Originally Posted by Starburst:
They also need to put more money into retraining people and start giving them 'hand ups' instead of just giving them money to not do anything productive by giving them 'hand outs'.
Very true. I think if you get assistance and you don't have a debilitating disability you should have to work full time. By that I mean the government will find something for you to do. Maybe you clean trash off the side of the highway for 40 hours a week but you shouldn't be able to sit home when you have the ability to work and have other people pay for your life.
I always get miffed at tax time. I always end up having one low income client who gets public assistance and has her childcare paid for by the state then she gets her tax money and spends it like crazy on silly things. One of my clients made over $14,000 this year (she said it to someone else on a Facebook post)and got over $6000 back from taxes and had very little actually taken out of her pay during the year. So after she gets her tax return she takes home aprox. $20,000 a year. Where I live that's more than enough to live off of without assistance. All of her childcare is paid for. It seems to me if you are getting public assistance you shouldn't get the earned income credit or the dependent care credit.