"We need to raise taxes so we can have a retirement"

[Skarekrow]

Many young people pay social security and are being told they will never get back any of it. Misappropriation of funds? Consider the population rate of increase, consider how much longer people are living now, consider how much money they are making compared to how much they started paying social security.

Consider a city/county paying retirement benefits for ten to fifteen years longer than they used to. I don't want to study this too much because of my limited resources, but many people draw social security and keep working to survive. They have no retirement benefits. They have no savings and investments.

When I was young, it seemed like the right thing to do to get a job with a telephone company or some large corporation that offered benefits and a retirement. I know people that get social security, retirement benefits, and still have to work. I ask a government to look at the people before they give themselves large raises and expense accounts, retirement benefits and such. There must be a way to generate more tax dollars than to keep taking from the people. It will not work like this forever.

You know, if wages were to increase to keep up with inflation...or even just move a tiny bit upward since they have stagnated for close to 40 years now while the administrative, banking, hedge fund, university admin, healthcare/pharmacutical/oil and gas industries have all seen insane raises and bonuses paid to them in comparison to the people actually doing the work - which is still being constantly outsourced.
Anyhow...(off track there)...if wages were to increase it would also help fund SS.

And what really sucks are those who worked jobs where they were promised pensions and retirements only to see the company sold off or go bankrupt or flat out just cut or eliminate the money they were relying on to be there for them, and was promised to them.
State employees see their pensions cut in half...”Sorry, no funds...we need to build a new State Capital building”.

I want to state that I have tremendous respect and am incredibly grateful that I have SS...at least while it is still solvent.
I do however think that it will have to be fixed eventually, and I have hope that it will be for the better.
That SS will see a significant cost of living increase - lord knows we have the money rotting in a desert somewhere in Afghanistan...or perhaps the 800% wage increases the upper management have given themselves while the rest of the people live frugally yet still are living paycheck to paycheck, many working two jobs, many still needing help with food stamps of otherwise.
Even if they are not on any benefits, most people are finding it increasingly more and more difficult to save for retirement.

And those getting ready to retire or are currently doing so, the Boomers, as a whole are by no means ready to do so financially.
Who is going to pick up that slack?

"Seventy-eight percent of full-time workers said they live paycheck to paycheck, up from 75 percent last year, according to a recent report from CareerBuilder. Overall, 71 percent of all U.S. workers said they're now in debt, up from 68 percent a year ago, CareerBuilder said."

"A greater percentage of the elderly will be poor or near poor than in the last 40 years," warns retirement expert Teresa Ghilarducci of New York's New School for Social Research.”

"Why? Simply put, the boomers are not saving nearly enough to offset the disappearance of pensions. A Fidelity Investments report says that 48 percent of boomers are not on track to be able to afford basic expenses in retirement. That figure is echoed by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which declared in 2010 that 47 percent of the oldest boomers were at risk.

EBRI released a report in March 2016 showing that retirement confidence has increased since the Great Recession: In 2013, 13 percent of workers said they were very confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement, and by 2016, that percentage had increased to 21 percent. Still, 19 percent say they are not at all confident.”

Gen-X’ers aren’t doing much better right now to save either...and the Millennials just want to afford to eat and pay rent.

 

[Skarekrow]

Every dollar you paid in FICA taxes is gone, either to bonds or to prior beneficiares.

Yes...I’m sure it blew up on a runway in Syria...lol.

 

[Skarekrow]

copied from Bradford Tax Institute...

In 1913, the top tax bracket was 7 percent on all income over $500,000 ($11 million in today’s dollars1); and the lowest tax bracket was 1 percent.

2013 – 2018

The American Taxpayer RELIEF Act of 2012 increased the highest income tax rate to 39.6 percent. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act added an additional 3.8 percent on to this making the maximum federal income tax rate 43.4 percent.

Yeah, but what percentage of the 1-2% of the top income earners actually pay a 43.4% tax rate?
Most pay far less of a percentage of income than the rest of us schmucks.
Why is that you think?

 

[just me]

Someone close to me used to be a printer for a bagging company. He set type. 27 years later, they had no use for his job and he was laid off. Type setters were no longer needed. They did not try to find him something else to do. Victim of circumstances.

