Free Republic

Some issues fade; others fester. The Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate for religious charities, hospitals and universities is the festering kind. The initial reaction concerned the rights of institutions. Catholic organizations naturally resent being forced to buy health insurance that covers sterilization, contraceptives and drugs that can end a pregnancy soon after conception. The Obama administration seems to have calculated that, since contraceptives are popular and the Catholic Church is not, the outcry would be isolated. But religious liberty is also popular, given the Constitution and all that.

Kenneth Robinson has finally been kicked out of the $340,000 home that he had lived in since June for $16. Robinson, 51, lived on Waterford Drive in Flower Mound, Texas, but he did not own or rent the home he claimed he had a right to live in. After the owner abandoned the property, which had been in foreclosure for over a year, and the mortgage company reportedly went out of business, he submitted a $16 filing fee at the local courthouse, claiming the law of "adverse possession" gave him the right to occupy the home. However, a judge in...

Cayman is rich, and Belize is poor. Why? Both are small Caribbean countries with the same climate and roughly the same mixed racial heritage, and both were English-speaking British colonies. Belize (the former British Honduras) received its independence in 1981, while Cayman is still not fully independent but is self-governing at the local level, with its own currency, laws and regulations. Belize should be richer: It has a larger population than Cayman (345,000 as contrasted with Cayman’s 54,000). Belize has a much larger and more varied land area with many more natural resources, including gas and oil, and some rich...

WASHINGTON -- Tensions between the rich and poor are increasing and at their most intense level in nearly a quarter-century, a new survey shows. Americans now see more social conflict over wealth inequality than over the hot-button topics of immigration, race relations and age. The survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center highlights U.S. perceptions of the economic divide, an issue that has moved to the forefront in the 2012 presidential campaign amid stubbornly high unemployment, increasing poverty and protests by the Occupy movement.

New Yorkers can be forgiven for shock at the newspaper headlines last week informing them that millions more of them were “near poor” or “low income.” They might relax a bit on learning that the “root cause” is simply new definition of poverty from the Census Bureau. Indeed, under the Census definition, a family in New York City is “near poor” if it has full medical insurance and an annual income below $77,000. (In Oakland, Calif., the figure is $88,000!) The Census report actually put nearly half the US population as “low income” — and news stories typically implied the...

“No matter your thoughts about the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protesters were right in at least one respect: The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.” Variations on this statement were repeated in dozens of blogs, commentaries, and even news reports in the past months. The claim comes via a Congressional Budget Office analysis that shows incomes for the top 1 percent of Americans growing by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, while the lowest 20 percent saw their inflation-adjusted incomes grow by “only” 18 percent. The numbers from the report are correct, but the assertions...

It was a rare reflection by Mitt Romney on his life as a young Mormon, offered as proof to struggling Americans that despite being born into privilege and amassing a $250 million fortune, he too had known hard times. A day after being labelled “out of touch” for casually offering a $10,000 bet to a rival candidate, Mr Romney told supporters he had experienced austerity as a missionary in France, using a bucket for a lavatory and a hose for a shower. “You’re not living high on the hog at that kind of level,” he said. But the Republican presidential...

Class warfare and income redistribution rhetoric has always been fashionable among self anointed protestors and politicians who play the old game of divide and conquer, telling us the greedy "rich" need to "pay their fair share." This would be tedious if it did not have serious implications for tearing communities apart. Let's take a look. According to IRS data, there are 1.38 million Americans in the top 1% earning at least $343,927 a year. This is a generous living but hardly the cash flow to purchase a corporate jet and luxury yacht. There are 138,000 Americans in the top .1%...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mary Power is 92 and worried about surviving another frigid New England winter because deep cuts in federal home heating assistance benefits mean she probably can't afford enough heating oil to stay warm. She lives in a drafty trailer in Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood and gets by on $11,148 a year in pension and Social Security benefits. Her heating aid help this year will drop from $1,035 to $685. With rising heating oil prices, it probably will cost her more than $3,000 for enough oil to keep warm unless she turns her thermostat down to 60 degrees,...

