I'm pointing out that this is bullshit.
You need to get new lies - these are old, stale, and long debunked.
{
"poor" shows that the Census Bureau's report is misleading.
For most of us, the word poverty suggests destitution: the inability to provide a family with adequate food, clothing and shelter. But only a small number of the 30 million plus people classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit this description. Although real material hardship does occur in America, it is rare. The bulk of the
"poor" live in material conditions considered comfortable or even well-off just a few generations ago. Indeed, total spending per person among the lowest-income one-fifth of households actually equals that of the average American household in the early 1970s - after adjusting for inflation.
How poor are the "poor" ? Consider the following statistics, all drawn from federal government reports:
* In 1995, 41 percent of all poor households owned their own homes. The average home owned by a poor person has three bedrooms, 1-1/4 baths, a garage and a porch or patio.
* More than 750,000 poor people own homes worth more than $150,000; nearly 200,000 own homes worth more than $300,000.
* Only 7.5 percent of poor households are overcrowded; nearly 60 percent have two or more rooms per person.
* The average poor American has a third more living space than the average Japanese and four times as much living space as the average Russian - that's the average citizen in Japan or Russia, not the average poor person.
* Seventy percent of poor households own a car; 27 percent own two or more
cars.
* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; nearly half own two or more color televisions. Nearly three-quarters have a videocassette recorder; one in five has two VCRs. Sixty-four percent own a microwave oven; half have a stereo system; more than 25 percent have an automatic dishwasher.
* Two-thirds of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population had air conditioning.
* As a group, the poor are far from being chronically hungry and malnourished. In fact, poor Americans are more likely to be overweight than middle-class ones. Nearly half of poor adult women are overweight. And 84 percent of the poor say their families have "enough" food to eat; 13 percent say they "sometimes" do not have enough to eat. Only 3 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
* The average consumption of protein, vitamins and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and in most cases is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Indeed, most poor children today are supernourished, growing up, on average, to be one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944.}
[...] a closer look at the actual living standards of people defined as
www.sfgate.com
Oh, and SF Gate is a FAR left source. Even your own side calls bullshit on this.
