“Just two days after Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, voiced his opinion that those who value a “right to life” have no place in the state, Cardinal Dolan made clear faithful Catholics in New York will continue to join with ecumenical allies in making the state more hospitable to the unborn, helping mothers and fathers to love and provide for their children.” — National Review Online
On Sunday, January 19, Cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrated the Archdiocese’s Pro-Life Mass with over 2,000 present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to begin what the Cardinal referred to as “Pro-Life week.”
Fifty years ago this month, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the ‘war on poverty’ an attempt to harness the power of government to help the poor. Here are nine things you should know about poverty in America.
1. The official method of measuring poverty in America has remained largely unchanged since the early 1960s. The poverty thresholds (or poverty line) were originally developed in 1963-1964 by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration. Orshansky based her poverty thresholds on the economy food plan — the cheapest of four food plans developed by the Department of Agriculture. The actual combinations of foods in the food plans, devised by Agriculture Department dietitians using complex procedures, constituted nutritionally adequate diets; the Agriculture Department described the economy food plan as being “designed for temporary or emergency use when funds are low.” The methodology for calculating the thresholds was established in the mid-1960s and has not changed in the intervening years.
2. The poverty threshold is based on the average amount of income spent on food in 1955. At the time families spent about 33% of their income on food, so Orshansky calculated poverty thresholds for families of three or more persons by taking the dollar costs of the economy food plan for families of those sizes and multiplying the costs by a factor of three — the “multiplier.” The methodology for calculating the thresholds was established in the mid-1960s and has not changed in the intervening years, though the thresholds are updated annually to account for inflation. Today, Americans spend an average of 6.8% of their income on food – the lowest percentage in the world.
3. The federal poverty guideline for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. was $23,550 in 2013. (The median household income in 2012 was $51,017.)
4. Most antipoverty efforts by churches are not reflected in the official poverty calculations. Government and private programs aimed at relieving poverty do not lower the official poverty rate since that measure counts only monetary income. Antipoverty programs such as food stamps, housing assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicaid, school lunches, as well as all private food, clothing, and service donations are considered “in-kind benefits” —— and hence not income.
5. From the beginning on the war on poverty until 2012, local, state, and federal spending on welfare programs has totaled $15,000,000,000,000. Currently, the United States spends nearly $1 trillion every year to fight poverty. That amounts to $20,610 for every poor person in America, or $82,440 per poor family of four (3.5 times the amount necessary to bring them above the poverty line).
6. When the War on Poverty was announced in 1964, 33 million Americans were in poverty and the official poverty rate was 19%. Today, approximately 46.5 million Americans live in poverty and the official poverty rate is 15%. However, some estimates claim that if in-kind benefits are included in income, poverty rates would have declined to between 0% and 5%.
7. The poverty rate among married couples is only 6 percent. Among married couples who both have full-time jobs the poverty rate is practically zero (0.001%). The poverty rate among single-dads/moms is much higher: 25% for single dads / 31% for single moms.
8. According to the U.S. Census Bureau figures, the average household living in poverty in America has more amenities and a higher standard of living than in most other countries. The typical poor household, as defined by the government, has a car and air conditioning, two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. If there are children, especially boys, the family has a game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation. In the kitchen, the household has a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. Other household conveniences include a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker. The home of the typical poor family is in good repair and is not overcrowded. In fact, the typical average poor American has more living space in his home than the average (non-poor) European has. By its own report, the typical poor family was not hungry, was able to obtain medical care when needed, and had sufficient funds during the past year to meet all essential needs.
9. The most destitute Americans are often those classified as either temporary and chronic homeless. On a single night in 2012 there were 633,782 homeless people in the United States (0.2% of the total population), including 394,379 who were homeless as individuals and 239,403 people who were homeless in families. In 2012, 99,894 people were chronically homeless, representing just fewer than 16 percent of all homeless people. Chronic homelessness has declined by 19.3 percent since 2007.
