Trump Is Good at Saying What People Are Thinking

[Billy000]

Um no America is definitely not prospering. We weren’t under Obama either.

So how do you explain the record employment numbers and the stock market?

We were already in a string of job growth before Trump came to office. Secondly, as important as the stock market is, it doesn’t really equate to improving the well being of the poor or middle class in any substantial way. Wages are still way behind on the rate of inflation. The income disparity between the middle class and wealthy is ridiculously wide and is not sustainable. It’s questionable if the middle class even still exists. Childhood poverty is very high in comparison to other first world nations.

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

You run with that. You sell everyone Venezuela and let’s watch.

So wanting a stronger middle class is Venezuela?

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

So how do you explain the record employment numbers and the stock market?

We were already in a string of job growth before Trump came to office. Secondly, as important as the stock market is, it doesn’t really equate to improving the well being of the poor or middle class in any substantial way. Wages are still way behind on the rate of inflation. The income disparity between the middle class and wealthy is ridiculously wide and is not sustainable. It’s questionable if the middle class even still exists. Childhood poverty is very high in comparison to other first world nations.

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

 

[Weatherman2020]

We were already in a string of job growth before Trump came to office. Secondly, as important as the stock market is, it doesn’t really equate to improving the well being of the poor or middle class in any substantial way. Wages are still way behind on the rate of inflation. The income disparity between the middle class and wealthy is ridiculously wide and is not sustainable. It’s questionable if the middle class even still exists. Childhood poverty is very high in comparison to other first world nations.

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

And a big home in 1960 was 1200 sq ft.

 

[Billy000]

We were already in a string of job growth before Trump came to office. Secondly, as important as the stock market is, it doesn’t really equate to improving the well being of the poor or middle class in any substantial way. Wages are still way behind on the rate of inflation. The income disparity between the middle class and wealthy is ridiculously wide and is not sustainable. It’s questionable if the middle class even still exists. Childhood poverty is very high in comparison to other first world nations.

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

 

[Weatherman2020]

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

A lot of people can live decently on $10/ hr.

They just don’t live in Leftardia and they grow up and get raises.

 

[Billy000]

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

A lot of people can live decently on $10/ hr.

They just don’t live in Leftardia and they grow up and get raises.

Lol no they can’t. You know that isn’t true. Quit making shit up.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

Sure it exists, but today, we have a terrible recreational narcotics problem. Since good paying jobs drug test employees, many are not taking those higher paying jobs.

I had a couple I was renting an apartment to. They were fine tenants, but they both worked fast food jobs. Why? Because their dope was more important than making more money. Same thing in construction. My father is a retired bricklayer. His union sends him updates in his profession from time to time. Several years ago, they asked their retirees to find younger people to take up the trade. They didn't have nearly enough people to fill the need.

Yes, they had a sufficient number of people to inquire about bricklaying, but few that could pass the drug test. Mind you, bricklaying is very tough work, but my father made a damn good living off of it. In fact he's still getting his pension check 26 years after he retired from the union.

In my line of work, we need over 30,000 drivers we can't find. Same thing. Besides being tough work, you need to pass drug screens to get and keep the job. In fact we have a rush of foreigners now doing the job because Americans won't do them.

So it's not that American's can't find good paying jobs, it's that they don't want to make sacrifices to get them.

Walmart to hire hundreds of truck drivers, raise salary to nearly $90,000

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

A lot of people can live decently on $10/ hr.

They just don’t live in Leftardia and they grow up and get raises.

Billy claims that nobody could live off of ten bucks an hour since the 60's. I got my first apartment in 1980. I was making seven dollars an hour at the time. I didn't live high on the hog, but was easily able to support myself, put food on the table, and pay the utilities. I did work about ten hours a week in overtime, but a lot of people worked OT back then.

 

[Dragonlady]

That had to be the worse thing to ban - plastic straws.
What are the old folks in nursing homes going to slurp up; since they can't even lift their cup up to their mouths?

They may as well ban plastic baby bottles too.