STEUBENVILLE, OH—Franciscan University of Steubenville awarded its 2011 Poverello Medal to Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, for his lifetime of service to the materially and spiritually poor. The medal, which is the highest, non-academic honor the University can bestow, was presented to Father Groeschel on Thursday, November 17, 2011, in New York City. The awards ceremony began with Mass, attended by Franciscan University friends and alumni, as well as members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the order that Father Groeschel helped found in 1987. The Mass was held at the Church of the Guardian Angel in Chelsea. Father...

“Air in many China cities remains highly polluted.” No, this is not a headline in the Onion (satirical newspaper), but the front-page lead headline in the Shanghai Daily on Nov. 8. Shanghai is a city of 23 million people, which at first glance appears to be, perhaps, the most modern city on the planet. The architecture is spectacular and varied, with some of the new edifices exceeding 100 stories. It looks prosperous - nicely dressed people; wide, tree-lined streets; well-maintained flower beds; and the world’s newest auto stock on its many crowded expressways. To a lesser extent, the same thing...

No matter your thoughts about the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protesters are right in at least one respect: The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.” Variations on this statement have been repeated in dozens of blogs, commentaries and even news reports over the past several weeks. The claim comes via a Congressional Budget Office analysis showing that incomes for the top 1 percent of Americans grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, while the lowest 20 percent saw their inflation-adjusted incomes grow by “only” 18 percent. The numbers from the report are correct, but...

The extreme the wealth disparity in the U.S. keeps on widening. We already know that people at the higher percentage levels are doing well, particularly at the highest, while the middle class is shrinking rapidly. Here, Michael Snyder presents some handy statistics on the growth at the lowest levels of poverty. Extreme Poverty Is Now At Record Levels – 19 Statistics About The Poor That Will Absolutely Astound You Courtesy of Michael Snyder of Economic Collapse [Extreme Poverty Is Now At Record Levels - 20 Statistics About The Poor That Will Absolutely Astound You] According to the U.S. Census Bureau,...

“No matter your thoughts about the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protesters are right in at least one respect: The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.” Variations on this statement have been repeated in dozens of blogs, commentaries and even news reports over the past several weeks. The claim comes via a Congressional Budget Office analysis showing that incomes for the top 1 percent of Americans grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, while the lowest 20 percent saw their inflation-adjusted incomes grow by “only” 18 percent. ... The actual empirical evidence cited has been...

<p>Europe's most poverty stricken residents, from the corners of countries like Belarus and the Ukraine,are being lured by easy money and empty promises to donate vital organs to smugglers.</p> <p>Bloomberg reports the practice is becoming a near epidemic in Israel where religious practices keep the organ donor pool at one of the lowest level in developed countries.</p>

Twenty years ago, hysteria swept through the media over "hunger in America." Dan Rather opened a CBS Evening News broadcast in 1991 declaring, "one in eight American children is going hungry tonight." Newsweek, the Associated Press and the Boston Globe repeated this statistic, and many others joined the media chorus, with or without that unsubstantiated statistic. When the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Agriculture examined people from a variety of income levels, however, they found no evidence of malnutrition among those in the lowest income brackets. Nor was there any significant difference in the intake of...

Study: Largest U.S. group of poor kids is now HispanicBy Zohreen Adamjee and Michael Martinez, CNN updated 5:33 AM EST, Fri September 30, 2011 Los Angeles (CNN) -- For the first time in U.S. history, the largest single group of poor children in any racial or ethnic category is Hispanic, according to a new survey. Calling it "a negative milestone" in Hispanics' explosive growth in the United States, the Pew Hispanic Center study said in 2010, 37.3% of poor children in the U.S. were Hispanic, compared with 30.5% white and 26.6% black. The Pew analysis of new census data put...

READING, Pa. — The exhausted mothers who come to the Second Street Learning Center here — a day care provider for mostly low-income families — speak of low wages, hard jobs and an economy gone bad. Ashley Kelleher supports her family on the $900 a month she earns as a waitress at an International House of Pancakes. Louri Williams packs cakes and pies all night for $8 an hour, takes morning classes, and picks up her children in the afternoon. Teresa Santiago takes complaints from building supply customers for $10 an hour, not enough to cover her $1,900 in monthly...

If President Obama really wants to see the "Buffett Rule" in action, he should look at California's tax system. The state has been plagued by it for years. The revenue stream is unstable and the state budget has been a deficit disaster. [snip] ..two principal reasons why Buffett can get away with paying at a lower federal rate than his secretary — but couldn't if he had to pony up for state taxes in California. One is that capital gains and dividend income are taxed by the federal government at lower rates than ordinary earnings. That's not true for California...