Peanut Gallery: Today, Dec 6th, is St. Nicholas Day – set aside by the Church to honor the prototype of generosity and anonymous giving… especially to children. So what’s the story behind this man who has morphed into what we recognize as Santa Claus?
I’ll let these videos speak for themselves. I’ve included short and long YouTube videos… depending on your time and interest. There’s also a link to a trailer of the “Veggie Tales” version of the story for kids.
______________________________
“When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do — blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Matthew 6:2-4 (NLT)
_______________________________
Members of Seoul USA launch a 40-foot balloon with a cargo of Bibles for North Koreans. (Seoul USA)
On a rainy afternoon last Spring, American pastor Eric Foley and his wife stood in a muddy field near the North Korea border and prayed – their hands clasped to a 40-foot homemade balloon that would carry Bibles to the communist dictatorship’s underground Christians.
“I get choked up, every time, as I let go and watch it take off,” Foley told FoxNews.com.
The balloons, made from a large sheet of “farm plastic,” said Foley, are filled with hydrogen before the Bibles and “tracts” – testimonials written by other North Korean Christians – are attached at the bottom inside a sack or box. Timers are then used to release the materials in stages, dispersing them at high altitudes across North Korea. Foley and members of his Christian mission group, Seoul USA, use GPS technology to help direct where the Bibles land. Around 50,000 of them have dropped from the skies in the last year.
“They are the most persecuted believers on earth,” Foley said of North Korea’s estimated 100,000 Christians – 30,000 of whom are believed to be locked inside concentration camps, where they are overworked, starved, tortured, and killed. Other activist groups, like Open Doors USA, estimate that number to be even higher, reporting that the secretive nation has about 400,000 Christians.
The balloons are launched from South Korea, and carry the coveted Bibles to North Korea’s estimated 100,000 underground Christians. (Seoul USA)
In North Korea, the practice of Christianity is illegal. Owning a Bible is a crime, and any person caught with one is sent – along with three generations of his or her family – to prison. Foley said despite the risks, demand for Bibles is strong within North Korea. His group targets rural areas where they might be picked up discreetly, he said.
North Koreans are forced to embrace Juche ideology, which mixes Marxism with worship of the late “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung and his family – a warped version of Christianity, says Foley, because Kim took concepts from Christianity, like the Trinity and church hymns, to create a religion in which he is worshipped. Foley said that if North Koreans learned about Christ, they would realize “this is all a fraud.”
“It’s a distortion of Christianity,” Foley said. “And the best way to reach them [North Koreans] is through mindset and knowledge.”
Foley, who is in his late 40s, founded Colorado-based Seoul USA in 2003 with his wife, a South Korean who immigrated to the U.S. in 1984. The two, along with other members of their group, launched their first balloon — strapped with Bibles — from South Korea in 2006. Foley said the balloons are typically sent out overnight from a muddy field at a high altitude between May and October. He said the best conditions are during a “rain storm or really bad weather because of the currents.”
“We are constantly monitoring the wind conditions as we’re launching,” he said, “And the North Korean border is always within the sight line.”
Seoul USA leader the Rev. Eric Foley and members of his group pray before each launch that the Bibles make it to North Korea’s persecuted Christians. (Seoul USA)
The balloons also include tracts, or testimonies, written by other North Korean Christians — some of whom managed to flee to South Korea — about Christ.
“The North Koreans respond very well to story,” Foley explained, “Because all are required to memorize 100 stories” related to Kim’s ideology.
In addition to supplying religious materials by air, Foley’s group produces short-wave radio programs with North Korean defectors reading the Bible. He said about 20 percent of North Koreans own radios, which are illegal.
Foley and his group won the legal rights to conduct the balloon launches from South Korea, but officials there “don’t make it easy,” he said, noting that they often try to force hydrogen suppliers not to sell the group hydrogen.
“Every time we fill up one of these balloons, we hold it and we pray together in English, North Korean and South Korean,” Foley said. “We pray loudly and always with tears.”
Never give up. Never, ever, give up. Because, in the end, God wins!
The Peanut Gallery 