The microscopic straw the poor-haters are clutching at:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

"No one is forced to take on credit card debt."

This is FALSE. Two words: Medical Emergency.

I rest my case. You lurking trolls may now start harping on stupid pathetic liberal me and how I want socialist handouts. Go cheney yourselves.

[Bertha Venation]

1. Medical emergency. Exactly! JC, sometimes I wish you lived in the U.S.

You would be a fantastic advocate. We could use another voice.

:bounce:

[SnowGoose]

2. Oh come on... they could die instead, couldn't they?

Poor liberal scum, so little imagination.

The added benefit of the working class dying is to free up resources that could be used on God's chosen rich white people. That you're unwilling to do that shows the liberal penchant for class warfare!

[liberal N proud]

3. Yup!

edited so not to get confused with the previous post.

The people supporting and voting for this bankruptcy bill are protected and come from money and will never have to worry about such things.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Ahem...What's A Car Loan???

Driving is a luxuary, not a necessity. How many of these goons hold mortgages, second mortgages, car loans, NASCAR loans and so on and don't realize that is debt. These are the mental midgets who I hope default on one payment and all of their rates are hiked to the max.

But then these are the same losers who believe that Social Security was a full retirement fund and think the rich are looking after them. Fools!

[Bouncy Ball]

24. Driving is not a luxury in a lot of this country.

Around here, if you don't have a car, you can FORGET it. Forget anything. Forget having a job, forget even getting groceries in a lot of cases.

[UdoKier]

5. Even without medical emergencies...

Things like microwave ovens, car repairs, etc. ARE necessities, and working people who MAKE SHIT MONEY from their stingy GOP employers are forced to charge them. That is BS that people don't have to take on debt.

[nonconformist]

7. We live in an enviroment that encorages us to seek out

"The American Dream". Home ownership, car ownership, keeping up with the Nelsons. It's ingrained in us from an early age.

The poor-haters criticize people for not striving for or achieving that dream and claim they don't want it as badly as others do. Yet when people DO try to achieve that dream and LIFE happens (as it often does) resulting in unforeseen medical expenses, repair bills, LAY-OFFS and other hurdles, they criticize them for getting into debt.

You can't win. If it's not in the form of a holier-than-thou rant or a slick one-liner with no substance, you're just a tree-hugging bleeding heart librul with no sense of the "real world". It's laughable... WHO doesn't have a grasp of the real world exactly?

[blondeatlast]

20. Who?

And all the neo/theocons.

Reality if for those who work for a living, silly.

[LeftyMom]

8. Microwaves are a necessity?

I hear you on car repairs (we have public transit here but it takes forever to get anywhere and some areas just aren't covered, so in most neghborhoods you really need a car) but microwaves???

My family didn't have one until I ws in high school and I didn't starve to death. It did take about a million years to cook a frozen burritoin the oven, but all that taught me was to start thinking about what I wanted to eat before I was uncomfortably hungry. Most things taste better when cooked in the oven anyhow.

[electropop]

9. In 2-income households, microwaves are necessary

Time for planning would be nice, but most working folks these days don't have any such thing. Life is a sprint from morning til night, and eating (like everything else) has to be performed with maximal efficiency.

[LeftyMom]

11. We're a two income household and we got by without

until a friend gave me a hand me down. Then that thing stopped distributing the heat evenly and started melting holes in my cookware, so it went to the electronic waste facility at the dump.

Six months later we bought another microwave. Meanwhile LeftyDad was working 10 hour shifts with a long commute, I was working 44 hour weeks and LK was being as demanding as a three year old can be. We all managed to eat, and eat well, anyhow.

I was raised by a single parent who worked 60+ hour weeks. We had no microwave (although they were cheap and plentiful at the time, as I'm pretty young) but we still ate.

[UdoKier]

10. Many of us work two jobs and don't have time to cook.

And microwaves are MUCH cheaper now than when we were growing up.

[hfojvt]

16. have an apple, or a sandwich then

that they make things easier, and allow you to eat better does not make them necessities. Nor does the fact that they are easily affordable. If money is tight, it is still something that a person can do without. Cars too, if you make some adjustments about where you live and where you work. A car is a money pit from my experience.

[electropop]

18. So po' folk should live on cold food?

Considering that a microwave costs a fraction of the cost of a full-sized oven/range, it seems like the economical choice to me, aside from cold food or starvation.

What about shoes? Should poor people be permitted to wear shoes? After all, it's perfectly possible to walk without them. Why, I do so at the beach in Aruba all the time! </sarcasm>

[UdoKier]

19. Forks and spoons are rather frivolous expenses, too.

best to fashion some chopsticks from twigs in the neighborhood park, or just scoop the food into your mouth as some indigenous tribes still do. Bowls? What are you a snob? Put your food on a leaf!

Yeah, all apples and carrot sticks would be a real balanced diet. :eyes:


Besides, why would you begrudge poor people the occasional use of an inexpensive appliance? I don't get it. :shrug:

[blondeatlast]

21. If we are going to argue about something like this,

we may as well roll over for the neo/theocons.

[nonconformist]

6. You're talking over their heads

These shoot-from-the-hip one-liner types can't grasp how complex life can be. They'd just look at you blankly and stammer out something about how THEY have full medical provided by their employer and if you don't it's because you're a loser in life.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Exactly

These people think that if you get fired from your job it's your own fault. Never mind layoffs or anything like that or the job being sent overseas. It's your own fault and you should go to college and get another degree. :eyes:

[blondeatlast]

22. True--I had full medical through my husband's employer.

Then I had a near heart attack. No problem, right?

Until we found out my husband's employer was not paying the premiums.

If Ed Schultz is correct about nothing else, he's correct about this: we must eliminate the two-word culture.

If life were as simple as could be summed up in two words, why would we need a governemnt at all?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Kick for the trolls from the lower intestinal tract (yeah, you)

:kick:

[librechik]

13. it must be pretty hilarious debating this with Freepers

they gotta be as deep in credit crunch as we are!

I wonder how they can manage to defend the GOP on this?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. You should see the FR thread on this.

Truly from the twilight zone. About 50% are against the bill and see the CC companies for the scum they are. Other 50% just androidly repeat the "nobody is forcing you to enter debt" lie.

When a Republican policy displeases 50% of FR you know it is beyond bad!

Edit: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1358749/posts?q=1&&page=1

[librechik]

15. lol

there's no diehard like a moran from Freeperville--

very entertaining stuff, thanks

[Bouncy Ball]

23. I would also argue that in our completely consumeristic

culture, people are absolutely DRENCHED from birth for the need to consume that which they do not have.

You cannot have it both ways in a society: you cannot compel the people of a society to a certain behavior through life-long, INTENSTIVE saturated programming and constant pressure AND simultaneously beat them with a stick for it.

How crazy-making.

On edit, who's handing out the pre-approved lines of credit to people who can barely pay their bills as it is?

CREDIT CARD COMPANIES.

I rest my case. There should also be some responsibility on their part, but OH no, they get away with all kinds of unethical behaviors and no one bats a fucking eye and meanwhile they're making money hand over fist on late fees, overlimit fees, sky-high interest rates, etc.