Why We’re All Poor Even at $100K | Truth About ‘Minimum’ Wage

And I read a story yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle about four Bay area counties and how they are adjusting their figures to determine what is low income. Now, you should know that poverty level in the United States has stayed at twenty nine thousand dollars for decades. They have not adjusted poverty level numbers in the United States.

And let me explain why no seated president, even the orange one right now, and no party even more than a seated president, no party wants to be responsible for a five hundred percent, eight hundred percent or one thousand percent or more increase in the number of poor people on their watch. So no president has urged Congress to go in and change the levels for poverty. Now, those levels are important for a very big reason. And here's

the reason why. Most social programs, whether it's hud housing, food stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security SSI, SSA, most of those programs go by the federal number for poverty level. Now, some states have readjusted what it takes to be low income in their state, but even those are in the you know, like twenty eight to thirty five. Well, in the Bay Area, in four different communities or counties, they have said that low income is one hundred thousand dollars

a year or below. Now, if you live in the Bay Area, that's not a huge surprise to you, okay, because you know it's expensive. And people that you know that follow politics and follow pop culture know that San Francisco, San Jose, Marine County, all those different areas are very very expensive. And they blame Silicon Valley. Well, there's all these rich tech people, so that skews it differently, and

that may be true. But I wanted to have a bigger conversation today about the lies that we tell ourselves in order to get by. For instance, twenty nine thousand isn't poverty level. That's non existing. That's starving, that's homeless, that's you know, that's no level in America today. And by the way, for those few of you out there that exists on very small amounts of money, please you're welcome to post them to the video. You're welcome to go to YouTube dot com, forward slash really Correll and

share your experiences. But know that those are yours. Because I am a creature of modern day times. I live in the first world, and I see things that are available and I want them. Okay, I want them like any or most other humans. What I don't want is a life of deprivation, and I don't think you want a life of deprivation either. That doesn't mean you want

to live above your means. That doesn't mean you want to go buy these two yachts that Mark Zuckerberg has with a helicopter so you can go skiing in a fjord. That's not what that means. That means you'd like some of the things our parents had, you know, the ability to take a vacation even just once a year, perhaps the ability to own your own home, perhaps the ability to have two cars in your home if you're a

two income family. The ability to send your kids to school in decent clothing, the ability to retire and not be in poverty, The ability to get care when you need it for health care and should you need assisted living when you grow older, the ability to pay for that. These are not outlandish request. The ability to have a cell phone, the ability to pay your insurance, and more importantly, at the end of the day, the ability to pay all of your bills and still have something left over

for savings. I don't think that's living above your means. I don't think that's asking for too much. And so when we look at the numbers in America, it is very clear that everything is designed to keep you poor. For instance, we yell and scream about the minimum wage. Oh,

it's fifteen dollars an hour. That's nothing, that's poverty. You work a full time job at fifteen dollars an hour, that's six hundred dollars a week or twenty four hundred dollars a month, or literally below the national poverty level, which is twenty nine thousand dollars. You should not work eight hours a day and still be paid a pay to keep you in the poverty level by a multi billion dollar company okay, and I don't want to hear how if companies were forced to pay a living wage

they'd go out of business. Then they need to go out of business, or we need to look at why things are so expensive. Fifteen dollars an hour might have been a decent starting wage in the eighties. Okay, So these four Bay Area counties are finally saying what we all know, which is if you make less than one hundred thousand dollars a year in America. And I can tell you the amount of people that make more than that,

but I think so can artificial intelligence ALEXA. How many people in the USA make more than one hundred thousand dollars a year. Let's see what they say here, Come on, give it to me. Yes, eighteen percent, eighteen percent of individual Americans make more than one hundred K. That means eighty two percent of us do not. Okay, eighty two percent of Americans do not make more than one hundred K. And yet we all know now, and I know some of you are going to disagree and say I get

by on much. Yes, you get by, but life isn't about getting by. You're only here once. If you want to go to Europe. You should be able to go to Europe for ten days. That's not a huge extravagant request. Traveling is something that is inherent. We all love to do it. And so what these four counties have said, which I believe is true. If in America you make less than one hundred thousand dollars a year, which is eighty two percent of us, then guess what you're just

getting by? And if you make less than fifty you're in poverty, not twenty nine, not thirty five, not forty four. If you make because fifty thousand dollars a year is only thirty five hundred dollars a month, which means that your rent or your mortgage is only supposed to be one thousand, two hundred dollars. Well that's impossible. So fifty k a year or less and you're struggling one hundred k a year or less and you're just getting by.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. As for county in the Bay Area set their poverty level at one hundred thousand, their low income at one hundred thousand. What are your thoughts? Go to the chat room at YouTube dot com. Forward slash really Carell. Also, you can put your comments down beloaded the video. Thank you, Patron, I love you atkatreon dot com forward slash really Carrell for you to become one. Go now, all right, I want to support the Corell cast, then like and subscribe

the YouTube videos at the really Corel channel. Just go to YouTube dot com forward slash really Correll, that's Kril and subscribe to the most exciting YouTube stream available today.

