Comments about ‘The Near Poor: Many educated, employed Americans struggle to make ends meet’

We've been paying a new tax in the form of higher prices for gasoline/diesel for over a year!! Don't you think that's hit ALL of us right in the pocket book? Let's see, $1.00 to $1.50 per gallon times 30 gallons per week times 4.3 weeks per month or 52 weeks for a year....?

I get so tired about how awful things are for some Americans! Go visit the poor in Mexico, India or almost any other country to see what real poverty is! Obesity is much more of a problem in America than poverty!

But the socialists in this country for the past 100+ years have worked soo hard to strip those "evil" rich people of their money and re-distribute it. Makes one ask the question, what is happening with all of that money? You'll notice the politicians keep getting richer, while everyone else is getting poorer. Especially the hardcore socialists like Nancy, Barack, Reid. Even our own Matheson bragged how much more money he made than Senator Lee. That kind of says it all doesn't it?

It's strange. When Utah teachers complain they make very little in respect to the work they do, or there are articles about how the U.S. economy is struggling, the DN forums light up like a Christmas tree with comments about how teachers actually have it too good, and about how President Obama has ruined us all. But now that an article comes out with numbers about the poor which are alarming, regardless of the old Utah standbys of "get an education," or "work harder" the forum is so empty you can hear the echo. Why is that?

Where are everyone's snide comments about people who struggle now?

Maybe it's time to acknowledge the problems we face as a nation cannot be attributed to any one political party, any single president or policy, and require more than cliched platitudes.

"These people aren't experiencing hunger or homelessness, said Robert Rector, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
"The emotionally charged terms 'poor' or 'near poor' clearly suggest to most people a level of material hardship that doesn't exist," he said. "It is deliberately used to mislead people."

This condition doesn't 'exist', really? I invite you into my bank account Mr. Rector. It's a daily struggle to get by. Yes, we live in a home we purchased years ago, we drive older cars with no payments attached (but they won't last forever) and we don't enjoy big vacations or pricey 'toys'. It's a simple life and we are simply trying to just get by. We are living & breathing proof that this condition DOES indeed exist!

Very sad but totally true. I know more people who are barely surviving right now than ever before. This is what happens when you get too much "hope and change" wherein a broke government promises to take care of everyone and pass out freshly printed currency/ Don't worry however, as Trump pointed out, Obama is doing another of his hundred or so fundraisers in NYC tonight. Four more years, four more years.

We have either a native Kenyan in the Presidency or the son of one. By his actions he fully intends for this country of great resources (just like Africa) to become another Africa. Impoverished, misguided, diseased, backward, and oblivion are the conditions that Obama is forcing on this country.

My real fear is that we will choose Newt as our candidate. As soon as this happens, Newt's baggage, which about the same as a 767 carries, will show up and help Obama accelerate the impovershment of America.

If you love America please give your whole-hearted support and prayers to one who can win and will pull this country out of its present slump. Mitt Romney.

I believe this is an accurate portrayal of the situation for a huge number of families. We have been periodically plagued with high medical bills which keep us struggling, even though I make about $100K. $100K should be aq pretty good living in this country. But the more taxes we pay, the lower our family's standard of living. Do we go out to eat? No. Have a bunch of toys? No.

There is so much wrong with our country. It has taken 40 years of greed and corruption in Washington to get to this point. It will take at least 25 to get out. That's IF we elect representatives who have the best interests of the country in mind.

This is Obama'a fault CJ? Wow. American corporations are making record profits, the top one percent have seen their incomes go up 245% and this is the fault of social welfare programs..huh? And just what social welfare programs promised to "take care" of "everyone"..a little hyperbole, maybe.

The tea party, and occupy wall street are both verifications of this phenomomena. Both are reactions to a large percentage of Americans being left out of the wealth creation that has occurred over the past thirty years.

You have the left and the right forming grass roots protests about the american condition, yet you have a financial system that has grown too big to fail. Good news though, the banks and multi national corps have slipped back under the radar because..my goodness we have this massive national debt, we have illegals taking all our crummy jobs, we have old people taking the money from our youth..and all the time the financiers will continue to make record profits, pay themselves billions of dollars a year sucking the welath out of the system created by the worker who owns a home, and hasn't had a raise in 5 years.

The sad thing is we already have enough baskets so those that majored in basket weaving just can not find a job. A simlar fate also applies to English majors and other liberal arts majors.

So now you are "near poor" if you own a home, pay taxes, drive a car that is not new, and get less in your paycheck than you want? Boo Hoo. This is called "Learning to live within your means". The Federal Government could learn a lesson or two from our suffering "Near Poor".