I have had monies put up disappear almost literally from two stock market crashes. Business disappeared except for necessities, and being in business took all you had to survive. I only took what the CPA said to take, and the rest stayed. Life happened. Victim of circumstances. If I was not saving enough, there was nothing to save. Caring for parents can become timely and expensive, but it is what some people choose to do. A few major hospital visits can really cut into income, even with supplemental insurance. Many things, like extended care after surgeries, were not covered.

Yeah, but what percentage of the 1-2% of the top income earners actually pay a 43.4% tax rate?
Most pay far less of a percentage of income than the rest of us schmucks.
Why is that you think?

The only 1% taxpayers I mentioned lived in 1913. I couldn't even guess how much or little they pay now.

It erks me when a government decides to vote amongst themselves for retirement income by increasing property taxes. Nice points, Skarekrow. I wish everyone could chime in with things as such.

 

[Skarekrow]

Someone close to me used to be a printer for a bagging company. He set type. 27 years later, they had no use for his job and he was laid off. Type setters were no longer needed. They did not try to find him something else to do. Victim of circumstances.

I have had monies put up disappear almost literally from two stock market crashes. Business disappeared except for necessities, and being in business took all you had to survive. I only took what the CPA said to take, and the rest stayed. Life happened. Victim of circumstances. If I was not saving enough, there was nothing to save. Caring for parents can become timely and expensive, but it is what some people choose to do. A few major hospital visits can really cut into income, even with supplemental insurance. Many things, like extended care after surgeries, were not covered.



The only 1% taxpayers I mentioned lived in 1913. I couldn't even guess how much or little they pay now.

It erks me when a government decides to vote amongst themselves for retirement income by increasing property taxes. Nice points, Skarekrow. I wish everyone could chime in with things as such.

Yes, I realized that after the fact...
2016 Income Tax Brackets.
The Federal income tax has 7 brackets: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, and 39.6%.

And here are the new ones...


However, there are some very popular and financially helpful deductions to the middle/working class that are going away thanks to this last tax bill/scam.

10 Tax Deductions That Will Disappear Next Year
Take advantage of these beneficial tax breaks before the new tax plan could make them extinct.
https://money.usnews.com/money/pers...-tax-deductions-that-will-disappear-next-year



​

 

[54192&#cmy]

Property owners here have been told we will pay for metal detectors at school now. No comment right now.
Last night on the news, they were asking to raise taxes at the BOEducation for their retirements.I can't afford to retire. I know a lot of people can't retire. I think raising taxes is not the answer. I thought it was education. Thoughts?

We need to get rid of schools that are run by the state. Let private schools start up. Government has never been able make things better. It was always the citizens in the end that fixed the situations that governments were never willing to face and fix. The citizens have been alienated and put at bay because you can't protest if you have to pay a mortgage. Government is never the answer. It will only work to gain power against you.

 

[just me]

The percentage of students going to private schools continues to climb.....those that come up with the money to send their children there.

copied from npr.org: printed 2012 for 2010. We all know it hasn't gotten less.

Notes
Figures are for current spending on students in elementary and secondary school.


Source: Census Bureau

Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

On average, it costs $10,615 to send a kid to public school for a year. (That's federal, state and local government spending combined.)

As the map above shows, that one number masks a huge variation. Utah spends just over $6,000 per student; New York and the District of Columbia over $18,000.

There's even more variation when you get to the district level. Detailed figures and lots more data (including district-level spending) are available in a report the Census Bureau released today.

 

[just me]

Notice how government does not want to spend tax dollars on public schools. Parents are paying high school taxes on their property taxes AND sending their kids to private schools. Our school system could not get by if there were no private schools.

As @efromm stated, public schools need to go. Taxes on government schools need to go. Guess they are there for the poor. How is it the private school sector does not face the same problems public schools face? They are not run by state and local governments. Give yourself a raise when you stop the boat from sinking.

 

[Skarekrow]

Okay...privatizing our public education system has not been proven to raise competency scores...in fact, in DeVos’s state where she implemented this, her private schools are doing far worse than the public ones.
She wants to move to a voucher system which would yes, allow any child to go to any school, except what they don’t tell you is the good schools will not be covered entirely by the vouchers and parents will start to have to take out student loans just to pay for elementary and HS education.
That sounds like a terrible idea.

