What the hell is going on with the HISD board? (Pearland: real estate, insurance)

[shanv3]

Originally Posted by marksmu

They dont pay taxes...ALL the people you are concerned about receive a credit at the end of the year.

Looking at the knee jerk reaction and personal attack on me, I thought he was worried about his property taxes and the extra 100 on top of that

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by marksmu

The current system encourages people to stay poor. I see it ALL of the time. We see people turn down pay raises b/c it would knock their kids off CHIP...I see people who make their spouse quit work to qualify for more free benefits.

Your idea of basic income has been tried...it is a total and complete failure. Look at Venezuela for the outcome. Quit looking for free things and support hard work.

Bottom line - we give too many benefits in this country, and we encourage bad behavior. We encourage single family households by taxing married couples, we encourage low income people to have more children by increasing their benefits - we are giving incentives to the behavior we should be discouraging....because well its easy to say WONT SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!?!?!

Many of the poor would not be poor if they spent more time working and less time looking for government benefits. Many of the schools wouldnt be broken if the parents were involved with their own kids. But its hard to do when you are a single parent...The schools are a byproduct of the home life of these kids - and the home life for many is broken, and much of it is broken because the political parties want it broken as as issue to campaign on. Its pathetic.

I'm so tired of hearing this ignorant nonsense. I've been poor. I knew that I had chosen a field (education) that wasn't going to pay well, so I didn't pursue government benefits. Not that it would have made much of a difference. Here's the thing. If you're making 32k/year and you have a baby, you're likely to spend 12K/year just on childcare, so you can keep working. That's apart from any other expenses. People are working hard, but the math doesn't add up for the working poor. People need some social support at moments in their life (like when kids are babies and need child care, for example) that are challenging, so they can keep working, and keep contributing to society. If you fail them at those moments, it all falls apart and then you have a really needy, homeless, jobless family on your hands.

Stop whining about lazy poor people wanting free stuff. It's an insulting lie.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I'm so tired of hearing this ignorant nonsense. I've been poor. I knew that I had chosen a field (education) that wasn't going to pay well, so I didn't pursue government benefits. Not that it would have made much of a difference. Here's the thing. If you're making 32k/year and you have a baby, you're likely to spend 12K/year just on childcare, so you can keep working. That's apart from any other expenses. People are working hard, but the math doesn't add up for the working poor. People need some social support at moments in their life (like when kids are babies and need child care, for example) that are challenging, so they can keep working, and keep contributing to society. If you fail them at those moments, it all falls apart and then you have a really needy, homeless, jobless family on your hands.

Stop whining about lazy poor people wanting free stuff. It's an insulting lie.

Thank you

[usc619]

Originally Posted by marksmu

They dont pay taxes...ALL the people you are concerned about receive a credit at the end of the year.

Kind of like that buffoon in the White House.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I'm so tired of hearing this ignorant nonsense. I've been poor. I knew that I had chosen a field (education) that wasn't going to pay well, so I didn't pursue government benefits. Not that it would have made much of a difference. Here's the thing. If you're making 32k/year and you have a baby, you're likely to spend 12K/year just on childcare, so you can keep working. That's apart from any other expenses. People are working hard, but the math doesn't add up for the working poor. People need some social support at moments in their life (like when kids are babies and need child care, for example) that are challenging, so they can keep working, and keep contributing to society. If you fail them at those moments, it all falls apart and then you have a really needy, homeless, jobless family on your hands.

Stop whining about lazy poor people wanting free stuff. It's an insulting lie.

If you are making $32K and you have a baby - where is the other parent? What are they doing? How are they contributing? All of this is part of the bigger problem that is the degradation of the family unit.

Childcare IS expensive...I have 3 kids - I pay it - its more than all of my other expenses except for my mortgage...combined.

People look at kids as a paycheck - I see it first hand as an employer all of the time. Whether you admit or care to acknowledge the truth - it is the truth.

I'm not against helping people who find themselves in a bad place temporarily, but that is not what happens. People seek these benefits, and then adjust their lifestyle & work hours once they get them. People who refuse overtime or pay raises b/c it would affect their benefits by putting them over the poverty line. Most of these people have No desire to get off benefits. Why work more when the government is paying them not to work more.

