AJ, glad to see it was you that responded and not the barcode lol. Yes, if you have a good GPA it isn't too hard to get money for school. Same thing if you're a good athlete. That wasn't my case though. I was expelled from highschool and got my GED, so people weren't exactly throwing them my way. Add the fact that my parents made too much money to qualify me for grants, and it came down to the fact that there wasn't much money there for me. Do I complain about it though? No, I could easily whine about it being unfair that I didn't get free money just because I was an idiot in high school, but I don't. I sucked it up, took out government loans, and pay them off each month so I don't acquire an ounce of debt. My best friend's parents don't make as much money as mine do, so he's now working on his masters degree without paying a dime for it. Is that equality? No. Is it fair that after it's all said and done I'll have paid about 80 grand more than him for the same education? No. But guess what? I do it without complaint, because I know successful people don't stop and cry everytime they come across a road block. BTW, your math is off. Unless you had to pay rent with every check, you would have about $680 a month left over, which is a liveable wage. Like you said it's not luxury, but it is liveable. Add in the fact that you would most likely qualify for food stamps, you would do alright. If you do not find it liveable, then get a second job. My fiancee worked two jobs while going to college part time. That's the great thing about America, we have options. Finally, yes, I believe most (and I mean most) poor people are there because of their choices. Not necessarily because thry don't work hard enough, but because they have made bad choices. As I stated above, this is America. We have choices. There is not a SINGLE person in America that cannot better their situation (excluding people in prison for life). There are countless rags to riches stories. The owner of Oakley's and ray bans grew up in an orphanage. JK Rowling was on welfare before writing the harry potter books. She's now a billionaire. Oprah Winfrey (a black female) wore potato sacks for clothes as a child. Ursula Burns (another black female) grew up with a single mom in the projects, and is now the CEO of xerox. John Paul lived in his car while he started his shampoo business, which now nets a billion a year. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, also grew up in a housing project. My point is that you can claim I group poor people together and say it's their fault and call me narrow minded for that. Again though, I stick to my stance that any poor person can change their situation. Sure, some have hardships and some have it easy, but nobody is stuck being poor. You may start poor, and life can throw curve balls your way that knock you down temporarily, but the only people that stay poor are those that do not try to change it.
Added: After all the long sentences and arguing, my stance on this topic is still that is does not matter which party wins. You are either going to excel in life, or you aren't. The commander in chief isn't going to make a difference.
*I finally got my laptop back so let the quotes fly. No comment needed, My parents flat out told my they wouldn't be able to pay for me to go to college, I'm doing that on my own. But, that point alone is hard. I started applying for jobs everyday since I was seventeen years old. (Personally opted out of places like mcdonalds) You hear people say that finding one is easy, just that people are lazy. Well, I finally got a call several days before my 18th birthday to work well above the minimum wage. At that time, my mom and sister had moved out and were struggling to pay bills just off her check. There's a difference between complaining about a problem and not doing something about it, and voicing your opinion about a problem and wanting change, yet you can't do anyrhing about it because our elected officials choose not to act upon it when they get into office. But neither really don't matter because we have the freedom to do so. Then what do you want him to do? Not go to college because he cannot afford it? The system is setup this way to help those who cannot get up on their own, get up. You can pay for it, so pay for it. This is probably not accurate, based off of personal experience and my own logic. I was wondering if you'd say that. Now, most Americans living on minimum wage are unable to pay their rent out of one check and be able to go two weeks with little more than maybe 50$? to their name. Most do like my mother did and stagger her check, putting part of the rent out to the side to feed us, pay for health insurance (40-70), car note(250$), car insurance, (70$), (light bill: 90-120) etc. Not including acts of God (or humans). Because high bills came at different times and not paying them would bring late fees. But, my point of 40 hours a week is actually wrong. Their website says a McDonald's full-time worker gets around 21-35 hours a week. 507.50 Some of us have options. The company I work for finds it a conflict of interest if I find a job similar to the one I have, or, would affect my availability to come in if needed. Add that to the fact that I do go to and pay for my college. It is not a crime to help people who make bad choices. We are human. For every one success story, there are hundreds of thousands wanting to get a break but just can't. It is easy to tell someone else how they should be doing something, but it's harder to live under the exact same circumstances as they did. I guess that's where the line is essentially drawn. Because you can say all that, hear a few success stories, and believe whole heartedly what you're saying. But...If life was as simple as you make it, then there shouldn't really be any seriously bad things happening in life. But there are, and the people at the bottom feel it. But my question to you is, what is the defintion of poor to you?
No president can do much, look to Obama, all that "change" what has he really achieved? So dems or reps, make no difference to America. As termed the "career politicians" "establishment " big pharma, oil, pork bellies etc etc, run and make America to Thier ideals, maybe it's why Bernie strikes a resonance with so many. Change is needed, but man what change and how is never discussed not achieved, why? Sad to say but the rich lead, poor follow, one said , that you can rise up citing a few successes , but it's all about opportunity and the "being there at the right time and place" and usually a rich "Angel" helping one along. So what's the choice? Life goes on, went in while the bushes were in power , went on with Obama and certainly will go on with whoever wins the next election . Hope is that things will get better but we all know that status quo is the name of the game
Status quo is a 2 right wing party system. Limited options is a problem. Hope is only a buzz word for the poor or less fortunate. The middle class carries a nation & their erosion is a measure of the times. Capitalism is cold and cruel and cares not about all the ppl.
Obama didn't sell out. Congress has blocked pretty much every single thing he's tried to do. You can't accomplish anything if you have a liberal president with a conservative Senate. Bipartisanship in DC is long gone.