Wednesday, September 12, 2007

That $27 Can Add Up Fast

PunditMom at MomsRising.org has a post discussing how small donations to political causes can add up to a lot of money.

In the September issue of More Magazine , Melinda Henneberger, the author of If They Only Listened to Us, reports that if every woman who voted in the 2006 national elections contributed just $27 to any presidential candidate, we would pour $1.3 billion dollars into politics.

I don't support the sorts of candidates that she does--I had no idea anyone gave money to Al Franken!--but I'm sure I can find some place to make a political donation when the time comes. And while I don't drink lattes, I'm sure there's something I could cut back on to make my contribution. Maybe I'll just take a few bucks out of my enormous trust fund (since I must be rich cuz I "hate" the poor!) or maybe not make so many trips to Saks in my Hummer 3.

UPDATE: Now Gordo claims I said there was something "wrong" with poor people. Here's what I said:
I realize that wages are going to be different depending on the area of the country because costs are different in different areas of the country. But, again, if you raise the minimum wage sharply, Whataburger is going to increase its prices to cover the cost. When gas prices jumped earlier this year, I paid attention to prices and how much they jumped. In other words, the businesses raise their prices to cover increases in costs regardless of the source of those increases. So, while the gal making $5.75 an hr will be happy to get a nice big raise to $7.25 or $7.50, she’ll soon discover that other prices will rise to cover the wages.

And Dana is right about people making their own opportunities. Not everyone has the abilities to do what he says happened in his family, but far more people can than some people would like to believe. I have to wonder why someone would stay at a job that wasn’t paying them enough to live. If nothing else, there are job placement centers run by state employment offices that are designed to help people get skills to get better jobs. And there are charities that help with these things, as well.

As I said in comments, only an idiot would think that meant that I thought there was something "wrong" with poor people.