Hunny, welfare recipients get tax REFUNDS on taxes they never paid in the first place? Ever hear of the EIC? All you have to do to 'earn' it is have children.
LW,
Great dialogue. Thank you.
In the first place, there is already a temporary worker program in place for migrant workers who come to help with various harvests. Additionally, I have never been an advocate of shipping anyone anywhere, I favor enforcement by attrition. In other words, let's stem the flow by securing our borders, (north and south) and do little else.
Good. We are in agreement here. My only issue with the guest worker program is that legal border crossings are incredibly challenging, as well as the completerlty inefficient systems in place to handle it. Illegal immigration has been an easy reliel to the businesses that use such labor.
Yes, they (as in illegal immigrants) DO take jobs from Americans, as can be witnessed by the fact that whenever a raid is executed on a business resulting in the deportation of their workers, American citizens immediately line up for the jobs.
Maybe in your area, but not here. I know of very few non-Mexicans willing to pick cotten, harvest chili peppers, shake the pecan trees, and dig up the onions we grow here. Of course, I could be wrong.
And the last time I checked, Sodaiho, American citizens came in all sorts of colors and countries of origin. Wanna know who's hurt the most by illegals in the job market? Our own 'African American' citizens, followed by young people just entering the work force, and our own retirees looking for a little part-time work to supplement their Social Security checks.
This may very well be true. And it is very unfortunate. Again, our state has about 1% African American population. And the last time I looked, seniors were not about to go out and pick chilis.
Our welfare system has enslaved generation after generation of Americans who find themselves literally trapped in a cycle of dependency with zero incentive to break free of it. A fellow who used to blog here used a quote that became a favorite of mine, although I don't know if he coined it or not. It said..."Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life. Give a man a fish and you own the pathetic s.o.b."
We are on the same page here. I used to work in this system and had the same issues. So, revamping the system is clearly in order. It is offensive to me as a social worker when a grandmother brings hger granddaughter in to claim her "own" check. At the same time, cutting people off, like dumping people out of pych hospitals in the 70s and 80s, will not help unless there are sufficient systems and resources in place to address the problems of education, lack of skill (both life skills and work skills), drugs and other addictions, and of course, teen parents.
I worked as a school psycholgist for a few years and I can attest to the entrenchement of family based anti-school attitudes. Children just could not seem to wait to get old enough to quit school so they could get a job at Mickey D's. So sad. Parents would claim they could not control their children and wanted me to control them for them. On the other hand, when we did attempt to control them, we'd have the "I don't hold to government telling me what to do with MY kids" folks blowing smoke all over the place. It is, indeed, a mess.
I don't think the federal government has any say so in it either way, Sodaiho. I think it's a matter of State's rights, and if the decision were put back in the hands of 'we the people' on a state-by-state basis, I think that would be a good start towards resolving the issue, or at least some of the bitterness it inspires.
Good idea. I'm with yiou here.
It's nice to know you think you know all about Conservative thought, though. Myself, I think you've got it confused with Fundamentalism. Just as all liberals aren't godless heathens, all conservatives aren't fundamentalists.
I don't claim to know all about conservatives, but I was a businessman and the Executive Director of my loical Chamber of Commerce. You know I grew up in the south, a conservative mecca, and have Republicans on one side of my family. It is true what you say, not all liberals are godless, but I am not soooo sure about conservatives not being fundies of one stripe or another.
even though I personally think it's wrong to create these cells for that sole purpose.
And this is just it. Such cells exist already and are simply thrown away.
I'll happily change my position if and when any and all cures or treatments resulting from this testing are shared with the public that funded the research at cost. Until our government is willing to do that, let the filthy rich pharmaceudical companies that you liberals despise so much pay for the research, and reap whatever profits may come from it.
My daughter is a Post Doc researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Before this, she worked as a doctoral student in a University Alzheimer's lab (a disorder I am stricken with). Her research at University was freely disseminated. And at St. Jude, all of their research is done through donations and all of their services are without charge. My understanding is that research across the board is seriously hampered by the few stem cell lines available.
I don't despise pharmaceutical companies, just some of their policies and methods. Profit is good, but the degree of profit is obscene when there are folks who have to choose between food or drugs.
Hunny, welfare recipients get tax REFUNDS on taxes they never paid in the first place? Ever hear of the EIC? All you have to do to 'earn' it is have children.
My understanding of the Earned Income Credit is that to be eligible a person must have been employed in the tax year in question.
I hope I've cleared up some misconceptions, Sodaiho. Not all conservatives are wealthy, white, fundamentalist, xenophobic, and compassionless males. I'm on the low end of the income scale, disabled, non-Christian, and possessed of far more compassion than many here will ever know. I'm also willing to bet that I've fraternized (as in socially) with more non-whites on a continuing basis than many of the 'liberals' posting here have even met in their entire lives, and yeah, that includes blacks, hispanics, and (gasp) even the odd Muslim here and there.
Glad to see we have so much in common, LW.
Be well (ducks sand covers).
