Preying On The Poor

post from jobsanger on 18 May 2012 01:02:00 AM. © jobsanger

I have been posting a lot about how the Republicans want to cut social programs -- programs that are helping the poor in this country to barely keep their heads above water. But as mean-spirited as the Republicans leaders are, they are not the only ones who don't seem to care about the poor. Many private businesses and governments at all levels commonly prey on the poor and contribute to making it much harder for them to pull themselves out of poverty.

Barbara Ehrenreich, an established author and one of the few people who truly understands the trap of poverty (which includes millions of hard-working people making minimum wage or less). She has written an excellent article on how business and government preys on the poor for the Los Angeles Times. It is an article that should be read by all Americans, and to that end I repost part of it here:

. . The trick, however, is to rob them in ways that are systematic, impersonal and almost impossible to trace to individual perpetrators.

Lenders, including major credit companies as well as payday lenders, understand this. They have taken over the traditional role of the street corner loan shark, charging the poor insanely high rates of interest. When supplemented with late fees (themselves subject to interest), the resulting effective interest rate can be as high as 600% a year, which is perfectly legal in many states. Gary Rivlin, who wrote "Broke USA," calculated that the poor pay an effective surcharge of about $30 billion a year for the financial and banking services they use.

Employers too have found ways to enrich themselves off the poor: by taking money from their employees. Kim Bobo documents in her book "Wage Theft in America" how U.S. employers pocket at least $100 billion a year through such things as requiring employees to work hours for which they're not paid, failing to pay minimum wage and refusing to honor overtime pay differentials.

And it's not just the private sector that's preying on the poor. Local governments are discovering that they can partially make up for declining tax revenues through fines, fees and other costs imposed on indigent defendants, often for crimes no more dastardly than driving with a suspended license. And if that seems like an inefficient way to make money, given the high cost of locking people up, a growing number of jurisdictions have taken to charging defendants for their court costs and even the price of occupying a jail cell. . .

And the number of possible criminal offenses leading to jail and/or fines has been multiplying. In New York City, it's now a crime to put your feet up on a subway seat, even if the rest of the car is empty. And a South Carolina woman spent six days in jail when she was unable to pay a $480 fine for the crime of having a "messy yard." Some cities ? most recently, Houston and Philadelphia ? have made it a crime to share food with indigent people in public places.

Being poor itself is not yet a crime, but in at least a third of the states, being in debt can now land you in jail. If a creditor like a landlord or credit card company has a court summons issued for you and you fail to show up on your appointed court date, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. And it is easy enough to miss a court summons, which may have been delivered to the wrong address or, in the case of some bottom-feeding bill collectors, simply tossed in the garbage ? a practice so common that the industry even has a term for it: "sewer service."

Attempts to collect from the already poor are often not just punitive but self-defeating. Most states confiscate the drivers' licenses of people owing child support, virtually guaranteeing that they will not be able to work. Michigan has started suspending the drivers' licenses of people who owe money for parking tickets. Las Cruces, N.M., just passed a law that punishes people who owe overdue traffic fines by cutting off their water, gas and sewer.

The predatory activities of local governments give new meaning to that tired phrase "the cycle of poverty." Poor people are more likely than the affluent to get into trouble with the law, either by failing to pay parking fines or by incurring the wrath of a private sector creditor like a landlord or a hospital.

Once you have been deemed a criminal, you can pretty much kiss your remaining assets goodbye. Not only will you face the aforementioned court costs, but you'll have a hard time ever finding a job again once you've acquired a criminal record. And then, of course, the poorer you become, the more likely you are to get in fresh trouble with the law, making this less like a "cycle" and more like the waterslide to hell. . .

There are all kinds of policies that would help curb this kind of predation on the poor. Limits on usury should be reinstated. Theft should be taken seriously even when it's committed by millionaire employers. No one should be incarcerated for debt or squeezed for money they have no chance of getting their hands on. These are no-brainers, and should take precedence over any long-term talk about generating jobs or strengthening the safety net.

Before we can "do something" for the poor, there are some things we need to stop doing to them.

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Unable To See

post from jobsanger on 18 May 2012 01:01:00 AM. © jobsanger

Political Cartoon is by Bill Day at caglecartoons.com.

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US doctors "rewire" paralyzed hand

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 18 May 2012 01:00:29 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

This is an exciting medical development:In a pioneering operation, US doctors took healthy nerves from the man and used them to bridge the damaged wiring that stopped signals getting from the man's brain to his hands.Surgeons at Washington University's school of medicine said the operation may prove to be a breakthrough for some patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries.The 71-year-old...

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Late Late Night FDL: Walking On Sunshine

post from Firedoglake on 18 May 2012 01:00:10 AM. © Firedoglake

Katrina & The Waves -- Walking On Sunshine.[...]

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The Nightowl Newswrap

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 18 May 2012 01:00:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

By BG & YD

Let Biden be Biden Joe being Joe might vex the Obama campaign, but it will absolutely flummox the Rmoney folks in ways that will be both effective and hilarious. Seriously. He has one more campaign in him, and it's been a dismal existence since the bottom fell out in 2008. We deserve the free entertainment that would result from a Joe Unplugged and Untethered tour.

When it was all said and done, they were the Unity 08 of 2012 -- except they turned out to be even less important to the process. So here's a nickle's worth of free advice for the M$M -- when 2016 rolls around, and the inevitable centrist circle-jerk starts...IGNORE IT.