I mean. You can ask someone almost anything except how much money they make. How much money you make? Is almost like breaking a hipo violation like oh we don't buy, I won't tell you. And it's only when we all share, how share how much money that we all make, that we can realize that most of us are in the same boat. For instance, Visitorship is down in Las Vegas a lot. It's a freaking ghost town. And that's because

somewhere along the line, Las Vegas lost its focus. It used to be a fun, cheap place to come and play. There were the less expensive places, and then there was the Caesar's palaces and all of that, which still weren't that expensive. Buffets were not eighty ninety dollars, they were five dollars, ten dollars, fifteen, twenty whatever. Somewhere along the line, the people in Las Vegas that run things started to believe that everybody makes more than one hundred thousand dollars

a year. They just opened a new day club here and they're touting how fabulous it is. It's one thousand dollars for a cabana, one thousand, and it holds ten, so that's one hundred dollars a person. But you know what, I had to do something yesterday that I hated. And this goes right to the topic of money. One of the most dear people to me is Stephen cabral He is one of my besties and has been for decades now, and it was his birthday yesterday, Sinko to my own

and he's Mexican, which always just makes me laugh. So I had taken him out a week previous to buy him a new shirt for a gig that he's got this Wednesday night, and the shirt was one hundred and fifty bucks. I'm not rich, so but he means a lot to me. And like when I've been in the hospital twice, he has been there, come and got ember, you know, stayed with me, walked her. He's been a great friend and I wanted in some ways to show

him that. So then yesterday I wanted to take him to lunch and he said, you know, I don't want to go to lunch. It's pouring rain. Why don't we go to dinner? And I thought, well, because dinner is more expensive, and I said, okay, where are you thinking? He said, let's go to Ferraros at six pm. And it killed me to text him and say, Steve, I don't have three to four hundred dollars for dinner. For

two and ferraros. If you go and order a bottle of wine, a mocktail, an appetizer for each of us, and then an entree and then a dessert for him, it would have been three hundred or more dollars. So I'm sorry, I just, yeah, I could charge that, but I just I don't want to get into that kind of debt. And it kills me to have to say this to you. And it did, and he was like, Gray, So let's just go to Noris. It's another Italian restaurant.

It was much cheaper for the two of us for dinner with you know, he had a cocktail, I had a mocktail. We each had an appetizer and then an entree. The whole thing was one hundred and ten dollars. And granted that's still a lot of money, but it wasn't three or four hundred dollars. So here in Vegas they think, oh, let's just cater to the people with a hundred would say, you know, people who can pay twenty dollars per cocktails,

which is what it is. People who can pay fifty dollars a day to park their car, which is what it is. People who can pay two to four hundred dollars a night for a room, which is what it is people who can pay three to five hundred dollars to go see a show, and those are the cheap seats. So subsequently, now that everyone is holding onto their money, Vegas is plummeting because Vegas forgot who its customer is. By the way, Downtown, which has always acknowledged it's for

poor people, has shown an uptick every month. So we need to have these very frank discussions with our lawmakers because I'm telling you more of you would qualify for programs well they're being cut. For instance, the low income Heating Assistance program that Trump is cutting. I think the cutoff for income on that is like thirty thousand a year, thirty five thousand. I'm like, that's you know, that's you

wave below poverty. You can't live on that. And so we lie to ourselves and we lie to ourselves and say, well, I don't need that, I don't need to go here, I don't need to do that. I don't Life isn't really about needs, it's about what you want because you're only here once. All you need is air, food, water, shelter. That's all you need, but social engagement, maybe a vacation, the ability to retire, and none of us that is the American dream, and none of us have it. Very few.

