor people. They're the ones who need things fixed instead of just buying new ones.

When I worked for a big company, they only had jobs for me because poor people bought their product. They were just middlemen.

Maybe he carves teak yacht steering wheels for a living.

[DaveJ]

66. Your last line is my favorite

No rich person ever "gave" me a job either...I got it because my labor had value.

This point is lost on Republicans. In my experience they lack work ethic and usually expect to be "given" jobs. This is why they seek to belong to Good Ole Boy Clubs or whatever shortcuts to free money they can find.

[chowder66]

67. I was poor when I gave people jobs

When I worked in retail, I was poor, barely eeking by, going to peoples houses for a meal and I hired people. So I wasgiving jobs to people some who were better off than me because their parents helped them out. Did I create the job? No but I have created jobs when I was poor as well. I helped a friend start a business in high school that grew. Unfortunately I had to move but he ended up growing it based on the work we had done together. Hell, I'm poor again and I have been helping to line the pockets of my boss and he has now hired a guy overseas and another employee. Why could he do this? because he barely pays me and I have kept the business afloat while he disappears for weeks on end. So I say fuck that shit.

[Swede Atlanta]

68. Amen to that

The sad thing is many of those spouting this crap are themselves poor and destitute. They are just so absorbed in their "Dancing with the Stars" and "Jesus loves me" crap they can't understand the basics.

[frustrated_lefty]

69. A poor person fed my children when I couldn't.

During the worst of Katrina, when I was dehydrated, malnourished, tachycardic, and quite literally couldn't walk more than a few paces without collapsing to the ground, my poor neighbor fed my kids and flagged down a passing boat to get us taken to medical aid.

A poor person fed my children when I couldn't.

It's difficult to see the roadblocks life will throw your way when you're riding high on success. Some of those roadblocks can be humbling, and I have to think the 1% often have not encountered the nemesis to their hubris.

[WinkyDink]

82. {{frustrated_lefty}} I hope life is better for you now.

[Deep13]

71. No poor person ever sold us out on Wall St. nt

[MsPithy]

73. Actually, poor people spend every penny they get, therefore

they are creating the DEMAND that creates jobs.

[Zanzoobar]

79. Of course

How about inserting a little phrase: "Had the power to"

No poor person ever "had the powert to" charge me a $5 fee for the pleasure of holding my money.

Etc...

It makes a difference.

[ejpoeta]

84. no poor person I know (and I know a few) would think to charge a fee...

they know how little most of us have. the same way no poor person I know would steal from you.

[Zanzoobar]

86. Thus. "Power to"

[WinkyDink]

80. Poor people gave you your lettuce and your strawberries; poor people cleaned your office; poor

watched your kid; poor people bathed your invalid mother; ....

Poor people were mentioned by Jesus:
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/1122-wjd.html
The Son of Man will put the sheep (good people) on his right and the goats (bad people) on his left. "Then the king will say to those good people on his right, 'Come. My Father has given you great blessings. Come and get the kingdom God promised you. That kingdom has been prepared for you since the world was made. You can have this kingdom, because I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.' "Then the good people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.' "Then the king will say to those bad people on his left, 'Go away from me. God has already decided that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. You must go away, because I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.' "Then those people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.'"Then those bad people will go away. They will have punishment forever. But the good people will go and have life forever."

[txlibdem]

83. I'm poor as heck and I GAVE MY NEIGHBOR A JOB

patching up a few storm damaged shingles on my roof. He didn't ask very much for the job but this poor person gave someone a job.

So FU Faux Noise.

[Zephie]

85. My mother is poor, but she's constantly hiring other people

Handy men, help around the house... She's disabled and I can't always make it to help her so she hires it done. It's hard for her but she makes good friends with those she hires and feels good about being able to pay them a meager hourly wage or in some cases bartering her tutoring skills out for their children's education.

[eridani]

87. Lots of poor (and other) people spending money collectively is the ONLY thing

--that creates jobs. It's called aggregate demand.

[StarsInHerHair]

88. k to 226

[defendandprotect]

89. There were no "poor" people until the few among us figured out how to steal from the masses ... !!!

In fact, that's the very purpose of capitalism -- to move the wealth and natural resources of

nations from the many to the few --

and has done that every successfully -- !!!