Having been married to a teacher and dated several current and former - it might help if they actually gave the teachers the tools and time to do the job properly.
Our wonderful leaders think they can cut and cut and cut back such programs and not keep paying teachers to keep up with inflation, and not fund basic learning supplies like books and pencils and it will all work just fine.
"Who cares about educating our youth, we already have had our education...grumble grumble my property taxes!”
Cost of living in an educated intelligent society...of course, if we don’t want that we can price out the poor and gouge the rest for half the competency.
Now the teachers can’t even write off the supplies they themselves buy with their own money thanks to they GOP tax scam.

Privatizing public education will only make it more costly for everyone...I wholeheartedly disagree with you both @efromm and @just me
But we shall see what happens I suppose.

 

[Skarekrow]

The percentage of students going to private schools continues to climb.....those that come up with the money to send their children there.

copied from npr.org: printed 2012 for 2010. We all know it hasn't gotten less.

Notes
Figures are for current spending on students in elementary and secondary school.


Source: Census Bureau

Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

On average, it costs $10,615 to send a kid to public school for a year. (That's federal, state and local government spending combined.)

As the map above shows, that one number masks a huge variation. Utah spends just over $6,000 per student; New York and the District of Columbia over $18,000.

There's even more variation when you get to the district level. Detailed figures and lots more data (including district-level spending) are available in a report the Census Bureau released today.

Sadly though the money is going to administration, not the children.

 

[just me]

Private schools are the only valid choice in a lot of situations. The key to happiness, is you stop paying when your child graduates and start paying other things. Maybe you teach your own children. How can anything to do with the current BOE be blamed on one party?

 

[54192&#cmy]

Okay...privatizing our public education system has not been proven to raise competency scores...in fact, in DeVos’s state where she implemented this, her private schools are doing far worse than the public ones.
She wants to move to a voucher system which would yes, allow any child to go to any school, except what they don’t tell you is the good schools will not be covered entirely by the vouchers and parents will start to have to take out student loans just to pay for elementary and HS education.
That sounds like a terrible idea.

Having been married to a teacher and dated several current and former - it might help if they actually gave the teachers the tools and time to do the job properly.
Our wonderful leaders think they can cut and cut and cut back such programs and not keep paying teachers to keep up with inflation, and not fund basic learning supplies like books and pencils and it will all work just fine.
"Who cares about educating our youth, we already have had our education...grumble grumble my property taxes!”
Cost of living in an educated intelligent society...of course, if we don’t want that we can price out the poor and gouge the rest for half the competency.
Now the teachers can’t even write off the supplies they themselves buy with their own money thanks to they GOP tax scam.

Privatizing public education will only make it more costly for everyone...I wholeheartedly disagree with you both @efromm and @just me
But we shall see what happens I suppose.

I'm sorry but I strongly disagree. If public ed is so great why are not all colleges public? Why allow private colleges at all? My experience in the public education system with the teachers I had was poor. The teachers were low quality. They didn't care about the kids. It was a pay check for them. Thats all. Not to mention the psychological abuse I suffered from the students and teachers. School is the place where children are forced to either join the herd or be subjected to the abuse because your not a part of the group. This same attitude continues on into adult life. I'm going to have to pay for my son to go through first through 12th grade. So the wonderful kids won't make fun of him because he has cancer. And now has deficiencies from the brain surgery. And I'll get to pay through my tax dollars for a school my kid won't even be going too.

 

[Skarekrow]

Private schools are the only valid choice in a lot of situations. The key to happiness, is you stop paying when your child graduates and start paying other things. Maybe you teach your own children. How can anything to do with the current BOE be blamed on one party?

One party is adding to the problem more than the other who has always pushed for more money to public education, while the other always wants to cut such things.
What are you even talking about “stop paying for your children and teach them yourself”?
I’m no champion for public education here, but I am certainly less in favor of privatizing it all for profit.
And do you really want the public educating their own children?
Brilliant!

I'm sorry but I strongly disagree. If public ed is so great why are not all colleges public? Why allow private colleges at all? My experience in the public education system with the teachers I had was poor. The teachers were low quality. They didn't care about the kids. It was a pay check for them. Thats all. Not to mention the psychological abuse I suffered from the students and teachers. School is the place where children are forced to either join the herd or be subjected to the abuse because your not a part of the group. This same attitude continues on into adult life. I'm going to have to pay for my son to go through first through 12th grade. So the wonderful kids won't make fun of him because he has cancer. And now has deficiencies from the brain surgery. And I'll get to pay through my tax dollars for a school my kid won't even be going too.

