There is a truly disturbing report out of Chicago that highlights the massive wealth gap in our country. The Springleaf Financial Strength Survey, found that 33 percent of Chicagoans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and have less than $250. Nationwide 43 percent of families are living paycheck to paycheck.
The Chicago figures are worse than the nation as a whole, which themselves are pretty dismal. Twenty-four percent of families have less than $250 in their account.
This follows a report that wealth has risen to a record $263 trillion, but people (with a net worth of $1 million or more) represent a mere 0.7 percent of the planet’s population control 41 percent of its wealth.
Source: CNN
There are a whole lot of people who live like Katrina. She will get around $3,000 back in earned income credit, and is the father paying child support??? Still, unless the child support is relatively high, she will be living close to the bone. Now, if her weekly hours get cut to 29 because of Obamacare, she will be in even worse shape.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
That video is a good one Annie. Sore subject with me. Little off topic, but I think think it is heinous how this country treats its veterans. Good ol’ Senator McNuts had a chance to see that pay and benefits increase for service people. If we can’t afford our obligations to our veterans, maybe we better rethink fighting all these wars on the Fed credit card plan. Also why you shouldn’t lump all people that do not care for current Democratic policies Republicans. Personally, I like to consider myself 100% independent. Also shows how much the red hats care for the common folk.
http://youtu.be/-wp6A8aL-qY
That story is misleading for several reasons. I’ll stipulate that there is a lot of poverty in parts of Chicago and that many people may not have more than $250 in their checking account.
But…how many of those have cell phones? Cars? Expensive shoes? A guaranteed income via government? Are retirees? The article lumps them all together?
Ever been in Wrigleyville on a weekend evening? The bars are saturated with millennials who spend dang near every dollar they earn, net after rent, student loans, car payments, credit card payments, etc. It shouldn’t be unexpected that many of them have less than $250 in their checking accounts.
Last, many people have investment accounts that sweep excess money out of their checking accounts and transfer it into an investment account, or into a HELOC loan account.
The Democratic Party likes people poor, barefoot and pregnant. It’s job security for them.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
http://youtu.be/CDxAI7bcd2o
43% living paycheck to paycheck! its not just Chicago, its not just ghettos, its definitely not just blacks (that was sad), etc…. 43% of Americans! That’s everywhere in this country. Wake up people! Our problems are structural and getting worse with elections going to the highest bidder.
You are absolutely right, Jim, and that is why there are so many inner city gangs. They have found their niche. That is where they have the advantage. I a way, it’s an entrepreneurial venture. Kind of like a Wall Street racket but with more potential for physical violence.
Living in a black and white world is not reality. Gray is where most of life happens. People can be a victim of their environment and/or their genetics. If a kid goes into a gang, since that is what his environment encourages and he gets into trouble, then he shouldn’t ask for help. But if the criminal bankster who graduated from Princeton schemes to defraud home buyers or investors, then he is bailed out by you the taxpayer. Both may be criminals, but the kid in the gang is ent to prison for 20 years and the Wall street banksters’ corporation receives a fine and the bankster receives a hefty bonus.
Lloyd Blankfien – bankster – “There is no excuse for lazy, but to say that all poor are lazy and al wealthy are go-getters is not true….”
True enough. But we are not all equal (thank God) even within our own ethnic/racial groups. The key is to figure out your advantages (and we all have them) and to exploit them. And luckily we live in a country where you can move yourself up or down depending on how you act upon your advantages. If you join a gang and the rest of your life starts falling apart, don’t come crying to me. That wasn’t a disadvantage, it was a bad decision.
Show me an American ghetto and I’ll show you an area that has been ruled by the left for decades.
I might be in the top 1% now but when I was growing up in a single-parent household with my seven siblings I doubt that my at-home seamstress mother EVER had over $100 in the bank.
The only thing shocking to me is that the percentage is not much higher.
