Minnesota Shutdown Impact

[Michael]

This Febuary she received an $8,000 dollar tax refund.

I asked her in May what she was going to do with all that money and she said "Oh it's gone... I had a tummy tuck".

I had to laugh at this. Both of you are right. There are those that truely need and DESERVE assistence but their are a lot that milk the system. We can't keep pouring money down the drain. Its a tough job for those that have to filter through the wasteful abusers.

[Unregistered]

Luxury

I am going to take a pretty neutral stance here, and I agree this forum is off topic, and unreasonably heated.

Nanny - If your cousin comes from a family who can support her, there is no reason for the taxpayers to do it. You are part of her family.

Many people do not have the Luxury of a family to help with childcare, pay for college, or take them in when they lose a job.

Most of America lives one paycheck from a serious crisis.

The last thirty years of our economy have seen a major shift in wealth from the many to a few. Yes, our entitlement programs nearly equal our tax base, but we do not tax the true wealth in this economy, the corporations or the highest paid employees. We tax the upper middle class. We spend a lot of money in foreign aid. We spend a lot of money on wars. We spend a lot of money putting kids in daycare when we could simply provide for housing, living expenses and public education options. Many countries have a higher quality of life than ours. One of the best measures of this is care for children.

I don't live in MN, but i think the attitudes here are pretty common nationally.

The end result is that the few children of the few rich are in luxurious situations. The mothers of these children have access to good health care, including family planning. They have lowered risk of divorce because they have fewer financial risks. Poverty is a huge indicator of divorce. This is the first recession in which women have continued to lose ground while men return to work. The concept of women's work is changing.

The problems are complicated. The issue of childcare reimbursement is a small note in the cacophony. I am pretty sure I believe that childcare for women who do not need to work or finish school to work is a luxury. I do not believe that childcare assistance that allows a woman to work or finish school so that she can provide for her children is a luxury.

I also do not believe than any one of us would want to be in a situation to qualify for the types of aid we are discussing in this forum, and that if any of us knew a way to help raise the incomes of these folks to something above poverty we would take those steps.

The creation of jobs at a living wage is a good one. Is anyone here working at that level?

This is 2011. ERA went down when I was a little girl.

Take a moment, and imagine you were one day, lifted from your situation, and had to provide for one child with your own ability, no cash or savings, no family to back you, and ask yourself where you would start? Where would you be in six months? A year?

I have seen kids at work with their moms. It always made me sad.

[laurasophia]

WHO is on assistance?

I am FLABBERGASTED at the content of the posts here!! The comments about families receiving assistance make me sick!! I would NEVER allow such judgmental hypocritical holier-than-thou people watch anyone I loved and cared about!!!!

nannyde: "I have a cousin who has a daughter who....blah blah blah!!" You sure know a LOT about someone who has WHAT to do with your life? Your personal resentment of this individual SCREAMS OUT with your comments! You actually sat and did math on her? Where did you get your figures? Run for Congress...you'll fit right in!!

DAMN you people are judgmental!!!! I can NOT get over the self-righteous comments on this forum!!!! And you people are watching our children day in and day out?! God help us all!!!!

[dEHmom]

Where I live, if you are in Housing, doesn't matter age/sex each kid has to have their own bedroom. If you are a single mom with 2 kids, you HAVE TO have a 3 Bedroom apartment. No way around it.

[nannyde]

Nanny - If your cousin comes from a family who can support her, there is no reason for the taxpayers to do it. You are part of her family.

No I am not a good option. I don't offer ten hour days 52 weeks a year. I offer nine hour days ONLY when you are working and I have 12 working days off a year.

Even if I offered free it wouldn't compare to the free extra hour a day (250 hours per year) and the free twelve non holiday days I am closed. It's the difference of an additional 370 hours per year. If you look at it as a forty hour work week you can see it's more than nine additional free weeks of day care per year.

My free wouldn't come close to the free she gets.