I wish they would. Children should not be drinking anything through or out of plastic. None of us should. Old folks can use PAPER STRAWS, like the rest of us.

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

 

[SAYIT]

View attachment 270116

Duh. It’s all about doing meaningless stupid crap with the Left. Next thing you know the Left will start using metal straws and people will start to get killed.
Oh snap, too late.

Twitter

Yes, dumb, angry people. Thank you,captain obvious.

And why shouldn't rational Americans ridicule the persistent silliness of our dumb, angry "progressives" (pronounced: regressives)?

Cali - like the US - faces pressing issues and our leftarded elected officials fiddle while we burn.

Lefties are traitors... every stinking one of 'em.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

That had to be the worse thing to ban - plastic straws.
What are the old folks in nursing homes going to slurp up; since they can't even lift their cup up to their mouths?

They may as well ban plastic baby bottles too.

I wish they would. Children should not be drinking anything through or out of plastic. None of us should. Old folks can use PAPER STRAWS, like the rest of us.

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

Right wingers are dumb? Did you ever go to a nursing home and see the difficulty older people have drinking water or other beverages? They need straws that easily bends to a 90 degree angle because it's difficult for them to sit up and drink. You can't have that in a paper straw.

 

[Dragonlady]

We were already in a string of job growth before Trump came to office. Secondly, as important as the stock market is, it doesn’t really equate to improving the well being of the poor or middle class in any substantial way. Wages are still way behind on the rate of inflation. The income disparity between the middle class and wealthy is ridiculously wide and is not sustainable. It’s questionable if the middle class even still exists. Childhood poverty is very high in comparison to other first world nations.

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

People are doing with much LESS today than they did in the 1960's. Nobody had air conditioning, because until the 1990's, we didn't need it. Today, people die without it because it's so hot. Yesterday, the temperature where I live was 106. People start dying when their temperature hits 105.

In 1969, a 23" RCA TV cost $975.00, and that's in 1969 dollars. Considering that $5000 per year was a big salary, at the time, it's hardly surprising that families didn't own more than one TV. Last year I bought a 24" RCA smart TV for my sewing room for $199. It's light enough I can pick it up in one hand and take it to the bedroom. I can buy a 60" big screen for $500. Half what my 23" consol cost in 1969.

My first microwave cost me $800 in the late 1970's. My gross monthly pay was $1500 so it was more than half a month's pay. I paid $90 for my curren

People car pooled and shared rides. I had a ride to a nearby town to my first job there. There were four of us in the car, chipping in for gas and car expenses for the driver. When I suggested my husband share rides with the guy up the street who worked for the same company as my husband he said absolutely not. Neither of them wanted to share a ride and cut costs. My husband thought I was crazy for suggesting it.

Going to the movies - Under a $1. Popcorn, 25 cents. cost for a family of 4 under $5 for the whole family. Today, with tickets, popcorn and drinks, it's around $25 per person. Popcorn and a drink at a movie theatre costs more than a meal at your local diner. I spent $23 the last time I went to the movies, and I get senior prices.

There was no McDonald's in the 60's in Canada, and no fast food restaurants either. Dairy Queen only sold ice cream. .

That had to be the worse thing to ban - plastic straws.
What are the old folks in nursing homes going to slurp up; since they can't even lift their cup up to their mouths?

They may as well ban plastic baby bottles too.

I wish they would. Children should not be drinking anything through or out of plastic. None of us should. Old folks can use PAPER STRAWS, like the rest of us.

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

Right wingers are dumb? Did you ever go to a nursing home and see the difficulty older people have drinking water or other beverages? They need straws that easily bends to a 90 degree angle because it's difficult for them to sit up and drink. You can't have that in a paper straw.

Yes you can. Here's an entire page of bendable paper straws. Plus there are angled glass straws:

Bendy Paper Straws, Bendy drinking straws, Flex straws, bendable paper straws, Made In USA

I know you're a conservative and all, but truly, there's this amazing app called google. Stop embarassing yourself.

 

[Billy000]

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

Sure it exists, but today, we have a terrible recreational narcotics problem. Since good paying jobs drug test employees, many are not taking those higher paying jobs.

