The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

The Spectacle Blog

Watch this video clip from John Edwards's poverty tour, in which he visits with workers from a poultry processing plant, and then somebody please tell me why he thinks there is a problem here, and just what that problem is:

He starts with a straw man: "The perception exists in America that a lot of people who live in poverty are just ne'er-do-wells, they don't want to work, they don't care about working hard and supporting their families."

Then he talks about how some of the plant workers have to "work 48, 50 hours...sometimes 70-plus hours a week"...and they have a hard time paying their bills." And?

Then there's testimony from one plant worker who has to work sometimes 48, 52, 53 hours per week, 9 hours per day and 9 on Saturday...and "we're not getting paid for breaks...." Someone please show this woman some mercy!

And it concludes with Edwards alleging the workers are "being taken advantage of and not being paid the way they should be paid"...and because of that they live in poverty. Obviously Edwards knows much better than poultry business owners what their workers should be paid.

Well, now it's my turn. John Edwards, please come and expose the plight of us employees in the nonprofit think-tank industry, who are also grossly under-compensated and struggle to pay our bills. Sometimes we even have to work at home at night when we should be spending time with our families, and sometimes have to go to events outside of regular business hours. I, for one, sit in an ergonomically-unfriendly seat most of the day and am often made to think beyond what my educational background will sustain. If you come and listen, I will sit in a semi-circle at any local church you choose and tell my story too. Promise!

topics:
Education, Business