We give incentives to behavior that should be discouraged. TRUTH. Not an insulting lie. You are just wrong.

[fnh]

Wasn't marksmu once posting about the tax break he claims on his ranchlet? What a welfare queen.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by fnh

Wasn't marksmu once posting about the tax break he claims on his ranchlet? What a welfare queen.

Typical

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by fnh

Wasn't marksmu once posting about the tax break he claims on his ranchlet? What a welfare queen.

I don't own a ranch, but I do operate a family owned ranch - there are no tax breaks for agriculture unless you are talking about an agricultural tax exemption on real property taxes, or perhaps not paying highway taxes for off road diesel.

I do know alot about it, so its possible (though I dont recall) giving advice about ranching exemptions. Its been many years since I could qualify for the agricultural subsidy that is given to farmers/ranchers for national security reasons.

Good try though.

[Vicman]

That is a genuine problem, but that doesn't mean we're giving too many benefits. It just means we're giving them with too many strings attached, or the wrong strings attached. Taking away benefits will just make lives worse, mark. Giving money with fewer, or even no strings (basic income) attached means they will be happy to get those promotions.

"Many of the poor would not be poor if they spent more time working and less time looking for government benefits."

Many of the poor are in fact working, but they're not given enough hours to be paid a living wage. Walmart, et al knowingly hire part-time employees that they don't have to give benefits to. Guess who has to pay the rest? The taxpayer, because Walmart, et. al refuses to pay a living wage.

"Many of the schools wouldnt be broken if the parents were involved with their own kids."

This is true, and if workplaces that hire the poor gave parents maternity and paternity leave, more flexible hours, etc. perhaps the ones who do care will be better able to do something. Then neighborhood public schools should not be penalized for "expelling" children of parents who don't care (this would be the number one change that improves things)

Originally Posted by marksmu

The current system encourages people to stay poor. I see it ALL of the time. We see people turn down pay raises b/c it would knock their kids off CHIP...I see people who make their spouse quit work to qualify for more free benefits.

Your idea of basic income has been tried...it is a total and complete failure. Look at Venezuela for the outcome. Quit looking for free things and support hard work.

Bottom line - we give too many benefits in this country, and we encourage bad behavior. We encourage single family households by taxing married couples, we encourage low income people to have more children by increasing their benefits - we are giving incentives to the behavior we should be discouraging....because well its easy to say WONT SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!?!?!

Many of the poor would not be poor if they spent more time working and less time looking for government benefits. Many of the schools wouldnt be broken if the parents were involved with their own kids. But its hard to do when you are a single parent...The schools are a byproduct of the home life of these kids - and the home life for many is broken, and much of it is broken because the political parties want it broken as as issue to campaign on. Its pathetic.

[Vicman]

I agree that it's better to have another parent, but sometimes relationships fail, and sometimes the other parent has no interest in children and/or is a danger to one's safety.

I would qualify it as "[some] People look at kids as a paycheck" although based on birthrates in the west, it's not as common as it is in the third world, where, due to a lack of welfare, you need kids to take care of you in old age.

"I'm not against helping people who find themselves in a bad place temporarily, but that is not what happens. People seek these benefits, and then adjust their lifestyle & work hours once they get them."

It's often hard for people to get out of these situations. This is especially the case if they have felonies on their record.

"Why work more when the government is paying them not to work more."

Taking the strings attached away, or use different strings. Encourage Walmart, et. al to hire people full time so they can pay benefits.

Originally Posted by marksmu

If you are making $32K and you have a baby - where is the other parent? What are they doing? How are they contributing? All of this is part of the bigger problem that is the degradation of the family unit.

Childcare IS expensive...I have 3 kids - I pay it - its more than all of my other expenses except for my mortgage...combined.

People look at kids as a paycheck - I see it first hand as an employer all of the time. Whether you admit or care to acknowledge the truth - it is the truth.

I'm not against helping people who find themselves in a bad place temporarily, but that is not what happens. People seek these benefits, and then adjust their lifestyle & work hours once they get them. People who refuse overtime or pay raises b/c it would affect their benefits by putting them over the poverty line. Most of these people have No desire to get off benefits. Why work more when the government is paying them not to work more.

We give incentives to behavior that should be discouraged. TRUTH. Not an insulting lie. You are just wrong.