Patterico's Pontifications

2/11/2009

Is the Homeless “Face of the Economic Crisis” Really Homeless?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:22 pm

At a town meeting in Fort Myers, Florida, President Obama met a woman named Henrietta Hughes, whom the media is now dubbing “The Face of the Economic Crisis.” Here’s Jake Tapper:

“I have an urgent need, unemployment and homelessness, a very small vehicle for my family and I to live in,” she said. “The housing authority has two years’ waiting lists, and we need something more than the vehicle and the parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help.”

President Obama gave her a kiss on the cheek, telling her, “We’re going to do everything we can to help you, but there are a lot of people like you.” He said his staff would meet with her after the town hall.

Hughes says she and her adult son have been homeless for “a long time.” She says her son lost his job in computer programming, and they in turn lost their house. She says she has been looking for a job, although she is on disability for cancer, but so far has not been able to find work.

The video:

Private eye Joe Culligan, who broke the news about the tax liens of Obama’s Chief Performance Officer, as well as those of Obama’s treasurer Martin Nesbitt, now writes at his web site “webofdeception.com”:

Audience member Henrietta C. Hughes . . . has lived in city and federal subsidized housing going back to at least 1983.

Feel free to click the link and see what you think his records establish. [UPDATE: Culligan has now added the caveat that she has lived in such housing “at times.”]

Blogger Macsmind says:

According to records, she owns a house. She satisfied her mortgage in 2003.

(Read the comments at MacsMind for quibbling over the current status of the house. For all I know, she’s telling the truth. I don’t claim to be an expert on reading real estate records, and I don’t have the time or energy to sort it all out. But maybe some of you have the expertise that I lack, and can figure out whether her story meshes with the real estate records. Macsmind provides this link to do the search.)

Oddly enough, Ms. Hughes is also dubbed “the face of the economic crisis” on a new web site, just created, called henriettahughes.com. The site is registered to a Judah Fontz, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as an online marketing strategist at a company called VeraData. I wonder what his angle is . . .

It’s by no means certain that she is a plant, or that her story is untrue. Perhaps she truly is the face of this economic crisis — and some online marketing strategist is simply leaping on her story as some weird kind of opportunity. But there are some interesting questions about her story. What do you think?

UPDATE: A reader writes:

I am a local government lawyer (read county) in Florida and I do real estate, lots of real estate. I used 15 minutes of my lunch hour to research Henrietta and her housing woes. Below are the results. Essentially she took title to two lots, built on one, returned the property to the bank to avoid foreclosure (thus the “Satisfaction of Mortgage’). Corey Hughes (I am assuming her son) still owns the lot next door and the taxes are current. Henrietta and Corey owned one other lot in the same subdivision, which they sold in 2005 for $47,000 (according to the documentary stamp taxes they paid on the property). Neither Henrietta nor Corey own any other property in Lee County. It would take awhile to research all of the 67 counties, and I am not that curious.

Thanks for that.

Comments (149)

149 Responses to “Is the Homeless “Face of the Economic Crisis” Really Homeless?”

I never thought I’d see a revival of the old “Queen for a Day” TV show.

But here it is again, hosted by the President of The United States of America, no less.

What’s left of my mind is boggled.
Person of Choler (46cd1b) — 2/11/2009 @ 10:44 pm
Because it wasn’t enough to have Oprah doing these sorts of hard luck stories, now her protégé has to do them as well.
JVW (bff0a4) — 2/11/2009 @ 10:54 pm
From Joe the Plumber to Henrietta the Handout. Welcome to the future.
Jim Treacher (796deb) — 2/11/2009 @ 10:55 pm
well if he did the research right, which is easy to verify, go to the tax rolls, type in the address and it will tell you the owner of the property. The listed name of person who has to satisfy the property taxes is the person who is listed on the deed. very easy to find. local court house of said property has the tax rolls. thats how i find all the deals i make on abandoned houses.
slizzle (cebb6d) — 2/11/2009 @ 11:06 pm
i’m not homeless, yet, but i am a bum, at least that’s what my mom told me. can i get stimulated?
cts22 (00e4cd) — 2/11/2009 @ 11:11 pm
____________________________________

I don’t claim to be an expert on reading real estate records, and I don’t have the time or energy to sort it all out.

I’ll let others dig through that, while I scrutinize the following—since this story, after all, does relate to a politician who receives ahhs and ooohs, and a few coos (certainly from a lot of gullible Americans/voters), because he supposedly expresses concern about a crisis, or shows compassion, sympathy and tears towards the underdog, the victim, the disenfranchised, the sad sack…

http://www.rdtc.com:

An important thing to note about Obama’s return is the extremely small percent of their AGI that they donate to charities. From looking at the chart below, you can see that in 2001 and 2002 they donated less then 0.5% of their income. An Obama spokesperson claimed, “as new parents who were paying off their large student loans, giving $10,000 to charity [from 2000 to 2004] was as generous as they could be at the time.”

However, it is interesting to note that they made over $1.4 million in 2005 but still donated under 5% of their AGI to charity.

philanthropy.com:

Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, have given an average of $369 per year to charities during the past decade, according to tax returns posted today to Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign Web site.

Senator Biden, the Democratic nominee for vice president, claimed $995 in charitable gifts in 2007 on the joint return with his wife. That figure is 0.3 percent of the couple’s claimed income of nearly $320,000.