I had a couple I was renting an apartment to. They were fine tenants, but they both worked fast food jobs. Why? Because their dope was more important than making more money. Same thing in construction. My father is a retired bricklayer. His union sends him updates in his profession from time to time. Several years ago, they asked their retirees to find younger people to take up the trade. They didn't have nearly enough people to fill the need.

Yes, they had a sufficient number of people to inquire about bricklaying, but few that could pass the drug test. Mind you, bricklaying is very tough work, but my father made a damn good living off of it. In fact he's still getting his pension check 26 years after he retired from the union.

In my line of work, we need over 30,000 drivers we can't find. Same thing. Besides being tough work, you need to pass drug screens to get and keep the job. In fact we have a rush of foreigners now doing the job because Americans won't do them.

So it's not that American's can't find good paying jobs, it's that they don't want to make sacrifices to get them.

Walmart to hire hundreds of truck drivers, raise salary to nearly $90,000

Agreed that a lack of skill set is preventing many jobs from getting filled, but this idea that one’s work ethic is all ANY person needs is non sense. Again, it doesn’t matter how hard one may try, there will inevitably be millions of impoverished workers because of the lack of opportunity of mobility. Those skilled jobs we agree aren’t getting filled aren’t enough either. They still pay low wages.

 

[skye]

I must say ,I totally agree with the President!

But what I agree the most.... is when he says LOCK HER UP! (Hillary witch)

And SEND HER BACK! (the congresswoman representing Somalia)


WOW!!! President Trump reflects totally, what millions are thinking! Bless him!

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

Sure it exists, but today, we have a terrible recreational narcotics problem. Since good paying jobs drug test employees, many are not taking those higher paying jobs.

I had a couple I was renting an apartment to. They were fine tenants, but they both worked fast food jobs. Why? Because their dope was more important than making more money. Same thing in construction. My father is a retired bricklayer. His union sends him updates in his profession from time to time. Several years ago, they asked their retirees to find younger people to take up the trade. They didn't have nearly enough people to fill the need.

Yes, they had a sufficient number of people to inquire about bricklaying, but few that could pass the drug test. Mind you, bricklaying is very tough work, but my father made a damn good living off of it. In fact he's still getting his pension check 26 years after he retired from the union.

In my line of work, we need over 30,000 drivers we can't find. Same thing. Besides being tough work, you need to pass drug screens to get and keep the job. In fact we have a rush of foreigners now doing the job because Americans won't do them.

So it's not that American's can't find good paying jobs, it's that they don't want to make sacrifices to get them.

Walmart to hire hundreds of truck drivers, raise salary to nearly $90,000

Agreed that a lack of skill set is preventing many jobs from getting filled, but this idea that one’s work ethic is all ANY person needs is non sense. Again, it doesn’t matter how hard one may try, there will inevitably be millions of impoverished workers because of the lack of opportunity of mobility. Those skilled jobs we agree aren’t getting filled aren’t enough either. They still pay low wages.

Wait a minute. I just explained how desperate our industry is to find labor, and even posted one of the many ads for drivers that pay far more than a livable wage; in fact a superior wage. There are many other industries just like mine.

How about this: when these industries are plentiful with employees, then complain. Until that time, it's a complete farce that nobody can get a decent job that pays well in this country without a college degree.

It's less the opportunity than it is making sacrifices for what you want. Get off the dope, learn a trade or go to a trade school, and then you can make a good or great living in this country. That's what it takes.

 

[Mortis]

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

Why? Because, we "right wingers" know that the earth will do just fine surviving herself - as it has way before humans were around? Before humans were around to "dictate" to others how they should live their own lives? What straws they can use?

That's just ludicrous! Lol

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Slowest recovery in HISTORY, Dufus.

There will never be a recovery if the middle class is not strengthened. That is what is vital to the economy. If the middle class continues to struggle, poverty rises. There’s no indication that this will change.

What do you mean by continues to struggle? The middle-class has never done better.

