The hard-working poor

 There's plenty of evidence to support the work ethic of poor people. Almost 63 percent of America's work-eligible poor are working. Many of the remainder are plagued by a real unemployment rate that is two to five times higher than the official rate.

Immigrants comprise 13 percent of the US population, but make up 28 percent of the small business owners.

Poor families don't waste money. Two-thirds of their income is consumed by housing, food, transportation, health care, and insurance.

Over 83 percent of all benefits going to low-income people are for the elderly, the disabled, or working households. Only 1 cent of every food stamp dollar is used in a fraudulent manner. Consider in comparison with the kind of fraud carried out by the big banks and government contractors.

A study of 18 European countries found "increasing employment commitment as social spending gets more generous" -- in other words, dividend payments encourage people to work harder, rather than the other way around.

An analysis by Princeton and Northwestern of 1,799 policy issues revealed that "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

In a survey of 187 cities, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty found that 18% of cities impose bans on sleeping in public, 53% of cities prohibit sitting in particular public places, and 9% of cities prohibit sharing food with homeless people.