By comparison, Sen. John McCain, the Republican Presidential nominee, in 2007 reported $405,409 in total income and contributed $105,467, or 26 percent of his total income, to charity.

========================

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
New York Times, December 20, 2008

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates.

Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

Other research has reached similar conclusions. The “generosity index” from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so.

The upshot is that Democrats, who speak passionately about the hungry and homeless, personally fork over less money to charity than Republicans — the ones who try to cut health insurance for children.

“When I started doing research on charity,” Mr. Brooks wrote, “I expected to find that political liberals — who, I believed, genuinely cared more about others than conservatives did — would turn out to be the most privately charitable people. So when my early findings led me to the opposite conclusion, I assumed I had made some sort of technical error. I re-ran analyses. I got new data. Nothing worked. In the end, I had no option but to change my views.”

Conservatives also appear to be more generous than liberals in nonfinancial ways. People in red states are considerably more likely to volunteer for good causes, and conservatives give blood more often. If liberals and moderates gave blood as often as conservatives, Mr. Brooks said, the American blood supply would increase by 45 percent.

____________________________________
Mark (411533) — 2/11/2009 @ 11:17 pm
[…] Patterico has more. […]
Bloodthirsty Liberal » Henrietta the Plumber (cb2f3f) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:38 am
Brooks admits in his own book that when giving at church — tithing — is taken out of the equation, liberals give more.

The real difference isn’t between conservatives and liberals, its between people who are members of a church or synagogue and people who are not. Brooks is clear on the point.

I think it’s telling, though, that Google shows hundreds of blog pages by conservatives crowing that they give more to charities than liberals — even when it isn’t true, as acknowledged by Brooks himself.
Hax Vobiscum (edacf7) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:08 am
Oh, I see, Hax. When you discount a large category of charitable giving, then the patterns of charitable giving change!

How hard do lefties work at being this intellectually dishonest?

How hard do you in particular work at it? You seem to have made a pass through the threads posting particularly inane comments like your latest.
Rob Crawford (b5d1c2) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:40 am
Brooks doesn’t say it isn’t true, Hacks, even according to your description of what he says. (Do you have a cite for that, BTW? It’s not that I don’t trust your facts, but…well, yeah, it is that.) Tithing is charitable giving and there’s no reason to discount it. So, what you’ve done here is to confirm that conservatives do indeed give more to charity that liberals while sticking your foot firmly in your mouth.

Why do you even consider not counting giving done at church? Because church is icky?
Pablo (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:46 am
Any link between veradata and Vera Baker who used to work for Obama?
RS (a7dd4b) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:55 am
“Ms. Hughes is also dubbed “the face of the economic crisis”

Actually, I believe this is correct. People like this is a big part of the problem the US is facing today. Lazy and demanding citizens. This woman and her son are experts at playing the system and even that poor good hearted republican that gave her a house. I just hope she didn’t “give” it to her but just let her live in it. If that republican is following any of this I bet she sure is mortified with her naive attitude to these type of people. They be Plaaaaaaaaaaayers baby.
hogtrashhd (790d8c) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:56 am
I find all of this hard to believe. It just fits too neatly into the Obama talking points. First we see the poor homeless woman who needs the help that the stimulus and Democrats want to give. Then we see the Republican woman so moved by the woman’s dilemma that she gives her a home. This then should convince the reluctant Republicans about the error of their ways and they should then support the Democrats in their give away programs just like the kind hearted Republican woman did. Give me a break!! This is just the most incredible coincidence ever or it is an orchestrated event.
bio mom (a1e126) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:17 am
This then should convince the reluctant Republicans about the error of their ways and they should then support the Democrats in their give away programs just like the kind hearted Republican woman did.

Um, no. Chene Thompson didn’t have the Democrats in DC middleman her charity. She’s doing it the old fashioned way.
Pablo (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:23 am
It is easier to assume that the Dems are just using plants and making things up. No need to get worked up over this like the Dems did with Joe the Plumber. Just assume they are being disingenuous, and move on.
JD (80c89a) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:29 am
The big question here is: Given a house to live in rent free, is it considered income to Henrietta or charitable donation by Thompson?
MarkButter (5d43c6) — 2/12/2009 @ 7:11 am
Let’s assume the woman is telling the truth. Well, lots of illegal aliens are living in taxpayer-supported housing projects — Obama’s own Aunti Zeutuni was taking up a slot in Boston.

So once again — deporting illegal aliens will free up resources and jobs for U.S. citizens.
Anonymous (0d6d87) — 2/12/2009 @ 7:27 am
Somehow I doubt that the “Republican solved the problem by actually doing something” angle isn’t going to get much play here…

I feel compelled to mention that the church that I give money to feeds the homeless and the elderly very effectively.
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 7:39 am
Ize homeliss tu…My laptop done get no good connekshun under this heer overpass…Can yu hep me pleeze…I needz me a gubment chek.
Hep me…Hep Me…..HEP ME!!!!
Troy (eab9b5) — 2/12/2009 @ 7:41 am
Henrietta had her moment in the sun–and she got a second house given to her.

Folks haven’t focused on Julio–who slobbered all over Obama’s shoes–and said he’d been flipping hamburgers at McDonalds for 4 and a half years while going to college. Julio asked when Obama would initiate a program where folks like him could get more benefits from their employers. Obama will be “looking into that”.

