Blaming the poor for the economic woes of our nation has long been an extremely successful political tactic as it deflects from looking at huge corporate welfare being siphoned out of the U.S. treasury through tax loopholes.

The plight of the poor in the U.S. has gotten worse during the past 40 years. Millions of American jobs have been sent overseas, leaving the  job market rife with low-paying, part-time jobs that have no benefits. These jobs are typically dead-end jobs with the possibility of layoffs, reduction in hours, or the elimination of those jobs entirely.

Visit any career center and you will find unemployed workers talking about age discrimination and huge numbers of applicants for one full-time job that pays well and has benefits.

The struggle is real and overwhelming for many.

Instead of looking downward at poor people, I suggest looking upward at what has been happening for years in the global corporate world.

For example, in 2010, General Electric reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, with $5.1 billion of the total coming from its operations in the United States. However, by using tax loopholes, it received a $3.2 billion refund.

Another example: in 2010, Bank of America earned a profit of $4.4 billion, yet received a bailout of nearly $1 trillion, and then received a $1.9 billion tax refund.

One can only wonder what the U.S. Treasury would look like if there were no loopholes for huge corporations.

Would the U.S. be trillions of dollars in debt to China?

Judith Harris, Lewiston

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