On Demand
The Brian Lehrer Show
A New Standard
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday Mayor Bloomberg introduced a new method for measuring poverty. What are the implications for the city's poor? Linda Gibbs, New York City's deputy mayor for health and human services, explains the new definition.
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Comments
i went over the article and am not quite sure what the downside of this is.
It is never bad to help the poor. The middle class is going under, people are losing their homes, have no health insurance and unstable temp jobs while the rich are taking 3 vacations a year, spend like drunken sailors, have all the new gadgets like iphones and fancy computers, drive Jaguars and it is creating a divide in NYC that is just rich or very poor, the middle can't survive. Who can rent in Whitestone $1600 for 1 bedroom and in Astoria $2000 for a two bedroom?
It's nuts!
Some people can't be helped.
#3
I don't agree. I think there are no hopeless causes. It is not people's fault they are poor. Our economy, economic policy since Ragean came in to office 30 years ago, give the rich tax breaks so they invest in companies and put money back into the economy, it obviously didn't work, now we import everything with low tax rate, send jobs overseas, take away health insurance and encourage the "me only for myself" mentality that have gotten us into this mess.
It is not someone's fault if they are working and still poor, things are obscenely expensive and employers want to pay $25K.
Whether or not one particular individual or another can "be helped", it is not a question of who is to blame or whether *everything* can ever be fair ( it can't) -- it is more a matter of our collective humanity that we continue examining the inequities and be concerned and concerted in our willingness to make even the most incremental adjustments to benefit our society as a whole.
Any effort to tell the truth is a start.
U think this is bad, how about our Medicaid law passed in 2006 that you can't make more than $750 a month to get Medicaid, including here in NYC. Even in rent stabilized apartments, rent is more than $750 usually.
The U.S. must adopt a relative measure of poverty just as most of the rest of the world has instead of a basket of goods. An important aspect of poverty is ones poverty relative to ones neighbors.
but if my taxes go up how can afford to park my hummer or as my green friends would say my terroristmobile
I make about $40k a year and between rent, transportation, phone, cable & other necessities like laundry hygene products & groceries some times i have to decide between eating lunch & dinner & sometimes go to bed hungry
NYC poverty level should be $45K annually at least to pay rent, prescriptions, food, basic life!
Obedience
tax breaks helped chinese communist party, the investor class here took those reagan-gingridge-bush tax cuts and are building a chinese factory slave class.
so now everyone can fill their homes with oil in the form of cheap plastic until the repo man comes a knockin
Maintenance for ex-spouse is tax deductible but not child support. Ridiculous!
I am poor senior .. I live on $799 social security (after medicare reduction) I have scree that keeps m walk up apatmet at a rent of 534.00 ..and I have food stamps but the cost of utilities has wreced my budget. UI have had to cut out cable and soon wil have to stop my dsl .. I feel I have become a second class citizens .. will these changes hlp ,me
#11 it's nasty isn't it.
I'm a social worker and a community organizer: I know that policy makers are still not having enough direct conversation with people who are living in property. When have policy makers had conversations with families in the South Bronx? Brownsville BK? Talk to people: what do they need? what are their challenges/goals?
Also, changing the standard is totally necessary, but by drawing the line at a dollar amount is policy makers passing judgment on persons in poverty: it draws a distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor without considering the unique circumstances of each family.
Where are the families in poverty in these conversations??
o
it's the FREE MARKET!!
'americans' fell asleep at the wheel of democracy. suddenly they woke up and "BOOHOO where's my cheap oil, poor me."
How about Barak Osama and the New Yorker?
#17 what happened with Obama and the NYer?
Joba
what about them?
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/barack_obama_new_yorker_cover.html
crazy!
BL will have to talk about this tuesday
How about talking about it today? It happened yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
hjs,
the link doesn't work.
1010 WINS hammered it this am
huffpo.com
1010wins.com
Joba
Oh
maybe he's goin to cover it up. there is the Newyorker-WNYC connection ie pledge premium
drudge.com
newyorker.com
hjs, or maybe he's AFRAID of it.... being the yuppie PC scaredy cat he and you are
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-2-0&fp=487b802687e2ee72&ei=M3d7SMDDN6HGwgH0gf27Bg&url=http%3A//www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-14-new-yorker-obama_N.htm&cid=1227596279&usg=AFQjCNH8lYchPfkfbxlxNh_3TjPMfGUE0Q
link works u don't
just google Barak Osama and the New Yorker
are you from the 20th century or what?
no, I am from ancient Egypt.:)
Joba
i'm NO yuppie. and frankly i don't like such nasty name calling!
o
very cool
The city does nothing to help poverty when it forces more of its residents into it by constantly increasing taxes on its people and business at an incredible rate. then with the other side of their mouths they talk about how things are so hard for the residents. just like with the property tax. Quinn and Bloomberg get out the press releases of how they 'worked' so hard to keep the rates the same this year, meanwhile, behind the scenes the city increased its assessments on your home or apartment. I am beginning to hate this city, it's just not worth the struggle and 90% of the problem is the gov't.
I ask where are the people facing daily struggles in the conversation with Blomberg? I am happy that a new standard is getting set, but we need to see real partnerships between the very poor and socially isolated and the wider community, like the administration, that makes policies for the poor without any consultation from the real experts themselves, meaning the poor of the city and wider.
I think back to the Conditional cash Transfers that Blomberg introduced, taking an idea from Mexico (i think) and simply transplanting into New York. i know people who struggle daily and the people ask where is the dignity in taking money for something that i have been doing anyway like making sure my kids go to school each day?
This thread is closed.
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