Limbaugh had some great soundbites from Henrietta and Julio yesterday.
Mike Myers (674050) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:02 am
Brooks admits in his own book that when giving at church

Ah yes – the hallowed Mr. Brooks, who is the honest arbiter of all things conservative. You really are clueless, Hacky.
Dmac (49b16c) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:17 am
I love Hacks way of using creative numbers, fuzzy math, if you will.

Let’s see how else this could work …

If you do not count all of his singles and doubles, Albert Pujols is just a slightly above average hitter.

If you do not consider Claire Forlani’s eyes, she is just an ordinary girl.

If you do not count their engineering and craftsmanship, Mercedes are just average cars.
JD (3d2fbd) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:26 am
JD-
How about: if you remove all political causes from the liberal giving, it might be a fair comparison between them and non-Church-donation conservatives?

Since most churches don’t take blood as currency, and conservatives also give more of that, I think the point may hold in original form…..
Foxfier (db0f51) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:50 am
Foxfier – I find it amusing, and more than a little bit ironic, that they do not consider their devotion to things like Baracky and global warming as anything but religion.
JD (3d2fbd) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:56 am
Apparently, Hax Vobiscum is…um, a hack? Or at least highly mistaken.

Finally, Brooks says one thing stands out as the biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable: “their religious participation.” Religious people are more likely to give to charity, and when they give, they give more money — four times as much.
But doesn’t that giving just stay within the religion?
“No,” says Brooks, “Religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly nonreligious charities. Religious people give more blood; religious people give more to homeless people on the street.”
http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2006/12/06/who_gives_to_charity?page=2

Possibly, he was selectively quoting the below:
According to Google’s figures, if donations to all religious organizations are excluded, liberals give slightly more to charity than conservatives do. But Mr. Brooks says that if measuring by the percentage of income given, conservatives are more generous than liberals even to secular causes.
In any case, if conservative donations often end up building extravagant churches, liberal donations frequently sustain art museums, symphonies, schools and universities that cater to the well-off. (It’s great to support the arts and education, but they’re not the same as charity for the needy. And some research suggests that donations to education actually increase inequality because they go mostly to elite institutions attended by the wealthy.)
Conservatives also appear to be more generous than liberals in nonfinancial ways. People in red states are considerably more likely to volunteer for good causes, and conservatives give blood more often. If liberals and moderates gave blood as often as conservatives, Mr. Brooks said, the American blood supply would increase by 45 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/opinion/21kristof.html?_r=1
Foxfier (db0f51) — 2/12/2009 @ 8:59 am
Great catch, Foxfier.

Hacks – Care to defend yourself? Didn’t think so …
JD (3d2fbd) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:02 am
Meet the new face, same as the old face?

She says she has been looking for a job, although she is on disability for cancer, but so far has not been able to find work.

If she’s “on disability” she can’t legally work, right? – Which is an internal inconsistency of her story.

Culligan has now added the caveat that she has lived in such housing [Federally subsidized] “at times.”

At HUD, the criteria for Total Tenant Payment is:

The formula used in determining the TTP is the highest of the following, rounded to the nearest dollar:

(1) 30 percent of the monthly adjusted income. (Monthly Adjusted Income is annual income less deductions allowed by the regulations);
(2) 10 percent of monthly income;
(3) welfare rent, if applicable; or
(4) a $25 minimum rent or higher amount (up to $50) set by an HA [Housing Authority]

where “welfare rent” is apparently a State subsidy. So it’s possible to get a Federally subsidized unit very cheap.

Putting it together, her story is plausible, given what the timing of her life’s alleged events actually was, and if there are no low income units readily available.

But, imo, given the internal inconsistency of her story concderning being disabled by cancer, yet looking for work, the possibilities that she is either a plant, or a Player are much more likely, and her case should be analyzed to see, perhaps, “who’s zoomin’ who”.

Not that the truth ever matters!
J."Trashman" Peden (9052f8) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:12 am
It would have been great if all you Obama-bashers were this vigilant and scrutinizing during the last 8 years while Bush ran our country into the ground. Thanks for nothing. Get a life.
FN Wright (5b5190) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:15 am
FN Wright, that was a great impression of the typical BDS troll.

Do you do any other impressions?
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:18 am
Yeah, SPQR, I can do a great one of someone who actually wants my country to progress and succeed, and not waste my time scrutinizing the bejeezus out of a relatively benign story about someone who may or may not be homeless. What about you?
FN Wright (5b5190) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:23 am
FN Wright, no that one wasn’t very good. Needs more practice to be convincing.
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:24 am
FN – I hope your spleen feels better. Now, run along …
JD (3d2fbd) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:24 am
So, in FN’s world, tearing apart Joe the Plumber’s life because Teh Anointed One stopped to ask him a question is alright. But, questioning the veracity of a story told by someone worshipping Teh One is somehow wrong.
JD (3d2fbd) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:26 am
Can anyone tell me where in the video clip the loaves and fishes miracle is attempted?
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:27 am
Yes, my spleen is awesome, thanks. And I will run along now, thanks again. I have better things to do. Evidently you poor souls do not.
FN Wright (5b5190) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:27 am
I think we should all be deeply grateful and pay very close attention to the miracles worked by our new Messiah. Praise Baracky, FN! Say it with me!
Pablo (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:30 am
So add misquoting Brooks to Hack’s list. He must be going for some kind of easily-disproved-false-assertion-per-week record.