[JI7]

90. i'm poor and i give people jobs

such bs. i'm tired of the rich people=job creater crap.

republicans have decided by definition if being rich means creating jobs. fucking stupid shit.

[WoodyM90]

91. No rich person ever gave anyone a job

unless he expected to get richer from their labors.

[louslobbs]

92. No poor person rigs elections, no poor person controls the corrupt narrative of the corporate media,

no poor person rigged the Supreme Court,
no poor person disenfranchises voters,
no poor person has the power to kill the unions,
no poor person gets paid by the tax payers, puts on a blue uniform and or white shirt, carries a gun, taser, mace and billy club and viciously beats or pepper sprays innocent citizens while doing the bidding of the powerful and corporations to shut down free assembly and speech,
no poor person sits in Congress or the Senate,
no poor person is a lobbyist,
no poor person is a member of ALEC,
no poor person gets an invitation to the secret Koch brother meetings,
no poor person caused the Gulf oil disaster,
no poor person forces through deregulation for corporations and wall street so that they can more easily and without consequence, steal trillions from and tank the economy,
no poor person has trillions in cash stashed away,
no poor person has billions overseas that they won't bring home until they can further rig the system to allow them to bring it home to the US without paying taxes,
no poor person ever lied us into a war..........

However, the rich, the powerful, their corporations and varied operatives, (having bribed those in our government to work on their behalf rather than ours), have caused, sponsored, supported and or rigged all of these things by purchasing what should be OUR "elected" officials and "impartial" non activist Supreme Court to do their bidding, rather than representing and governing according to the will of the people.

The only way to turn this around, if it is at all possible, is to not allow the 99% movement to die or to be co opted by any organization that will most likely be backed by the same power, money, and politics that currently holds us all hostage.

Lou

[Iwillnevergiveup]

111. EXCELLENT additions!

And no poor person ever claimed corporations are people or that money is speech.

[louslobbs]

141. Exactly........We are the 99% and we are not stupid. Thanks. n/t

Lou

[Timbuk3]

93. No rich person ever gave me a job, either

I worked hard to earn it, and I worked hard to keep it.

Jobs aren't charity.

[Raster]

94. No poor person bankrupted my country, and then left the mess for others to clean up.

[Pryderi]

96. THANK YOU! k&r n/t

[av8rdave]

97. No rich person ever created a job just because they got some more spending money

[BobTheSubgenius]

98. Nice job!

[bjobotts]

99. Rich people don't give jobs! Only DEMAND creates jobs.PoPeople spending money for goods and services

[kestrel91316]

100. I'm poor and have given many people jobs over the past 20 years.

Somebody told me I could make lots of money in my work but I figured out that would require some ethical oversights so I have said no thanks and taken the other road.

And it has made all the difference.

[Ken Burch]

101. No poor person ever laid me off from my job.

No poor person ever moved my job to another country...

No poor person ever got a "golden parachute" for destroying the company where I HAD my job...

No poor person ever bought an election for the politicians who made sure I couldn't find a job...

No poor person ever laughed at me and shouted "get a job, loser!"

...I could go on and on...

[HughBeaumont]

127. Well, I'm willing to bet poor people probably DO shout "get a job" to others . . .

. . . they're just the kind of people who refuse to accept that they're peasants.

[lumberjack_jeff]

105. Everyone working at WalMart owes their job to poor folks.

Which of course, they are too.

[movingviolation]

107. I just shared on facespace via OneGrassRoot's pic.

This is too good not to share.

[Beartracks]

109. It's sorta like the 53%ers: "I got where I am through hard work!"

Makes you want to respond: "Yes, but shouldn't that hard work have gotten you farther than it did?"

=============

[laylah]

112. I absolutely love these...

how creative! I sent them to my dear, yet misguided, nephew. His only response to me? "Bullhockey" :rofl:
K and R!!!!!!!!!

[JDPriestly]

113. Great post!

[FirstLight]

114. proud to be rec 320!

sharing, definately...beautifully phrased, thanks!

[malaise]

116. Super post

Rec

[Hanks]

117. Excellent!

Nothing more can be said. An excellent post.

[ck4829]

118. K&R

[Atypical Liberal]

126. Good, but...

It's good that you stood up to the trickle-down BSer, but unfortunately the analogy is poor.

No poor person ever did those things because no poor person ever could do those things.

