Of Course President Obama is Disappointed by the World - He Doesn't See Reality

A biographer has told the world that he feels that President Obama is disappointed in the world.  Really?  Well my most obvious response is that many in the world are very disappointed in him as well.  But there is more to this.  He is disappointed in the world because he views with rose-colored glasses on how the world should be instead of what it actually is.  

He truly believes that if we just make the minimum wage a little higher people will get lifted out poverty.  Although we have raised the minimum wage throughout the years and we still have poverty.  So the latest is a "living wage".  Which is just another myth that will never work on a national level.  

If the government just gets involved we can make the world more "fair".  He doesn't seem to understand that life isn't fair, nor will it ever be.  

If the rich just give more of their money, the poor will get more.  Again, this is just another myth.  President Obama is a perfect example of that.  He has made less money in 2013 than he did in 2014, I didn't get more because he has less.  Nor has anyone else.  

He never seems to understand that many of the people who are stuck in cycles of poverty are so because they make bad choices.  Now, I have this crappy part-time job.  Many of the people I work with are on some type of public assistance.  Yet they have smart phones.  I don't have a smart phone.  I can't spend over a hundred month on the bill.  I don't live in the projects because I spend my money differently than they do.  I make different choices.  I am not trying to disparage the poor, but studies have shown over and over again that they very successful people makes choices in their lives that allow them to become that way, while the poor make very different choices that also allow them to stay in their circumstances.  It may not be the way it should work, but it how it works.  This is reality.  You want to change the cycle of poverty, teach them how to make better choices.  Giving them enough money to survive does nothing except allow that cycle to continue.  

Obama thinks if the U.S. is just nicer the problem of radical Islam will magically disappear.  No it won't Mr. President.  These are people who are true believers in the ideology.  Most of them are willing, no eager, to die for what they believe in.  They look at becoming a martyr as the very best thing that Allah has to offer.  Until that is marginalized within the Islamic community it won't change.  You cannot "Co-exist" with someone who wants you dead.  This is reality.  

President Obama doesn't seem to think that real evil exists in the world.  Putin may not be evil, but he certainly does believe that Mother Russia should rise again.  He and buddies on the left scoffed at Gov. Romney when this came up at the debate.  The running joke was the 80's wants their foreign policy back.  It was Romney who saw the reality and those on the left that see the world as they think it should be instead of how it is.  

Yes the world disappoints President Obama.  Maybe, just maybe, if he stopped seeing those rosy hues, he can begin to understand that life isn't fair.  Evil does exist and those evils have to be confronted with strong leadership, not the moving red lines that those in Syria are laughing about all the while killing their own people completely unabated.  

Happy Father's Day - Richmond, VA Boasts a 60% Single Parent Rate

The City of Richmond, VA is one of the country's leaders in single parent households.  This past weekend the city sponsored a Celebrate Fatherhood celebration in order to draw some attention to this very serious problem.  The number grows to 86% percent in black community of the city.  

Think about that, barely over 1 in 10 black children grow up in a two parent home.  That number is not just stunning, but horribly tragic.  Lets face it, a single parent has a much more difficult time raising a child when they don't have another person in the home to help them.  There are things that have to be done, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and all the other chores that have to be done to keep a household running.  When does this parent have time to read a book, throw a ball, help with homework?  I am not saying that single parents can't be wonderful.  Many single parents do a great job.  But the problems that go along with being a single parent can't be ignored.  

This isn't even an American issue:

The poverty rate for children living with a single parent has risen 15 per cent since 2001, up from 20.9 per cent to 24.1 per cent. The HILDA survey, managed by the University of Melbourne, has tracked social trends by interviewing the same 12,000 people each year since 2001.

In America:

Over one quarter of U.S. children under age 18 reside with only one of their parents, and as many as half of U.S. children may reside in a single parent family at some point in their childhood.  The vast majority - over 85% - of single parents are single mothers.
Poverty is widespread and severe in single mother families.  According to the recently released Census Bureau data on poverty in 2010, people in single mother families had a poverty rate of 42.2% and an extreme poverty rate of 21.6%.

