11-13-2015, 03:06 PM
(11-13-2015, 02:55 PM)Benton Wrote: I dunno. Those benefits are largely for those in the bottom-most brackets. Like Matt, that's pretty much out the window for a lot of us who have decent jobs. I've got two kids and pretty soundly in the middle class, but I don't qualify for any of that outside of possibly the child tax credit (I know we deduct medical expenses, but I generally stay out of the tax stuff for our household, I've got enough of that at work).
Those benefits have increased, I'm sure, for the lower earners, but that doesn't do anything to offset the wage and hiring freeze my company has. I guess eventually if the wages don't come up, I'll qualify for social aide. Which is a depressing thought.
This has been a hot topic of discussion here because during this most recent legislative session, our advocacy group (public employees aren't unionized in Virginia, but we have an advocacy organization at least) put forth that not only were we the worst state in compensating our public employees, but the number of public employees receiving welfare assistance (be it SNAP or what have you) increased by 2000% over the past decade.