Like I said above I am no champion for public ed.
But I am not in favor of privatizing it for profit which is exactly what Betsy DeVos has done, made her millions(billions?) on, and is trying her damnedest to implement it across the nation.
I had shitty experiences in school too...and the same happens in private schools.
Hell, some of the most esteemed private schools have sexual escapades with their students.
And you know I feel incredibly sad for you and your son, I hate that you both have to go through that in this life...that has to be one of the harder cards to be dealt.
I don’t have all the answers...but I do know that we have underfunded our public education system since the late 70’s....now they are trying to blow up the unions...not just for teachers though (right to work states are a whole other beast).
Anyhow...I got lucky and my Son gets to go to a public school that has it’s whole focus around the Arts, music, theater, kind of like “Fame” but with less singing and more mumbling (teenagers).
It ranks top 5 in the state and I am always impressed with the curriculum and what my Son retains and comprehends.
I’m not bragging, I know how few schools in the US we have like this...I know we totally lucked out.
I’m sorry you feel you need to send your Son to a private school, but kids are cruel and unfiltered no matter where you go...little fuckers.
The voters have decided who to vote into office and where their tax dollars get allocated as a priority or not.
I guess until public opinion starts to change more - so far, Betsy DeVos has had zero traction - except in eliminating the regulations benefitting disabled students...which imho is quite vile (being disabled myself).
I had some good and some bad experiences at different schools growing up...they really do vary by leaps and bounds by how different one can be from the other.
Not making excuses, just my own experience and my opinion that privatizing is not the way to go...it will just turn into another way to gouge the crap out of everyone...and if you can’t pay, then it just lets the cycle of poverty continue imho.
That is part of the issue right now...you have crap teachers in crap schools in the poorer neighborhoods...which also only continues the cycle.
But privatizing it and handing out vouchers that don’t cover the entire cost, or won’t cover hardly anything the richer the schools in the nicer, richer areas.
Then it just sucks AND they are stealing with ever-increasing cost being demanded by shareholders...where now, the public at least has a say in certain school decisions and can meet with the school board.
How will that same meeting go with the board of directors do you think?
I think I would get laughed out of the building.

I wish I could give you and your son some comfort...just know I have been keeping you both in my prayers and meditations ever since I found out about your struggle.
Stay strong my friend...I know you will...you have the strength of a Father, and that is f**king strong.
There will be good days ahead to break up the bad...hopefully to one day overtake it.

Not trying to get anyone riled up or start an argument...just throwing my opinion into the ring.
Take care.

 

[54192&#cmy]

One party is adding to the problem more than the other who has always pushed for more money to public education, while the other always wants to cut such things.
What are you even talking about “stop paying for your children and teach them yourself”?
I’m no champion for public education here, but I am certainly less in favor of privatizing it all for profit.
And do you really want the public educating their own children?
Brilliant!



Like I said above I am no champion for public ed.
But I am not in favor of privatizing it for profit which is exactly what Betsy DeVos has done, made her millions(billions?) on, and is trying her damnedest to implement it across the nation.
I had shitty experiences in school too...and the same happens in private schools.
Hell, some of the most esteemed private schools have sexual escapades with their students.
And you know I feel incredibly sad for you and your son, I hate that you both have to go through that in this life...that has to be one of the harder cards to be dealt.
I don’t have all the answers...but I do know that we have underfunded our public education system since the late 70’s....now they are trying to blow up the unions...not just for teachers though (right to work states are a whole other beast).
Anyhow...I got lucky and my Son gets to go to a public school that has it’s whole focus around the Arts, music, theater, kind of like “Fame” but with less singing and more mumbling (teenagers).
It ranks top 5 in the state and I am always impressed with the curriculum and what my Son retains and comprehends.
I’m not bragging, I know how few schools in the US we have like this...I know we totally lucked out.
I’m sorry you feel you need to send your Son to a private school, but kids are cruel and unfiltered no matter where you go...little fuckers.
The voters have decided who to vote into office and where their tax dollars get allocated as a priority or not.
I guess until public opinion starts to change more - so far, Betsy DeVos has had zero traction - except in eliminating the regulations benefitting disabled students...which imho is quite vile (being disabled myself).
I had some good and some bad experiences at different schools growing up...they really do vary by leaps and bounds by how different one can be from the other.
Not making excuses, just my own experience and my opinion that privatizing is not the way to go...it will just turn into another way to gouge the crap out of everyone...and if you can’t pay, then it just lets the cycle of poverty continue imho.
That is part of the issue right now...you have crap teachers in crap schools in the poorer neighborhoods...which also only continues the cycle.
But privatizing it and handing out vouchers that don’t cover the entire cost, or won’t cover hardly anything the richer the schools in the nicer, richer areas.
Then it just sucks AND they are stealing with ever-increasing cost being demanded by shareholders...where now, the public at least has a say in certain school decisions and can meet with the school board.
How will that same meeting go with the board of directors do you think?
I think I would get laughed out of the building.

