Poverty in the US: Cell Phones, Cable TV, and Xbox

by Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield

For decades, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported that over 30 million Americans were living in “poverty,” but the bureau’s definition of poverty differs widely from that held by most Americans. In fact, other government surveys show that most of the persons whom the government defines as “in poverty” are not poor in any ordinary sense of the term. The overwhelming majority of the poor have air conditioning, cable TV, and a host of other modern amenities. They are well housed, have an adequate and reasonably steady supply of food, and have met their other basic needs, including medical care. Some poor Americans do experience significant hardships, including temporary food shortages or inadequate housing, but these individuals are a minority within the overall poverty population. Poverty remains an issue of serious social concern, but accurate information about that problem is essential in crafting wise public policy. Exaggeration and misinformation about poverty obscure the nature, extent, and causes of real material deprivation, thereby hampering the development of well-targeted, effective programs to reduce the problem.

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Greenpeace Founder Questions Man-Made Global Warming

World's Richest Man Gets US Tax Dollars

Safelink Wireless phones-for-the-poor government program sends U.S. dollars to Mexican billionaire

by I Hate The Media
For those of you unfamiliar with the government’s free cell phone for the poor scam, we’ll start off with this brief summary:

If you’re poor and if you’re already receiving certain other government benefits, you can get a free cell phone and some free minutes every month through a company called SafeLink. If you want more background, you can read about the Safelink cell phone giveaway here and here and here and here. The program is paid for by the Universal Service Fund with fees added to every phone bill in America.

It would be bad enough if the money for this program was being channeled to an American phone company, but now we’ve discovered that all those hidden “taxes” are ultimately going to América Móvil, a Mexican phone company.

Even worse, América Móvil is the world’s fourth largest cell phone company, which just happens to be owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. In effect, you are being taxed to subsidize the world’s richest man.

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In honor of Haiti: “Not Forgotten”

by Paige Armstrong

One year ago, Haiti was struck by a 7.0 earthquake that devastated their country. Exactly one year later, the country is still in ruins and in need of much help. Over a million people are living in tents with unspeakable conditions. Of the survivors still living in tents, approximately 380,000 are children. Women and children, as young as 4 and 5, are being raped by gangs operating unchecked in the 1,200 refugee camps.

Though money has been pledged to help Haiti from several countries, most of that money and help has yet to arrive. I was shocked to hear that less than 5% of the debris from the earthquake has been cleared… leaving enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world. (information from http://bit.ly/ifEaxF)

While it has been a year since this tragedy, it is clear that the Haitian people are still in great need of prayers and help. Though a year of other disasters and needs have piled up since theirs, they cannot be forgotten.

Soon after Haiti was hit, I shared that I would be releasing a song that I had written and recorded for them which would benefit World Vision. My plans to release that song were altered, and I was unable to release it as I had planned. Now, in order to share the song with you, I have made a video of remembrance to honor this day one year ago. I will let you know when the song is available to be purchased for the proceeds to support World Vision.

For now, may this song and video be a reminder for us to pray and help in whatever way we can. May the precious Haitian people know they are not forgotten.

Keeping the Poor in Poverty

School choice, lower taxes, job creation: These, and not welfare payments, are what would really help the poor.

In his autobiography, former British prime minister Tony Blair recounts the political epiphany that caused him to break with the old-style class-warfare–based Labour Party that he had grown up with. “In a sense they wanted to celebrate the working class,” he writes, “not make them middle class.”

In many ways, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats appear to have the same attitude about the American poor.

They talk frequently about the poor. They lavish programs upon them. (Last year the Obama administration increased spending on means-tested and other anti-poverty programs by $120 billion, to a total of just under $600 billion.) But they seem curiously indifferent — if not actually hostile — to proposals that might actually reduce poverty in America.

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