I didn't come up with this, just the graphic for it. If anyone knows who did please let me know so that person can get the attribution they absolutely deserve for this.

The folks are getting hosed. According to the American Debt Advisor outfit, 80 percent of us now owe money to creditors. If you exclude mortgages and car payments, about 50 percent of us are in debt. And that's why the economy is having so much trouble. Consumers have to be very careful about what they buy, or risk sinking into insolvency. Some pundits place the blame on unemployment, which is currently just over 9 percent. But that's not what is driving debt. Taxation is. The mean salary in America is just about $50,000. But if you live in Los Angeles,...

Comcast, the largest cable operator in the Twin Cities and the nation, on Thursday will use St. Paul's Neighborhood House as the backdrop to unveil a program offering fast Internet access to low-income Twin Cities families for $10 a month. Comcast's program, called Internet Essentials, is a national effort to help bridge the "digital divide" for low-income families who cannot afford the high cost of Internet broadband. The program will enroll families for three years, but those families potentially could continue to use it until their children graduate high school, according to company officials. "We're transforming the way low-income households...

It's not news when Jon Huntsman criticizes fellow Republicans. It's news when he agrees with them. On Sunday, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Huntsman found himself in a virtual love-in with Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann over, of all things, taxes. The paper asked Huntsman if "the half of American households no longer paying income tax—mainly working poor families and seniors—should be brought onto the income tax rolls." He agreed, crediting the GOP's current front-runner for vice president, Sen. Marco Rubio, with the insight that "we don't have enough people paying taxes in this country." The Journal...

In the past, the state has reserved about $13 million to help pay for an estimated 12,000 funerals for individuals who relied on public aid. Participating funeral homes were alloted $1,100 for funerals and $552 for the burial. (snip) "Now the only viable option --- I don't mean to make light of it -- is to leave the body at the medical examiner office," Szykowny said. "After 60 to 90 days they'll take the body to what's called a potter's field and bury it in a numbered grave."

Rich Man, Poor Man Despite what you hear from the media and the Democrat party, the poor are getting richer. In fact, America's poor are so rich, we should be celebrating it. Bill Whittle has the facts to back it up.

If there were a contest for the most misleading words used in politics, “poverty” should be one of the leading contenders for that title. Each of us may have his own idea of what poverty means — especially those of us who grew up in poverty. But what poverty means politically and in the media is whatever the people who collect statistics choose to define as poverty. This is not just a question of semantics. The whole future of the welfare state depends on how poverty is defined. “The poor” are the human shields behind whom advocates of ever bigger...

....I can't talk specifics about my time at the IRS, but here are some generalities. Those claiming EITC also qualify for other so-called refundable credits (how can something be refundable when nothing is paid in the first place?). The typical 1040 would show an income of between $12,000 to $18,000 for the year. It was usually accompanied by one W-2 with the income earned almost always by a female. With other refundable credits listed, a "refund" would be claimed of between $6,000 and $9,000. And these people believe that is their money; they have a right to it. I fielded...

On July 20, 12 Christian leaders met with President Obama at the White House to voice concerns about the prospect of budget cuts to government welfare. The group included Jim Wallis of the liberal social justice organization Sojourners and representatives from the National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Salvation Army, and several humanitarian development agencies. Finally, as critics have rightly noted, some religious leaders speak as if only government entitlements and transfer payments count as legitimate expressions of Christian charity. These leaders therefore ignore the tendency for government welfare programs to foster among those in...

~ EXCERPT ~ We could definitely use another Abraham Lincoln to emancipate us all from being slaves to words. In the midst of a historic financial crisis of unprecedented government spending, and a national debt that outstrips even the debt accumulated by the reckless government spending of the previous administration, we are still enthralled by words and ignoring realities. President Barack Obama's constant talk about "millionaires and billionaires" needing to pay higher taxes would be a bad joke if the consequences were not so serious. Even if the income tax rate were raised to 100% on millionaires and billionaires, it...