When someone says that "No poor person ever gave me a job", the correct response is that no rich person will make a job just because they have more money. There has to be demand. If there is no demand, they will just pocket the extra cash.

Right now there is a demand problem in this country, and that is a problem because our country's economy is 70% consumer spending. Without consumer spending, the economy will continue to be in the crapper, and no one will hire.

Why is there no consumer spending? Simple: They have no money to spend.

Where is the money? At the top of the pile in the hands of a few people.

Just like a car won't go with an empty gas tank, rich people won't hire when there is no demand.

[fasttense]

128. Thom Hartmann always tells RepubliCONS that he started a business

with his unemployment check and hired 3 people, when he was poor (and obviously unemployed).

RepubliCONS have no come back for that.

There are more small businesses started during Depressions and Recessions because there are not enough jobs.

Poor people give people jobs through their small businesses all the time.

RepubliCONS live in an alternate universe.

[Myrina]

131. Hmmm. Because of "poor people" ...

... we've hired teachers, nurses, child-care providers, gov't employees, law enforcement, the prison system and all of it's Admin, etc etc. So how anyone can say that no jobs were 'created by' poor people is beyond me.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

133. When I heard a right winger first say this, I realized that the defining difference between them

and other humans, is that they lack a conscience.

[FloridaJudy]

134. Or empathy. eom

[Sarah Ibarruri]

136. Absolutely. They are lacking in some of the best human qualities. A personality flaw, perhaps?

Genetics?

Some studies claim that right wingers and left wingers are different, brain-wise.

[FloridaJudy]

140. Genetics + Environment

Some, though not all, right-wingers are sociopaths: people who may appear sincere and charming, but are completely incapable of of putting themselves in others' shoes, and relate to human beings only as things to be manipulated. You don't find the really intelligent ones in prison, but in the higher branches of business and government. Sociopathy is the product of genetics and environment. There's actually a gene for it, but if the person who has it is raised in a loving environment, he or she can be taught to care about the needs and feelings of others. http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer.html

Some right wingers are just raised that way: they believe conservative talking points because their parents and grandparents - who might have been otherwise perfectly decent people - believed them and passed them on. Or they might have been raised in a fundamentalist religion that emphasized its own superiority. I know more than a few people IRL like that.

Some are just frightened people who are looking for easy answers, and the Glenn Becks and Ann Coulters are more than happy to provide them. The idea that what you have is due entirely to your efforts, and that it cannot be taken away from you through ill luck or one less-than-perfect decision is comforting. Walking past a homeless person or an addict shivering in an alley and thinking "There, but for fortune..." is a frightening thought. It's not surprising some people's minds do not want to go there.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

145. What a great explanation! Thank you! nt

[EstimatedProphet]

135. This is one I've always hated

It's too stupid to argue with - I can't make any analogies. For other dumb talking points I will say "that's like saying X" where X is an analogy which is obviously untrue. That will suffice to point out why the talking point is stupid. But I can't come up with any analogies for this at all, because it is so stupid that I can't find anything to compare it with!

[mntleo2]

137. Tell Her: Poor People Create LOTS of jobs

...there is a whole Poor People Industrial Complex out there, doesn't she see it? What an idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some ways poor people generate jobs:

1. Poor people are the cheapest labor around ~ and they have to spend every cent they earn. Where do they go? Vending machines?
A. No, they go to wherever they can buy food, housing and other necessities such as gas for their cars, heat for their homes (if they have one), childcare for their kids. These are not from "vending machines" giving these services are they? No, these services employ other people to offer those services.

2. The biggest taker off the backs of the poor in the rich in this Poor People's Industrial Complex from large non-profits.
A. Not only do they generate millions in government contracts, nons give donors those big sad eyes and pull in more millions in donations.
B. While using on the average of about $2000 per client in services, they collect about $67,000 per client. Where does the other $65,000 go? Try here:
C. Rich people LOVE to employ their relatives and spouses in these non-profits who make 6 figure salaries to run them and in executive positions.
D. Meanwhile the poor who they "employ" who are REALLY doing the work make barely minimum wage ~ and their wage is also tax deductible from the non for "cost" because they "work for a non-profit"
E. Finally those rich person's millions in donations to their pet cost is tax deductible ~ you know, those "job creators" who use their millions to get tax breaks for their "humane" contributions?