My friend Hannah has it. She makes a couple hundred thousand a year. She's very lucky or somewhere. I don't. I don't know how much she makes. I don't. It could be fifty thousand. I think she makes over one hundred a year, one hundred and fifty whatever. So she's one of My friend David Arquette, he's got the American dream, my friend Gavin Newsom. But these are all people who have more than a million dollars. The American dream for you and I is to just get by these days,

and that's not a dream. So I applaud the four Bay Area communities for actually acknowledging that to live in those communities you have to make one hundred thousand or more or your low income. I applaud that, and I wish more communities across the country. For instance, in Las Vegas, I think you have to make at least fifty k

a year or more or your very low income. Now I don't know what their number is here, but I'm telling you, I've lived here long enough, because if you break that down per month, that's about thirty seven hundred dollars a month, which again means you're rent only thirteen hundred a month. That's almost impossible to find. So I'd like to hear your comments down below. Please post below the video. What do you think in your area is

low income? Wherever you are, whether you're James out in Pennsylvania or Randy Radar, whether you're in the Bay Area itself or Washington, or I listened to all around the world. So what in your area do you believe is low income? Paste it down below, and then, of course later today I want you to go stream Corel Kriel do you want to Funk? We got another report yesterday. DJs across the globe are loving it. They're adding it to their playlist, It's being played. I don't make any money from that.

I didn't write the song, but it's great that something I'm doing is happening. So go stream it. You are making a difference. Corel Kril, Do you want to Funk? There's six remixes for you to choose from, pick your favorite, and go stream it all right in your area. You know what do you believe qualifies as low income? And if you're in one of these four counties that say one hundred k year or less, did they get it right?

Did they get it right? All right? Speaking of low income, the poor Gosams don't have a pot to pee in, as my mom would say. And the mood in Israel is they're going to take it over, which was their plan all along. And I don't know why the rest of the world isn't seeing that. Just you know, Russia is being hated because it invaded a country that wasn't theirs, which is the Ukraine, and they want to take it over, and everyone's like, no, you can't. And we're fighting Russia

and have been for like two years now. So why are we passing a blind eye as Israel does the exact same thing to Gaza. Gaza does not belong to Israel, and now they're taking it and going to occupy, which means kicking the Godmins out. That's that could lead, that should be to a world war where we tell it reel to. So why aren't we That's we'll tell you when we come back. We'll also talk a little about the metcala Hey Carrel here, and I'd like to take

a moment to thank all the patrons at Patreon. Your support means the absolute world to me and the show. If you'd like to show your support for the crazy endeavors of the Corell Cast, then please go to Patreon dot com forward slash Really Corell. That's Patreon dot com forward slash, really Corell, and please help get those numbers up by subscribing to the YouTube channel YouTube dot com

Forward slash, Really Correll. There's so much great free content there, it's like having a network on your TV, phone or tablet. All social media is really Corel, including threads and Instagram, and don't forget the website that's had it all all along, really Correl dot com. Without your support, the show simply doesn't work. So please listen on all streaming services, watch and subscribe on YouTube, and support the show through Patreon.

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much at all. It's too expensive. They can't afford it. So yeah, they're you know, he can't. He says he wanted to go see James Taylor. He couldn't afford the concert ticket. They're talking about ATMs here in Vegas, some of them charging you up to twenty bucks to access your own money. That should be illegal. There are companies now that are charging you to pay your bill at any There are many companies now that charge you to

actually pay your bill. That should be illegal. I think the cost for housing is too high for average wages. I would agree with PDR. I guess the cost of everything is more than circa nineteen nineties, but it seemed like back then the one could have an apartment and

eat out regularly on low income. I agree, I've been mostly poor in my whole life ever set up until nineteen ninety eight, I was poor, and then again at the two thousand and eight crash, and then KGO helped me rebuild, and then in twenty fifteen when I got fired, it all bottomed out again and I had to sell my house. So but I've been low income for a very long time of my life and still had fun, Still pay your rent, do what you needed to do, and still go out a couple times a week for

lunch or because lunch was five bucks. You know, lunch was three to five dollars, maybe ten if you went to a nice lunch. Now the average lunch is twenty dollars, and that's it's just ridiculous. And restaurants are closing left and right, and they're blaming the economy. Well, it's your prices. So I talked about Israel. You know, it is not antisemitic to say that Israel needs to be slapped and stopped and that Gaza should remain with the gazas period. It's if you know, how can we do a two

state solution? If you take the land that's going to be that state. So what Netanyahoo is doing is genocide. He is trying to wipe out everyone in that region and then take it over. That's been his plan from the beginning. He is a war criminal according to the International Court, and I, for one, would like to see him tried. And I would like to see anyone in the Israeli cabinet that agrees that taking over Gaza is the right decision. I'd like to see them tried as

