is this what they mean when they say the economy is great? family of 4 earning less than 10,000?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070225/ts_alt_afp/useconomypoverty;_ylt=AkXmIVxQ.IWPME0SXu_6wdOs0NUE while corporate profits SURGE

Answer 1

At minimum wage two wage earners would be earning $20,000, not $10,000. And they would qualify for various assistance programs as well as Section 8 housing.

Answer 2

This income total does not reflect the thousands of dollars a year that they get off social security benefits nor the earned income credit they get in tax returns. They say the ecomomy is GREAT because most all the leading economic indicators SAY it is.

Answer 3

Ted Kennedy's Big, Fat Lie: '36 Million Americans Go To Bed Hungry Every Night'
Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 17, 2006 - 10:44.

Chris Wallace had Ted Kennedy cornered. The Fox News Sunday host displayed Kennedy's 1995 bitter condemnation of welfare reform: "legislative child abuse . . . let them eat cake." As Wallace began to reference the statement, Kennedy blustered "this is 2006" - as if his past misjudgments are irrelevant though he palpably has learned nothing from them.

Wallace made the point that, contrary to Kennedy's dire predictions, the employment rate among unmarried women has soared and the child poverty rate has dropped. He put it to Kennedy: "hasn't welfare reform worked?" Fighting back, the senior senator from Massachusetts claimed that Wallace's numbers on child poverty "are absolutely wrong," asserting there has been an increase in the number of children living in poverty in the United States. He then dropped this bomb:

"We have 36 million Americans that are going to bed hungry every night. 36 million Americans! And 12 million of those are children!"

View video of Kennedy's 36-million claim here.

Kennedy's Hobbesian portrait of an America in which more than 10% of people go to bed hungry every night is flatly false. According to the USDA, 13 million households, containing 36 million people, reported that at least one household member was food insecure in a recent year. “Food insecure” means that such households at some time during the year were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources."

Yet Kennedy counted every person who might have been "uncertain" of having enough money to get food - at any time during the year - as "going to bed hungry every night."

As has been widely noted, the major food-related problem for poor children isn't hunger - it's obesity.
Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation is an expert on these issues. Here's what he recently wrote on the subject:

"While hunger due to a lack of financial re-sources does occur in the United States, it is limited in scope and duration. According to the USDA, on a typical day, fewer than one American in 200 will experience hunger due to a lack of money to buy food."

In a country of 300 million, that means something less than 1.5 million people.

It's a shame Chris Wallace didn't have these facts handy. But one thing is clear: Kennedy's claim that 36 million go to bed hungry every night was nothing short of a . . . big, fat lie.

Contact Mark at [e-mail]

Answer 4

How many of those below the poverty line are actively working or seeking work? Even if someone made minimum wage at 40 hours/wk they are making well over $10,000/yr.

I have no sympathy for the lazy.

Answer 5

I dont know your situation though I find it hard to believe that your total family income is $10,000.00 yr. Unless you are on SSDI or SSI I can't imagin the reason. Or are you an illegal? I would need more information to understand your question. Perhaps someone in your family needs higher education? I don't know how to help without more info.

Answer 6

The U.S. Government and Employers in America have kept sixteen(16*)+ million American Workers in Poverty since 1997 by denying an increase in minimum wages!!The actual increase they are now proposing amounts to 17.6cents an hour for waiting 12yrs for an increase in minimum wages!!! 1997=$5.15 $7.25=2010 !! Because it is going to be raised on a graduated basis we will not receive the full amount($7.25) until 2010 !! Would you work for 12yrs for a 17.6cent increase in your paycheck?? Thats Insane!! Are we suppose to be grateful now for this increase?? It is disgusting and revolting to allow the U.S. Government and American Employers to keep these workers in Perpetual Poverty!!! This is a Crime against Humanity!! If they want to improve the lives of People working for Poverty Level Wages then they will have to pay above Poverty Level Wages!!! An honest days pay for an honest days work is long overdue by the U.S. Government and American Employers!!! Pay them a fair and equitable wage!! You cannot enrich others without enriching yourself!! The value you place on your Employees is the value you place on yourself!! Would you work for 12yrs for a 17.6cent an hour increase in your paycheck??? What would they do if those sixteen(16*)+ million Americans walked off the job tomorrow until they were paid above Poverty Level Wages??? How much longer are these people going to be enslaved by American Employers and the U.S. Government??? The gulf between Rich and Poor in the U.S. is yawning wider than ever, and the number of extremely Impoverished is at a three decade High!!! Forty-five Million have no Health Insurance!!!

Answer 7

There will always be idiots who refuse to do what they should to help themselves have a better life, and liberals will always glorify the idiots in their attempt to demonize those who are willing to work for a better future for themselves and their family.
By all honest assessments, the US economy is better than ever, but I won't bother you with facts that prove how wrong your fallacies are.

Answer 8

So now it is up to the government to tell people you shouldn't have kids you can't afford? Take some personal responsibility.

Answer 9

If you're earning less than $10,000 a year, you have no business having kids you cannot support.

Answer 10

According to Bush....you are doing just great.