Remember all of the abuse of Katrina funds? The Chinese busboys giving $1000 to Hillary! Scrutinizing that was racist, just like this. Now move along, and make your country progress and succeed.
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:31 am
FN, when you get there, help Peter with his crucial work. Thanks.
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 9:31 am
Stop, beating around the bush guys. Tell us how the Right really feels about this woman. C’mon, I know you can do it. Some of you have come pretty close.

(JD, I denounce you in advance.)
Peter (e70d1c) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:39 am
There is a hugh amount of money at stake. Can’t say in this case, but my bet is that every crook in the country is dreaming up sob stories.
Ken Hahn (a89f86) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:41 am
Peter – I think it is a sad story, made even sadder by the misery pimps on the Left.
JD (5ffaf3) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:43 am
FN Wright: It would have been great if all you Obama-bashers were this vigilant and scrutinizing during the last 8 years while Bush ran our country into the ground. Thanks for nothing. Get a life.

Dear FN, Most of this crew is concerned only with truth, patriotism, doing what’s right for the country and the anal vapors of Rush Limbaugh (not in that order). How dare you suggest they display hypocritical partisan beliefs that don’t have a thing to do with reality.

(BTW, when you incur the ire of mental midgets like SPQR -he’s sorta like a mascot- you know you’ve hit paydirt.)
Peter (e70d1c) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:45 am
Oh Peter, don’t you have something crucial calling you right now?
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:52 am
I guess I don’t understand the mindset that says “Stop looking at the man behind the curtain, because he’s my friend.”

If Bambi is running the country into the ground in just 24 short days, isn’t it the right thing to do to criticize him? I mean, he was the President-Elect for how long? He certainly had time to prepare for this, to vet his staff, to get a grasp of the situations facing the country he volunteered to be president of.

In his first 24 days, he has already said he needs to get out; he’s gone on a tour to drum up support for a spending package he didn’t author & doesn’t understand.

If he’s this tetchy now, with just citizens criticizing him, how will he handle it when Russia invades Georgia? Call up the mayor of Atlanta and ask him if he needs a few golf carts?
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:58 am
Folks haven’t focused on Julio–who slobbered all over Obama’s shoes–and said he’d been flipping hamburgers at McDonalds for 4 and a half years while going to college.

Mike Myers is right–Julio is probably the more egregious example here. This is a guy who has been stuck at the lettuce-washing level of fast-food production for four years, is a “communications major” who can barely speak English properly, and he’s essentially demanding that Obama take something from someone else and give it to him.

As a commenter at ace’s site pointed out, Julio is nothing more than a thief who doesn’t have the guts to rob you himself, so he demands that Obama do it for him. Julio is a microcosm of what got Obama elected–a cultural dry rot of emotional idiocracy that blames any kind of misfortune, real or percieved, as a lack of inaction on the part of the government. These are a large portion of the 52% that got Obama elected–a corps of spoiled, greedy post-adolescents that are looking for Daddy to pay their bills so they can get drunk every other night and not have to take responsibility for their own lives.

In Julio’s mind, the fact that he’s in his current position isn’t his fault–it’s that the government didn’t stick a teat in his mouth the minute he was born and keep it there so he could be free from want and inconvenience his whole life. Marx never thought twice about taking money he never earned from associates and never paying it back (“borrowing” implies that you pay back your debts), and his intellectual progeny in the form of Julio, Hax, Peter, FN, and Emperor are no different.

They are thieves. Plain and simple.
Another Chris (2d8013) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:59 am
FN Wright-
if you can give the same kind of in-depth examples against the former President Bush as are so pricking your annoyance now, feel free. If you weren’t being an idiot, you’d notice that there were many complaints about Bush. Well researched, well thought out criticisms.

They just weren’t as flashy as I suspect you want– you know, no accusations that he’s a baby-killing world-domination bound tyrant.

Equality of opportunity isn’t equality of outcome. You’ve got the whole internet at your fingers– why aren’t you reacting to Obama as so many did to Bush?

Look at Peter in 42 if you need an example– I’m sure you’ll be able to meet or even out do him in the slander and slaughter of strawmen!
Foxfier (db0f51) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:59 am
I’m not gonna clean myself, Peter. Now quit screwing around on the internet and get to work!
The Toilet (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:01 am
Peter #42, the idea of someone as lacking as you in wit, style and general competence calling me a mental midget raises as much “ire” in me as any mosquito would.
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:34 am
God I Phucking hate you right wingers. Hopefully, we will have another civil war.
Mike (d0884b) — 2/12/2009 @ 12:43 pm
We need better trolls. This latest crop is really dropping the ball.
Techie (6b5d8d) — 2/12/2009 @ 12:48 pm
Uh, Mike, you might want to consider who the gun nuts are…
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 2/12/2009 @ 12:59 pm
Well, I’m certainly chastized.
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:07 pm
Mike reminded me … I need to order more ammo. The local shop is clean out of Federal Hydrashoks in .45 ACP …
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:09 pm
Mike – You believe in God?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:29 pm
God I Phucking hate you right wingers. Hopefully, we will have another civil war.