3. Shall we talk about the cost of social services for the state, which is often the biggest user of revenue to employ people living off the backs of the poor? Who are doing these jobs? Hundreds of thousands of people.
A. Worst of them all is CPS (Child Protective Services): Generates at least $1,000,000,000 per state (that's billions) in mandated Social Security funding that gives these caveats in order to receive it: "The more kids you take, the more money you make. If you actually help the family and return them home, you will lose BOTH present and future funding ... Even though they know giving services to the birth family is more successful since about 90% of the accused is about FUTURE abuse with no requirement to prove any abuse at all in a court of law.
B. "More successful" means that taken kids are 5-7X more likely to be abused in foster care and adoptions are not far behind, more likely to drop out of school, more likely to become homeless, more likely to go to prison, more likely to become teen parents. What these caveats encourage is the taking and selling of little kids ~ mostly from the poor who cannot defend themselves in the skewed family court System ~ all paid out of the same Title IV money with those caveats.
c. Meanwhile the "discretionary" funding that does not have to be allocated such as welfare is less than 3% of the national budget and being cut more and more in the states to pay CPS who then go in and takes 1/3 of the welfare money, AND food stamps, Medicare, childcare ~ in addition to the billions they already get.
D. This actually costs 1000% more (no exaggeration, that IS the cost) to take kids and sell them than to give services for necessities, which would be more successful instead, creating traumatized kids who were ripped from their families for life.
E. They then deny services for necessities for the working poor such as childcare, energy assistance, food stamps and medical ~ and then take the children for "neglect" because the parent cannot afford them. It is illegal to take kids because of poverty in most states, but the CONDITIONS of poverty are used instead.
F. Forcing poor people to ignore their kids and work for the rich saying, "do you want fries with that?" instead of being allowed to raise the next generation to care for PREVIOUS GENERATIONS when we are too old to do it.
G. As a matter of fact raising kids by the poor (and for anyone since laws cannot target one segment of the population), has been codified into law as "doing nothing" by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Act of 1996.

Who is working all these jobs in both the non-profit and government sector off the backs of the poor and children? Middle class people and the rich and entitled, that's who.

So NEVER let your relative say again "No poor person ever created a single job..." People like her are idiots. They are intentionally ignorant, the worst kind of ignorance there is (Jesus called them "blind" many times). Plus they surely hate families and kids since they pretend raising children is "doing nothing" when in fact it raises the next generations to fight in our wars, care for our infrastructure, pay our Social Security (in spite of this stoooopid woman's declaration SS is paid by the FOLLOWING generation). Only the Baby Boomers have paid BOTH their own AND their parents and grandparent's SS, the rest is paid by our children and grandchildren.

Give my screed to her and tell her this woman some people believe her intentional ignorance is the god damned reason that the poor population is growing in this country since she MAKES them invisible. My curse for her: She joins them!

Cat in Seattle

[calimary]

139. I. LOVE. THIS.!!!!! Everybody who's ever been confronted by some yahoo with this one-liner

needs to print this out and keep it in their wallets.

SUPERB, maxrandb!!!!!!

- No poor person ever charged me a $5 fee for the pleasure of holding my money.

- No poor person ever denied me medical care because I had a pre-existing condition.

- No poor person ever foreclosed on my house.

- No poor person ever shipped my neighbor’s job overseas.

- No poor person ever tripled my interest rate because I missed one payment.

- No rich person ever "gave" me a job either...I got it because my labor had value.

And like Elizabeth Warren said; “no rich person got rich without the society and infrastructure we all helped to build”.

[jmowreader]

144. A poor person gave ME a job...

and it wasn't one of the "lots of poor people shopped at the store so they gave me a job."

No, this guy was broke as shit but he was very good at making friends AND he was a college football lineman who would have been taken in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. (Now? If you need anything from this guy you need to ask him before lunch because he lives on pain pills and doesn't know where he is by three--basically, a walking advertisement for giving your kid a chemistry set if he ever asks you for a football helmet.) Lineman makes friends with the rich kids, the rich kids introduce him to their parents, and their parents bankroll the lineman's business venture in exchange for most of the profits. I probably made more than he did nine weeks out of ten.

[TheKentuckian]

150. Lazy fuckers think they are too good to roll up their sleeves and work for a start up

I've worked for the busted more than once.

Maybe not many have heard "what is the least you can get by on until we get paid?".