We can't all be as smart as Nixon, or Ben Stein. Ben Stein, the former Nixon speechwriter, bit player from Ferris Bueller's Day Off star of Win Ben $tein's Money and conservative ideologue to the nth degree, doesn't think President Obama is all that smart, not smart like Nixon, anyway.

There has to be a penalty for this shit, something beyond "Oh, I'm sorry if I offended anyone..." bullshit. When you call the President "un-American" you should have to apologize for real, not just in the standard, perfunctory, mealy-mouthed BS way. This refitted birtherism is just as disgusting and just as ridiculous as the original version and those who go there need to be mocked like they were a Moldavian realtor-dentist with a law degree from the interwebs.

Rmoney has his "I was for it before I was against it" moment. After it became public that a GOP super-donor was "considering" launching a negative ad blitz attacking the President for his ties to Jeremiah Wright, Rmoney got asked about it, and stepped on his dick trying to answer -- "I'm actually gonna -- I'm not familiar precisely with exactly what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was. I'll go back and take a look at what was said there."

Drudge goes "birther" It isn't about race, mind you -- and shame on you for thinking it is, that just proves that **you** are the real racist here -- but an erronious publisher's hotsheet is definitive, you know. That totally trumps the state of Hawaii, the birth certificate and those announcements in the local newspapers when he was born..

No one -- not even republicans -- can get their heads around Mittens as President. More than half -- 56% -- of all Americans think Obama will be reelected, and when you break it down further, Democrats are far more likely to believe Obama will win than Republicans are to think Romney will win, and Independents think Obama will win by a margin of 2:1.

Hey, Italy: instead of bringing in the military to crush citizens with legitimate complaints about austerity, how about you throw a few dozen corporate bastards in prison, confiscate their criminal proceeds and use it to restore social programs. Do it publicly, and the protests will melt away. "In Italy, the economic crisis is giving rise to political instability last seen 40 years ago. Captains of industry are being given armed escorts as the tensions and political paranoia of the blood-stained 1970s return to haunt the country."

Now here's an "austerity" idea we can get behind. "France's new left-leaning government will take a 30 per cent pay cut in order to "lead by example", a statement on ministers' code of ethics has revealed. The 34 ministers, the country's first government led by a Socialist in 17 years, have also been urged to shun free holidays, reject expensive gifts and cut personal travel expenses. They should use trains rather than planes, where a trip was no longer than three hours, drive carefully - scrupulously respecting the rules of the road - and declare financial interests for publication, said the new code. Any gift worth more than 150 euros will also have to be surrendered, in what many are seeing as a way to distance the new leaders from the administration of former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, known for his often glitzy style."

It's gonna get even uglier, and nothing we do or don't do can change that. "Four men strapped with explosives have stormed a provincial governor's compound in western Afghanistan, officials say. Six police and one civilian were killed in Thursday's attack in addition to the fighters."

And finally...

You bet your ass we discoed - and hard - to everything she released. Because she knew what it meant to work hard for the money. "US singer Donna Summer, famous for disco classics including I Feel Love and Love To Love You Baby, has died at the age of 63. Summer was one of disco's biggest stars and also had a huge influence on the synth pop and dance music scenes. Her family said they were "at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy". Stars including Kylie Minogue, Sir Elton John and Mary J Blige have paid tribute. R&B singer Blige said on Twitter that Summer was "truly a game changer", while producer Quincy Jones said her voice "was the heartbeat and soundtrack of a decade". Minogue described her as "one of my earliest musical inspirations", while Dionne Warwick said she was sad to lose a great performer and "dear friend". Summer, who was reported to have had cancer, had been living in Florida with her husband Bruce Sudano."

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ightowl-newswrap

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Texas Democrats Do Have A Choice

post from jobsanger on 18 May 2012 01:00:00 AM. © jobsanger

I just wanted to remind all you Democrats heading to the state convention in Houston in early June -- you don't have to rubber-stamp the candidate for party chair that has been hand-picked by the current failed party leadership. There is a viable progressive alternative this time. It is Rachel Barrios-Van Os (pictured above with her husband, David). Rachel will do what is necessary to get the party back on track, and she will push the Democratic brand in all 254 counties.

Last week, I let you know that our former candidate for Agriculture Commissioner, Hank Gilbert, had endorsed Rachel for party chair. Now she has a union endorsement. The Texas Carpenters Regional Council, through its Texas Working Families Political Action Committee, has contributed some money to Rachel's campaign, and their Political Director, Joe Serna, says:

?On behalf of the members of the Texas Carpenters Regional Council, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of working men and women and their families. We are encouraged when candidates take a strong position on those issues that impact everyday men and women, who are trying to provide for their families. Again, thank you for your continued support and efforts.
In Solidarity We Remain.?

We need a change in our state party leadership. Please consider voting for Rachel Barrios-Van Os when we meet in Houston.

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By: JamesJoyce

post from Comments on: Late Night: Bedtime Stories on 18 May 2012 12:47:37 AM. © Comments on: Late Night: Bedtime Stories

America lacks vision these days.... A once great nation which liberated the world from sick Sobs has been turned into a dependent junkie, like a substance abuser with no end in sight. With all the deleterious consequences of 110 years of "use" culminating in premature death as the benefits and pleasures perceived were in fact, illusions create by mad men?

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By: cocktailhag

post from Comments on: Late Night: Bedtime Stories on 18 May 2012 12:39:53 AM. © Comments on: Late Night: Bedtime Stories

You can forget that. Once George Will officially became a global warming denier who opined that mass transit was a Commie plot, you can bet that wars will be in our energy future.

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