Rand Paul under fire once again for telling the truth

[jimpeel]

It seems that he is aware that American poor are better off than the poor in other nations. The Left went berserk because they want Americans to believe that other Americans are living in the same conditions as Haitians.

SOURCE

Rand Paul Under Fire For Saying Poor in U.S. Better Off Than Poor Elsewhere

Published July 13, 2010 | FoxNews.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul says the poor in America are "enormously better off than the rest of the world," citing an old Cold War film that showed even impoverished homes had color televisions.

Paul's recent remarks at his first forum with Democratic opponent Jack Conway stirred some anger in impoverished pockets of Kentucky, where as many as a third of residents live in poverty.

The libertarian-leaning Paul addressed the issue of poverty by alluding to a decades-old, anti-American propaganda film by the Soviet government designed to criticize the free-market system.

"They filmed a building in the poorer section of New York with some broken windows and they said, `Oh, this is how the poor in America lives,"' Paul said at last week's forum. "But it backfired on them because the Soviet citizens looked at that video closely and they saw flickering color television sets in all those windows."

Paul went on to say that "the poor in our country are enormously better off than the rest of the world. It doesn't mean we can't do better. But we have to acknowledge and be proud of our system of capitalism."

Conway did not respond directly to Paul's comments about poverty, but told the audience he thinks Kentucky's best days are ahead. He said he supports small business tax credits and other measures to boost job creation.

Charles Hardin, a Democratic judge-executive from eastern Kentucky's Magoffin County, said Monday that Paul's comments rubbed him the wrong way and he criticized Paul for relying on "anecdotal tales."

"I think it reflects a dogmatic belief in free enterprise and limited government," said Hardin, who argued that government should reach out to assist those who can't help themselves.

Kentucky ranks among the poorest states in the country. The state tied for second poorest nationally with 17.3 percent of its residents living below the poverty level, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, a Republican, said Monday he wasn't uncomfortable with Paul's comments about the poor, and that they reflected the truth.

"I know that as bad as we have it, there are people that have it worse in Third World countries," Thompson said.

Albey Brock, another Republican county judge-executive in the region, said he didn't think Paul meant to be hurtful or disparaging with the remarks.

"Oftentimes his unique way of communicating opens himself to criticism to be taken out of context," said Brock, who backed Paul's main opponent in the primary. "And in this instance, I'm not certain I know what context he meant it in."

Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said Monday that the Republican has used the anecdote for years "to illustrate the strength of America, the power of our traditions and the superiority of freedom to socialism."

Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, drew sharp criticism in late May for saying the Obama administration's stance toward BP after the massive Gulf spill was un-American and anti-business. He drew more heat for expressing misgivings about requiring businesses to comply with the Civil Rights Act.

The Republican candidate also sparked a backlash from some county officials for suggesting at last week's forum that he would prefer to see programs for drug abuse paid for at the local level.

The issue came up in a question about a popular, federally funded task force that does drug investigations and pays for treatment for addicts and education programs in eastern and southern Kentucky.

Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford, a Democrat, said Monday that the drug problem has become too big for local governments to handle all the costs.

"I think he made a drastic mistake," said Rutherford, predicting that the remarks would ultimately cost Paul votes in the region.

Thompson said he agreed that local communities should tackle their drug problems head on, but said, "We can't do it without the help of the federal government."

Paul said at the forum that he would strive to keep more money in Kentucky to deal with drug problems.

 

[jimpeel]

SOURCE

How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
Published on August 27, 2007 by Robert Rector Backgrounder #2064

Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty."[1] Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.[2] However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"[3] of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.

But, if poverty means (as Edwards asserts) a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm Housing, and clothing for a family, then very few of the 37 million people identified as living "in poverty" by the Census Bureau would, in fact, be characterized as poor. Clearly, material hardship does exist in the United States, but it is quite restricted in scope and severity.

The average "poor" person, as defined by the government, has a living standard far higher than the public imagines. The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:

* Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
* Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
* Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
* The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the averagecitizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
* Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
* Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.

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[jimpeel]

Now that was in 2007. What about 1990?

SOURCE

How "Poor" are America's Poor?
Published on September 21, 1990 by Robert Rector Backgrounder #791

Next week the United States Census Bureau will release its annual report on "poverty" stating, as it has for many years, that there are some 31 million to 32 million poor Americans, a number greater than in 1965 when the War on Poverty began. Evidence mounts, however, that the Census Bureau's poverty report dramatically understates the living standards of low income Americans.

Here is a sample of facts that will not be mentioned in next week's poverty report.

* 38 percent of the persons whom the Census Bureau identifies as "poor" own their own homes with a median value of $39,200.

* 62 percent of "poor" households own a car; 14 percent own two or more cars.

* Nearly half of all "poor" households have air-conditioning; 31 percent have microwave ovens.

* Nationwide, some 22,000 "poor" households have heated swimming pools or Jacuzzis.

"Poor" Americans today are better housed, better fed, and own more property than did the average U.S. citizen throughout much of the 20th Century. In 1988, the per capita expenditures of the lowest income fifth of the U.S. population exceeded the per capita expenditures of the median American household in 1955, after adjusting for inflation.1

Better Off Than Europeans, Japanese
The average "poor" American lives in a larger house or apartment than does the average West European (This is the average West European, not poor West Europeans). Poor Americans eat far more meat, are more likely to own cars and dishwashers, and are more likely to have basic modern amenities such as indoor toilets than is the general West European population.

"Poor" Americans consume three times as much meat each year and are 40 percent more likely to own a car than the average Japanese. And the average Japanese is 22 times more likely to live without an indoor flush toilet than is a poor American.

The Census Bureau counts as "poor" anyone with "cash income" less than the official poverty threshold, which was $12,675 for a family of four in 1989. The Census completely disregards assets owned by the "poor," and does not even count much of what, in fact, is income. This is clear from the Census's own data: low income persons spend $1.94 for every $1.00 in "income" reported by the Census. If this is true, then the poor somehow are getting $0.94 in additional income above every $1.00 counted by the Census. Indeed, the gap between spending and the Census's count of the income of the "poor" has grown larger year by year till, now, the Census measurement of the income of poor persons no longer has any bearing on economic reality.

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[Gonz]

I've been saying this for years & everybody gets pissed about it

 

[jimpeel]

It was interesting to see, when we were in Haiti some years ago, these marines in full battle garb with tears running down their faces. They were discussing the people there and how they would come to the gates of their compound nightly begging for food.

One of them said that he thought he knew what poverty was from what he had seen on TV in America; but "nothing could prepare me for what I have seen here."

They spoke of how the poor eat from the local dump and live under corrugated sheets of sheet metal which become guillotine like when hurricanes and tropical storms blow through. After the storms, they gather up what they can and return to doing what they were doing before the storms hit.

You won't find this in America:

Kibera Slum in Nairobi

Mumbia Slums - Aerial View

Slums of Rio de Janeiro

And if you think this only affects non-whites ...

Tbilisi Slum near Kipshedse Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia

Compare those with this photo montage HERE

The difference is that most of the places shown in the last webpage have no one living in them. Most are abandoned factories.