There are expenses to running a business. While employees are (nearly always) assured of getting a paycheck on Friday, they know what they are going to get and sometimes there are even bonuses, but that's not necessarily the case for owners. Business owners can't pay themselves until all the bills are paid. While employees tend only to see the money coming in, if they have access to that, the money rolls out too, and, to be viable long term, you have to have enough in reserve to get you through the lean periods; either that or have a good line of credit. There were weeks when, by Thursday afternoon, we didn't know how we were to make payroll the next day, but it never came to that. We always got enough payments in the Friday mail to be able to meet that obligation, but we couldn't always pay ourselves. Each week, we invested in the business while our employees collected their paychecks and left if they could get a better deal elsewhere. You might think of business owners as people who sit around the office and bathe in cash, but they don't get something for nothing. In the early years of a business, the owners might be living at something near the poverty level, yet you would take the profits from them once the profits finally start coming in. The world doesn't work like that, and it shouldn't.
Sorry, but you are talking about US taxpayers, and you are not in that group. I'm retired and I still play taxes, but I didn't run to Mexico to avoid them. So you have no standing in this discussion, except as a uninformed bystander. Where you live does matter. And that single mom with 3 kids? Who's fault is that? She made poor decisions and should live with the consequences. Where are the fathers of those 3 kids? And btw, she isn't paying any taxes anyhow. Habitat for Humanity? It is still around but the facts are that the lack of physical houses is not the problem. Most homeless will reject any housing that has any rules that go with it. And as for the parents, if they would just use the SNAP benefits they receive to feed the kids instead of trading them for smokes, the kids will be fine. But you cannot legislate good parenting. Giving them more $$ will just be spent as unwisely as the rest. Let me say again that the greedy folks are the ones who contribute nothing but demand more and more. Have a nice day, amigo.
I totally agree with you about the SNAP benefits, @Hoot Crawford ! We have seen people here who use those to trade for drug money instead of buying good groceries for their family. Even the help from churches to pay electricity bills sometimes gets traded for drug money. The check is just made out to the utility company, so whoever turns it in to the company gets the money off of their bill, even if it is not the person whom the church was trying to help. SNAP also needs reform really bad, they encourage spending on junk food and not on healthy options. You can buy all of the candy you want, but not vitamins or a health food bar. Soda pop is fine, but not a protein drink. And another really silly one, you can buy a rotisserie chicken if it is cold, but not a hot one to have for dinner. What sense does that make at all ?? We see people taking their kids into the little convenience store and feeding them on soda pop and chips and cookies, when they could buy sensible food for the same amount. I think that healthy food should be prioritized, and snack foods and junk foods should not be allowed.
Sorry you feel that way. When someone is living below the poverty line, they are NOT required to pay federal taxes. What in the world makes you think that a single mom with 3 kids to support has made poor decisions ? I can think of dozens of reasons why she might be left alone to raise her children... like a husband who has abandoned her or he has become physically abusive. Neither of which is her fault. I don't know where you have gotten such bad information about the homeless. BUT, it is not their fault that rental prices have sky-rocketed. In my area, and most of the rest of the country, the avg rent for a small one bedrm apt is running at aprox $ 1,000/month. If, for example, a retiree is collecting only $1200 /month in SSA benefits how can they afford housing and still eat and pay other bills. People have other bills to pay such as food bills, elec bills, and medical bills. It is easy to see why so many homeless simply can no longer afford minimal housing. This is especially true if someone does not have the skills to get a higher paying job OR is trying to live on social security retirement benefits that are waaaay below poverty level. While it is true that SOME folks would reject any housing that has rules that are attached to it, like drug addicts, MOST homeless are on a waiting list for H.U.D. housing that is , at least in my area, is TEN YEARS LONG. There are literally millions of folks who, through no fault of their own, are living in misery. People like the mentally ill, those who have major life altering diseases and those who simply don't have the IQ to learn any job except at the bottom of the heap. I chose to have compassion for the less fortunate.
You are assuming that we do not have compassion for the less fortunate, which couldn't be further from the truth. I simply prefer to choose my own charities and not have the government "legislate" my philanthropy.
Some of what you say is true, but most folks on SNAP benefits are not that way. There are bad apples in every group. Even among the wealthy there are bad parents who don't take proper care of their children... especially when it comes to feeding their children . It is not like the old days when nearly every woman knew how to cook proper meals. Today, millions of women never learned how to cook even the simplest healthy meals. I know a woman in her 20's who never once used her oven because she was never taught by her mother who was working full-time.
So just how has this magnificent compassion of yours manifested itself into some concrete assistance to that poor single mom with 3 kids or that poor homeless person living on the street? Of course we all know the answer: Absolutely nothing. And there is nothing wrong with my information about the homeless. In all most every major city, on any given nights, there are more empty beds in various shelters than homeless on the streets. The data is out there, go find it. The only choice you have made is to avoid having to contribute to the general welfare of Americans. As I recall, you retired early and spent a number of years in the far east then came back here and promptly moved to Mexico. You are in no position to tell anyone about compassion. And if you wish to see greed, look in the mirror the end
Medical care is a border line thing. You don’t need it in the same way you do air, food and water. When you are critically ill, then you need it. I have needed it once in my life, for appendicitis. I’ve wanted it many, many times but I would not have died without it, I would just have been miserable. Shelter is nice to have but, unless you live in a harsh climate, it isn’t going to kill you. We don’t need basic appliances, we can rub sticks together and make fire, we definitely don’t need furniture. You are so civilized you have come to think of most anything you want as a basic need. That’s a huge problem in the world today. People think they NEED everything just because they WANT it.
True about shelter. When I lived on the Big Island of Hawaii, hitchhikers were common, and I picked up a few. Most were homeless, and started the conversations by asking if I'd like to buy some pot. No thanks. One was living in a carport of an unoccupied home whose owners had, it was alleged, given him permission to "keep an eye on the place". Most of the others were "living rough" - sleeping outdoors. I did ask one of the women why she didn't go to the shelter in HIlo, and she said she was safer sleeping in the park. And she could smoke what she wanted and didn't have to give any amens. You would see these people digging thru public trash bins looking for plastic bottles or metal cans to get the nickel deposit. I gave one of them a carton of cigarettes a friend from the mainland had left, and that was one happy homeless dude. Smokes are great barter items. Waay back in 2016, California tried to build a 100 unit facility to house the homeless. It ended up costing $425,000 per unit. They had hoped to build 160,000 units, but the tab would be $68 billion in California alone. Public housing for the poor and homeless has been tried forever, and almost always becomes a crime infested hell hole.
One thing I have noticed in my years of observing humanity... people never appreciate things that are given to them nearly as much as the things they have earned on their own.
I never had the resources to give much to the needy, BUT when I was still healthy, I volunteered cooking for the needy at places like Salvation Army. I don't know where in the world you are getting your information about the homeless, BUT here in the San Diego area, there are aprox 10,000 people who live on the street. It's on the news every single night. As far as greed is concerned, I never, ever had more than one vehicle at a time. Nor did I ever have a home larger than 1,100 square feet. PS: I retired early because of a major disability IN ADDITION TO becoming nearly totally deaf. Yes, I can still hear SOME noises BUT i can not understand a single word people are saying. It's been years and years since I have had a conversation with ANYONE.
California has a lot of homeless people because 1) the weather is nice, and it rarely even rains; and 2: the state caters to the homeless.