Comment by Mike — 2/12/2009 @ 12:43 pm

Yet, they accuse us of being full of hate?
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:29 pm
well, yeah, you’re full of hate because you are not blissfully in love with the Light-Bearer.
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:30 pm
I thought Teh One was the Lightworker.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:33 pm
Comment by SPQR — 2/12/2009 @ 1:09 pm

You need to go here, or here.
AD (d5182a) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:38 pm
I like “Light-bearer” in the original Latin.
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:38 pm
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Baracky

Mike @ #49 – I thought you Leftists were intolerant of introlerance, and champions of peace? Hypocrite much?
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:42 pm
Is this Gregg thing one of those crises Biden warned us about?
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:44 pm
We liberals are tolerant of everyone except those who are intolerant of someone, such as Christians, illegal-immigrant-haters, Constitution adherants, and so on and so forth. In short we liberals will not tolerate anyone who has a different opinion as us. And we liberals will climb into bed with anyone who attacks the same people we attack. We liberals don’t care what happens to us once we get rid of those we hate. Surely, those Taliban freedom-fighters will recognize us for our hard work carrying the water for them.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 1:46 pm
I’d like to “congratulate” all you “suspicious conservatives.” The ones wondering how a homeless person got to the rally (“a homeless person? What is SHE doing here?” you can almost hear conservatives say, treating her like some gatecrasher at a wedding) Keep on treating poor people like the enemy. You’re doing well to render the GOP as irrelevant as possible. I can barely disguise my glee that the American people are seeing you conservatives for the tightfisted, mean-spirited people you really are.
Brian W. (6685cf) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:17 pm
Hey, Brian, did you hear that the guy known by the alias “Joe the Plumber” isn’t really a plumber? And his name really isn’t Joe? And that he owes back taxes? No child support issues or other items in his past, though. Not that Democrats in government didn’t dig try to find something.

You guys set the rules. Complaining when the other side plays by them just makes you look like a whiner.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:21 pm
Brian – Stay and talk for a while.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:22 pm
Brian – ‘tight-fisted?’

I guess he missed the thread, huh.
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:23 pm
Nah, carlitos. He just doesn’t care. He knows conservatives are “tight-fisted”.

Just look at how many of them object to taking other people’s money to spend on make-work projects!
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:24 pm
Brian – Congrats on graduating to 2-syallable words. Your progress is nothing short of astounding.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:25 pm
“Brian – ‘tight-fisted?’

I guess he missed the thread, huh.”

I guess he missed Obama bitching about Bush’s reckless spending as well.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:25 pm
Bitching about Bush’s reckless spending while pushing $800,000,000,000 in pork barrel spending this week, and at least $3,000,000,000,000 in new TARP dollars next week is rich.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:30 pm
Actually, the fact Joe the Plumber didn’t have a plumbers license does not mean he wasn’t a plumber. Ohio is much less into licensing than many other states. He worked for a licensed plumber as a plumber, which is perfectly legal. As a matter of fact, I could work as an odd-jobs-man and only do plumbing work and I would not violate any state law.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:37 pm
Yeah, I think anyone at a rally for The Big O! should be beyond criticism — if they make an absurd claim, they should simply be heeded. That’s the true evillity of the Republicans.
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:38 pm
#40 “every crook in the country is dreaming up sob stories.”
Definitely. Why put in a compromised plant when O’s people could just go to any crappy part of any city anywhere and get a REAL homeless person?
If the post is true she’s a scammer.

“Conservatives also appear to be more generous than liberals in nonfinancial ways. People in red states are considerably more likely ….”
Haw Haw Haw what’s this guys definitions of a “conservative” or a “liberal”? I guess this story pushes a narrative, now “conservatives” get to be better than THOSE people, but really, what a scam.

I especially like the red states part. Now that some of those states have turned blue does that mean that libs`are more generous and more likely to do good?
EdWood (b56dcd) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:42 pm
The whole thing about Joe the Plumber not being a certified or licensed plumber is a form of falsification-by-truth. If I say Patterico was not drunk at work today, that would suggest to some “as opposed to all the other days he was drunk at work.” I could also say “that person hauling his boat behind his one-ton pickup isn’t certified in driving one-ton pickups or pulling trailers” and I would be telling the truth. But I would be giving false information: the suggestion that such a certification is required when it is most definitely not required.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:43 pm
I knew there’s a reason I left the REPUBLICANS for the Independents. WASTE OF TIME DEBATING STUPID HORSE CRAP LIKE THIS IS WHY.
JMM (1ea2ae) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:47 pm
ALL CAPS IS CRUISE CONTROL TO COOLNESS !!!!
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:51 pm
I knew there was a reason I ignored posts written with the CAPSLOCK key.
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:51 pm
RACIST
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:52 pm
Where are “the Independents” meeting these days, I wonder?
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:53 pm
AS A LIFELONG CONCERNED CHRISTIAN ATHEIST I THINK ALL YOU REPUBLICANS ARE MEAN.