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

People are doing with much LESS today than they did in the 1960's. Nobody had air conditioning, because until the 1990's, we didn't need it. Today, people die without it because it's so hot. Yesterday, the temperature where I live was 106. People start dying when their temperature hits 105.

In 1969, a 23" RCA TV cost $975.00, and that's in 1969 dollars. Considering that $5000 per year was a big salary, at the time, it's hardly surprising that families didn't own more than one TV. Last year I bought a 24" RCA smart TV for my sewing room for $199. It's light enough I can pick it up in one hand and take it to the bedroom. I can buy a 60" big screen for $500. Half what my 23" consol cost in 1969.

My first microwave cost me $800 in the late 1970's. My gross monthly pay was $1500 so it was more than half a month's pay. I paid $90 for my curren

People car pooled and shared rides. I had a ride to a nearby town to my first job there. There were four of us in the car, chipping in for gas and car expenses for the driver. When I suggested my husband share rides with the guy up the street who worked for the same company as my husband he said absolutely not. Neither of them wanted to share a ride and cut costs. My husband thought I was crazy for suggesting it.

Going to the movies - Under a $1. Popcorn, 25 cents. cost for a family of 4 under $5 for the whole family. Today, with tickets, popcorn and drinks, it's around $25 per person. Popcorn and a drink at a movie theatre costs more than a meal at your local diner. I spent $23 the last time I went to the movies, and I get senior prices.

There was no McDonald's in the 60's in Canada, and no fast food restaurants either. Dairy Queen only sold ice cream. .

That had to be the worse thing to ban - plastic straws.
What are the old folks in nursing homes going to slurp up; since they can't even lift their cup up to their mouths?

They may as well ban plastic baby bottles too.

I wish they would. Children should not be drinking anything through or out of plastic. None of us should. Old folks can use PAPER STRAWS, like the rest of us.

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

Right wingers are dumb? Did you ever go to a nursing home and see the difficulty older people have drinking water or other beverages? They need straws that easily bends to a 90 degree angle because it's difficult for them to sit up and drink. You can't have that in a paper straw.

Yes you can. Here's an entire page of bendable paper straws. Plus there are angled glass straws:

Bendy Paper Straws, Bendy drinking straws, Flex straws, bendable paper straws, Made In USA

I know you're a conservative and all, but truly, there's this amazing app called google. Stop embarassing yourself.

Over here there were plenty of fast food places. It's just that people back then couldn't afford FF three times a week like they can today. It was a treat, not a staple.

People did with much less today than the 60's? I don't think so.

Today most adult members of a family have their own car, and not an older car either. We spend hundreds of dollars month on entertainment alone whereas in the 60's., it may be a hundred dollars a year. Today people have two or three video game systems, cable or satellite television, cell phone plans for every member of the household including children, high speed internet, and all the costly applications you can buy for your phone and home computer.

In the 60's, we could only dream of the life most people have today. The television I have now cost me $3,500. Certainly very comparable to a 25" color television that people had back then. The difference is a lot of people have a television like mine whereas before, only the fortunate few had a 25" television, and you were the talk of the neighborhood if you had a roof antenna instead of rabbit ears on top of the set.

Now if we did away with all these devices and services we currently have today, do you know how much disposable income you'd have compared to people in the 60's? How many people had landscape services back then? Nobody. Only the millionaires paid people to cut their grass. In fact, most people in the 60's couldn't afford a engine driven lawnmower. They used the old fashioned push mower instead.

You can't compare the lifestyle of people today to the lifestyle of people in the 60's 70's or even the 80's.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Lord but right wingers are DUMB.

Why? Because, we "right wingers" know that the earth will do just fine surviving herself - as it has way before humans were around? Before humans were around to "dictate" to others how they should live their own lives? What straws they can use?

That's just ludicrous! Lol

Well.....you need an expert to advise us of these things. I happen to have found one that puts this all in prospective.

 

[Billy000]

You’re basing that on absolutely nothing. Even if the median income has slightly rose, it is still way behind on the cost of living and inflation.

And it's still better than it was under DumBama.

