Generally stupid rant. Not sure I have the time or inclination to argue in detail, but just a short message:
- Government housing is a cesspool of crime, drugs, and sketchiness. I would never want to raise my children in such a place.
- EBT/WIC/etc... covers plenty of staples, and it gets abused, but its not like you can walk into a grocery store and buy steaks and crab legs for dinner every night.
- Medicaid means you are going to shitty county doctors with long wait times. Still costs money, probably more as a % of income than a typical $50K earner.
- Free/reduced utilities is a mixed bag depending on where you live. Most of the time you are still paying a higher % of income than the typical guy.
- Free or reduced childcare? *raises eyebrows* You could possibly qualify for this type of program, but most of the time its for kids with disabilities. More likely, you are living with Mom and Dad and they help you out. Most people in this income bracket are multi-generational.
- Buses suck. Trains are better if the city you live in has them, but not exactly the high life.
- EIC was created to incentivize people working rather than just collecting welfare. Its one of the few truly bi-partisan supported programs. Its a great idea within the scope of the shitty government assistance enterprise. It helps, but still not the high life.
In conclusion, you are right in that minimum wage earners have it better than really poor people in the rest of the world. They are not starving, being raped/killed en masse by insurgent troops, or dying from what should be easily curable disease. However, they are living in shitty crime ridden apartments in bad neighborhoods, eating whatever food is on sale, and paying virtually all of their income in basic needs every month with little to no chance of ever getting ahead if they have even a small family. Yeah, I'm sure its a great life.
Generally stupid rant. Not sure I have the time or inclination to argue in detail, but just a short message:
- Government housing is a cesspool of crime, drugs, and sketchiness. I would never want to raise my children in such a place....they are living in shitty crime ridden apartments in bad neighborhoods,
This is not only stupid, but quite possibly racist as well, whether you intended it or not.
Most poor people on government assistance are not living in inner-city "projects" as you imply. Most poor people who get government assisted (or free) housing are poor white folks, more likely to be living in rural areas and small towns than some Cabrini Green-like project.
Those people get their housing paid for and do NOT live in "a cesspool of crime, drugs, and sketchiness."
- EBT/WIC/etc... covers plenty of staples, and it gets abused, but its not like you can walk into a grocery store and buy steaks and crab legs for dinner every night.
Maybe not every night, but I'll bet most of us, at some point or other, has been in line behind a cart loaded with expensive (and often not terribly healthy) food, only to see the shopper whip out the EBT card. Makes you feel like a bit of a sucker as a hard working tax payer when you see them eating steak (that you paid for), and you are standing there holding a pack of store brand chicken franks (purchased on sale). Even more egregious is when they pay for their steak with the EBT card, then buy cigarettes and beer with cash.
- Medicaid means you are going to shitty county doctors with long wait times. Still costs money, probably more as a % of income than a typical $50K earner.
Really? I'm an engineer/MBA guy. I like numbers. Why don't you run some numbers past me to convince me this isn't utter BS that you pulled out of your...
Oh what the Hell, I'll help you out. Someone earning minimum wage will likely pay no premium for medicaid. Depending on the state, they might have to pay a VERY SMALL co-pay. In many states, the folks at the minimum wage level pay no co-pay. Those that do ask for co-pays generally limit those to those people making more than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (minimum wage wouldn't even get you close to that number).
From the Medicaid web site, IF the person has to pay a co-pay (unlikely) they will have a maximum of $4 for an office visit/physical therapy visit, etc. A maximum of $8 for non-emergency use of the emergency room. There are significant caps on yearly costs to the patient, too.
So for a typical young, reasonably healthy person who might make 3 visits per year (which is more than I make at well over age 50), his cost would be $12. Or about 1.5 hours of wages.
A $50k (about $25/hour) earner would have to pay $75 for those visits, plus premiums. Even with a large employer with low cost, high quality insurance plan, that would almost certainly be well in excess of $50 per month. So Mr. $50k taxpayer would shell out at least $675 (or 27 hours of wages).
So the taxpayer would have to work far more hours, and a much higher percentage of his income, than the minimum wager worker.
Actually, it would be even worse for Mr. $50k, because income taxes would hit Mr. $50k, lessening the value of his per hour rate, whereas the "poor" person would pay nothing in income tax. Hell, he'd "get money back" (another handout) that he never paid in through the EITC.
you are right in that minimum wage earners have it better than really poor people in the rest of the world. They are not starving, being raped/killed en masse by insurgent troops, or dying from what should be easily curable disease.
Far from living in 3rd world squalor, most "poor" Americans have amenities that most people in the world can only dream about. Not only do they have clean, safe places to live, and plenty of food, they typically have big screen TVs, cable, computers, smart phones, game systems, a full suite of appliances, etc.
I have made minimum wage in the past (as I suspect most of the folks on this forum have). I chose not to stay in that situation because it is not great.
But it's "Poverty American Style" - which generally means a safe, comfortable living, tinged with a ton of envy of those who have more and a sense of entitlement, as opposed to real poverty.