HAPPY DARWIN DAY!
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/12/2009 @ 2:58 pm
hey if the inverse works for e e cummings i dont understand why everyone gets all worked up for the capslock thing it isnt as if it is all that annoying heck even the lack of normal punctuation doesnt hurt when youre trying to get your message across i dont know why you intolerant people get your panties in a bunch over something thats meant to draw your attention to whats important namely my message that you wouldnt understand unless i did something overthetop like capslock or ignoring caps and punctuation
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:03 pm
AD, Natchez and Midway love me like a rich uncle who buys them candy each Sunday …
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:04 pm
AS A LIFELONG CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN REPUBLICAN I HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING ABOUT MY EXISTENCE WAS RACIST HOMOPHOBIC SEXIST XENOPHOBIC JINGOISTIC WARMONGERING AND SERVED ONLY TO ENRICH THE RICH THEREFORE I CHANGED THE NATURE OF MY VILE WAYS SUPPORTED BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA PEACE BE UPON HIM AND HAVE RENOUNCED MY EVIL WAYS JUST LOOK AT THE WAY YOU WINGNUTS SAVAGE THIS POOR DEFENSELESS LADY THAT DOES NOTHING OTHER THAN CELEBRATE THE HALF-WHITE PRESIDENT THAT WAS ELECTED DESPITE YOUR RACE-BAITING RACIST WAYS AND IF YOU WOULD QUIT SNIFFING RUSH’S NADS FOR ONE DAY AND LEAVE YOUR LITTLE BUBBLE AND ECHO CHAMBER AND SPEAK TO SOME REAL PEOPLE YOU WOULD SEE HOW MUCH DAMAGE YOU HAVE DONE AND HOW BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA PEACE BE UPON HIM HAS BROUGHT A SENSE OF CALM AND PEACE TO THE UNDERSERVED AMONGST US THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HATERS
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:13 pm
It’s by no means certain that she is a plant, or that her story is untrue. Perhaps she truly is the face of this economic crisis — and some online marketing strategist is simply leaping on her story as some weird kind of opportunity. But there are some interesting questions about her story. What do you think?
Since you think she is not a plant nor is her story untrue, what is the purpose of the post? Why throw this poor woman to the dogs….here?
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:19 pm
Reading Comprehension 101

“Not certain” != “Know for sure”
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:20 pm
Bush gave people nicknames – turd blossom, stretch, JRod…

Obama’s first name given is “The Face of the Economic Crisis”
carlitos (599c37) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:22 pm
steve – Teh Emperor is still learning Engrish. Give her a break.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:23 pm
Comment by JD — 2/12/2009 @ 3:13 pm
FINALLY HE HAS COME TO HIS SENSES. HE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY BRAINWASHED. JD HAS SEEN THE LIGHT. HE IS NOW ONE OF US! THIS CALLS FOR CELEBRATION. KILL THE ALLIGATOR AND LET US EAT AND MAKE MERRY. HE THAT WAS LOST IS NOW FOUND. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE TO ALL YOU OTHER DISSENTERS. YOU ARE NEXT!
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:27 pm
OK, obviously I need to update that order for Next Day Air …
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:31 pm
Someone who buys ammo via Red-Label obviously has more money than brains…snicker..snicker..snicker
AD (5f7f57) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:42 pm
JUDD GREGG WITHDRAWS HIS NAME FROM CONSIDERATION.
That does it. I say enough of this bipartisanship b*llSh*t.
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:49 pm
For someone who touted the glories of “The One” consistently during the campaign, you sure do sound disappointed, if not disillusioned (some would say dillusional). If you are backing away from the alleged bipartisanship of “The One”, does that presage a further move towards outright partisanship in the manner of Reid and Pelosi?
AD (5f7f57) — 2/12/2009 @ 3:56 pm
You started it, AD. We tried our best to reach out to your type. But it didn’t work. A slap on the face. Really embarrassing.
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:02 pm
Can anyone tell me where in the video clip the loaves and fishes miracle is attempted?

It happens right at the end, when the Lighworker produces a bowl of fresh Arugula out of his arse.
Dmac (49b16c) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:05 pm
Emperor7, well Obama’s “bipartisanship” was always BS. Removing a key responsibility from the Commerce department was hardly a “bipartisan” act.

AD, hehe.
SPQR (72771e) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:06 pm
No, lovie. Baracky offered a Cabinet level position to a very centrist Republican from a state that tends Dem, which would put that seat in play in the next election. At the same time, he stripped that Cabinet position of one of its more important roles, and rolled that into his political operations in the White House. So, rather than be someone that Baracky and you can point at and say “Look, I am bipartisan”, Sen. Gregg grew a spine and said no thanks. Good on him.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:06 pm
. We tried our best to reach out to your type.

Sounds like a line lifted off The Sopranos, where Tony justfies killing a man who didn’t wish to pay the protection racket. “Aay, we tried to do some bidness with da guy, but he didn’t agree with our particular viewpoint. So F-CK HIM!
Dmac (49b16c) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:07 pm
Obama is too nice. That’s his fault.
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:32 pm
Bullshit, lovie. He is too transparently overtly political. And Sen. Gregg called him on it.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:34 pm
Too nice?

He stabbed Hillary in the back multiple times.

If that’s nice, what’s mean?
steve miller (3381bc) — 2/12/2009 @ 4:38 pm
Comment by steve miller — 2/12/2009 @ 4:38 pm

Are you talking about the VP and Sec of State being first offered to Biden? Well yes. That was a little cold hearted. (I know you are not referring to the primaries.)
Emperor7 (1b037c) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:03 pm
Dmac @ 94

It happens right at the end, when the Lighworker produces a bowl of fresh Arugula out of his arse.

I just had surgery, and I am laughing so hard I popped three stitches.

