Manns Medium

There is an article title “ How to Dramatically Lower the Poverty Rate Overnight ” written by Eric Pianin for The Fiscal Times which has plenty of excellent points about those who qualify not using the programs as established and how that could have greatly reduced the number of Americans living in poverty but they missed one essential link as to why. In the article it speaks about “But a new study by the Brookings Institution argues that it might be a lot easier to significantly reduce poverty in the U.S by getting more people to take advantage of existing anti-poverty programs for which they are already eligible.  In fact, the report asserts,  the poverty rate would have been 20 percent lower in 1998 if all families with children had participated in the programs for which they were eligible, and “deep poverty”– income below half the federal poverty level –would have been 70 percent lower. “Sometimes the best policy is [simply] to make existing programs reach further, ra...

I was somewhat happy to hear the news that was reported by Ramkumar Iyer and Devika Krishna Kumar in their article titled “Dollar Tree to buy Family Dollar for $8.5 billion” not because I own stock in either but mainly because it may be time for Wal-Mart to finally receive it comeupings.  What I mean by that is Wal-Mart has located in distressed areas all over the United States and in areas of towns that sorely needed jobs but that is all that they have really done for those areas.  They preach that they care about community but I find that hard to believe when many of their workers still have to seek governmental assistance to make a decent life for them and their families.  You would think that all Wal-Mart needs to do is offer a wage that a family could satisfy the needs of their family with just one job and not have to be added to the list of those having to seek help elsewhere especially while Wal-Mart owners and shareholders pockets grow and their bottom line incre...

“Wal-Mart employs 2.2 million people and runs more than 10,000 stores around the world”.   They also will locate in the poorest areas of a city becoming an anchor to keep that neighborhood afloat and providing jobs to those who need it worse.   Wal-Mart also allows those on fixed incomes or little income to be able to put food on their tables at a decent price as well as provide so many other basic necessities without breaking the bank.   It is also true that they are often targeted by labor and community activists who argue that it underpays its workers and its sprawling stores undercut smaller shops, often putting them out of business but Wal-Mart continues to go where other big box and chain stores refuse to tread. Now it takes another tremendous hit and one that it may not be able to recover from.   According to Jessica Wohl and Carlyn Kolker of Reuters in their article titled Wal-Mart probe could cost some executives their jobs , it is reported that “the...

Simply speaking it is because they backed the wrong horse.   When the Tea Party emerged the GOP left a vapor trail attempting to co-op them because they were speaking the language that they wanted to hear and it benefitted them in their opposition to this president and his administration.   Now comes Occupy Wall Street and the message is distinctly different from that of the Tea Party so they cannot switch horses now that the race has started. The GOP constantly use the words “the American people” but polls show that the majority supports much of what the Tea Party does not.   They stepped out there to grab a hold of the Tea Party reigns and for a while there seemed to be getting their points across.   That was before the true owners of the Tea Party revealed themselves and all hell broke loose.   Now they favor a smaller government except in the case of standing between a woman’s rights and their doctors or an individual’s choice in religion, not to mentio...

Before this economic collapse, many people on Main Street never really considered Wall Street as alive; it was only thought of a place where people go to work.   Lately, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Wall Street is most definitely alive and is eating our breakfast.   Typically, I never really like to categorize any issue as “us/we” and “they/them” but for the sake of clarity and to better help you understand my point, this time I must.   We will be the middle class, seniors, poor and less fortunate while they will simply be the wealthy.   Make no mistake about it, this is class warfare. One of the most ingenious things ever created by Main Street was Wall Street but just like any animal that goes mad, it turned on us.   Main Street wanted a better life for their children so we created the Student Loans.   We wanted to reach a higher standard so we created Home Loans.   We wanted to be our own boss so we created Commercial Loans.   We w...

It used to be called the silent minority but lately it’s been all about the silent majority.   Only God really knows why because for an educated person such as me, it makes no sense otherwise. The Tea Party has invaded and taken over the Party of Lincoln and have decided that what they want they are willing to kill for.   They did this in a country that has maintained its vow of equal rights and even put it in the U.S. Constitution.   They have supported and pushed this desire that government should be small but still large enough to monitor all pregnancies and force women to keep the baby.   They have hid behind the Bible yet instigated the violation of God’s law of “thou shall not kill”.   They want government out of our lives but the power that they wish to take from the federal government; they want to give it to state government.   Can someone please tell me our that keep government out of our lives if you transfer one power of government to another p...

In a country as rich as ours and one who constantly have much to say about the radicals which inhabit other nations, one would venture to think that what we rail so much about would be something that we would never condone.   One would be wrong. The belief that to proper settle any kind of disagreement is best by shooting first and asking questions later is exactly the take that those radicals from another country take to settle their differences.   Radicals hide behind God or their equal to justify the killing of a fellow human being to create fear and dominate their opposition.   Radicals seek bombings to get their point across and depending on the mindset of the driver behind the wheel, do not mind that those harmed or killed never said one cross word to them.   Radicals claim that the voice of God has instructed them to take lives in order that their way of life will be embraced.   They claim that since they are to only true chosen ones that no other idea, ...