[nannyde]

nannyde: "I have a cousin who has a daughter who....blah blah blah!!" You sure know a LOT about someone who has WHAT to do with your life? Your personal resentment of this individual SCREAMS OUT with your comments! You actually sat and did math on her? Where did you get your figures? Run for Congress...you'll fit right in!!

It's not resentment. It's sadness. It's living long enough on this planet to know it can't go on. We can't afford it.

Yes I did the math. I'm known around here for figuring out the money. It's what I do. I'm in the end of my seventeenth year of home child care. I know year to year the cash value of child related services. If you think I have it wrong on any of them feel free to correct me.

Over a quarter of million dollars for three people in eleven years. That's a chunk o change and there is NO end in sight.

Run for congress?

Yeah that would be my fourth job. I'll see if I can fit that in. I wonder if daycare.com would fund my campaign? We could sell t-shirts that say
"It's about the money"
"go play toys"
and "If it doesn't fit .... you must acquit".

Oh wait that one is already taken. ::::::::::::::

[dEHmom]

while the thread has gone off on a bit of a tangent, the truth still lies that there wouldn't be such a hardship on many with the economy the way it is, IF there wasn't so much abuse.

They need to start at the root of the problem.....stop handing money over to anyone who wants it. It should only be the ones who NEED it.

For middle class people (and that is such a broad range of the majority of people in the world), there is no one to help us. NO help. We are stuck to do it on our own.

Every year my dh makes more money, maybe only 50 cents or a few dollars more each year, but every year his take home salary (after taxes) is less and less. We find it harder and harder to put food on our table. But there is no help for us. We can barely manage food on our table, and every time we get a little extra cash for working overtime, or selling something, or whatever it might be, SOMETHING always claims it. Like a vehicle repair, home repair, or something else. It always balances out. But we can never get ahead. I couldn't even afford daycare for 1 child.

IF the government would figure out a way to weed out potential abusers before they get on the system, or those who find a way to stay on the system for years at a time, then we would ALL be in a better position. The ones who need help would receive the help, and probably benefit from it alot more. They would be able to get off the system faster.

I wasn't in anyway referring on my previous posts to those who need child care subsidy, I was referring to those who receive assistance in terms of everything else, housing, food, etc.

There are people who NEED this help, and are sitting there waiting for their turn. People who NEED a roof over their heads, and a place to call home, who are waiting for a place, even if it was only a 1 bedroom for a family of 5. It's probably better than wherever they are now.

There are people with family who can help out, if there is truly a need. When my SisIL had a baby, and things happened where she could no longer live where she was (they had a home and everything), baby was 5 days old. She and baby came and lived with us. But we set ground rules before she walked in, and we enforced them to a T. She was not allowed to go and buy herself clothes, baby unneccessary things, dye her hair, or anything like that. She was to save her money for a deposit should she find an open apartment. We supported her and baby, we didn't ask her to buy any groceries etc, because we wanted her to SAVE. We went into a lot of debt to help her and baby. And in 6 months she had enough to move out on her own. Support baby on her own. 6 MONTHS! Sure we could've called housing and said she can't live here anymore, she has till the end of the month, and they would've found her a place much faster. But we weren't about to cheat the system. She had a place, even if it was just our living room. She had help. Neither my FIL or my MIL helped out one bit. Even though it was their child, they both had extra rooms in the homes, we did it. 25 yo's with 3 kids of our own to support, and we did it.

There is a way when there is a will. And sometimes that way is asking for help, and receiving help, whether it's funded by the government, or a helping hand from a family member. Everyones situation is different. I am blessed to have such a large family, and there will always be someone to help if we needed it. Many people don't have anyone to help. And those are the people who deserve to receive help from the government. Not the people who continue to reproduce just so they can stay on the system. Not the ones who use the money to fund trips, drugs, alcohol, shopping sprees, or whatever else they do with it.