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“We have no one in the state of North Carolina living in extreme poverty,” [Republican state Rep. George] Cleveland said. Extreme poverty is prevalent in other countries, not in the United States, he added.
“Poverty is a governmental definition in this country, and through the years they keep redefining poverty to make sure we have a poverty class. Poverty is you’re out there living on a dollar and half a day. I don’t think we have anybody in North Carolina doing that.“
All you have to do is redefine poverty down to “literally no money at all,” and poof, it’s all gone. Problem solved! I’m sure these 9 million retirees will be very relieved to hear that they’re actually doing pretty well for themselves. Not to mention all those Masters Of The Universe who have to scrape by on a few hundred thousand a year now.
There probably are people in North Carolina (or any state) who still meet Cleveland’s definition of “poverty,” but just think how much you can slash the poverty rate by eliminating everyone trying to live on between $550 and $11-22,000 a year.
It’s kinda like excluding the long-term jobless from the unemployment rate, or fighting corporate crime by eliminating regulations and oversight.
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Eli!
Buzz!
Eli~!
Such a pathetic state of affairs
Poverty is “just a sliver.”
Elliott~!
Now we know that the reason Mitt isn’t concerned about the very poor is that they don’t really exist.
They’re just a “couple of Cadillacs” short of the American Dream.
Damn! Cleveland used two full paragraphs, when all he needed to do was say:
“I’ve got mine. Fuck you, Jack!”
What a blabbermouth.
The “Full Cleveland,” TB. LOL
aHAHAHAHA!
you know, that could easily be Jamie “The Whiner” Dimon in that video.
Hey Firepups of Fire!
Apologies for swooping in to do a quick threadjacking. Time to strike at top-line revenue.
We now return to our regularly-scheduled Eli Post.
Post Script: I miss the GOP
Clown-a-ThonsDebates.ELI!
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. To a conservative it’s justification for behaving like a sociopath.
And, right on cue, Ken Mehlman surfaces to gibber his “apology” for “not speaking out” while he was turning the rest of the community, his community, into a group of reviled pariahs. No prob Kenny boy! Coulda happened to any other power driven sociopath. What about the apology for actually, you know. AIDING the effort?
Speaking only for myself, NOT accepted.
TWAIN!
Always after the damage is done.
“My bad! Bygones?”
Well, we already exclude anyone who just gave up looking for a job and regulations, what are they?
What gets me is the arrogance to be so self serving. Not one peep about his complicity and participation in the in the actual plot. He wants us to think that he was just a tacit supporter when he was up to his eyeballs in it.
Like you wrote: sociopath.
Besides I think there are only 50 million in poverty anyway. It’s getting better isn’t it? All we need ismformthe lazy asses downtown under the bridge to,get,a,job. Sheesh!
They need training first. You know, structural unemployment and all that.
Oh, and drug tests.
No poverty in North Carolina, no such thing as climate change, (despite the bluebonnets that were beginning to bloom in fucking February), no evolution, no science at all really, not even an acknowledgement of participation in something that damned near turned a whole class of people into subhuman status… All symptoms of the same thing: Fear. Conservatives are terrified little ferrets.
The most effective way to eliminate your problems is to deny that they exist.
Just like a progressive. Always looking on the dark side. :-)
Hey, I like bluebonnets as much as anybody and more than some, (see PUAC tomorrow), but February? That’s just wrong.
Maybe instead of an elephant, the GOP should be represented by an ostrich?
Wow, does that cover a lot of territory.
Well, most of an ostrich, anyway.
Yo Eli! My username on another blog is humans_off_earth_now. I think it’s become my entire philosophy of life and pretty much all I have to say about anything anymore.
Yo Sharky! Not much of a crowd-pleaser, but the Earth would probably be better for it…
But who would
exploitsteward the planet if there were no Christian extremists?LMAO! No heads needed!
the earth awaits our demise, to be sure
It sounds to me like the good governor from NC is practically begging to have his compensation cut. I mean since $11,000 isn’t poverty I see no reason that he and his family should have any problem living on that.
Oh to be a Democratic representative in NC, I could have so much fun wth Governor ThereisnpovertyintheUS.
oh, you’re good..
Problem solved. Now, let’s define “criminals”.
WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP VOTING FOR THESE IDIOTS?!
There are aptitude tests for plenty of jobs that require personal responsibility. If a person wants to run for a public office, they should be required to learn about things like what their constituents require financially to live on.
If you are going to pass legislation for something you know nothing about [like internet, the uterus and birth control] you should be required to get a consultant who does or learn about it before being allowed to make decisions that effect people’s lives in ways you otherwise would not know about. Sometimes democracy is so damn backwards while being brilliant at the same time.