war criminals as well. Will they be no because of blind support for Israel, not the Jewish people. I love the Jewish people. I love all of my friends who are Jewish. I adore them as much as I adore anyone else. I would never hold their Judaism against them in any way, shape or form, Nor do I blame them for what Netan Yahoo and his war cabinet are doing. Okay,

so let's be clear on that. I do not blame the rank and file Jews for what's going on with Netanyahu anymore than other countries should blame us for what Donald Trump is doing. A small group of US elected him, and now he represents us all the same in Israel, Yahoo is not the popular voice there, and I hope that the Israelis get him out of there and stop trying to commit genocide and take over Gaza. That would be horrible. But Trump's going over there and he's going

to condone that, and that's terrible. That is terrible. All right? The met Gala? What are we talking about in the chat room? Other things were more expensive in San Francisco too. Yeah, well San Francisco is a very expensive city. It's why I never moved there. When I was on KGO, I couldn't afford it, then couldn't afford it. Now I'll end with the met Gala. I love that. The biggest talk of the night was Diana Ross, eighty years old. She was not going to go. She did not plan to go.

She did not plan her outfit. Her son, Evan Ross, who was there going, said Mom, you've got to come, and she's well, no, I'm doing a tour and I don't know. He's all come on. So she decided to go. The outfit that she had on with its twenty eight foot train, just happened to be in her closet. I'm

not making that up. She decided to go the day prior to the so on Sunday, she decided to go to the Met Gala, and she had that outfit which stopped traffic and stopped the red carpet because they laid out her twenty eight foot her eighteen foot train and put her on the stairs. And she hasn't gone there since two thousand and four, twenty one years. There were literally celebrities walking the red carpet that were not born

the last time Diana Ross did the Met Gala. So that made me happy, okay, and seeing a lot of the guys break out of traditional fashion made me happy. But still the Met Gala makes me a little sad. I know it's a fundraiser for the museum, for the fashion section of the museum. That's how they fund it, So I get that it's a fundraiser, but in today's world, it does seem a little hunger games to go watch millionaires put on outfits that cost more than most of us make in a year and go parade around on

a red carpet. I I don't want to say the time for that kind of thing has passed, but in a way it makes me sad because there's such poverty in New York. And again, these stars aren't going to solve the problem, the poverty problem. It's not their responsibility to do that. But while it's fun to look at the fashions, it's just amazing to me how much money is spent to be seen in something, you know, out there on that red carpet, and I don't It doesn't

do much for their brand. It doesn't make them any more money. And it is benefit and I'm glad that it happens, so this part of the museum can stay open. But I have very mixed feelings about the met gala. I'd like to hear your feelings about it. You know, Rihanna showed up pregnant her third child, but you know what, she's a billionaire. She's got the money. She can afford children, so fine. So she's pregnant with her third child. She's very happy being a mom. She's no no sense is

when she's returning back to pop music. Diana Ross looked incredible, Tracy Ellis Ross, Evan Ross, her children, they look great. Bad Bunny was. Madonna looked very understated and a little old, but she is. She's sixty six. You know, she looked great. Don't get me wrong. But there's a few wrinkles and things starting to show. And she always hides her hands because, as anyone over sixty knows, your hands give you away. So the MET gala, I was happy, and you know,

I'm a celebrity file. I love Hollywood and I love celebrities, but it does make me a little sad that some of those outfits cost so much money and they're worn once or twice. And that's that all right. Today's Tuesday. We've got two more shows for the week, so hope you'll join us tomorrow and Thursday. If you're not a patron, go become one at patreon dot com, forward slash, really Corell. My name is spelled kai l really in front of it really Corell. I have a website, reallycorrell dot com.

Please go visit it. And of course, my YouTube channel is more entertaining and it's free. You could stream entertainment all day long there at YouTube dot com, Forward slash, really Correll And thanks to the chatters who keep things fresh, the MET organizers could do something radical and donate a portion of the proceeds to the local NYC charities and nonprofits. It's time to think outside the box in these new times. I agree. I agree. Also, they're still talking about the

affordable buffets. I agree with that. Love me, miss Ross. I love it when shares at the met galas especially. I agree. I do agree. Uh so I have a great afternoon or morning or evening. Whenever you're listening. I am prel beash, you want to be funn hurt anybody. We will be back tomorrow, Wednesday, God willing, and the creeks.