A very graphic representation of the poverty situation in America today
This presentation was sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development
“We can’t close the great divides in this country in a day, just like we can’t end poverty in a night. But we’re going to start by speaking truth to power. America is not America when millions of our citizens are still viewed as a fraction of a person.”
- Marc Morial
You see it in the news everyday, war, taxes, layoffs, budget cuts, one of my favorites, what the other candidate is doing wrong. But the word POVERTY is mentioned…Heads start diving for the sand. A political bad word; it seems to be the only subject most politicians agree to avoid.
Solving the poverty issue would help solve many issues! I know there are organizations and individuals who think it’s the upper 1 % fault. I am not here to place blame, give an opinion (although it is a strong one) I am here to point out facts. I am here to draw the big picture no one can seem to put together. I am here to educate myself in what SOLUTION (I am so screaming here) can be had.
If we can’t resolve America’s poverty how do the politicians think they can solve our debt crisis, our energy crisis, and our unemployment crisis. They all have their opinions on these issues, they all seem to think they have the answers to those problems but this one is the hidden thorn in every politicians side…well hang on because we are about to twist that thorn till it hurts…
Katherine
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. ~Richard Armour
I will be posting places that I think (along with many Americans) places we should save as a country. Until I was in my 30′s I had no idea what the saying “You can’t see the forest for the trees meant”; I do now! We will take these proposed savings and keep a tab on the running amount that could be saved. Today’s post will be quotes from 3 articles about the waste of the $1 billion plus worth of dollar coins held in storage by Federal Reserve Banks. I’m posting the link to each so you can read the whole article…I just don’t understand why they are so…well stupid!
June 28, 2011
Robert Benincasa and David Kestenbaum
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137394348/-1-billion-that-nobody-wants
Politicians in Washington hardly let a few minutes go by without mentioning how broke the government is. So, it’s a little surprising that they’ve created a stash of more than $1 billion that almost no one wants.
A Government Accountability Office study out this spring says that switching to a dollar coin “would provide a net benefit to the government” of about $5.5 billion over 30 years.
But it’s not because coins are cheaper. The report says the government would not recover the cost of switching from bills to coins over that period.
Instead, the benefit to the government would come only from the profit it makes by manufacturing each coin for 30 cents and selling it to the public for a dollar.
When this profit, known as seigniorage, is factored out, switching to the dollar coin would actually cost taxpayers money over three decades, according to a Federal Reserve analysis of the GAO’s figures. The cost works out to $3.4 billion.
by Darrin Lee Unser on July 22, 2011
http://www.coinnews.net/2011/07/22/proposed-legislation-would-end-presidential-dollar-coins/
This new legislation comes in response to recent media attention to a reported $1 billion plus worth of dollar coins held in storage by Federal Reserve Banks. (Check out the PDF of the Annual Report to the Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin Program from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.) The massive stash of coins has been building up over the years with a marked increase occurring since the introduction of Presidential dollars four years ago.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-mint-wasting-money-making-money/story?id=14052997
By JONATHAN KARL (@jonkarl) , ROBIN GRADISON and BEN FORER
July 14, 2011
In their most recent annual report to Congress, the Federal Reserve says the coins are piling up so quickly they will need to spend $650,000 to build a new vault in Dallas to hold them. Shipping the coins to the new secure facility will cost an additional $3 million.
Money… Money… Money! It is what makes the world go round. It is what makes the rules. Money runs the show!
I am in that majority that seeks it’s companionship like a Hidden Treasure never to be found. Another favorite of mine “It takes Money to make Money”. I need more of it. Many things amaze me about being POOR; the most prevalent is how much less everything would cost me if I could just make more. You see my every week is consumed with “where is my next dollar coming from” and who do I pay. Every week I get my paycheck and I have to decide who is getting pissed off this week; I am running $200 to $400 short a week. I pay everything late. There is never enough. Late fees cost me on average $50 per month…That’s $600 per year, (Down the drain because I am destitute)!
I have a broken window in my bathroom that I can’t fix; the $75.00 to fix it is never there. I wonder how much that broken window is costing me in my electric bill. I can’t afford to tune up my car or get new tires. I need one tire plugged and never seem to have that extra $15.00 to plug it. Every two or three days I have to scrape up another 4 quarters and fill the tire back up. That’s $156 annually (I am 4 months from it being 1 year) just for air! So would it be safe to say that between higher energy costs and gas for my jalopy I am losing $1000 a year?
I am paying higher interest rates on the loans I have because I am poverty stricken. To a business and a bank this gives them permission to charge me more. I have my Mortgage at 11% interest and 4 short term loans up to 18% interest. Now I am not an accountant or banker so I am making a guess as to my extra costs in interest rates. I am looking at extra costs of $100 per month, $1200 annually.
Late Fees annual cost: $600
Energy and Gas: $1000
High Interest $1200
Total Annually: $2800
Just because I am poor I have to spend an extra $2800. Now I haven’t added in my not having any Medical Insurance and any extra costs incurred there. I also under estimate the other figures so I am not accused of over exaggerating the figures. Bottom line…It Cost me more to live because I am Poor!
I understand I am a high risk as the banks like to say so therefore the higher rate. Wouldn’t I stand a better chance of keeping my home and paying my bills if my payments were lower? How many people would still have their homes or cars or both if their payments were lower? It just seems to me instead of paying all the costs associated with foreclosing on a home and then the extra costs of getting the home ready to list and the listing fees, it makes more since to just lower the rate and give the less fortunate a better chance of making that payment. Why would you make someone a loan but at the same time make it as hard to pay back as you can get away with? It just seems someone needs to address this question…and FIX IT!
