Posted on 07/28/2014 4:29:39 AM PDT by LeoMcNeil
Progressive group Think Progress has been putting on a bit of poverty theater over on Twitter. If you look up #livethewage you’ll find a number of progressive Congressmen pretending to live on $77 worth of groceries for an entire week. It’s all theater, meant to shock people into supporting an increased minimum wage. Thus sardines and saltine crackers are a regular purchase, for no other reason than they’re meant to shock us. In reality, these Congressmen shock us by their inability to budget or shop sales. In one case, Rep. Barbara Lee budgeted $5 for toothpaste. My wife can buy a years worth of toothpaste for our family of six for $5 by shopping sales and clipping coupons.
Rep. Lee didn’t just waste $5 on toothpaste. She dramatically ate half a can of beans and a tomato two days in a row all while skipping breakfast so she could save a yogurt for another day. Perhaps if she learned to cook for herself and shop sales she wouldn’t have these problems. Yogurt in particular is regularly on sale and if purchased in bulk is cheaper. She likely could have had yogurt for the week had she bought a larger tub rather than two small single serving yogurts. Rather than eating half a can of beans two days in a row, Rep. Lee could have made her own spaghetti for the same price, maybe less.
Rep. Tim Ryan didn’t fare any better. His poor, put upon family had rice pasta with vodka sauce at a total cost of $7. The pasta alone cost $4. If Rep. Ryan was actually on a budget he wouldn’t have bought such expensive pasta. Store brands and sales could have cut his cost at least in half. Had he made his own sauce, rather than buying already made sauce, he likely could have cut the price in half. Ryan then bought a Whopper from Burger King at a cost of $5 plus a $2 coffee. Anyone who is on a budget knows fast food restaurants always have a dollar menu and they’re always running a special. Rep. Ryan could have cut his cost in half.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky only managed to create giggles with her absurd menu for the week. She was planning to live “poor” on chicken sandwiches and tuna salad. In other words, she planned on eating what the average American eats every week. Yet it was presented as a poverty menu. She either knows how to shop sales or is completely out of touch with what the average American eats. Considering the entire purpose of the exercise was to be dramatic, it’s a safe bet Rep. Schakowsky is out of touch.
The entire premise of the exercise is ridiculous. The overwhelming majority of people earning minimum wage are young people working their first job. Very few families are trying to get by on minimum wage and most of them are on food stamps and thus eating better than a lot of middle class people. All these Congressmen proved is that they are incapable of putting together a budget. They have no idea how to shop sales and coupon clipping is obviously foreign to them. My family of six is capable of eating on $77 in a week. Perhaps we’re able to do this by not spending $5 on toothpaste or fast food burgers. In reality, we know how to shop sales and we make our own food from scratch. It’s not that difficult to live within a tight budget, even with inflation nailing us at the grocery lately. All these Congressmen did was prove they have no idea what they’re doing.
#livethewage proves that democrat voters are brain damaged sheep.
Do these morons plan to cut SNAP checks down to $77 week?
It’s not surprising that we’re so far in debt with these idiots managing the money.
I do like the idea of feeding congress critters a straight regimen of beans. I think they would be less inclined to sit in committee meetings with each other planning how to spend our money.
The term is “political stunt”
A little irrationality often helps to get elected
Personal experience:
July is almost over so we’ve had (7*4) 28 weeks so far this year.
I’ve spent 1258 at the grocery store or $44/week (1258/28).
Adding in my eating out, which I do too often I admit, (569+1258)/28 = $65/week.
These Congresscritters are so far out of touch it is pathetic. Just another reason for term limits.
“...chicken sandwiches and tuna salad...”
Darn, I’m poor and didn’t even know it. That’s good eating right there.
Are the following items budgeted in these minimum wage households?:
Smokes, booze, cable TV, iPhone, ...
What percent of minimum wage workers are sole source heads of household?
“What percent of minimum wage workers are sole source heads of household?”
Ok...
And what percent of that group are in the U.S. LEGALLY?!?!?
at the dollar store you can get 5 tubes of mainstream toothpaste for $5
Beans beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot the better you feel
So let’s have beans for every meal!
Exactly, toothpaste should never cost someone $5. People who are poor know how to get a deal. In fact, just about everyone in the middle class knows how to get a good deal.
My wife said the same thing, she had no idea we were so poor. In fact, we’re so poor the kids are more likely to have a peanut butter sandwich than any kind of meat for lunch. The Congressman must think we’re in dire poverty!
Excellent post, Leo. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.