The faces of the 'working poor' in the Midwest...

[Cuban_Liberal]

I'm a board member of the Civic Association here, and I've just finished reviewing the 'case notes' and applications for the month of March; the Civic association is an all-volunteer, no-overhead group that receives funding from United Way, the Mennonite Relief Association and individual businesses. What we do, essentially, is try to 'fill in the gap' for people down on their luck: we will pay someone's rent 3x/yr., pay up to $150 of the Ameren/CIPS bill 4x/yr., pay for prescription meds, give a monthly food voucher of up to $100/m. per family of 4, etc. . It both angers me and breaks my heart to read what I read every month. From this month:

"The family needs $109 to pay their electric bill. The wife was laid off before Christmas and the husband's hours have just been cut back."

"This family has 3 children and the father was just laid off. They will be grateful for any assistance we can provide."

"She was let go from her job after a week-long stay in the hospital for pneumonia, and is unable to find a new job. Her unemployment is $178/wk., and this barely covers her rent and utilities. She has almost no food in the house."

"He is a disabled Vietnam veteran who needs new glasses and some dental work, but the VA will not provide him with either one (verified). Can we pay for new glasses?"

"She needs $200 for car repairs so that she can continue to get to her second job in Champaign. She is a single mother with 4 children and only receives food stamps and a medical card."

"Their power is in danger of being turned off because they have been unable to pay the last 3 months' bills in full, and Ameren/CIPS will not agree to any payment plan unless they make a $125 'good faith' paymenty first, which they cannot afford. They have a special needs child."


Dear GOD, this is AMERICA, isn't it? How do we let our laws get so screwed up that people who work full-time can't afford the basics of life? How can we let a disabled veteran go without glasses and proper dental care?

Some days I just want to bang my head on a rock until I lose consciousness... *sigh*

/rant off

[camero]

1. Because our fearless leaders

steal from the poor to give to the rich don't you know?

[Cuban_Liberal]

3. But it's so WRONG!

:grr:

[camero]

7. I know it is

Too many people think otherwise though. It's why I think we're all screwed.

You can't have rich people without poor people. We should take some of that money back from the rich and give it back to the poor.

[Qanisqineq]

2. Champaign, IL?

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. Arcola, which is about 25 miles SW of Champaign...

:)

[Qanisqineq]

6. Ah, I'm in Urbana

[Cuban_Liberal]

9. Hi, neighbor!

:hi:

[BiggJawn]

5. Because....

There are no "poor" in America, only the "Lazy".

Not only the GOP says this, just ask any good Libertarian, too.

Ah, America, where a fellow can become a Millionaire by going on Tee-Vee and "singing" "She BANG! She BANG!", yet people who get their hands dirtyfor a "living" go hungry.

It's not just our laws, it's ALL our priorites. Quick! Who can tell me who's gonna get kicked off the island tomorrow night?

See what I mean?

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. Yeah, our priorities are messed up.

When did 'caring about our fellow man' fall so low on our lists? *sigh*

[BiggJawn]

17. When "Get yours NOW" became Job One.

It's that Gospel of Scarcity the Cons have been preaching ever since Ronaldus Rex rose to power.

[Nikia]

32. Many low wage jobs require a lot of work

Many of them are rather physical in nature, require constant quickness(like a receptionist, typist, or fast food worker), or require dealing with irrate people(any service oriented job). Lazy people who do these jobs, especially with the economy the way it is, are usually fired rather quickly.
One might argue that they are lazy for not taking classes to learn marketable skills. That is often difficult for them financially or logistically (like if they have children needing watched, transportation issues, or distance from such colleges). Some of them have also observed that many skilled and educated positions don't pay that much more or don't guarentee a job.

[mia]

10. and from the West...Anonymous voice of America's unemployed

Anonymous voice of America's unemployed
E.J. Montini
Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0304montini04.html
Mar. 4, 2004 12:00 AM

This week I got a call from America, who happens to be a 43-year-old
unemployed woman living in the Valley. She is angry. She is sad. America got
my answering machine and left a message....

Hear the tape - What 'America' had to say

[Cuban_Liberal]

11. I see it every day.

It gets so infuriating. I see good people like her who have worked all of their adult lives trying everything they know how to do, just to keep body and soul together. And you know what REALLY pisses me off about it? People like Limbaugh and Bush who tell them that it's their fault!

:grr:

[amandae]

19. Awesome article!!

WHERE ARE THE JOBS that bush is bragging about in his campaign ads??? WHAT AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE is he talking about???? Healthcare costs have done nothing but GO UP! Doesn't there have to be SOME truth in political advertising???? How can so many people in this country be so BLIND??

I also wonder the same thing that the woman in the article wonders ... my husband was also layed off in 2002 from his job with a large American corporation (who is also now sending jobs overseas). Despite a significant pay cut, we were so very, incredibly lucky that he was able to find another job before his lay off date. However, I just graduated from college last year and couldn't find a job so back to school I went (along with almost every graduate I knew - who can pay back student loans with no job??). We have three kids to support and it's awfully stressful sometimes. But again, I feel very fortunate that hubby has a job, and even though he can't find a better one out there right now (NO jobs), and raises are very small now (he works for the police department - subject to budget cuts), and rising healthcare costs eat up any of the tiny raise he gets, he's working, right?

