"POVERTY ISN'T AMERICAN!!!"

Do you believe you're poor? I don't mean have you got budget constraints; I mean, are you living on mac and cheese or 10 cent soup packets, and use space heaters as you prime source of winter warmth? I've seen poverty. Before I retired, I was in the health care business and traveled to private homes to do my work. Most of my patients were elderly, living on a fixed income. Our seniors aren't rich for the most part, they get by from one Social Security check to the next; watching every purchase they make. I remember several years ago, I was in a Walgreens Drug store getting a prescription; an elderly couple was standing and talking to the pharmacist. The pharmacist said "I'm sorry, I've cut every corner I could and this is the best I can do"; his voice was almost remorseful when he said the prescriptions were $600.00. The two old people were stunned and looked at each other; they were making a choice of whether to buy medicine or groceries. They chose groceries, thanked the pharmacist and walked away. That, my friends, is poor! Oddly enough, compared to the rest of the world, we are still more affluent than everybody else. Europe, Asia, the Middle-East and Africa are all worst off than we are. South and Central America are poverty central, starvation is a way of life down there. Feel bad yet? Guess what? We are catching up in the poverty race. The nation that has been the savior to the rest of the world is at new levels of poverty. We are getting down to what our President has asked for since he took office; parity with the rest of the world. We will soon be no better off than anyone else on earth!

The BBC (not FOX NEWS) on September 16th released figures on American poverty. One in seven Americans is now living at the poverty level, the highest level since the 1960s. In America, poverty is measured at a family of four living on a yearly income of $21,954 or less per annum. As someone who lives on a fixed income, I understand the struggle that this income must be on a family, especially if children are involved. Average home foreclosures are at their highest rate since the mortgage crisis began, up 25% since August 2009. Banks re-possessed 95,364 properties in the last twelve months (per REALTY TRAC). Our poverty rate rose 14.3% from 13.2% to 43.6 million Americans, the largest increase in 51 years. In our working population, poverty has also been affected. People aged 18 to 65 have poverty levels of 12.9%, the highest level since the Lyndon Johnson years. You remember the "War on Poverty"; it seems that war was won by poverty when government entitlements spawned the "welfare society" instead of the "Great Society".

Where is America going? The Obama administration is proving to be a monumental failure. More people are now poverty stricken; more people are now unemployed, more people are losing hope than at any time in recent history. Massive spending has done little to nothing to remedy our national economic woes. Government interference in the free market has slowed our economy to a virtual standstill. The threat of high taxes to investors has put off any growth potential in America.

If you are experiencing monetary problems, look to Washington policy. If you can't find a job, look to Washington, if your may be losing you home, look to Washington; they are the responsible party. We need a 180 degree turn or we will be on our way to being a "Third World Economy". Jobs, tax relief, free market expansion, less government interference are the real solutions to our problems!! Let's not set any more poverty records, Mr. Obama. Let America succeed, just "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"