I heard a story the other day that is probably of some interest to those of us who work for a living and pay our fair share of taxes.
A woman, we'll call her Shaindy, has one kid, is relatively young (20's I think) and has a husband in kollel. She works at an office job somewhere in the NY metro area. She was complaining to someone I know about how she's tired of working, getting up early, rushing to commute, dealing with the day to day work headaches that all of us working folk deal with. She's just plain tired. She mentioned that she was seriously considering stopping to work and going on Section 8/HUD assistance, Medicaid, and food stamp welfare programs and staying home with the children.
Is something wrong with this picture?
Uh... yes. What she should do is either suck it up like we all do (This is the choice she made when she got married) or encourage and convince her hubby to get a job (or a yob ;-)).
Welfare programs already eat up a massive portion of NYS's and NJ's budgets, and are partly to blame for our (NY/NJ metro area for one) ludicrously high state and local taxes. Welfare programs are there IN DIRE CASE someone NEEDS them, they are not there as an "opt-in" lifestyle. No one has the right to choose to go on welfare to live one's religious ideal, and CERTAINLY nobody has the right to go on welfare just to shirk responsibility. This is one of the many problems with our welfare programs today. Welfare programs are noble and necessary because a nation as rich as ours has the responsibility to ensure that people don't die or live sickly lives from starvation and poverty, and FDR was correct in institutionalizing them rather than keep the Hooverian belief that personal and private charities will "come through". These programs have become bloated though and viewed almost as entitlements! They create perverse incentives to not work and not take risks and not pursue jobs and responsibilities. They easily create an indolent attitude that eschews trying to better one's lot and rise from poverty either for fear of losing benefits or from laziness and a belief that that good ol' Unca Sam should take care of me.
This kind of thinking might just not be limited to one individual, unfortunately. There are many things about government waste from the municipal level on up that make me want to scream. But this really makes me mad - my tax $$$ are continuing to support this! It should make all of us honest, hardworking taxpayers really mad, too! While NY and NJ taxpayers groan under onerous tax burdens, while state budgets are in deficit and state governors declare bankruptcy, these programs get more bloated!
Wow, it's funny how you become politically self aware after buying a house and having a kid! ;-)
Speaking of taxes, stay tuned for an eye opening post regarding that issue, BTW. I found a wonderful website that I just HAVE to share with everyone.
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Mr. Bald Guy,
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, you have not had a child yet, and you will hopefully getting a tax credit for it and you are getting a tax credit for your home purchase, lets see what your tax expense at the end of the year is, before screaming bloody murder. However, you do make solid points (although your inseccant need to use words which the average american is not privy to or does not understand, is quite annoying) and if I lived in NY I would MOVE!!! Its your choice, so stop whining about it. I do recall you mentioning in a previous blog how you would consider moving, well I think you should if your so fed up with whats going on. We live in the land of the free, your free to buy land anywhere you want. So suck it up and quit crying you BABY!!!
Anonymous-
ReplyDeleteOne thing out of the way - tax credit for the house is a onetime deal.
You do make a valid point - but I don't entirely agree on 2 counts.
One, whatever I may have posted about before, just picking up and moving in reality isn't easy, for social, emotional, and economic reasons. The post I had on out of town living really made an economic case for moving out, but while my argument may have theoretical merits, the reality of it can be difficult. And there may very well come the day when I do indeed decide to pack my bags and take my potential tax revenue somewhere else; I am very much leaving that possibility open instead of writing it off as an impossibility.
Second, saying we should just ignore the problem in our backyard by running away from it isn't the right tack to take in my mind. You do agree to my points on some level - why not make everyone aware of problems in our own backyards and try to fix them? The founding fathers could've just "moved somewhere else" instead of making everyone aware of a (perceived) problem and trying to fix it...