I wish I could give you and your son some comfort...just know I have been keeping you both in my prayers and meditations ever since I found out about your struggle.
Stay strong my friend...I know you will...you have the strength of a Father, and that is f**king strong.
There will be good days ahead to break up the bad...hopefully to one day overtake it.

Not trying to get anyone riled up or start an argument...just throwing my opinion into the ring.
Take care.

With home computers one can educate their child. And there are parents who get their kids together that are home schooled. We need community again. We are lacking that now. The whole country needs a wake up call. Unfortunately until your able to either stand in another's shoes most won't wear them to see how it is. It's interesting to me because 4 months ago my son was normal. Now he's in a wheel chair with scars on his head and no hair. People stare a lot. I tell them they better love their child. Because I was once like you. I thought my son would be around as long as I was alive. And now I'm faced with the realization that he may not make it. All those silly things you think you have to have go out the window. You look at sick kids and understand immediately cause your child is now the same. Sick children have done no wrong. They do not deserve to suffer. Their score card is zero. Sadly parents who have not been faced with the eminent death of their child will never understand. They cannot. Even if they try. Because I know that every parent of a sick kid wishes they could just wish it all away. But they cannot. And they must face the darkness that is life. Nothing is fair in life. I realize you get what you get nothing is perfect. But it would be nice to see others love others children as much as they love their own. Bless the children. Do not condemn them to a life of pain. As Americans we should be beyond pissed off that both parties have given us useless piece of garbage candidates for president. We have sunk to a all new low with Clinton and trump. And both parties are responsible for the mess this country is in. And yet the American public likes to eat shit sandwiches year after year. We as a nation are fuked until we give up the two party system. Which is just a scam. And has been played upon our citizens very skillfully.

 

[Skarekrow]

With home computers one can educate their child. And there are parents who get their kids together that are home schooled. We need community again. We are lacking that now. The whole country needs a wake up call. Unfortunately until your able to either stand in another's shoes most won't wear them to see how it is. It's interesting to me because 4 months ago my son was normal. Now he's in a wheel chair with scars on his head and no hair. People stare a lot. I tell them they better love their child. Because I was once like you. I thought my son would be around as long as I was alive. And now I'm faced with the realization that he may not make it. All those silly things you think you have to have go out the window. You look at sick kids and understand immediately cause your child is now the same. Sick children have done no wrong. They do not deserve to suffer. Their score card is zero. Sadly parents who have not been faced with the eminent death of their child will never understand. They cannot. Even if they try. Because I know that every parent of a sick kid wishes they could just wish it all away. But they cannot. And they must face the darkness that is life. Nothing is fair in life. I realize you get what you get nothing is perfect. But it would be nice to see others love others children as much as they love their own. Bless the children. Do not condemn them to a life of pain. As Americans we should be beyond pissed off that both parties have given us useless piece of garbage candidates for president. We have sunk to a all new low with Clinton and trump. And both parties are responsible for the mess this country is in. And yet the American public likes to eat shit sandwiches year after year. We as a nation are fuked until we give up the two party system. Which is just a scam. And has been played upon our citizens very skillfully.

I agree 100% with all you wrote.
People seem to be lacking empathy...almost as if it were never shown to them to mirror as a child, they are apathetic and selfish.
Yes, people stare...I still get eye-rolls on the days I have to ride the electric cart at the grocery store because it’s too painful to walk through the whole store - screw them.
People stare at, and make snap judgements, about things they possibly couldn’t understand the whole depth of.

