Do the poor have it easy?

Survey question from Pew: "Poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live decently, or poor people have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything?"

Almost four out of five conservatives: Oh the poor, totally have it easy.

To be fair, it's a very limited question, a binary set up to get just the sort of partisan response it gets. Still, it's troubling that the phrase "poor people have it easy" gets many takers at all. Do you know any poor people? Have you listened to them talk about their day-to-day lives?

A Facebook-friend-of-a-Facebook-friend: "If you think being poor is so easy, set fire to all your stuff."

More here.