Sign From Cheap Labor Conservative Doesn’t Add Up

A friend shared the image below and it caused me to question the authenticity. The text in the image claims it was written by a college senior who will graduate this year with no debt, has no electronics like an iPad or smartphone, and only works 30 hours a week on barely above minimum wage. Maths is not a good subject for the cheap labor conservatives and their arrogance is one of the reasons the “occupy wall street” movement started.

One of the side stories of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement are the story signs. People hold up signs with their personal stories about how they have been negatively impacted by the corporatism pervasive in our government. Some cheap labor conservatives co-opted that expression and use images of story signs to forward their wrong ideas about “Occupy Wall Street” and the people protesting.

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It’s Great When Republicans Aren’t Subtle About Their Intentions

image of Rep Steve Stivers' Facebook post

One good thing about the current douchebaggery from the cheap labor conservative Republicans, in the Congress, is they have stopped using Congress speak to mask their true intentions. Ohio Rep Steve Stivers (R-15) posted a note on his Facebook page tonight that is pretty honest about his stance on the current jobs crisis. He plans to do nothing.

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Some at town hall don’t buy Rep. Jim Jordan’s tired talking points

Image of US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-4)

Ohio’s 4th Congressional District representative Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) held a town hall meeting at the University of Findlay on Monday September 19th. In the reddest of red areas of Ohio he still had to spar with some unhappy constituents. They peppered him with questions about the failed Republican economic agenda and the continued outsourcing of jobs. Jordan’s unsupported tired GOP talking points didn’t seem to help.

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Complaining about the poor having appliances misses real problems of being poor

Image of a Shanty in 1930's

About ten years ago I was trying to explain to someone on an e-mail list I was a member of that I was poor. My apartment was junky, my car barely ran, I couldn’t afford a cell phone or high speed Internet. He laughed. He said I wasn’t poor because I had a computer with Internet access, a car, and air conditioning. Even though I had a temporary job that paid barely above minimum wage and I was one pay check away from being homeless my friend said since I had stuff I wasn’t poor. This is not the first and probably not the last time people judge another’s worth by the stuff they have instead of the actual issues with having little to no income like education and health care.

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“Actually, it’s a lot of work being poor” : Facts from one Ohio county

Long line starts early at Unemployment office

Just hearing the talking points makes me angry so forgive me if I sound angry. Someone will make a comment or bitch about “welfare queens” and about how these lazy poor people have wide-screen TVs and microwaves. If these comments come from friends and family, who should know better, it really drives me insane. Finally my hometown newspaper did me a solid and now I have some facts and figures to fight those biased FOX “news” talking points about poor people.

On Monday, August 22nd, the Findlay Ohio Courier had an article talking about the recent retirement of Judy Wauford, as director of the Hancock County Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). In Ohio, ODJFS handles the state and federal social safety net programs like unemployment, Medicaid, food stamps, and child support enforcement. The piece included some actual facts and data about the poor in Hancock county.

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