If Bush is elected again this year, I may have no choice but to look into immigrating north to Canada. I can't imagine what another four years of a "corporation above all" domestic policy is going to do to this country.

[dolo amber]

12. As a single mother

for most of my adult life, I have been in those type of situations more than once...I have been evicted while working 2 jobs due to needing $$ for car repair (so that I could get to my 2 jobs, y'see...:eyes:)...I have had utilities shut off for being late due to cutbacks at work...(not that I wasn't HAPPY to go to work, but if they say they only need you 20 hrs a week...:shrug:). It really makes you feel like...I don't even know how to express the feelings of utter WORTHLESSNESS you have when you can't even keep the most basic of services not to mention SHELTER for yourself and your child...despite working sometimes up to 70 hrs. a week...:(

It's unconscionable that people should have to struggle just to EXIST in the richest country on earth.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Slavery by any other name

Does the fact that, this time around, it's for everybody and not just black people make it better or worse?

[Padraig18]

28. Worse. n/t

[camero]

30. Neither

Slavery is slavery no matter what form it takes. Of course when I say this I am told to "Get with reality" and to "Stop judging the world by my standards".

I'll tell you what, if the world went by my standards I would bet it would be a lot less hellish. That's what I tell them anyway for what it's worth.

[Cuban_Liberal]

14. I couldn't agree more, doloamber!

That the richest nation on the face of the earth could let ANY of its citiznes arrive at such a point is unconscionable. Do we not understand the worth of human dignity any more?:hug:

[madrchsod]

15. if i remember right

champaign has one of the lower unemployment rates in ill. sunday i drove down rt.51 to vandaila and i noticed the oil fields were pumping again..barrel prices must be way up..

[Cuban_Liberal]

16. Yes, it is.

We do have fairly low unemployment, but most 'jobs' are 'McJobs', not good, high-wage+benefit ones.

Oil is over $40/bbl now...

[amandae]

21. Something I don't understand ....

Bush it campaigning on the issue of increased home ownership ... isn't this circular reasoning? Isn't it that more people are buying homes, because the interest rates have been so low, which is caused by the horrible economy (breaking it down quite simplistically, I realize :) )?? Lower interest rates would mean that people with 'McJobs' would be more likely to afford a home, is that not the case?

I'd be interested in knowing the price of the homes that are selling the most (causing this increase in ownership). I know that in the area we live, there has been a lot of downsizing, with many people who had larger incomes or plush jobs that they lost moving from large homes to smaller, cheaper homes. I'd be interested in seeing those kinds of demographics.

[Cuban_Liberal]

22. Locally, mid-sized and small homes are selling.

People are unloading those big, fancy 4-bedroom jobs...

[amandae]

23. That's what it's like in our area too

I wish someone on the campaign trail would just mention the reasoning behind the increase in homeownership. I can't stand ignorant proclaimations and I think the wind would be out of this sail should anyone look at all the downsizing American families have had to do just to survive, including the downsizing of their homes.

In addition, I'd like to hear someone talk about WHY it is that interest rates are so low (making homes purchases doable for more), because they sure as hell aren't because of a growing economy.

And about unemployment ... one factor in figuring out how many people are unemployed is actual unemployment claims themselves, right? So how do they figure in the people who were on unemployment, used it all up, and are now just plain jobless with few prospects for unemployment?

[Cuban_Liberal]

24. They don't count those people.

I think unemployed should also include new applications for public-assistance, Medicaid, etc. . People would get their eyes opened, if they only understood the TRUE number of people without jobs.

[amandae]

25. I couldn't agree more ....

But I'll stop here since I'm in danger of hijacking a very important thread!

:hi:

[amandae]

26. BTW ... I think it's great that you are on this board

and that you have the stomache to deal with things that many Americans turn away from!

:yourock:

[Cuban_Liberal]

27. Thank you!

I deal with poverty every day as a deputy, and I just can't 'turn it off' and go home like nothing's wrong, like so many seem to be able to do. :)

[nickinSTL]

18. Working poor

I think it's great that a group like this exists. Unfortunate that it's needed, but still a great cause.

Reading this kind of thing puts my own situation in perspective. I'm working 2 jobs, but really, we're doing ok (aside from that credit card debt from paying for car repairs and stuff we can't afford)

[Cuban_Liberal]

20. I know what you mean.

We both work full-time+, and some days we are mortally tired, but when I read through the apps, it puts it in perspective for me. We're in no danger of being evicted, losing our power, we have plenty to eat, a bit of money in the bank, etc. .

[Deja Q]

29. We're not people in this society.

We're nothing more than machines ripe for exploitation and to be discarded when our usefulness ends.

[Nikia]

31. Some of the people I work with are working poor

They make $9-$11/hour. For most of them, this is the best wage that they can get and some of them really wanted these jobs as can be seen by their dedication after being strung around as an on call temp. This wage is obviously better than minimum wage or a couple dollars above, but it isn't exactly high. If they are a single parent or a parent whose significant other makes less than this, especially part time, they are bad off. They are usually alright financially if everything goes right, but get behind quickly if they need car repairs or something medically beyond a routine office visit. Once behind, it is difficult for them to catch up.
Unfortunately, as I said, these people are making a good wage at the place where I work. There are many people out there that make less.