The Poor Get Poorer

Here is a really well-written article about poverty in America. The best line? "You have to be rich to be poor." It continues:

"Poverty 101: We'll start with the basics.

Like food: You don't have a car to get to a supermarket, much less to Costco or Trader Joe's, where the middle class goes to save money. You don't have three hours to take the bus. So you buy groceries at the corner store, where a gallon of milk costs an extra dollar.

A loaf of bread there costs you $2.99 for white. For wheat, it's $3.79. The clerk behind the counter tells you the gallon of leaking milk in the bottom of the back cooler is $4.99..."

It just gets worse from there, describing those working poor who make too much to get services but not enough to get out of poverty. It's a mess--and eye-opening if you've never had the unpleasant experience of, say, having the cashier void 8 or so items from your grocery shopping because it costs more than you have.

Poor? Pay Up.