<p>There is nothing in the story to indicate that Lloyd’s mother does not work. Many families that receive subsidized housing and food stamps work. The article mentions Lloyd’s mother’s efforts to scrape together enough money to keep their 20 year old car running. I would assume that this money comes from working. Do not assume, based on her waiting in the car during school hours four years ago, that Lloyd’s mother did not or does not work. Since the adoption of the poorly named Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act the majority of families receiving food stamps have worked.</p>
<p>“Thank-you, mim. My son’s really resourceful and blessed in many ways. I think he, like my husband, will always be able to find work somehow.”</p>
<p>That’s an amazing quality. My kids have worked since they were young teenagers, and we’ve always encouraged that. We’ve also encouraged them to be entrepreneurial and work for themselves one day.</p>
<p>As of 2005 (latest year available), California receives only about $0.78 in national spending per tax dollar contributed, while Texas receives $0.94. No wonder Texas has the luxury of lower taxes. But some other states (Alabama $1.66, Alaska $1.84, Kentucky $1.51, Louisiana $1.78, Mississippi $2.02, New Mexico $2.03, North Dakota $1.68, South Dakota $1.53, Virginia $1.51, West Virginia $1.76) are large net recipients of national government money. Would the conservative politicians in most of those states be in favor of equalizing national spending and taxes by state?</p>
<p>And BTW: lots of our kids work. Mine have since they were young teens too. My daughter saved enough money to buy a car by her sixteenth birthday…all by herself. My son has done manual labor for years including a stint on a cattle ranch in Florida in the middle of the summer. Now he is working 40-plus hours a week in a warehouse since it is hard to find work at his college and he needs to save money. Plenty of us have kids with a good work ethic.</p>
<p>I am a Californian, and you are not up to date on our state’s finances. We actually have a surplus now.</p>
<p>As for “the middle class being taxed out of existence,” that is because the wealthy do not pay their fair share. Somehow jobs were created when our highest marginal tax rate for individuals was 90%, so why are the so-called “job creators” hesitant to hire people when their top tax rate is only 35%?</p>
<p>“And BTW: lots of our kids work. Mine have since they were young teens too. My daughter saved enough money to buy a car by her sixteenth birthday…all by herself. My son has done manual labor for years including a stint on a cattle ranch in in Florida in the middle of the summer. Now he is working 40-plus hours a week in a warehouse since it is hard to find work at his college and he needs to save money. Plenty of us have kids with a good work ethic.”</p>
<p>On other threads, I have pointed out that very low income students may find the cost of a plane ticket to be an overwhelming barrier. I’m unsure of why I need the lecture. What is so audacious about pointing out that this kid really wasn’t looking for financial aid safeties after getting into Harvard? “Yeah, so I got into Harvard, but I’m going to apply to five other super-selective schools because, you know, financial aid!” </p>
<p>Yes, top schools can be cheaper, but there is also the college application equivalent of adding notches to the bedpost. If he were really concerned with a few grand a year, those other apps would have been to local schools only, and maybe one or two to another Ivy.</p>
<p>I am a Californian. And I am also exactly the sort of person whom you might think would respond to your arguments. Our AGI is just north of $140k, but we live in a very high cost area. We are resigned to never being able to own a home. My son’s learning challenges make large public school classrooms a disaster for him. Over the past eight years (since abandoning the public schools) we have spent over $150k on private school for our son. Though he was admitted to UCs and CSUs, we’re going to spend substantially more money (that we can ill afford) in order to send our son to a private college that appears to offer a better educational setting for him. </p>
<p>Our experience should make us ideal targets for the kind of anti-tax, anti-government beliefs that you espouse, but I swing the opposite way. You may think that I am voting against my self-interest, but I don’t see it that way. The taxes that I pay to support public education and assistance for indigent families are both insurance premiums (should we ever have to avail ourselves of these government services) and the price of promoting a healthy community. I don’t want to live in a place where families live on the streets, or where children cannot go to school unless their parents can afford to pay tuition. I tend to vote for most ballot measures that increase my taxes, even when I will not benefit directly from them.</p>
<p>As for “the middle class being taxed out of existence,” that is because the wealthy do not pay their fair share. Somehow jobs were created when our highest marginal tax rate for individuals was 90%, so why are the so-called “job creators” hesitant to hire people when their top tax rate is only 35%?"</p>
<p>I’m an advocate of the flat tax, so I think here we agree. Still, taxes that apply to income are inherently unfair to the middle class, which produces income rather than the wealthy, which have a higher percentage of dividend income.</p>
<p>“So mimi, what do you think about the fact that so many red states get more than their fair share of federal spending?”</p>
<p>I’m not sure what to think. I don’t know your source, or what the funding includes. Does it include military spending? Does it include disaster relief? Border patrol/ immigration funds? I’m against federal spending, and I wish that in Texas, Governor Perry wouldn’t accept any of it.</p>
<p>Note that I did not say that I do not benefit, only that I do not benefit directly. For example, we are no longer users of public education, but we benefit from living in a place where public education is provided. Public education supports innovation and job creation. The availability of a skilled work force attracts business. I vote to fund programs that benefit the community in which I live, confident that I benefit from living in a better community.</p>
<p>Dividend income is income, although has been favored with lower income tax rates since the early 2000s (a change pushed by conservatives in Congress). It is true that the super-wealthy have other benefits in the tax system that allow them to have much of their income in lower income tax rate categories, or in exempt forms of income, or offset by deductions, etc. that are less likely to be applicable to those who are merely upper income but not super wealthy.</p>
<p>“I’m an advocate of the flat tax, so I think here we agree. Still, taxes that apply to income are inherently unfair to the middle class, which produces income rather than the wealthy, which have a higher percentage of dividend income.”</p>
<p>No, we don’t agree, because I do not advocate the flat tax - why shouldn’t the wealthy pay higher rates on income over $300,000, say? And why shouldn’t dividends and capital gains be taxed at the same rates as ordinary income? </p>
<p>Check out the following regarding our surplus:</p>
<p>As others have noted, this is a success story of the system. This boy will stop the public assistance track in his family and get off of it because he is going to be well educated. I cannot understand any of the talk of him paying the state back. He was a minor who lived in a poor family requiring assistance so he could live and go onto a better life. He will pay society back in other ways.</p>