That is a question best answered by an entirely different discussion. One with no hard and fast answer.
But, what does it take to get a tax rebate? Easy. Pay taxes!
Posted on 06/04/2003 4:47:05 PM PDT by FourPeas
MISSING OUT: Poor families face the reality of no tax rebate Wednesday, June 04, 2003 By Ted Roelofs
With six children to look after, a broken-down van and an annual income of about $15,000, Kalala Palmer figures she could use a break. She shops at Goodwill for clothes for her kids and buys them new shoes only on their birthdays. She struggles to pay the YMCA membership she hopes will keep them off the streets. The 26-year-old Grand Rapids resident also is among millions of working-poor families left out in the cold by the $350 billion tax cut signed in May by President Bush. "It hurts, but when you've been poor as long as I've been, you just deal with it," Palmer said. "What do you have to do to get on top?" It's a question under debate this week in Congress, as politicians come under fire for omitting working-poor families from the $400-per-child tax credit going to much of middle-class America. According to analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the tax cut measure leaves families earning up to $26,625 a year with no tax credit. That affects 8 million children. At the same time, $400-per-child rebate checks are expected to be in the mailboxes of millions of middle-class households by July. Though Bush officials defended the measure, it is a void some Republicans are looking to fill before it becomes campaign ammunition for the Democrats. Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced a provision Monday to expand the number of families eligible for per-child tax credits -- and to increase the size of those credits -- as part of a broader effort to make the middle-income child credit permanent. Grassley's proposal would cost up to $90 billion over 10 years. In contrast, Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced legislation to aid the same poor families, at a 10-year cost of $3.5 billion. Bush aides say the measure signed by the president May 28 is fair, because low-income families like that of Kalala Palmer pay no income tax. White House spokesman Ari Fleisher said poor and minimum-wage families receive government benefits in other ways, through programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and earned income tax credits. "By actually forgiving all income taxes and then giving people money beyond that, it's not the same way other people on the income scale are treated," Fleisher said. U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, agrees. "Tax reform is not about payments to the working poor," Hoekstra said. "Per-child tax credit is exactly that. It is a credit against liabilities owed to the federal government." Hoekstra said he is willing to consider extra help for the working poor but would make no promises. "If there are certain people in the Senate that want to make direct cash payments to the poor, then we should have that discussion. I don't know whether or not I would vote for it." But U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, believes Congress ought to revisit the issue. "I think it's a reasonable sort of thing to do," Ehlers said. Though working-poor families might not qualify for a tax credit because they pay no income tax, Ehlers thought it reasonable to give them some help, too. "Since the purpose is to help people with children, then it makes sense to be sure it applies to everyone who has children." Though her circumstances are anything but easy, Kalala Palmer tries to find the humor in life to keep her spirits up. She recalled a recent discussion with a friend, who informed her that Congress was going to pass tax breaks for individuals who get stock dividends. "What in the world is that?" she said of stock dividends, starting to laugh. "I ain't got no stock. There's no way I got that stuff. You got to laugh about this stuff because it hurts too much to be crying." Until January, Palmer worked as a nurse's aide, sometimes working double shifts to try to make ends meet. Then she became worried about her oldest son, Terrell, whom she feared was getting into trouble on the streets. She quit her job to keep an eye on him, and now earns money making clothing and doing alterations out of her home. Her aunt pitches in to help with child care, and Palmer also gets a federal subsidy to pay most of her rent. On the wall in her dining room, she keeps a series of sayings she posted at the suggestion of her church pastor. They include such sayings as, "Be Kind to Each Other" and "No Shouting to Each Other," and one reads: "The Palmer name is a good name and we are good people." Outside her house, Palmer looks at her 1989 Chevy Astro van, with sagging suspension, rusty doors that don't open and a large dent on the right side. She muses what it would be like to get a better car. "If I had a car and a nice house, I wouldn't know what to do. One day, all these rainy days are going to end."
The Grand Rapids Press
Exactly what welfare and related benefits is someone earning $15,000 allowed to receive? I don't want to dispute your point, but I am curious.
Well, on the off chance that she pays for child care, she certainly hasn't gotten any breaks there. The child care credit has remained absolutely unchanged since 1981, the limits have not raised one iota.
No, I don't believe she deserves money for nothing, but at least she is working. We have no idea about the father of the children, maybe he's a bum. Paying people to breed is a bad idea for government whether its welfare or child tax credits.
Well for one thing, you work and save some money before you turn out six children. Marrying a decent guy also helps.
Sheesh! I really don't know how to reach someone like this. She sounds borderline retarded.
Then she became worried about her oldest son, Terrell, whom she feared was getting into trouble on the streets.
Terrell's how old?
Palmer said. "What do you have to do to get on top?"
You're kidding, right? It's a rhetorical question, right?
What's that thing they say about life being hard and being stupid?
That is a question best answered by an entirely different discussion. One with no hard and fast answer.
But, what does it take to get a tax rebate? Easy. Pay taxes!
It's so unfair!.
Guess it's easier to write it up this way than simply to state that the bureaucrats want to increase welfare to the permanent parasites?
They just can't seem to find a phrase that makes it easier for nobody to notice.
"At least she is working"? Since when has the responsibility for taking care of self gone by the wayside? I worked from my early teens until my retirement, and I don't see one person better than the other. I'm tired of taking care of other folks children, to include paying outrageous property tax to send their kids to school. Time for some serious reform.
Currently, I have serious illness, that is proving to be quite expensive. Now, if I had Medicaid, I could keep my money--as is, I pay as long as I can, then they take my home and other assets. Well, I guess I'm really at fault, since I worked so many years, and didn't have a passel of kids I couldn't take care of, so I have a home, retirement income, and ask no one for anything.
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