State assistance to low income families reduced to one year (luxury, taxes)

[zoomzoom3]

We oppress our poor too much here in America!

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by MDude25

This is so wrong. I have a friend who has a kid, and he says it's really not expensive to raise a child. They basically eat what you cook, their clothes are cheap, public schools are free, they don't need cash, the occasional doctors appointment, and then time for entertainment and fun. It really doesn't cost a lot to have a kid, maybe as they grow older it will cost more until they start working. I do understand infant stage requires you to buy specific products, but if you can't deal with that then you're probably just so low income you probably shouldn't have a child yet.

I think people have exaggerated the whole raising a kid is expensive. Now I do admit I don't have a kid but my friend only makes 40k and is doing just fine, and in fact he had his kid when he was making even less money.

It's cheap to raise a child because, although I don't have one, I know a guy who told me so?

[MDude25]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

It's cheap to raise a child because, although I don't have one, I know a guy who told me so?

I didn't say it was "cheap" I said it wasn't as expensive as many people blow it out to be. I have friends and family that have kids and some of them don't make a lot of money and they can raise kids just fine. I don't need to have a child myself to figure this out, when other people's experiences (who make a lot less than I do) can raise a child. Now if you want to provide an upscale or luxury upbringing to your child then yes that can be pricey.

It's not that expensive to have a kid, if you find it expensive then you just don't have any extra money and probably are too poor to even provide for yourself. If two working people can't raise a child then they are failures, plain and simple.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by MDude25

This is so wrong. I have a friend who has a kid, and he says it's really not expensive to raise a child. They basically eat what you cook, their clothes are cheap, public schools are free, they don't need cash, the occasional doctors appointment, and then time for entertainment and fun. It really doesn't cost a lot to have a kid, maybe as they grow older it will cost more until they start working. I do understand infant stage requires you to buy specific products, but if you can't deal with that then you're probably just so low income you probably shouldn't have a child yet.

I think people have exaggerated the whole raising a kid is expensive. Now I do admit I don't have a kid but my friend only makes 40k and is doing just fine, and in fact he had his kid when he was making even less money.

I make 52k, but still don't feel financially ready. And I've seen the reports that it takes a quarter million dollars to raise a kid from cradle to college these days, do the math and that's over $10k/year avged out. And I wouldn't want to raise a kid in some bare bones childhood.

[colcat]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Why is it that practically everybody who is poor, and/or on some kind of public assistance has children? In this day & age, there is no excuse whatsoever for "accidental conceptions". Contraception is affordable, widely available, and very effective. It doesn't take much money or effort to slip a rubber over it! In the rare cases where contraception fails, abortion (although controversial & opposed by some people) is an option as well. There is no law against having sex, and there shouldn't be. It's a matter of taking responsibility for the outcome ... and I'm tired of my tax money paying for irresponsible breeders.

It is because having kids significantly increases benefits. Very significantly.

[AzScorpion12]

Originally Posted by zoomzoom3

We oppress our poor too much here in America!

Do you have any facts to back this up? In a lot of states it's the opposite (see map below). HI,DC & MA are the top 3 states and there's a lot of others who dish out a lot. Also,these are just averages meaning the more kids you have the more you will get. These people are not stupid and will move to where the benefits are. Every year in MA they post how much welfare fraud they found but it continues year after year. 2014 there was almost 10 million and in 2013 over 2 million to people who were deceased! There's a difference between getting a helping hand and making a career out of it and most are career recipients who have no incentive to go out and find work. Heck if I was making 50K back in MA to do nothing why in earth would I want to get a job and actually work?

I see signs all the time for help wanted,true most are lower wage jobs but it's not my fault they decided to have kids at a young age and not further their education or wait until they were financially stable to start having them. One could be a mistake but I see a lot of young people walking around with 3 and 4 kids. It's time people take some responsibilities for their actions and I think it's great AZ is doing something about this.

Originally Posted by colcat

It is because having kids significantly increases benefits. Very significantly.

Absolutely

The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” Tanner and Hughes write in their new paper. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit,” which offers extra subsidies to low-income workers who take work. “In 13 states [welfare] pays more than $15 per hour.

Forbes Welcome

[Akonyo]

You have very narrow and extremely limiting beliefs. In my opinion, this is the single biggest factor in who will be successful in life and who won't be.