There are very real reasons that women end up being single parents.  In some cases they leave an abusive relationship and are doing the very best that they can under difficult circumstances.  But one of the outcomes of so many children being raised in single parent homes is the fact they grow up thinking that men don't/won't stick around.  They grow up thinking that men are much more than a sperm donor.  It just creates more problems for future generations.  

Sadly, in the U.S. our government actually encourages single parent homes through our welfare system.  If you are married, you are basically punished.  It makes much more sense for a woman who is low-income to not marry.  While living on welfare certainly isn't an easy life, getting benefits is far better than getting none even though your job skills are no different if you are married or single.  

Lets take a look at crime rates in Richmond:

Richmond Crime Data

CRIME INDEX

8

(100 is safest)Safer than 8% of
the cities
in the US.

Richmond Annual Crimes

VIOLENT	PROPERTY	TOTAL
1,456	9,361	10,817

annual crimes per 1,000 residents
7.08	45.55	52.63

Violent Crime Comparison per 1,000 residents

NATIONAL MEDIAN3.9
MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A VICTIM
in Richmond 1 in 141
in  Virginia 1 in 508

		7.08	1.97
		Richmond	Virginia

Population 205,533

Richmond violent crimes

	MURDER	RAPE	ROBBERY	ASSAULT
REPORT TOTAL	36	54	686	680
RATE PER 1,000	0.18	0.26	3.34	3.31

Population 311,591,917

United States violent crimes

	MURDER	RAPE	ROBBERY	ASSAULT
REPORT TOTAL	14,612	83,425	354,396	751,131
RATE PER 1,000	0.05	0.27	1.14	2.41

Property Crime Rate Comparison per 1,000 residents

NATIONAL MEDIAN29.1
MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A VICTIM
in Richmond 1 in 22
in Virginia 1 in 44

		45.55	22.50
		Richmond	Virginia

Population 205,533

Richmond property crimes

	BURGLARY	THEFT	MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
REPORT TOTAL	1,924	6,500	937
RATE PER 1,000	9.36	31.63	4.56

Population 311,591,917

United States property crimes

	BURGLARY	THEFT	MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
REPORT TOTAL	2,188,005	6,159,795	715,373
RATE PER 1,000	7.02	19.77	2.30

Crimes Per Square Mile

NATIONAL MEDIAN 39.6

		173	22
		Richmond	Virginia

92% of U.S. cities are safer than Richmond.  Which is really a shame.  If you have never been there, Richmond is a beautiful city filled with history.  But you need to be careful where you go or you will likely end up being a victim of crime.  Of course there will be some saying these two things are not connected.  The police chief disagrees with you.  

“I do know that a large of number of young folks we interact with do not have a father in their home and I think it’s on all of us to recognize a responsibility to help those children,” Chief Middleton said.

Wouldn't it be a good idea for the government to stop rewarding single parenthood?  From Web MD:

In the latest study, reported in the Jan. 25 issue of The Lancet, European researchers reveal that the risks facing children living with one parent may be even more widespread and immediate. They found the risk of suicide was more than twice as high among children in one-parent households compared with those living with both parents

Children in single-parent homes were also twice as likely to have a psychiatric disease, have alcohol-related problems, and were up to four times more likely to abuse drugs

Gee, what a good idea to support that.  

“We have a major father absenteeism issue in Richmond,” First Things First Executive Director Truin Huntle said. “I wish more people were discussing why this is such a major issue. We see more people beginning to give some credence to it because they are looking for the root cause of other issues like childhood poverty, poor performance in school. Father absenteeism, broken homes, broken marriages and teen pregnancy are continually being found as the root cause of those problems.”

This is a man who is on the front lines in Richmond, working every day to help children and fathers.  Maybe he is someone worth listening to.  

Homeless Man Suing Parents for Bringing him up in Poverty

Yes, there is a homeless man, Bernard Anderson Bey, in Brooklyn, NY that has decided that suing his parents is a good idea.  After all, he is only 32 years old and it must be Momma's fault that he is living in a shelter.  The fact that he has drug arrests in the past have nothing to do with the situation he finds himself in.