I know quite a bit about being around sick children...I used to be lead burn tech in the burn ward when I lived in southern CA...most of the children who were there with severe burns were not accidental...children forced to sit in scalding bathwater, cigarette burns, etc.
Then working in the ER/OR for almost 2 decades doing everything else you can think of...I have seen some very sad and difficult stories that have always stuck with me.
On more than one occasion I have gotten off work and made it to my car only to break down and sob.
That is why I’m such an advocate for healthcare...that and the fact that my spine is fusing and I will become more and more reliant on it and things like SS, like it or not.
I will fight tooth and nail with any Congress or POTUS who does all they can to destroy healthcare or price people out of healthcare even more than they already are...we should have a public option with the ACA protections preserved - then if people want to buy extra insurance rider plans offered by private companies let them.
But for heaven sake, we are high past time to insure us all.
Want to blame school shootings on mental illness - then cover it in the insurance plans that people get - the ACA made this a requirement...but all that is under constant attack by insurers.
And the plan after complaining about the ACA for 8 years is - we are going back to the way things were before...which was and still is unsustainable.
Ugh...off topic, sorry.

Yes, kids can learn on computers, we have such a program here in WA state where they can do that for free...I’m not sure what the requirements are but I know they advertise it on the TV.
(Personally I went on Independent Studies my senior year of HS since I had my requirements already to graduate and I was able to work part time and start to make some money while still in HS. I would just go once a week for a few hours to turn in my work, take tests, have discussions, etc. get the homework for the next week - which was usually all done in one sitting on Sunday, lol)
Maybe instead of paying for years of private school you all can move here and get it for free....(we are the only state to pass our own net neutrality laws also btw ((and legal weed)).
There are good social programs here - like child care...many folks pay the same amount for childcare every month as they do for their rent or mortgage.
We have two Boys and Girls Clubs in town that I know of...the kids have to be in 1st grade at least but they can go there before and after school...some are at the actual school and others get bussed to it after their own school is out.
(There are no financial cut-offs either)
I know they are across the nation though.
It’s $25 a year to register your child and you can pick them up as late as 7pm....it was a lifesaver for us.
This is all partially funded by federal tax monies...I couldn’t say enough good things about it.
They provided snacks, and they did actual learning activities as well as physical activities with your child - and they offer a study help and homework quiet room.

Anyhow, I’m again...very sorry that you and your Son have had to go through all this...that is tough to experience and almost impossibly tough to watch as a Father I’m sure.
I hope you are able to find an affordable and worthy way to educate your Son, and I hope that he will one day reach a place where people no longer stare and he continues to get healthier and better and grows up to be a handsome young man.
Much love to you both!

 

[54192&#cmy]

I agree 100% with all you wrote.
People seem to be lacking empathy...almost as if it were never shown to them to mirror as a child, they are apathetic and selfish.
Yes, people stare...I still get eye-rolls on the days I have to ride the electric cart at the grocery store because it’s too painful to walk through the whole store - screw them.
People stare at, and make snap judgements, about things they possibly couldn’t understand the whole depth of.

I know quite a bit about being around sick children...I used to be lead burn tech in the burn ward when I lived in southern CA...most of the children who were there with severe burns were not accidental...children forced to sit in scalding bathwater, cigarette burns, etc.
Then working in the ER/OR for almost 2 decades doing everything else you can think of...I have seen some very sad and difficult stories that have always stuck with me.
On more than one occasion I have gotten off work and made it to my car only to break down and sob.
That is why I’m such an advocate for healthcare...that and the fact that my spine is fusing and I will become more and more reliant on it and things like SS, like it or not.
I will fight tooth and nail with any Congress or POTUS who does all they can to destroy healthcare or price people out of healthcare even more than they already are...we should have a public option with the ACA protections preserved - then if people want to buy extra insurance rider plans offered by private companies let them.
But for heaven sake, we are high past time to insure us all.
Want to blame school shootings on mental illness - then cover it in the insurance plans that people get - the ACA made this a requirement...but all that is under constant attack by insurers.
And the plan after complaining about the ACA for 8 years is - we are going back to the way things were before...which was and still is unsustainable.
Ugh...off topic, sorry.

