Poverty's Foe

This is an interesting e-mail my brother sent me, and it should be widely spread. Someone should yell it from the rooftops, but we have tried this to no avail. Maybe this will the trick. FACTS. They are such a darned stubborn thing.

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Poverty in top major Cities.

City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level

1. Detroit, MI - 32.5%
2. Buffalo, NY - 29.9%
3. Cincinnati, OH - 27.8%
4. Cleveland, OH - 27.0%
5. Miami, FL - 26.9%
6. St. Louis, MO - 26.8%
7. El Paso, TX - 26.4%
8. Milwaukee, WI - 26.2%
9. Philadelphia, PA - 25.1%
10. Newark, NJ - 24.2%

U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007

What do the top ten cities (over 250,000) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?

Detroit, MI (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;
Buffalo, NY (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954;
Cincinnati, OH (3rd)...since 1984;
Cleveland, OH (4th)...since 1989;
Miami, FL (5th) has never had a Republican mayor;
St. Louis, MO (6th)....since 1949;
El Paso, TX (7th) has never had a Republican mayor;
Milwaukee, WI (8th)...since 1908;
Philadelphia, PA (9th)...since 1952;
Newark, NJ (10th)...since 1907.

Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'

It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats---yet they are still poor...

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln
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Hmm. Sounds about right to me. So who or what is the foe of poverty? Conservatism. Ideas. Self-sufficiency. Inspiration. You name it, but it is not hand-outs that make one dependent on the government which can, in turn, yank the rug out from underneath you with no consequences. What say you?

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ The Conservative Underground, Smart Girl Politics, Rosemary's Thoughts. Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!