September 14, 2011
Poverty? Tell them to get another job
I have forced myself to watch most of the last two on-stage performances by the Republicans who would have you believe are more qualified to lead this nation than an African-American--oops--than Obama. This latest travesty was co-sponsored by the loopy Tea Party and CNN. How CNN can justify getting into bed with the Tea Party is hard to imagine. What's next? How about PBS co-sponsoring a Democratic debate with the KKK?
A few moments remained in my brain. Number one was watching the normally cool, Ayn Rand-like libertarian
Ron Paul. He choked on the question, "Would you put an uninsured middle class person on life support to save his life?" Of course not. I guess Right to Life is only for people in the womb. It was startling.
The crowd cheered Rick Perry because he has executed more people than any living governor! Chilling.
Now to a tiny little problem the seven dwarfs (or is it six or eight?) did not touch: poverty. We are at a 52-year peak in poverty. Nearly 50 million people, 46.2 million in this land of milk and honey are living in poverty. Do these Obama haters have any concern about the impact poverty has on a child's brain development?
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If you live right, you will never ever meet anyone who lives in poverty. Why worry about the poor if you never have to deal with them? Out of sight, out of mind. Isn't this the reason for gated communities, to keep out the riffraff, the troublemakers, the unproductive? If we don't keep people poor and struggling, how do you keep the US class structure in place, alive and well?
-Pietr Haikuu | Hurley, Wisc. | September 14, 2011
The ultimate gated community will be those Pearly Gates. Imagine the surprised look on the face of the haughty and mighty when St. Peter says there's no room for them as he ushers in all those who suffered poverty and abuse by the rich and powerful, those who could have made a difference and chose not to. The poor will have the last laugh.
-Maria Caliente | Middleton, WI | September 14, 2011
Reaction to the Ron Paul "life support" question seems a bit silly to me. It was the audience response suggesting R.P.'s implied answer should be that someone on life support should be allowed to die if s/he doesn't have life insurance. But Rep. Paul wasn't given a chance to answer, at least not in the video clip I saw, and he in fact said "No" at the end. That is the logical answer given Paul is a doctor who likely at one time took a Hippocratic oath, and it wouldn't surprise me if hospitals have policy that critical condition healthcare cannot be withheld.
Ron Paul should have asked Blitzer a question in response to Blitzer's question: "Has this guy saved a lot of money and invested in the stock market?" Then watch Blitzer's gears spin and smoke pour out of his ears like an old sci-fi movie.
Anyway, have fun at FBF this weekend.
-Dan Sebald | Lake Forest, IL | September 14, 2011
Wisconsin has truly been a leader in using our poor to create a growing Third World workforce (workfare labor). You gain a special sort of education from being enabled to work, doing routine factory jobs for as little as $1.50 per hour. Granted, this has been a powerful tool for suppressing all workers' wages, crushing unionizing efforts and getting rid of workers' rights and protections, but hey, we sure did get tough on the poor! Get rid of welfare (for the poor) and you get rid of poverty.
-DHFabian | Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 | September 14, 2011
Recently my daughter said Americans would not watch children go hungry. The key word seems to be "watch" With 22% of America's children living in poverty, it would seem unlikely that we do not "see."
The poor are all around us. They are not all non-whites living in cities, though perhaps the majority are. Most middle and upper class people do not even have to try to not be exposed to this group.
There are also people living in poverty in small towns and rural areas. Yes, even in Wisconsin. Many of these people look no different than their neighbors. Their need is often covered up and all but invisible to those who are not looking.
Nobody wants to see the unpleasant. Nobody wants to acknowledge that "There but for the grace of God go I." Nobody wants to see a problem that is difficult to fix. Yet, unless you know there is a problem, it cannot be solved.
"There are non so blind as those who will not see."
-Linda | Wisconsin Rapids,WI | September 14, 2011
On backroads throughout Wisconsin there are shacks and rundown farms. These are not the super wealthy who live this way. The rural poor are an important part of our state that is not always cared for. These are real people trying to live real lives. I would guess a Republican't traveling the same backroads would see the fall color and perhaps stop to take a few snaps of a tumble down dwelling without even giving a second thought whose house it may be.
-Franz Fripplfrappl | Madison | September 14, 2011
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