 The Stupid Poor Of America
As we pointed out last Thursday, President Obama finally seems to have had enough of the perpetual obstructions of Republicans, especially on the issue of income inequality in America. If that wasn't clear before last week, it should have become so for most Americans during the President's interview with the New York Times, that was released over the weekend.
Add to the President's interview an exclusive Associated Press study, also released over the weekend, that made it even more clear: Income inequality and instability in America is - just as President Obama has said it was - the worst single problem we're currently facing today. According to that AP study, "Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives." That's a real blow to the long-held idea that hard work in America leads to success.
The numbers don't get any better when you dig into the study. As Ryan Cooper points out in Washington Monthly, the study's gauge of economic insecurity is defined as, "...a year or more of periodic joblessness, reliance on government aid such as food stamps or income below 150 percent of the poverty line. Measured across all races, the risk of economic insecurity rises to 79 percent."
With those hard facts starting us in the face, and President Obama's angry frustration that Republicans continue to block any progress in fighting inequality, you needed to look no further than a group of Nebraska Republicans to understand the GOP's attitude that poor Americans must be poor as a lifestyle choice...
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