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Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that household incomes have fallen to 1996 levels. On September 13th, The Foundry at Heritage.org reported on some of the details on poverty in America.
The article at The Foundry reports:
- 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning
- Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks
- Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite television
- Two-thirds have at least one DVD player and 70 percent have a VCR
- Half have a personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers
- More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation
- 43 percent have Internet access
- One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD television
- One-fourth have a digital video recorder system, such as a TiVo
I realize that many of the people considered below the poverty level struggle with day to day expenses and paying the bills, but there is something wrong with this picture. Are we giving people the idea that they can live above the standard that their salaries allow and have the government subsidize the extras? I realize that sounds calloused, but if I struggle to pay my bills because of the amount of money taken out of my paycheck and given to another family, why does that family buy a plasma TV before I can afford one? I earned mine, who paid for theirs?
The article at The Foundry concludes:
Poverty is a serious problem that requires serious solutions. But policymakers and the public need accurate information about what poverty in the United States really means. Only then can they implement the right policies to help those Americans who are truly in need.
Meanwhile, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal stated today (I am not linking to the article as it is subscribers only):
…politicians who support policies that make economic growth their top priority raise everybody’s incomes even if some incomes rise more rapidly than others. Politicians who put income redistribution above overall economic growth do worse by everybody, especially the poor.
The bottom line here is that class warfare may win votes in certain segments of the population, but in the long run it helps no one escape poverty or gain wealth. The smart thing to do to help the poor is to grow the economy for everyone and stop worrying which group of people has more and needs to be punished by higher taxes. Greed and envy are not productive and do not have a positive impact on the economy or the people practicing them.
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