‘I am not a statistic’: An actual poor person testifies at Paul Ryan’s ‘war on poverty’ hearings

[DonViejo]

By Arturo Garcia
Thursday, July 10, 2014 0:48 EDT

For the first time, Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “progress report on the war on poverty” heard from a person actually experiencing it, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell reported on Wednesday.

“I am not a number. I am not a statistic,” Tianna Gaines-Turner testified before a House Budget Committee hearing earlier in the day. “I am not a food stamp [recipient]. I am an individual who lives in the inner city who just so happens to be, right now, struggling, just like so many Americans are struggling.”

Gaines-Turner, who lives with her husband and their three children in Philadelphia, currently makes $10.88 an hour as a childcare provider. Her husband, who works at a local food market, makes $8.25 an hour. However, she said, her hours were recently cut because of budget issues.

Think Progress reported that all three of their children suffer from asthma, and two of them suffer from epilepsy. Besides using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — commonly known as “food stamps” — the children are enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), allowing them to receive medication they need to manage their conditions.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/10/i-am-not-a-statistic-an-actual-poor-person-testifies-at-paul-ryans-war-on-poverty-hearings/

[femmocrat]

1. Her testimony was very compelling.

Those repukes should be hanging their heads in shame.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. She is the majority of people

That are in poverty today that are not elderly. A god awful lot of people work their fingers to the bone - but they can't get ahead. They need higher wages AND cost of living help.

This is what it looks like when you destroy the middle class.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. I see it every day in my neighborhood.

Very compelling, indeed.
Love, Peace and Shelter.