Obama's "New" Measure Of Poverty

Posted by Brian
h/t to Mark Levin

Americans are hurting.  Home foreclosures are still high, over 40 million people are on food stamps, and the private sector continues to hemorrhage jobs. Yet even with 9% unemployment and being in the midst of a depression, the vast majority of America's poor enjoy a greater standard of living than those living in poverty as close as across our southern border.  Still we hear of "America's poor". The truth is that those living in poverty in the U.S. would be living high on the hog, comparitively, in a country like Ecuador. I know. I've been to some of these places.  No sewage systems. No running water. No air conditioning.  Maybe a car which barely runs, is 15-20 years old, and is held together with baling wire, if you are on the high end of the poverty scale. Do you notice when you see truly poor people in these countries, you never see people who are overweight?



Guatemala poor



U.S. - In line for food stamps

So what is different, and dishonest, about how America defines poverty? In the past, those in poverty really were poor. They really did worry about where their next meal came from.  Today the definition is being changed to represent a class of citizen who has two color televisions, including a 50-60 inch flatscreen in some cases, two cars, has air conditioning, and wondering whether to have spaghetti or take the kids out for pizza.  Even many of those defined as poor in America have an X-Box, Playstation, or Wii.
The American Thinker has done an excellent assessment of how Obama is further redefining how poverty is measured, so that in Obamaworld, poverty will never disappear.

July 20, 2011
Obama Redefining 'Poverty'
By David Paulin

What does it mean to be poor in America today? For typical "poor" households -- as defined by the government -- it means cable television, two color television sets, and two or more cars.

As for housing, it means living in air-conditioned comfort -- in decent accommodations with even more space than "average" Europeans have. (Not poor Europeans, to be sure, but "average" Europeans.) Moreover, most "poor" Americans get the medical care they need, and they eat enough -- in fact, they eat too much.

In short, the lifestyles of most "poor" Americans are vastly at odds with dire government statistics about poverty in America -- statistics that invariably send liberals and media pundits into hand-wringing fits and moralistic outrage. Now comes an antidote to this absurdity -- a report released on Monday by the Heritage Foundation that is appropriately titled: "Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today?"
Read more at The American Thinker

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• Heritage Foundation: Widespread Xbox Ownership Debunks Myth of American Poverty (firedoglake.com)