Now, I have a great deal of sympathy for the homeless.  There are plenty of homeless that find themselves in that way due to a few bad breaks that happen to us all, but they don't have a safety net to help themselves out of it.  But, generally speaking those people only find themselves homeless for a short period of time.  The average is under three months.  They get themselves back on track pretty quickly in most instances.

I do not know how long this man has been homeless, but I do know that his claim is just another symptom of the nothing is my fault and everyone deserves a pony society that we currently living in.  If things don't go your way, blame someone else for your problems.  The man himself says this:

“Defendant Bernard Manley informed the plaintiff he was entitled to nothing, which is true,” Bey wrote in the suit. “I am not entitled to receive anything from an asset he owns. I only thought he might find pleasure in seeing his children become successful.”

What he is expecting is that his step-father and mother take a mortgage against some property that they have as an asset and buy into to some franchises so that everyone in the family will have a job.  He is thinking maybe Domino's Pizza may be a good idea.  Does he know how to make a pizza?  How long has it been since he held a full-time job?  Owning a business is generally very long hours for the owners, it isn't easy being a small business owner.  Many don't make much money for themselves when they first start out, all the bills have to be paid before you draw a salary.

He also claims that his step father was verbally abusive as well as a drug user who had no qualms in using drugs right in front of the five children in the house.  He has five younger siblings, he claims all of which are on public assistance.  While I also agree that poverty in many cases in this country is generational, it doesn't mean that if and when the parents get themselves a little bit of money they owe that to the children.  Of course it would be nice if they shared to help lift their children out of poverty, it is not necessarily the job of the parents to do so.  At some point you have to responsible for yourself.  As his mother states:

“He’s 32 years old. That speaks for itself. Welcome to America. Everyone in America has the same opportunity. Don’t blame the parents at this point. The choice is yours. You’re an adult.”

One of his sisters has found the claim to be ridiculous as well, especially the part that he claims they are all on public assistance:

“I’m not on public assistance. My parents were not terrible. They did the best they could. He chose the life he’s leading now.”

Sadly, this is yet one more example of the masses in this country that takes no responsiblity for their own lives.  Someone else is always to blame.  No wonder we are $16T in debt.

Section 8 Voucher Giveaway Near Riot

@CoryBooker and the SNAP Challenge

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has decided to take the "SNAP Challenge" and purchase food with the money that would be the same as what he would get through the SNAP program.  This is a challenge I think more people should try.  But, there are few problems with how he is going about this.

The SNAP Program was never designed to be your only source of purchasing food.  SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  Hence the S standing for supplemental.

sup·ple·men·tal

 [suhp-luh-men-tl]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

supplementary.

2.

nonscheduled (  def 2 ) .

3.

(of a pleading, an affidavit, etc.) added to furnish what is lacking or missing.

As you can see, supplemental is meant to add.  The entire point of the program is allow low-income people to take their food budget and allow it to purchase healthier foods.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are very expensive.  Another reason that the program allows you to buy seed and/or plants to grow your own.  While that is not always possible depending on where you live, but most people can at least grow herbs in their kitchens.  If you think about it, herbs are very expensive, it can be over $5 for some basil or chives.  Growing your own in your kitchen (which I have done) is a very good way to cut costs.

If you look at the poor in this country and what they in their households on average you will find:

Amenities in Poor Families with Children. Poor families with children have more conveniences and amenities than other poor families. In 2005, the median amenity score for poor families with children was 16. We examined all poor families with children with an amenity score of 16 to determine which items appeared most frequently in these homes.

