Page 104 - Working Poor News Today

Im not concerned about the very rich or the very poor. >> were all those misspoken? >> we fixed the safety net when its broken. hes worried about the working poor and middle class and people who have really been hit by obama policies over the last four years. i suspect speaker gingrich would agree with those comments as well. the very poor have that safety net. the working poor do not. with regard, if the net is broken, he said we would fix it. you cant just do this gotcha game. everybody does i...

Own -- earn nearly 50% of the income. those who are poor, 15% of the population, earn less than 3.4%. those in the bottom are in dire need of help. yes, the middle class needs to be helped seriously. but those who are poor and working poor -- and what we mean by working poor is those who work 40 to 50 hours a week, often two and three jobs and they still cant make ends meet and cant rise above the poverty level. these people are not easy, not disinclined to work, they cant find gainful employmen...

Party. nbc news has been collecting some of their stories all year long. watch. >> reporter: laid off as a building manager, the condo complex where he worked foreclosed. >> its a nightmare. >> its really hard. >> were trying. were trying. >> weve got to feed the kids. weve got to pay the bills. what is more important than to make $42 too much to make food stamps. >> i dont want to depend on people because ive always worked and since i was 15 with everything happening, the washing machine broke ...

Fringes and the extreme and come back -- >> no question. >> somewhere close to the middle. >> theyre attacking the working poor of their own party. >> right. >> when i was growing up you have rockefeller and others we may have disagreed with, but they talked about inspiring people. now let me show you what the republicans are saying. now its beat the poor down. its bad enough theyre working and not getting the right wages and some laid off. were going to beat you down on top of this. watch this....

Lets turn now to msnbc political analyst and "bloomberg view" columnist jonathan alter. also with us, katrina vanden heuvel, editor of "the nation" magazine. i want to ask both of you the same question. you first, katrina. what is the upside for the republicans to obstruct this? >> ed, i want to step back for a moment. i think were at a turning point in this country. if you look at this republican party, this is a reactionary extremist republican party. its first goal is to defeat president obam...

Medicare, medicaid, social security or we cannot get this done. flat-out, thats a lie. okay, ill take the hook, line and sinker on this one. lets play the if game. lets say that mr. boehner does a deal with president obama and says all right, im going to give you some revenue but im going to want the world. youre going to have to give me social security. thats going to bring the democrats across the board to a cross roads. are you willing to negotiate away social security something thats been a ...

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Youre going to have to give me social security. thats going to bring the democrats across the board to a cross roads. are you willing to negotiate away social security something thats been a bedrock for the democratic party and the social foundation in this country for people to live in dignity in their later life. are you willing to negotiate that away just to get a little bit of revenue at a time in history when we can get it in so many other different ways? is the president talks about shared...

Congressman tom coal from oklahoma. first of all, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> let me ask you first. do you think, i mean, there is serious. this is beyond the politics and the screaming back and forward. were 12 days out from the august 2nd deadline. do you think the economy will suffer if the debt ceiling is not raised, sir? >> yeah, i actually do, reverend sharpton. i think this very serious time and the united states never failed it pay its bills in 235 years. i think if...

Peddling. that we just have to go after medicare, medicaid, social security or we cannot get this done. flat-out, thats a lie. okay, ill take the hook, line and sinker on this one. lets play the if game. lets say that mr. boehner does a deal with president obama and says all right, im going to give you some revenue but im going to want the world. youre going to have to give me social security. thats going to bring the democrats across the board to a cross roads. are you willing to negotiate away...