Makin' our tax dollars work

I swear... I hate being such a hater. I hate being so annoyed and so..... soo.... judgmental.

But, I am. So fuck it.

Here goes.

Remember my sister... the one who was pregnant a second time by a second guy... never married... not with either of them?

Well, when she filled us all in on illegitimate child #2 (whom I do dearly adore, really), we had a big blow out and lots of hateful words were exchanged. I blew my top like Mt. St. Helens.

To tell you the truth... I don't have an issue with single parents. With single parents who choose to be single parents. With single parents who choose to be single parents and can AFFORD to SUPPORT their own children with their OWN MONEY.

But, my sister... my dear sweet sister (whom I am quite a bit closer with now than a year ago, which is nice, although she drives me mad with her morals and ways of life).... she insisted that she didn't depend on "ANYONE" to raise her kids... she didn't take handouts EVER.

And lo and behold... as our relationship has blossomed over the past year I find out tidbits here and there about what "no handouts" really means in her dictionary.

WIC

FIA... government paid for daycare

Low income housing.... ie... 3 bedroom apartment for less than $300/month

$8,000 back on her income tax return when that is 3/4ths of what she made as income the entire year of 2008.

What the flying flipping fuck!

So... her oldest and my oldest are a year apart. Rory will be in preschool this fall and it will be Erin's second year of preschool. Sis asks me if I know of any good "free" preschools to send Erin to. I dismiss her and avoid answering as I'm thinking.... fucking pay for your own daycare like every other normal parent!

Last night we got in a discussion about K-12 schools and where would be the best choice to start Erin off at (she doesn't like the district she lives in, and wants to send her to school of choice). She scoffed at a lady at work who sent her kids to private school at the tune of $4700/year.

"Where do they GET that money? I can't IMAGINE paying that much for school."

Granted... I can't either. I truly believe public schools can be and are just as good as private schools. I truly believe that private schools have a higher college attendance rate, higher "do-good-in-life" rate than public schools because... DUH... public schools are a mash of "good" families as well as those families who a) can't afford private schools or b) don't give a shit about their kids educations.

But still... Sis scoffed at how much private schools cost and I made the point of.... "Its $100/week. That's what I pay for part time daycare and a hell of a lot less than full time daycare. People who go to private schools, yes, they can afford it. And no, its not always a bunch of people with more money than they know what to do with.... its also regular old families who have had to pay for daycare, allowed room in their budget to pay for their children to go to daycare and just basically extend that budget to private education."

It just irks me. Irks me to hell that she thinks that the way she is living her life is so... normal. So... okay. Its not. I hate that our tax dollars pay for her kids to go to daycare. I hate that our tax dollars go to pay for her apartment. Her college education (which she gets for free!). Her preschool.

Its irritating beyond belief.




And then today... I hop on Facebook to read about a friend... I use that term loosely as I don't know her all that well but what I do know about her is that she's conceited and she and her husband work minimal jobs for her family so they don't have to claim much income and can recieve government handouts... ie... Medicaid.... free daycare etc.

On her facebook she's bragging about new tattoos and "Oh middle finger to those of you who thought I wouldn't be back to my size 3 after having the baby 6 days ago!" and how she has her older child in daycare 5 days a week even though she doesn't work. And oh, now that the older child likes the baby, she'll let her come home 2 extra days a week.

WTF?

Since when does having a second child mean you ship your oldest off to full time daycare (paid for by us tax-payers)!?!

UGH.