• These homes typically had both air conditioning and a personal computer.
• For entertainment, they typically had cable or satellite TV, three color televisions, a DVD player, a VCR, and a video game system, such as an Xbox or Play Station.
• In the kitchen, they had a refrigerator, a stove and oven, a microwave, and an automatic coffee maker.
• Other amenities included a cell phone, a cordless phone, and a clothes washer.[17]

These conveniences may be considered representative of the living standards of the median or typical poor family with children in 2005. **

Now, if they internet access, some sort of television package, video games, and cell phones obviously additional funds exist to pay for these items.  While it is possible that the cell phone is something that comes without cost, the rest of these items will have some sort of monthly expense.

It is wonderful that people who have not had to experience what it is like to try to feed yourself on SNAP Benefits goes out and tries to do it.  But they are not being intellectually honest if all they are spending is just the SNAP Benefit money.  One of the tweets I saw coming from the Mayor said he wouldn't be able to afford coffee.  Why?  Now there is no way to know exactly how much the average is that poor families put into their grocery budgets of their own money, but the chances are it is at least something.  If they can afford an X-Box, cable TV, multiple televisions, they are likely able to afford a canister of coffee.  I don't drink coffee, so I have no idea how much it costs, but I am sure you can get one for about $10 and that would last you for a few weeks.  Again, I could be wrong about that, but the cans I have seen in the stores are a good size and I would think that one can lasts for more than a week.

While I do believe that there is much talk by certain quarters that people on food assistance shouldn't be buying certain types of foods and that talk should stop.  As I said the entire point of the program is to buy fresh foods, leaner cuts of meat, and all around healthier foods.  Lets be honest, many people sell their EBT cards for cash.  So unless they are not eating for the balance of the month, they have other sources of getting food for their families.  Even with the homeless that I have worked with over the years, they have sources of income that allow them to get food on their own besides EBT and the meals that are served to them through various programs.

I respect what Mayor Booker is trying to do, but his outcome is not going to be the outcome that most poor families deal with on a monthly basis.  In many ways it is a publicity stunt.  Which is sad to me, that people use the poor for such purposes.

I also would suggest that the Mayor learn how to cook things from scratch, as it saves a great deal of money.  A pound of flour can go a very long way if you know what to do with it.  A small roasted chicken can get a single person three to four meals if you know what you are doing, and chicken freezes beautifully.  The bones make great stock for stews and soups.

You see I have been very broke in my life.  To the point that I had to move in with friends for a short time.  I had to learn to make do with little money and learn to stretch that money until the next pay-day.  So I do know what it feels like to have a limited amount of money to spend on food.  I also know that it can be done if you are wise in what you purchase, cook from scratch, and have freezer bags to protect your leftovers.

The problems that we have in this country, such as what to do to help the poor, won't be solved unless we are honest about them.  Only using the amount given for the EBT program to eat for two weeks isn't solving the problem, nor is it being honest about how they really live.

**Please note 2005 is last year that this information has been made public.

Cure Goes to West Smiley Book Signing - Interesting Responses Follow

Tavis Smiley, one of my all time favorite Marxist and his good buddy Cornell West have co-authored a book called The Rich and The Rest of Us.  He should know about the rich since his net worth is reported to be $10 million.  Pretty darn good for someone who used to work in the Mayor's office in Los Angeles.  Now, Mr. West may understand poverty better since he only has about $3 million.  Not to shabby for academia.  You know those poor teachers who don't make any money.  


I would have a much easier time taking advice on helping the poor from someone who wasn't worth $10 million.  It would seem to me that he would be giving that money to organizations that help the poor instead of stockpiling it for himself.  


We also need to educate people on the lies that people like Smiley and West go around telling people.  We do not spend more on defense than on programs to help the poor.  That is fact, as inconvenient as that may be to Mr. Smiley.  The problem is that we don't use the money we spend wisely.  We end up ensnaring people into a life of dependency instead of giving them what they really need to lift themselves out of poverty.  


Mr. Smiley, when you are willing to help people like her, we'll talk.  

Changing the Narrative - Why Doesn't Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Want to Help the Poor?

