Posted on 10/10/2007 4:42:36 AM PDT by kristinn
SNIP
The onslaught began over the weekend, a week after 12-year-old Graeme Frost delivered the Democrats' weekly radio address with a plea to Bush to sign the bill. A contributor to the conservative Web site Free Republic noted Graeme's enrollment in the private Park School and the sale of a smaller rowhouse on the Frosts' block for $485,000 this year and questioned whether the family should be taking advantage of the state program.
SNIP
The Frosts say the description of their family's circumstances now circulating is misleading. Halsey, they say, is a self-employed woodworker - he has no employees - while Bonnie works part time for a medical publishing firm. Together, they say, they earn between $45,000 and $50,000 a year.
That would make the Frosts eligible for Maryland's Children's Health Program, which is open to families that earn no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or $82,830 a year for a family of six.
The Frosts declined to show The Sun their 2006 income tax returns...
SNIP
Halsey Frost purchased the family home for $55,000 in 1990, according to city records, and refinanced in 2005, he says, to make improvements to accommodate the return of Graeme and Gemma from the hospital. The 1936 brick rowhouse, on a side street near Patterson Park, has an assessed value of $263,140.
Halsey Frost purchased a 1920 warehouse in East Baltimore for $160,000 in 1999, according to city records. It is assessed at $160,500. Frost says he is still paying off the mortgages on both properties.
The four Frost children depend on financial aid to attend private school, the Frosts say. In addition, they say, Gemma receives money from the city for special education made necessary by her injuries.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
I'd say the Frost's are wayyyy past due a good thorough audit; and, not by the Baltimore Sun either, by the IRS.
Just a fleeting look at the numbers (income v.s. liability) reveals something smells to high Heaven.
Simply put, the books don't jibe.
"The Frosts declined to show The Sun their 2006 income tax returns..."
HA!!!!!
...I'll bet. :o)
that tatoos on her feet are a nice touch....
It is absurd that “income” alone should be the standard for this program. Why should I fund health care expenses for a family earning $50K but that lives in an expensive home? If they want cash for health care, sell the home, and live in a more modest place, and spare my pocket from paying for expenses that they should be bearing.
If these families with their hand in my pocket own expensive cars or houses, if they have $150/month cable tv bills, if they take vacations, or if they waste money eating out, then, in effect, I am funding these extravagances by paying for their childrens’ health care.
These programs (if they exist at all) MUST BE means tested. Unless and until there is no possible recourse for the health care of these kids, leave me and other taxpayers out of it.
Would you sign for a loan (there is no such thing as a “co signer”) for your adult kids who put themselves in this situation with eyes wide open??
I would rather stand in the rain tearing up $20 bills.
And that is a tough love that is designed to stop enabling irresponsibility, not an uncaring attitude.
Good Lord, given what they claim is their financial situation, nobody would lend to them
they are HIDING their INCOME it looks like.
The accident report is hiding too.
I saw a photo of the car on the internet. The left side hit the tree broadside and the middle door section became a V into the vehicle. Gemma would have been hit by the infolding door/window/doorframe exactly in the left orbital and cranial area. It’s possibe that without a seatbelt, she wouldn’t even be alive.
I haven’t seen that photo again, but at the time it was posted as the crash vehicle. A new model silver Ford Explorer.
The car must have been flying to have sustained so much damage. The storyline is that the car met with black ice, yet another Freeper has posted the weather history in Baltimore for that day and the temp was in the mid-40’s.
“If this property is not generating any income for the Frosts, then perhaps they should sell it, and use the money they are paying in interest on the mortgage to purchase health insurance...”
It’s highly unlikely they could get insurance at all for the two with brain injuries.
Excellent letter!
Look at the bright side, when Halsey goes to the slammer for tax fraud he can improve his woodworking skills at public expense.
Interesting. Without seatbelts, most do not survive high speed crashes in any case because they get ejected.
Ahhh but it is....Maybe they just forgot to mention that they were commercial landlords. I'm sure they claim the rent on their IRS 1040 Schedule C along with a healthy depreciation to offset the income. But it's income none the less and buildings hardly ever actually depreciate.
Demagoguery 101: Out of 300,000,000 people, get one family with injured children and make them out to be the AVERAGE family.
Drawing conclusions and trying to form policy from statistical examples of less than .0001 percent is S*T*U*P*I*D.
And if that equipment happened to weigh, oh say, 6000 pounds or more, in years past he got a tax write-off on his SUV, Minivan, whatever.
Say, Raycpa - do you suppose the kids are also employees/officers of the LLC and receive a stipend for their efforts which just comes in under the IRS limit?
Or would they best be covered in an A-B Trust, which would be Frost-ing on the cake?
The Dems though they had a winning story, given that these children survived and recovered very well from extremely serious injuries. Their address and their parents’ “look” probably were all the background check that the Dem staffers did. Dems are much more elitist than today’s Republicans, so they just bought the poverty story, hook line and sinker.
Who knew that their wedding announcement in the New York Times - with thumbnail bios of both sets of parents of Bonnie and Halsey would pop up on Google!
The parents are on record in the first SUN article about Graeme’s Saturday radio address as saying that they are in favor of government insurance for everyone no matter what their income.
(No mention of course of the excellent Medevac and trauma center facilities in the State of Md.)
I agree or it would be too high NOW, but BEFORE the accident they could have been paying for a low cost medical for the children but opted to have the taxpayers do it so they could pay for more "neccessities" like a new Explorer. The cost for medical for healthy children is low.
I watched the video from the Baltimore TV station, and that family’s home is definitely not a poverty-level home. It looks - and is - twice as large as my house, and it looks to be in good condition. That guy must not do much carpentering if he’s only making about $35,000 a year.
UNREPORTED INCOME on his Rental Property>>> Isn’t that TAX EVASION??? HEllo IRS!!
You obviously understand very little about injury potential in a MVA. If these children had not been wearing restraints they would most likely be dead. In fact, it is miraculous that they are all alive after hitting a tree at that speed. You seem to have a false sense of security about airbags/seatbelts ets. Brain stem injuries, Spinal cord injury and Traumatic Brain injury would be probable given the details of the accident. I find it disturbing that some feel a need to make wild accusations that have no basis in fact.
Really, I find this whole thread disturbing. I don’t see much of a discrepancy in their financial records. I have 5 children and these numbers aren’t really that odd to me. Same with the private school, my children all attend private school, and our families income isn’t that much higher than this families. (financial aid)
There are plenty of valid and meaningful ways to argue against government healthcare, using factual information. Accusing this family of everything from cheating on their taxes, to failing to require their children to wear seat belts, doesn’t provide much of a case against Hilarycare. IMO it makes us look childish, stupid and cruel. Our argument is not with this family, it is with government healthcare, and this is a distraction at best.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.