The Fed is clueless what poor is. Poor to me is someone or some entity that is borrowing 40 cents to every dollar they bring in, and spend all of it with no end in site and paying interest only on the loans. That is pretty darn poor to me.

People that have a house, car, pay taxes and work a job and are getting by, are still better than those that continue to plunge into debt. Don't worry barack will bail them out. Let them live it up with zero consequence. barack will "fix" everything.

Remember last time he ran on being different and not having attack ads. barack has already ordered his attack, hate filled ads to go after anyone that tries to take over his kingdom.

It's time for a regime change! Right here in the good ol USA!

Meanwhile, at American Airlines the CEO pocketed $5.2 last year and now that his company has plunged into bankruptcy is telling employees they'll have to take another pay cut.

Maybe we all need to thoughtfully read Tom Brokaw's new book, "The Time of Our Lives."

Then we need to roll up our sleeves, put our shoulders to the wheel, and help push along. A great place to start will be to vote the incumbents of both parties out of office and replace them with honest people who haven't been bought and paid for by special interests.

Unfortunately, people like that will be very hard to find in America.

pragmatistferlife | 8:09 a.m. Nov. 30, 2011
Salt Lake City, Utah

I do not know what will come of the occupy movement but it sure seems to me that the tea party has been co opted by those who want to protect the wealth of the wealthiest. What is wrong with taxing the wealthy a little more to pay for the tax cut proposed by the current administration or to keep our military strong? It is clear that the group in this article cannot pay for it. The conditions for the poor and near poor are trending down while the wealthy are getting wealthier.
How can anyone defend this?

Who is behind this movement of trying to convince Americans that we have vast numbers of poor. Is this a political manuever? I'd argue that if you look at the history of this country, Americans are richer than we EVER have been. For the most part, we have a roof over our head, we have electricity, heat, telephones, we have running water, we have clothing and shoes and a warm coat, we have food in our bellies, we have autos to drive. Yet someone is wanting to use the poor label. And the sad thing is that people are buying into this notion!

There is true poverty, as in living on the street begging for handouts and then there are the working poor... people who put in their 40 hours every week but don't bring in enough to make ends meet for themselves or their family.

Folks talk about how good even the poorest American has it compared to the poor in other countries. However a direct comparison cannot be made because standards and costs of living in America are different than what they are in other countries.

In America you need a place to live and a car in addition to food and clothing. With food, rent and gas costing what they do a single person needs to be pulling in $20,000 a year just to get by... heaven forbid if they are a single person with a dependent parent or child.

Greed has got this nation in a stranglehold. Our government has been bought and paid for by big business and special interests and is completely rotten with corruption from the top down.

The only thing that's going to save the USA is social and political revolution. It may take another 10 years, but it is coming.

I am grateful for the Deseret News' continuing coverage of the plight of the poor in our state and our nation. If we don't help one another, who will help us? Thank you for looking out for and reporting on those who are in need.

DeltaFoxtrot | 8:58 a.m. Nov. 30, 2011
West Valley, UT
There is true poverty, as in living on the street begging for handouts and then there are the working poor... people who put in their 40 hours every week but don't bring in enough to make ends meet for themselves or their family.

@DeltaFoxtrot, I understand what you are saying, but I would like to add that the 40 hour work week is a pretty recent invention. The mere fact that most Americans choose to only work 40 hours a week could be part of the problem. We may have to start working more to make ends meet. Working more is what most humans have had to do for thousands of years, but suddenly we have this idea that is almost a notion of entitlement that we should only have to work 40 hours a week and be able to support our families on 40 hours a week or something is wrong with the government. It could be that people are getting lazy when it comes to their work ethic and it has taken a couple of generations for this laziness to start affecting us as a nation.

FDRfan, the key word in your comment is co-opted. The tea party has been co-opted by the financial sector. They were misdirected in the first place toward the government rather than towards the financial sector itself. My point is that they are feeling real discomfort they are just blaming the wrong culprit. There's plenty wrong with the government, and the deficit is an issue, but none of that is why someone with a highscholl education only makes 25 thousand dollars a year and hasn't had a raise in 5 years.

Tea Party, Occuply Wall Street..they look different, and sound different but they are coming from the same place, and that's bad news for America.

DeltaFoxtrot,

You have hit the name on the head. Corporation own the American political process. Lifetime legislators are being bought and sold as we speak. A revolution will occur unless we do something to change the direction we are headed. History shows us over and over that when all the wealth is in the hands of a few (look at the change in wealth distribution over the last 30 years) that revolution is really inevitable.