According to the latest report, more than one-fifth of Arizonans live in poverty, a figure higher than anywhere else in the nation except Mississippi.
Figures Thursday from the U.S. Census Bureau show nearly 1.4 million Arizonans in households earning less than the federal poverty level - about 21.2 percent.
As Howard Fischer wrote for Capitol Media Services,
The new report shows that even with a sluggish national economy, there is an increasing disparity between Arizonans and those living everywhere else.
In 2007, for example, before the economy tanked, Arizona's poverty rate was 14.3 percent, compared with the national rate of 12.5 percent. That put Arizona at 14th-highest in nation.
By 2008, the percentage of Arizonans living in poverty rose to 18 percent, while the national figure rose to 13.2 percent. That ranked Arizona fourth-highest in the U.S. And the current 21.2 percent number is approaching a level one and a half times the national average.
What has Rep. Jeff Flake ever done for Arizona's poor people? Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Bupkis.
Oh wait, with his votes, he's laughed at their poverty and told them to go fuck themselves.
You're on your own, poor people, Jeff Flake says with a smile as he votes against unemployment benefits, food stamps, government aid to children, for housing, for education.
Jeff Flake doesn't give a shit about poor people, and that's one reason he needs to be replaced.
But, you, the dopey assholes who make up the most of the voters in the East Valley's Sixth Congressional District, don't give a shit about your poor neighbors, either, and that's why Jeff Flake is a shoo-in for re-election.
He doesn't have to worry about opponents who actually would try to help poor people like Democrat Rebecca Schneider or myself.
Those Arizonans who live in poverty deserve better representation in Congress than do-nothing, care-nothing, fuck-the-poor free-market fanatic Jeff Flake and his equally disgusting Republican colleagues.