We have more things today than at any other time in history. Most of what we spend our money on is convenience, technology and entertainment, but we have the money to do it.

As a child of the 60's, I can testify that people did with very little. Many had a party line telephone, if they had a telephone at all. Telephones were not considered a necessity. If you don't know what a party line is, just ask.

Many didn't have air conditioning. They just used a fan and a spray bottle. If things got really bad, they'd fill the bathtub with medium cold water and lay there for a couple of hours. Either that or spend the day in the basement.

Most families were one car families. A lot of women didn't drive, and the ones who did had to wait for their husband to get home to drive. Most households only had one television set, and if you were doing very well, it was a color television set.

For entertainment, we went to the movies or drive-in about three or four times a year. Eating out? Very seldom. Fast food was a real treat as you only went to McDonald's about three or four times a year as well.

Fast forward to today, and look how we live.

Your anecdotal bullshit doesn’t somehow make you informed on the actual topic of economics. Here is a fact for you: the last time someone could live decently off of $10 per hour was the 1960’s. Now the usual response to this from your ilk is “well get a better paying job!” No shit that is a good solution, but it isn’t a practical idea for 10’s of millions of workers. Higher wage, middle class jobs are few and far between. That means that 10s of millions of people have NO CHOICE but to accept poverty wages. The point is, it doesn’t matter if every working American pulled them up by their bootstraps and was committed to hard work to get ahead in life. As hard as these 10s of millions of workers would try, they won’t get ahead because the opportunity for them simply doesn’t exist.

Sure it exists, but today, we have a terrible recreational narcotics problem. Since good paying jobs drug test employees, many are not taking those higher paying jobs.

I had a couple I was renting an apartment to. They were fine tenants, but they both worked fast food jobs. Why? Because their dope was more important than making more money. Same thing in construction. My father is a retired bricklayer. His union sends him updates in his profession from time to time. Several years ago, they asked their retirees to find younger people to take up the trade. They didn't have nearly enough people to fill the need.

Yes, they had a sufficient number of people to inquire about bricklaying, but few that could pass the drug test. Mind you, bricklaying is very tough work, but my father made a damn good living off of it. In fact he's still getting his pension check 26 years after he retired from the union.

In my line of work, we need over 30,000 drivers we can't find. Same thing. Besides being tough work, you need to pass drug screens to get and keep the job. In fact we have a rush of foreigners now doing the job because Americans won't do them.

So it's not that American's can't find good paying jobs, it's that they don't want to make sacrifices to get them.

Walmart to hire hundreds of truck drivers, raise salary to nearly $90,000

Agreed that a lack of skill set is preventing many jobs from getting filled, but this idea that one’s work ethic is all ANY person needs is non sense. Again, it doesn’t matter how hard one may try, there will inevitably be millions of impoverished workers because of the lack of opportunity of mobility. Those skilled jobs we agree aren’t getting filled aren’t enough either. They still pay low wages.

Wait a minute. I just explained how desperate our industry is to find labor, and even posted one of the many ads for drivers that pay far more than a livable wage; in fact a superior wage. There are many other industries just like mine.

How about this: when these industries are plentiful with employees, then complain. Until that time, it's a complete farce that nobody can get a decent job that pays well in this country without a college degree.

It's less the opportunity than it is making sacrifices for what you want. Get off the dope, learn a trade or go to a trade school, and then you can make a good or great living in this country. That's what it takes.

Okay two things:

1) Many unskilled workers don’t have the time or money to learn new skills. Learning new skills costs money and time. Anyone single with offspring will understand this. “Smoking dope” doesn’t have much to do with this at all.

2) I didn’t say “nobody” can get a better job. No shit some people can do better in life with more effort. To think I meant otherwise is retarded. It just isn’t a practical solution to MOST workers in this country. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in - higher wage positions are highly competitive (skilled or not). Come on, this point isn’t hard to figure out. Your fantasy that the ONLY cure to poverty is a can-do American spirit is very short-sighted.

 

[WheelieAddict]

He's good at being an asshole and saying what assholes are thinking. You know, the republican base.