There was never any chance that in America income would be distributed like it was supposedly done in the Soviet Union – to each according to his ability and his needs. If capitalism is the key to the rise of the US economy, then the concept that some people can be richer than others is near the heart of the system. Americans worship self-made billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett because they believe that it’s possible for them to be that wealthy too. Unfortunately, there are far more poor people than wealthy ones. America is the world’s most...

It is interesting that the left is just as confused by the recent budget deal struck by the president and House Republicans as everyone else is. Some report that both sides won and some are reporting that both sides lost Travis Smiley of the far left is not happy with the deal cut by the president and House Republicans. Smiley on Meet the Press with David Gregory and guest former Democrat Gov. Jennifer Granholm attempted to explain to their partisans why the deal was good for Democrats. Smiley though is confused by what president Barry Hussein Soetoro has said about...

…..[Denise] Hancock is supposed to spend about five minutes with each client. Her job, officially, is to distribute vouchers and ask a few basic questions for record-keeping — income amount, food stamp status and number of residents in the house. But she also believes it is her job to listen….“People who are suffering need to be heard,” she says, and that much she knows. Five years ago, her only son, Buck, committed suicide at 15. Hancock found him hanging from a tree in the backyard early the next morning. She wanted to sell the house or at least cut down...

Tell everyone you know! This government with its "Cash-For-Clunkers" program has deliberately ruined automobile transportation for the poor. Lower middle class and poor individuals nationwide simply can not find reasonably-priced cars to buy in which to transport themselves to perform necessary functions of life, ie: work, school, groceries, healthcare visits, etc. because the cars they can afford are gone. The price of gasoline has skyrocketed and all smaller cars with reasonable gasoline mileage have gone up so high in price the poor can NOT afford to buy them. Some folks are already beginning to ride bicycles to work (really). What...

For a long time now I’ve been interested in “The Middle Class”, or as I call it, The Big MC™ What it is, what it means and how it’s been used over the years. My fascination comes from two sources; my own personal experience and then the use of The Big MC in today’s Liberal shaping of the term. America’s greatest allure is that through the promise of Liberty any individual is able to achieve that goal of leaving the days of back breaking labor to the days of our fathers and giving a better life to our children. It...

Nurse leaders will warn this week that poor morale and job cuts threaten to derail the government's reform programme of the NHS in England. The issues, along with wider concerns about the overhaul, will be key themes of the Royal College of Nursing's annual conference in Liverpool. RCN leader Peter Carter has said nurses were being pushed to the limit, working extra hard to keep services going. The health secretary is not expected to give a speech but will meet delegates. It is understood Andrew Lansley is attending the conference as part of the government's "listening exercise" over its shake-up...

Green Township is being singled out because federal investigators believe the housing authority blocked new public housing there for at least the past two years. More public housing for the poor is likely headed to Green Township and some other communities as part of a deal to resolve a discrimination complaint against Cincinnati's housing authority.

The scum of the earth need money, big money! Not the loose change or occasional dollar thrust into dirty hands at city stoplights. So you say, “What’s new? Down-and-outers always have their hands out.” But this scum of the earth isn’t your garden-variety derelict, hustler, druggie and brown-toothed beggar…though some are. This Scum of the Earth is an urban church/hang-out located deep in a city’s arts district off Santa Fe Drive in Denver, Colorado. And due to fire safety infractions in this old church edifice, the congregation was abruptly evicted from its hard earned and miraculously acquired home. Well over...

Establish smart spending habits. Live like you're poor. How do you do that? Drive your cars into the ground, don't eat out very much, avoid expensive and potentially unhealthy processed foods, buy food in bulk, buy just enough clothes to fit your needs, and use public transportation. ... Use credit cards only as a convenience to avoid carrying cash; limit your credit card spending so that you can easily pay off the balance each month. Make every dollar count with your spending, so you can free up money to invest in the future. Get healthy. One of the best things...

The Great Recession and the slump that followed have triggered a jobs crisis that's been making headlines since before President Obama was in office, and that will likely be with us for years. But the American economy is also plagued by a less-noted, but just as serious, problem: Simply put, over the last 30 years, the gap between rich and poor has widened into a chasm.

         % living below the poverty level: 1.  Detroit ,  MI              32.5% 2.  Buffalo , NY             29.9% 3. Cincinnati , OH        27.8% 4  Cleveland , OH        27.0% 5. Miami , FL                 26.9% 6. St. Louis , MI            26.8% 7. El Paso , TX             26.4% 8. Milwaukee , WI        26.2% 9. Philadelphia , PA    25.1% 10. Newark...