Yes, kids can learn on computers, we have such a program here in WA state where they can do that for free...I’m not sure what the requirements are but I know they advertise it on the TV.
(Personally I went on Independent Studies my senior year of HS since I had my requirements already to graduate and I was able to work part time and start to make some money while still in HS. I would just go once a week for a few hours to turn in my work, take tests, have discussions, etc. get the homework for the next week - which was usually all done in one sitting on Sunday, lol)
Maybe instead of paying for years of private school you all can move here and get it for free....(we are the only state to pass our own net neutrality laws also btw ((and legal weed)).
There are good social programs here - like child care...many folks pay the same amount for childcare every month as they do for their rent or mortgage.
We have two Boys and Girls Clubs in town that I know of...the kids have to be in 1st grade at least but they can go there before and after school...some are at the actual school and others get bussed to it after their own school is out.
(There are no financial cut-offs either)
I know they are across the nation though.
It’s $25 a year to register your child and you can pick them up as late as 7pm....it was a lifesaver for us.
This is all partially funded by federal tax monies...I couldn’t say enough good things about it.
They provided snacks, and they did actual learning activities as well as physical activities with your child - and they offer a study help and homework quiet room.

Anyhow, I’m again...very sorry that you and your Son have had to go through all this...that is tough to experience and almost impossibly tough to watch as a Father I’m sure.
I hope you are able to find an affordable and worthy way to educate your Son, and I hope that he will one day reach a place where people no longer stare and he continues to get healthier and better and grows up to be a handsome young man.
Much love to you both!

I'm finding Washington to be a decent state. I'm in Seattle now. Spent three weeks at Seattle children's with him. And have been able to talk to the social workers quite a lot. They really understand what it's like to have your life turned upside down over night. I have another ten days or so here before we go back home. I've enjoyed my time in Seattle. I agree with your post we do need affordable healthcare. And pre existing conditions should be covered. We also need mental care too. It suprises me that most over look the mind when they think of the body. If your mind is shot how ya going to live? Humans need other humans to survive. We're not islands.

 

[just me]

copied from TIME.com

By LILY ROTHMAN
April 14, 2016
Tax Day–which is April 18 this year, not April 15–is one occasion in which history offers little consolation. As you tally up your withholding and deductions, it may not help to know that you’re also paying into a system created to fund World War II.

When the modern income tax was introduced in 1913, it was constructed as a tax merely on the very top earners and was essentially irrelevant to most Americans.

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That changed in 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor. The entire nation was mobilizing for war, and money was desperately needed. At the time, the idea of running a deficit was seen as disastrous, says Joseph J. Thorndike, author of Their Fair Share: Taxing the Rich in the Age of FDR and director of the Tax History Project. To pay for the war, Congress passed a new Revenue Act that nearly doubled the number of Americans who would have to pay income taxes. TIME called it “the biggest piece of machinery ever designed to separate dollars from citizens.”


Though the amount raised was important in the short run, it was the expansion in the number of people paying that fundamentally altered U.S. tax structure. The middle class had pitched in before—paying a tax on a purchase was seen as totally normal—but most people had never written a check to Uncle Sam. Now that link would be set in stone.

TIME’s coverage of that looming date was headlined The Ides of March, 1943. “This week the U.S. citizen faces a hard and stubborn fact of wartime living…” the article began, “the U.S. Treasury on March 15 will demand and get more money from more people than at any time in the history of the republic.” Going into tax day that year (about a decade before the big day moved to April), the government expected to receive 40 million returns from citizens—far more than the 26 million that had been filed the year before.

http://time.com/4289687/1942-tax-day-history/

 

[just me]

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935 and Social Security taxes were first collected in January 1937, although no benefits were paid until January 1940.

Read more: The History Of Taxes In The U.S. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/tax/10/history-taxes.asp#ixzz5Ii1bqsL9
Follow us: Investopedia on Facebook

 

[just me]

Joke for the day. Enjoy.

Is it illegal for government to make money, or is it just legal for them to take money? Serious question...

 

[Skarekrow]

Joke for the day. Enjoy.

Is it illegal for government to make money, or is it just legal for them to take money? Serious question...

It would depend on the branch of government you are talking about.
You mean - Does the Govt. invest in the stock market and such?
We certainly make a whole hell of a lot selling weapons, jets, and missiles to our “allies”.