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

No, I used to be an idealist, who thought that anybody could do anything, but 33 years on this earth 15 of which in the real world post high school have let reality set in, someone with an IQ of 102 (100 is avg) is not going to be a medical doctor or engineer no matter how hard they try.

You make it sound like you're 65. You're only a few years older than me.

In any event, my profession puts me in contact with many medical doctors and my hobbies/interests puts me in contact with successful entrepreneurs. Many now-doctors failed to get into medical school the first time around. Many successful entrepreneurs have multiple failed businesses. But persistence, resourcefulness, and a good attitude is what really pushes them in that direction. In my travels, I've seen many many people give up at the first sight of trouble or when the realization kicks in that this will be a lot of work.

That's why they fail.

Then, on top of that, you have other races that seem to systemically hold their own people back. This is especially true in the American black and Mexican communities.

I have a friend from my military days that is Mexican. He's an E7 now, working in a great field that will likely net him a $200k/yr job once he hangs it up, but he wasn't always that way. His parents are both drug addicts. His mother would constantly discourage his success, stating "You're Mexican. You're not supposed to be successful." He was able to get passed that nonsense mentally. And, trust me, he is NOT a very smart guy. You would find this out quickly by talking to him. But he's persistent as hell.

This is just one example. I could go on....

Furthermore, there are more people than there are jobs available, and new businesses are not opening up at a fast enough rate. We are now in an economy where college grads with masters degrees are having to work at Starbucks ffs.

Why do you believe that the only way to be successful is to have a job?

The fact is that if someone is determined, they will find a way and won't make excuses. Our current political and economic landscape encourages excuses.

With cost of living going up and wages going down, if you take gov't assistance away from the needy, all that will happen is crime will go up. When I worked construction, one of my coworkers was the nicest guy; but you would never know that he spent 8 years in prison for NEARLY beating a man to death with a baseball bat because he wanted his money, unless he told you. A lot of otherwise crazy things can suddenly look rational when you are homeless and starving...

So your coworker made a bad life decision to beat a guy up with a bat. He went to jail for 8 years. He is now, presumably, a felon. He's obviously not a very smart guy to have ever done this in his life. But somehow he manages to earn a living despite being a felon.

Don't you think that just maybe he was a little persistent in searching for jobs until he found one that would have him?

[William Gordon]

Insulting people is always easy, but it's far more interesting to do a little digging for stats that support ones position. Here's a quick look at some corporate welfare numbers that are mind numbing to even the furthest leaning conservative:
1. Tax Breaks for obscene CEO bonuses ($7 billion/year)

2. Tax cuts for luxury corporate jets ($300 million/year)

3. Big oil subsidies ($37.5 billion/year)

4. Pharmaceutical subsidies ($270 billion/year)

5. Capital gains tax breaks ($51 billion/year)

6. Corporate tax subsidies from state and local governments ($80.4 billion/year)

7. Handouts to Big Ag ($18 billion/year)

8. Welfare for Wall Street ($83 billion/year)

9. Export-Import bank subsidies ($112 billion)

10. Federal contracts for the top 200 biggest companies ($880 billion/year)



Staggering numbers. Here's the link to the article

[Akonyo]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Sure let's kick the poor people while they're down. We need money for private prisons and private school vouchers anyway.

I'm a little disappointed to hear you say something like this. You seem like a smart and very knowledgeable person. I follow your threads on various topics in the sub-forum.

[Akonyo]

Originally Posted by William Gordon

Insulting people is always easy, but it's far more interesting to do a little digging for stats that support ones position. Here's a quick look at some corporate welfare numbers that are mind numbing to even the furthest leaning conservative:
1. Tax Breaks for obscene CEO bonuses ($7 billion/year)

2. Tax cuts for luxury corporate jets ($300 million/year)

3. Big oil subsidies ($37.5 billion/year)

4. Pharmaceutical subsidies ($270 billion/year)

5. Capital gains tax breaks ($51 billion/year)

6. Corporate tax subsidies from state and local governments ($80.4 billion/year)

7. Handouts to Big Ag ($18 billion/year)

8. Welfare for Wall Street ($83 billion/year)

9. Export-Import bank subsidies ($112 billion)

10. Federal contracts for the top 200 biggest companies ($880 billion/year)



Staggering numbers. Here's the link to the article

Is that a legitimate source? Upon doing minimal research, it seems like a liberal sh*trag. Too biased to be considered true journalism (which, unfortunately, is typically the case these days).