Logos57: A Caring Community
With One Liberal Christian’s
Story of Poverty
Compassionate Conservatives – Mitt Romney:
‘I’m Not Concerned About The Very Poor’
Mitt Romney: ‘I’m Not Concerned About The Very Poor’, The Huffiington Post, February 1, 2012, by Luke Johnson, excerpts quoted verbatim, with essay on poverty by Logos57 owner Paul Evans:
Note by Paul Evans: I cannot republish this entire article because of copyright, however, I just want to re-emphasize that these Republicans truly do not care about us, the very poor, for I belong to that category. I will have more to say about this later.
Huffington Post: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that he’s “not concerned about the very poor,” citing the social safety net in place for that segment of the populace and adding that he’s focused on the middle class.
*Midnight Oil* |
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“I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it,” the Republican front-runner said Wednesday on CNN, following his victory in the Florida primary. “I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”
CNN’s Soledad O’Brien pressed him on his comments, adding that they may sound odd for Americans who are very poor.
“Well you had to finish the sentence, Soledad,” he replied. “I said ‘I’m not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net but if it has holes in it, I will repair them.’ The challenge right now — we will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor. And there’s no question it’s not good being poor and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor. But my campaign is focused on middle-income Americans.”
“We have a very ample safety net,” said Romney. “And we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor.”
Programs in the “safety net” are also suffering during the economic recession. Medicaid, for example faces cuts as states attempt to balance budgets at a time when more people are using the program. GOP lawmakers have also eyed cuts in food stamps as food prices rise, even though more Americans are using the the program as a consequence of the economic recession.
Romney’s policies call for cutting federal spending and reconfiguring the social safety net. He calls for an immediate five-percent cut to non-discretionary spending, which would hit the safety net hard. He proposes turning Medicaid into a block grant program and undertaking a “fundamental restructuring of government programs and services.” He also calls for capping spending at 20 percent of GDP — a significant cut — and adds that he “will pursue further cuts” as spending comes “under control.” ….
Read the full article here.
See
UPDATE: See Romney: I ‘misspoke’ about the poor, The Raw Story, February 3, 2012, by David Edwards.
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My Own Story
of Poverty and Faith
Commentary by Paul Evans: I happen to be one of the “very poor.” There are two people living with me I rescued from homelessness. I did not know them at first, but took a chance because I thought it was the right and Christian thing to do at that time. I never looked back. For almost two years now, the three of us have struggled with my own disability for mental illness, while attempting to live in my father’s house.
We are trying to pay for repairs to the home, such as replacement of a hot water heater, and also we are somehow responsible for paying the property taxes, even though my Dad owns the house. I am in severe danger of losing the home because of non-payment of these taxes. I make $8,400 as our total income. (Parenthetically, did you know that as of last February, the rate of unemployment for those making $20,000 a year or less was 31 percent?)
I actually GOT a job this last spring designing websites for a software firm in Wooster, and doing cold call telemarketing to get more work. Immediately, Social Security deducted an amount almost equal to half of what I receive from them, my food stamps were almost cut in half, and I had a new “medical spenddown” so that I was making about as much NOT working as I did with my 20 hour a week job. Is THIS how the government encourages people to get off of disability???
To just about finish our chances at survival here, six miles out in the country, we have been without a car for the last six months. (There is a chance I might actually buy a pickup this Friday. HEY!)
Do you know what it is like to go to a gas station and beg for someone to please give you a few dollars so you can drive home? Do you know what it is like to be out of money halfway through the month, for two years? Do you know actual hunger… and not being able to buy the three of you McDonald’s 99 cent double cheeseburgers? Do you know what it is like when your friends first avoid you, then drop you as friends? Well, I guess “liberal” “charity” has its limits.
I truly think that all these “moderate” or “compassionate” conservatives should have to spend six months of their lives in some kind of situation like ours, manditorily, doing some kind of service. Then we would see what kind of legislation they would come up with. For years now, we have seen exactly how little Republicans care about the little guy. People, Wake Up!!!
Most people in the United States of America will never understand this kind of poverty. But when a candidate for President of the United States says and then confirms that he is “not concerned about the very poor” in this country, it upsets me terribly, even though I totally expect that, and worse, from them. Of course it upsets me! Enough to write this post, when I have never described my poverty on this website before. For shame, Mitt Romney!
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A Message for Patriotic Americans, Republicans, and Tea Party types: I imagine conservative Christians or conservatives in general may think that figuratively I am the “devil” or in some way dangerous. I want to briefly set the record straight. My Dad was a Marine in World War II. His father was a career Marine officer who finished his career in command of the Marine battalion guarding Washington, D.C. in that same war. It was the last time (so far) that we have had troops stationed in Washington. Before that “Skipper,” as we called Dad’s Dad, chased the original Sandino (think Sandinistas) around the Nicaraguan countryside, and then was in command of the Marines guarding the gunboats which patrolled the Yangtze river in China. So Dad spent three years of his childhood in (Nationalist) Shanghai.
Continuing on with my Dad’s story, after World War II, with a masters from Georgetown in Russian history, he worked for 13 years for ASA, NSA and CIA. In 1971 he received his doctorate in Russian language and literature from Yale University. I am 55 and have lived with my father my entire adult life except when I was in college. He translated eleven books that I was the editor for. He taught me. He is 86, and is in a local nursing home, with senile dementia. Please say a prayer for him if you would.
Mom had a bachelor’s degree in botany and her father, with whom we all lived eight years of my childhood, was Curator of the Smithsonian Division of Cultural Anthropology for decades. My sister, who died tragically in 2004, was a veterinarian, and well-known in dog showing circles. Yes, things might have been very different for me, had not mental illness intervened: I will note that currently I have no symptoms. As for my own credentials, although I have a bachelor’s from Miami University (of Ohio), and an “all-but-thesis” of a masters, I am about the least of my family in credentials. But I am a patriotic American, as was my Dad and his Dad before him, thank you very much. Just to set the record straight.
I also believe that I have described a very plausible situation where someone of good education could be in danger of homelessness, but I ask: Does Mitt Romney or any of that 90 percent of the middle class care?
By the way, Republicans and rich folk everywhere, what part of that thing Jesus said about a camel, the eye of a needle, and the kingdom of heaven don’t you get?

