Additionally:
And from the GOP controlled South: Why Is the American Dream Dead in the South? – The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/why-is-the-american-dream-dead-in-the-south/283313/
And this list is almost exclusively GOP contrlled: The 10 States With the Worst Quality of Life – 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/10/07/the-10-states-with-the-worst-quality-of-life/
And to say that EVERYONE has the same opportunity to accomplish ANYTHING they want is nonsense. Is it rational to think that the person born with the silver spoon in their mouth has the same opportunity for success as a child born in poverty who goes to an underfunded school in a lousy neighborhood? They do not have the same opportunities. While the inner city kid is surrounded by gangs looking for new recruits, the gated community kid is surrounded by Blue Blood Board of Director types looking to groom new prospects. While there are certainly exceptions, it is just that; an exception.
There is no excuse for lazy, but to say that all poor are lazy and al wealthy are go-getters is not true….
Jim, “Most poor black folk live in cities completely controlled by Dems.” nick I thought most policies were set at the national or state level.
swm – all politics are local
That this is surprising is sad. Those who live it know full well the massive expanse between the haves and the have nots. There are a couple of things that could help the situation, raise the minimum wage, make education easier to get and less expensive. Yet we see the push back against such measures. The Oligarchs need their ignorant, poor, breeding masses. Who else will be desperate enough to work for wages that barely keep a roof over a family’s head?
Hey, Nick, why do you blame Dems for all the nation’s problems. Here are some things for you GOP lovers to contemplate:
What state has the highest unemployment rate? GOP controlled Georgia.
2/3 of the states with the highest unemployment rates are GOP controlled.
The states with the worst quality of life are almost exclusively in GOP controlled states.
From the Washington Post (The article is not available now, but I wrote them to put it back up) but you can get a taste of it here: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/10/washington_post_calls_the_sout.html. Again, the GOP controlled South.
Since I am offering links, I will add more in the next post….
issac
Why, any good republican gardener worth his or her salt knows that you water the leaves at the top of the tree. Yep, that way the tree will be OK.
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Well said Issac! Its sad for the future of the USA, but more likely republicans double down on the trickle down – just check budgets republican house members have recently passed.
Jim, Most poor black folk live in cities completely controlled by Dems. The black and white Dem pols live large and do SQUAT for the poor, just manipulate them and take their votes..twice.
Lloyd Blankfien – bankster – “Stereotyping the poor is not the reason for economic injustice. Having a phone, Internet, shoes and clothes is not living the high life. Why is it that those with the least are criticized the most? Why are those with little power to change things blamed when things don’t change? Why are the less fortunate (unlucky to be born poor) treated as second class citizens when the most fortunate (lucky from birth) are treated as royalty?. Blaming those with nothing for the sins of those with everything is simply BS.”
They are to blame because they live in a system that allows you to change for good or bad. But you have to do it. I will help anyone who is actually willing to help themselves first.
“Lloyd Blankfien – bankster
Stereotyping the poor is not the reason for economic injustice. Having a phone, Internet, shoes and clothes is not living the high life. Why is it that those with the least are criticized the most? Why are those with little power to change things blamed when things don’t change? Why are the less fortunate (unlucky to be born poor) treated as second class citizens when the most fortunate (lucky from birth) are treated as royalty?. Blaming those with nothing for the sins of those with everything is simply BS.”
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It may be BS to blame those with little to nothing. But blaming, accusing, etc…….works wonders at winning elections. And that is all that matters in this country. It should have been a wake up call for us when Canada’s median wage surpassed the US some months ago. Instead, the MSM mostly buried that and the fact that US median wages are declining. Instead the MSM quotes average earnings that are skewed by the uber-wealthy.
Increasing the national minimum wage would not solve our problems, but might help increase the velocity of money and certainly couldn’t hurt the less then $250 Americans.
SWM, I do not believe the cost of oil right now is in response to market demands. If so, the Saudis would have cut production to keep the cost up. They know they have big competition in the new fossil fuel output by the US. Their only hope is to drive down the cost of oil to the point where it makes the more expensive extraction techniques in the US unprofitable. Plus, why else, with all the turmoil going on the the middle east would the cost of oil go down. In the past, every time the wind has blown the wrong way there the cost has gone up.