detenebrate:

pidgepitchu:

strict-constitutionalist:

constitutioncutie:

Minimum wage: $7.25

$7.25 x 40 hour full time work week: $290

$290 x 4 weeks per month: $1,160

In every Southern state (didn’t have time to look at the rest of the country) you can find some sort of studio apartment for around $500 per month, sometimes less than that. Why bother lying about something so easily disproven? 

Because Bernie Sanders supporters aren’t going to fact check him, and they’ll ignore any contrary evidence that’s presented to them anyways.

Things like this really tick me off and It’s not political or anything but it’s the fact that you think all that money is there. Here’s what I mean;

That weekly check comes to, according to you, 290. Most places DO NOT pay for your half hour lunch that is required by law. So your beginning number was wrong. $7.25 x 7.5 hours a day x 5 days a week only gets you $271.88.

 Most people in America get paid bi-weekly, so let’s double it to get the budget. $543.75. That’s GROSS, not NET. Out of that comes anywhere between 10% and 15% taxes depending on state so we’ll low ball it at 10%. Automatically down to $489.38 a pay check. Now health insurance. Usually anywhere from 70-100 a pay check for the cheapest plans. Again, we’ll low ball and go $70. So now we have $419.39 a paycheck. x 2  = $839. 

Eight hundred thirty nine dollars. A MONTH.

But again, you seem to think that’s fair. So let’s proceed. You say rent is $500? Okay. This person now has $339 left to buy groceries for the whole month, pay utilities, car payment, car insurance, and gas money to get to work. 

Those are the bare needs. You have to eat. You have to pay for heat, water, garbage removal, gas and or electricity because apartments do not always include things and rarely all of the above. Most cities in America do not have public transportation. Mine doesn’t despite the fact that our population is over 15,000 people, not counting a taxi. If you have a car, you have to pay that. If you have a car, legally you have to have car insurance. You have to pay that. You have to have gas in that car to get to work to make that money.

Now if you can tell me you can get all of that out of $339 you’re lying.

You are so focused on rent that you aren’t thinking about everything else people have to pay for. Rent was an example. This is a breakdown of the budget you gave me and it’s not possible to live off that in 2017 America. 

And BECAUSE this person makes over $800 a month, they probably won’t qualify for financial aid or food stamps. $800 is the line in my state where they won’t help you. No food stamps, financial aid, or government housing if you make more than $800 a month. 

Why does it bother you that people deserve to live above the poverty line?

I hate the cold, inconsiderate, and ignorant math of the willful “realist” conservative. As if a rising tide didn’t drown those who live under the docks.

It also brings up the question of “why?” Why do they feel the need to compose this type of math? What is it they think they’re doing?

The only conclusion I can assemble from observation, is that they are fiercely trying to prove their enemy wrong without regard for the actual cost of life or impact on others. But again, why? Why would they make an enemy of a man who is simply saying that the salary gap is untenable? Especially since most of them are also struggling? It has literally nothing to do with the person saying it; they simply cannot conceive of themselves as below the poverty line. There was an excellent survey done, in which participants were asked to identify to which class they belonged. The majority of respondents were under the poverty line and yet most of them replied that they were middle class.

There is no middle class, but most people feel personally ashamed to admit they are below the poverty line. They react with rage stemming from self hatred and pride. They attack and attack and attack, without regard for their own struggle or for that of others. They ignore suffering to bolster their own ego, partly because their ego is all they have and partly because they are sociopaths.

It’s fascinating but terrible.