Nick Clegg is to make an explosive attack on British universities as ‘instruments of social segregation’ as he orders them to stop taking so many middle-class students. The Deputy Prime Minister will this week insist that top institutions must ‘throw open their doors’ and lower their entrance requirements for the less well-off.

Kathleen Hogan has been an animal lover all her life, but what makes her special is the helping hand she gives to thousands of other animals -- dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, hamsters, fish and others she will never even meet. Hogan founded the Buffalo Companion Animal Network six years ago with her friend Rosanne Higgins to help find homes for pets. Two years after that, BuffaloCAN started AniMeals, which Higgins coordinates, a program that supplies free food to the pets of people who receive Meals on Wheels. BuffaloCAN's work expanded a few years later when Hogan saw some disturbing sights...

Climate change effects vary widely between rich and poor countriesBy Suzanne Bohan Contra Costa Times Updated: 12/27/2010 08:25:18 AM PST CANCUN, Mexico -- When Ulamila Kurai Wragg visited New York in 2009 to speak about the frightening climatic changes taking place in the Cook Islands, some audience members stunned her. "I was hearing, 'There's no such thing as climate change. What proof have you got?' " Wragg recalled. **SNIP** The report, online at www.daraint.org, builds its findings on United Nations and World Health Organization reports, research by government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and peer-reviewed studies. Changing...

The number of people on food stamps keeps hitting new all-time highs; as of September, nearly 43 million people were using the program, according to figures out this week. Of course, because of population growth, absolute numbers only tell part of the story. The best way to look at the numbers over a long period of time is as a percentage of the population. And when you do that, you see that we're also hitting new highs.

Most Americans would benefit from President Obama's tentative deal with Republicans for extending the Bush tax cuts, and economists largely agree it would help stimulate the economy. Yet the plan would actually slightly increase taxes for the poorest Americans, economists say -- at a time when some leaders in Washington are trying to bring attention to the nation's widening income disparity. The level of income disparity in the U.S. "is really an unacknowledged crisis in our country," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) told Hotsheet.

The sample was drawn from residences included in the 1997 phone book for Utah County, Utah (Utah County has the highest percentage of Mormons per capita of any comparable county in the United States). Only those who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and were adults in the household, were asked to complete and return the experimental measures. SNIP ...according to the LDS symbolic universe, God and human beings are involved in a relationship of reciprocity - quid pro quo - where all blessings are dependent upon human behavior being in compliance with divine will....

Do we really believe that just because one is rich one is blessed by God? According to a study published in 2004 which researched the Mormon Wealth Attribution (MWA), we do. The MWA can be defined as the tendency of LDS individuals to perceive those who are wealthy as more righteous or pious than their less wealthy neighbors. The randomized empirical study reported that “Church members are more likely to attribute righteousness to a wealthy church member than to a poor one” and that (in general) wealthy members of the church are seen as being better people, both secularly and...

Thu, Nov 18 08:43 PM Washington, Nov 18 (IANS) Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Thursday pledged another $500 million for the world's poor as she hailed a historic moment that will help bring financial services, particularly savings accounts, to hundreds of millions of people living on less than $2 a day. Speaking at the foundation-hosted Global Savings Forum in Seattle, the first global gathering focused on the role of savings in the developing world, Gates urged leaders in government, banking, mobile communications, and international development to work together to build a new kind of financial...

The Irwindale officials charged Wednesday with misappropriating public funds took lavish business trips to New York City, including meals at five-star restaurants, evenings at Broadway shows, chauffeured rides and nights at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, according to records obtained by The Times. The spending came as leaders in Irwindale spent $87 million in affordable housing funds over eight years, but only built 42 homes. Two trips to New York were for the purpose of discussing bonds for housing for the poor in the San Gabriel Valley city of about 1,500 people.

David Cameron today defended the Government's plans to limit housing benefit, saying it was not fair for working people to see their taxes used to fund homes 'they couldn't even dream of'. The Prime Minister dismissed reports there could be a climbdown over the proposals, telling Labour leader Ed Miliband: 'We are going forward with all the proposals we put in the spending review and in the Budget'.