>"three-quarters of what the poor get in this country is not counted in the oft-touted poverty numbers."

LOL
Of course it's cash. Very few have credit cards.
They use it to pay their light bill and get groceries, just like everyone else did 25 years ago.
Cash comes in as loans from family and friends, paid work for services under the table doing repairs, carpentry, cleaning houses, sewing clothes, babysitting etc or even money from selling drugs.
People that poor don't have credit cards and aren't going to report the few extra hundred they get. Listen, I don't care how observant you think Thomas Sowell is, I don't give a rat's ass. As a matter of fact, Mr.Conservative would have loved to eat at my place tomorrow but I didn't invite him on purpose. He would have ruined our dinner.