Since the far righties here are cherry picking the stats, and inflating some of them, ask them what was the poverty rate in 1960 by race? What was it by 1970? Now?
Here is what the "poor" have today that "WE" (my dad in 1960 made $400/month and took care of a family of 4 kids and wife who didn't work)
Today this is what the family living in "poverty (as we did supposedly... in 1960 with NO aid...)
People in poverty in the USA get:
a) Free Cell phone (my cell phone I PAY is about $100/month)
if the poor person receives just one of the below FREE entitlements:
* Food stamps * Medicaid * Section 8 * Supplemental Security Income * National School Lunch Program
b) 40 million Americans on food stamps get $200/month in free food.
it cost $75.7 billion in 2011 compared to $35 billion in 2008; and enrollment has hit an all-time high of 46.7 million recipients.
Meanwhile, the number of children receiving free school lunches has inflated from 18 to 21 million an unprecedented jump
about 2.1 million households (6 million) use Section 8 the Housing Choice Voucher program, pays a large
c) portion of the rents and utilities of or the Housing Choice Voucher Program up to $1,000 /month in FREE housing...
So these people get:
=== $ 5,666 in Earned Income Credit i.e. a check from Uncle Sam instead of paying they get a check!!!
=== $12,000 free housing , Section 8 will pay up to $1,000/month
=== $ 2,400 free food,
=== $ 1,200 in free cell phone plus
=== $ 5,000 a year in free health care from Medicaid.
So this is about $26,000 a year in FREE MONEY, free goods and free services...
That compared to NOTHING in any support when I was in high school in 1960.... YEA things are far far better to be poor today!!!