Thanks Dmac. I needed the laugh.
Gale_H (710dbc) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:41 pm
At the same time, he illegally stripped that Cabinet position of one of its more important roles

Fixed that for you.
Rob Crawford (b5d1c2) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:49 pm
You started it, AD. We tried our best to reach out to your type.

Bigoted much?

It’s rather fascinating that a string of Obama nominees with tax issues are each individuals making individual mistakes in individual ways, but one Republican decides he can’t take an office after it was illegally stripped of one of its critical functions, and “his type” are all convicted of some sin.
Rob Crawford (b5d1c2) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:51 pm
Emp is so delusional it’s pathetic. I would feel sorry for her if she wasn’t so desperately poisonous to the very fabric of the US Constitution and human rights, or if she wasn’t so desperately poisonous to Truth and Honor and the advancement of any standard of living, or if she wasn’t so desperately poisonous to any form of intellectual integrity. Nothing she says is of any value as she chooses to be blind. Those who have eyes, let them see. Those who have ears, let them hear. If she had admitted she was blind, she would have had opportunity to see; yet she has chosen to demand she has sight; therefore, she will remain blind. “They have refused the truth; therefore, I shall cause them to believe the lie. (paraphrase)”
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:55 pm
I dunno, John. I wouldn’t call her “poisonous”. I’d point out that, in times past, someone that obviously ignorant would be too ashamed to comment in public.
Rob Crawford (b5d1c2) — 2/12/2009 @ 5:58 pm
I’d point out that, in times past, someone that obviously ignorant would be too ashamed to comment in public.

I would suggest that she has well passed that point, to where it is so ignorant so as to be unaware. The whole ignorance is bliss concept, in action.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:10 pm
I don’t know who warned me that Emp was undefensible. I apologize for not believing you. Emp is most definitely indefensible.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:12 pm
Comment by John Hitchcock — 2/12/2009 @ 5:55 pm
You are beginning to sound like a nut-case, John. You are embarrassing yourself.
Emperor7 (0c8c2c) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:31 pm
Comment by JD — 2/12/2009 @ 6:10 pm
Liar! That’s all you do so well. Lie and cheat.
Emperor7 (0c8c2c) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:35 pm
Ignore the troll…
Ignore the troll…
Ignore the lying hateful intellectually weak troll…

Oh, heck. Emp, grow a third brain cell and then come back.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:45 pm
And steal! Racist!

Denounced.
Pablo (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:45 pm
I can barely disguise my glee that the American people are seeing you conservatives for the tightfisted, mean-spirited people you really are.

Like that stupid Republican lady that gave Henrietta a house! Mean, cheap bitch.
Pablo (99243e) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:50 pm
Comment by John Hitchcock — 2/12/2009 @ 6:45 pm
Now you are acting hysterical and unglued. Are you on medications? Did you take the wrong pill or what? Hate to see a good man end in a straight-jacket…..
Emperor7 (0c8c2c) — 2/12/2009 @ 6:59 pm
You are beginning to sound like a nut-case, John. You are embarrassing yourself.

Liar! That’s all you do so well. Lie and cheat.

Uh, yeah – you sure told him.
Dmac (49b16c) — 2/12/2009 @ 7:00 pm
How is it that I have a high school education and a full time job. It isn’t luxury but it pays the bills. I am a single mommy of 3, I PAY for 2 in college, 3.9 gpa students, and a sophomore in high school that takes a rediculous amount of money. and NO ONE, not the govenment, not some unknown wealty person…NO ONE gives me a penny. I don’t get food stamps, any type of government aid, and I still do it. I am BLESSED that I have well mannered, polite, and goal oriented children, thank God!!! I’m not looking for a handout but it’s a sad state of affairs when I work my hiney off to raise healthy, happy and productive citizens, and one that doesn’t do crap gets every handout available. May I get some free handouts????????????? 😉 Take care and be Happy.
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 10:49 pm
Lori – Would that there were more people like you.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:07 pm
Thank you JD, you’re very kind!
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:14 pm
Lori – His Imperial Majesty Baracky should be sending you a unicorn any day now, delivered via rainbow.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:19 pm
daleyrocks…I won’t hold my breath!!! 😉
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:23 pm
Yeah, I am still waiting on them to take care of my mortgage, and fill my car with gas. I guess if I had not paid my mortgage, they would have helped me out.

$13 every two weeks folks. $13. Out of $800,000,000,000, the best they could come up with was $13 every couple weeks.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:28 pm
JD, you’re right! I live in Biloxi, and had insurance pre Katrina, $65,000 in damage and $45,000 paid for by the insurance company. There are people there that had nothing, did nothing and deserve nothing but they are far ahead of me. I will come out ahead in the end!!! Also, I might add that I’m military and can’t “really” speak my mind on my current “boss”, but if I could……;) My latest raise equated to $20 every two weeks!!! Woo Hoo!!!
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:32 pm
I suppose that I could look at that as 4 gallons a milk per month!! 😉
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:33 pm
Thanks, Lori. It is an honor to meet you.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:35 pm
Out of $800,000,000,000, the best they could come up with was $13 every couple weeks.

