Census: Poor and "Near Poor" 1/3 of US

[Schneibster]

The one with 89 posts who suddenly shows up in the middle of a conflict.

Kinda obvious.

Just sayin'.

[PsychoSerenity]

HAVING DISPOSABLE INCOME does not qualify you for being poor.

Care to refute that?

Disposable income is any income less taxes and other mandatory payments, which do NOT include food, medical, rent, travel, utilities, child care, etc. - These are all essential expenses that are paid out of the disposable income. Once they've all been paid, up to a reasonable standard of living, what you are left with, if anything, is called discretionary income, - which is available to be spent or saved.

[Schneibster]

Disposable income ... discretionary income

Precisely.

[amok]

I thought this was an interesting paragraph in the story:

The findings, which the Census Bureau plans to release on Monday, have already set off a contentious debate about how to describe such families: struggling, straitened, economically insecure?

'Near Poor' doesn't really make a lot of sense, considering the circumstances described. The "insecure" phrase sounds closer, but I'd go a bit further. Something to indicate the tightrope aspect? That they're OK in general, but are at risk of a fall if things go wrong at all. And know it.

[Geoff]

HAVING DISPOSABLE INCOME does not qualify you for being poor.

Care to refute that?

Disposable income is any income less taxes and other mandatory payments, which do NOT include food, medical, rent, travel, utilities, child care, etc. - These are all essential expenses that are paid out of the disposable income. Once they've all been paid, up to a reasonable standard of living, what you are left with, if anything, is called discretionary income, - which is available to be spent or saved.

True, by strict definition, but the two are commonly confused, as indeed they are being in this case.

...But more than half were pushed down from higher income levels: more than eight million by taxes, six million by medical expenses, and four million by work expenses like transportation and child care.

In other words, what they're talking about in the article is discretionary income.

[Schneibster]

One thing goes wrong and they're in poverty, house gone, car gone, no way to feed the kids and no way to get it all back. Most likely thing to go wrong: health crisis with no health insurance.

[Feck]

Give me a fucking break, "near poor". Thats a real insult to those who exist in actual poverty rather than a bunch of spoiled fucking princelings who had everything handed to them on a plate and are now complaining the plate is made of silver rather than gold.

Ok You think that people should be able to live on minimum wage ..... You think that you can keep your head above water on minimum wage ?

Well if you share a house with low rent spend your evenings trolling Asda for stuff they have reduced to half price and eat A Lot of 99p fish fingers and think that beans on bargain white toast with maybe a smear of 'margarine ' is an meal ,if you don't smoke or drink or ever go out and if you never need new clothes or bed sheets if your cooker or washing machine never breaks down and you never make the mistake of heating the house in the winter. If you don't want a house phone or the internet . Then yep I agree You are a not spoiled fucking Princeling .

There you go, a challenge work out the minimum wage is for the actual hours you work , then any money you have above that you put into a savings acc ,Live for a whole year on minimum wage THEN and only then You can Call people Princelings .And even that assumes that some of you clothes last a year and you don't have any other unexpected costs .

Seriously Fuck you fucking Penis You have no idea . And we haven't even started you off with the fact that your minimum wage job will fire you before you get the right to a holiday or sick pay ,as a matter of policy , and that you will be without ANY income for 16 weeks before the government Decides that you can live on £55 a week .

Car LOL TV+ licence LOL Phone LOL .

[Schneibster]

Oh noes, Feck, now you is a biggut.

[Feck]

Oh noes, Feck, now you is a biggut.

No but I'm a really fucking ANGRY Feck so I will make no further comment .

[Schneibster]

Don't blame you. Pissed me off too.

[maiforpeace]

Give me a fucking break, "near poor". Thats a real insult to those who exist in actual poverty rather than a bunch of spoiled fucking princelings who had everything handed to them on a plate and are now complaining the plate is made of silver rather than gold.

Maybe you should read the article.

You're making yourself look like an ass.

Audley sneers, he doesn't bay.

I suspect Audley is still young and inexperienced.

Audley, do you work? Do you support yourself? Do you have any money in the bank? Just asking.

[Seth]

Give me a fucking break, "near poor". Thats a real insult to those who exist in actual poverty rather than a bunch of spoiled fucking princelings who had everything handed to them on a plate and are now complaining the plate is made of silver rather than gold.

It's just liberal/Progressive goal-post shifting. When it became clear that the "poor" were not, in fact, getting "poorer" as Obama lied (as proven by Schneibster's own sources), but were 18 percent better off than they were in 1979 (and the middle-class is 40 percent or more better off), the Progressives merely bracket-shifted the definition of "poor" to include a whole bunch of new people, like the "near poor," because without that constituency Progressives and Marxists can't raise sufficient class-warfare envy and hatred.

Marxists and Progressives HAVE to have the poor getting poorer somehow, because without that, their entire ideology and propaganda mission falls apart. So, they just fiddle with the data and change the definition to suit their fancy.

Pretty typical and highly predictable.

[Geoff]

Give me a fucking break, "near poor". Thats a real insult to those who exist in actual poverty rather than a bunch of spoiled fucking princelings who had everything handed to them on a plate and are now complaining the plate is made of silver rather than gold.

Ok You think that people should be able to live on minimum wage ..... You think that you can keep your head above water on minimum wage ?

Our daughter does. Most of her discretionary income goes on booze, cigs, mobile bill and nice clothes, but that's her choice.

[Seth]

You really have serious issues that need addressed.

Yes, I'm impolite to people who think poor people are funny. How evil of me.

As long as you keep attacking, I will only ever read to the first lie or insult. It's my anti-troll policy. That's going to inform you what I think you're doing. If you're not all you have to do is explain yourself without insults or lies.

You can't, of course. And you'll call me a bigot again because of it, in 4... 3...

Does this mean you're going to shut the fuck up?

[Svartalf]

Oh noes, Feck, now you is a biggut.

No but I'm a really fucking ANGRY Feck so I will make no further comment .

Why angry? he just said you have a biggut dickut.