Since I have decided that the only real way to point out to people the stupidity of liberal logic is to turn it around, I am asking the question why doesn't DNC Chairman want to help poor people?  Instead of allowing them to call asking for an ID in order to vote we should be asking them to explain why they don't want to help the poor people who don't have ID's.  According to her 11% of Americans have no valid ID, of which 25% are black .  That would mean that more than 34 million people (8.5 million are black.  Which means she is saying that almost 22% of blacks in this country have no ID) in this country are unable to work, unable to fly, unable to enter many government buildings, unable to open a bank account, and even unable to make a return to major retailer without a receipt.  Since they have no ID or bank account, they must be paying cash.  So the retailers can't look up past receipts.  I had to show ID several weeks ago to make a return to Macy's (I was told today that the poor don't shop at Macy's, well do they shop at Walmart or Target?  They have same policy).  They must be raaaaacist!!!

So the question needs to become why does she hate the poor so much?  What kind of quality of life are these people experiencing without an a valid ID?  Very simple things that most of us take for granted can't be done without one.  I recently carded at a bar when I was out celebrating a friend's birthday.  Sad to say, but I don't look under 21 by a long shot.  

Chairwoman Debbie keeps saying that these are akin to Jim Crow laws and are racist in nature.  She says that there is no issue with voter fraud.  I guess she missed the video of a white kid obtaining a Eric Holder's ballot in Washington, D.C. recently.  I guess she missed the arrests and convictions of ACORN employees too.  But for argument's sake, there is no voter fraud.  Why would states providing  these 34 million people a valid ID to help improve their lives be a bad thing?  Most states will offer these ID's at no charge if you are poor.  In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley funded a program to give ID's at no charge along with free rides to the DMV to get the ID's.  30 people took advantage of it.  Just 30.  This was widely publicized, even making national news.  

No longer allow the question to be why are you so raaaaacist for wanting people to show ID's to vote, ask them why they don't want to help the poor in this country better their lives by having an ID?  No longer allow the far left to dictate the argument.  

How Low will Progressives Go?

Are they really saying that being poor is worse than being dead?  Seriously? 

They Told Me if I Voted for John McCain Children Would Be Living on the Streets. Turns Out, They Were Right

Homelessness for children is rising in a dramatic fashion in this country.  Since Obama has taken office the rate of homeless children has increased by 33%.  

At the First Light shelter in Birmingham, Ala., the fastest-growing group is women with children, executive director Ruth Crosby says. She says the emergency shelter, which houses about 125 women and children, is full every night. An overflow room with mats on the floor fills up every night, too.

Sadly, not all of these people bringing these children to the homeless shelters are not single parents or people who have lived in poverty for long periods in their lives.  

Shelly Jordan, a case manager for the homeless in Hattiesburg, Miss., says it has become common for two-parent households or families headed by professionals to turn to the city's lone homeless shelter.

 "People had savings or unemployment and that's run out," she says. "This is their last resort."

Although, the government is not reporting this number.  The federal government is reporting only a 28% increase.  The reasons for this is that they don't count everyone.  Sort of like the unemployment number.  

The economy in this country is driving countless people to the streets and our government is having an argument over a payroll tax break that will have little to no effect on improving the job market in this country.  Without an improving job market, these families will have to stay in these shelters, or tent, or cars, or where ever they happen to be spending the night.  

Disgraceful.  

Gee, I wonder if this would be getting more headlines if George Bush were still in office. 

You can read the report here.  If you want to read a blog by someone who has been homeless for months and how she is dealing with it, go here.  

You Can't Fix Stupid

Poverty and the top ten cities



What do the top ten cities with the highest poverty rate all have in common?






Detroit , MI (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;






Buffalo, NY (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954;






Cincinnati , OH (3rd)...since 1984;






Cleveland , OH (4th)...since 1989;






Miami , FL (5th) has never had a Republican mayor; (They just elected a republican mayor last week)






St. Louis , MO (6th)....since 1949;






El Paso , TX (7th) has never had a Republican mayor;






Milwaukee , WI (8th)...since 1908;






Philadelphia , PA (9th)...since 1952;






Newark , NJ (10th)...since 1907.






'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'






It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats --- yet are still disadvantaged