You better purchase stock in Thunderbird and Colt 45, cause I’m making a run, baby!
Another Chris (a3bb8f) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:39 pm
And you, as well, JD! I’m having a blast here, it’s my first!! 😉
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:40 pm
You will have a hard time finding a better group of people, Lori. Good folks, with some obvious exceptions.
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:45 pm
There are always the exceptions!! I may be a little conservative, as a woman, for most, but I’ll paddle through it.
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:48 pm
Lori, I salute you as I saluted my own daughter. She just got back to the US from Iraq last month. (But I haven’t seen her since her mid-deployment leave in August.)
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:50 pm
There is nothing the matter with being a little conservative 😉
JD (c6800b) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:51 pm
Thank you John, I got back in May, I am, absolutely, honored to serve this country!!!
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:56 pm
JD, love, I’m a little more than a little conservative…..I’m over the top. It leads to some interesting situations in the military!! They are probably looking at me now!!! 🙂
Lori (7b1574) — 2/12/2009 @ 11:58 pm
Lori, Biloxi makes you a dogface, right? Too bad, really. My daughter’s a dogface. But I prefer my previous status as a part-time devil dog to a dogface. 😛
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:00 am
Hmmm…John, not quite sure what a dogface is, but I am familiar with the “Devil Dog”. I have some former Marines that fly in my unit!
Lori (7b1574) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:01 am
Oh, you’re one of those easy life types. Dogface is Army, you know, the ones who weren’t sturdy enough to be Marines.

And so you know, if you always aim high, you’ll always miss your target.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:04 am
Interesting John, We all had career day!! I chose to be smart and you chose to die!!!! I greatly appreciate those that go before me, but I am WILLING to die for this screwed up country, it’s still, by far, the best. I’m saddened that you would speak such ill words about your own daughter!! Most Jarheads are, at least, respectful in public. I see that you have had a different kind of leadership…sad!! I wish you well, I WILL NOT argue the benfits of each service. We are ALL in the same WAR, if you will!! Take care John
BTW, I haven’t missed a single TARGET, yet!!!
Lori (7b1574) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:14 am
I’m sorry my sarcasm didn’t translate across the written internet. I did not mean any disrespect at all, Lori. I only meant to poke a little fun is all. I have traveled by plane directly to Army posts and on my journeys, I have refused to allow members of the military to pay for their beverages inside the airports. I guarantee if I ever see you in the airport watering hole alone, you will not be allowed to pay for your beverage.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:19 am
Thanks John, I assure you that I can pay for my own beverage. Sarcasm may not be your best quality!! Especially in a public forum!! Take care
Lori (7b1574) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:21 am
Thank you for your service Lori. Come back and stay or lurk a while next time. You’ll develop a sense for the personalities.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:38 am
I agree with Daley. Some people take a while to get used to. Unlike me, of course. I’m just a lovable misunderstood koala.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:41 am
daleyrocks, you’re welcome, it’s the second thing that I do best!! And, thank you, I think!!! 😉
Lori (7b1574) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:42 am
Lori – Some libs spouting straight dogma or debunked talking points aren’t necessarily treated with kid gloves, especially if they don’t comment in good faith. You’ll get a sense of that if you look at other threads.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:57 am
But generally, those who treat others with repect and act in good faith here are treated with respect in return.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 2/13/2009 @ 12:59 am
Thanks daley, I’m, actually, too submissive for this avenue, so, I’ll go to where it counts. I’ve enjoyed being here, but I must retreat. Take care and have fun, L
Lori (7b1574) — 2/13/2009 @ 1:01 am
I take it this is Obama`s version of “Joe The Plumber” only this one is called ” Henrietta Homeless”. Anything to divert our attention from the real problems in this country. Truely disgusting.
Roland (dfbca9) — 2/13/2009 @ 6:26 am
Does anyone here talk about the actual article for which this commentary is for?
Teto (dfbca9) — 2/13/2009 @ 6:31 am
Does anyone here talk about the actual article for which this commentary is for?
Actually the topic is an excuse for more back and forth from two opposing and highly partisan groups. 30% of the comments attempt to do lip service to the topic and the rest is the usual “he said”, “she said”. You will learn to adapt.
FWIW, depending on which side of the aisle you belong to, this woman is either a fake or a true symbol of the economic crisis. I say she is real. What do you say?
Emperor7 (0c8c2c) — 2/13/2009 @ 7:12 am
It took a “white REPUBLICAN” to give Hughes a house. Where were all the “black, rich movie stars and athletes” offering her a house? Where was Oprah? Why didn’t Obama offer his house in Chicago he wont be living in for the next 4 yrs? Where was Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, where was Rev. Wright and Louis Farrakhan??
Folks, do some research on this woman and her son. They were offered help as in free housing for 3 months and job training BEFORE she asked Obama for help but her and her son turned it down. Records show that in 2006 her house was in her son’s name. I believe there is a lot more to this story.
BG (171e29) — 2/14/2009 @ 7:48 am
Hi,
People have lost thier jobs..goverment cant help..the global meltdown have really pushed hard on people of devloping and devloped countries..but as Mr.Obama have promised to help the bankrupt companies..there is a small chance of economy to come on track…but that would certainly take few years…

NatureAdvice
http://www.justmeans.com
NatureAdvice (188bcc) — 3/2/2009 @ 8:20 am

2/11/2009

Is the Homeless “Face of the Economic Crisis” Really Homeless?

149 Responses to “Is the Homeless “Face of the Economic Crisis” Really Homeless?”

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