[4estGimp]

I choose to work and thus not be a "burden on society". This saves the government thousands of dollars per year. However, I'm thanked by being taxed. Those of us with a major disability, but whom choose to work, should be tax exempt.

Please vote: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/tax_exemp..._work_full_time

The top 10 ideas are going to be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day and will be supported by a national lobbying campaign run by Change.org, MySpace, and more than a dozen leading nonprofits after the Inauguration. So each idea has a real chance at becoming policy.

At the site:
1. Click on the Square for <number> Voted.
2. Register
3. Confirm by clicking email link
4. CLick on the square for <number> Voted again.

This post has been edited by 4estGimp: 14 December 2008 - 04:22 PM

[Illinois Boy]

I voted for you....... Don't get me started on working....... I worked part time for 25 years to keep insurance on my family, and was thanked by almost losing my disability payments for earning too much.....

Bail out the big corporation f*@k ups, and screw the working man.....

Jim

This post has been edited by Illinois Boy: 14 December 2008 - 06:07 PM

[topperf]

Ever wondered why it is like that?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9...h&plindex=0

[Slowlegs]

I got to 28 hours a week, intending to increase my hours to 40 eventually. I was then told by my compensation provider if I increased to 30 hours or over I would be cut off by them and would have to take a 20% pay cut. My employer was paying me below minimum wage. The provider refused to negotiate with my employer on my behalf at the time and in my negotiations with them I mentioned that they were discriminating against me by not paying me more. My employer came to the party on my hourly rate but then cut me loose a few months later once I had returned to 40 hours and our statute of limitations had run out.
The accident was substantially their fault and one of the directors offered to resign and testify on my behalf. By then I had been cut off by my compensation provider and struggled to find a job with my disability and couldn't get unemployment. In the end I told them to stick unemployment up their asses and only then did they offer help which I refused. Ended up my employer asked me back as nobody could be bothered doing my job and I eventually found another one. It still makes me fume thinking about it.
I still think having a job is really great for people with a disability, unfortunately I also feel that regulations designed to prevent people ripping off the system also prevent honest people from getting back to work as well.

Forgot to add before, I don't believe that disabled people should not have to pay taxes as the whole reason for working is after all to become independent again. I do however believe that items like hand controls, cushions, wheelchairs, medications, catheters, colostomy bags if they are required to enable us to work (and we pay for them out of our own pockets) should be tax deductible.

This post has been edited by Slowlegs: 15 December 2008 - 06:41 AM

[LuckyinKentucky]

I'm vote # 5....come on yall gonna need a lot more.

[BillS]

I'll probably take it if they give it but to tell the truth it's kind of insulting. To think that I should be treated differently then anyone else just because I'm a paraplegic. I work because I want to pay my bills and because it's the right thing to do. I suppose it's possible that I could have claimed disability insurance and lived off of the dole when I was injured but to me it made more sense to just work. Besides working full time sure does bring in a lot more money then a disability check.

[sits2much]

OK I voted and was number 6.

I do have to confess I don't work and I receive and rely on a government check every month. I have the desire to work, but my health problems prevent it for now. I am trying my best to get an education while I am not working so I can jump into a new career as soon as I can. If I am still in school than I will probably only work part time till I graduate. I can't get a job back in the field I was in prior to my injury, so I am utilizing the time I have to better myself.

I feel like crap having to rely on the government, however I know it is only for the time being and am glad it is there to help me get through this financial nightmare.

That is why I felt it necessary to vote, I will be working soon and this WILL effect me.

So come on people lets get voting, it only benefits you to vote. If your not working now, you might be like me and will be working soon. If you can't work at all then at least show your support for your fellow man and women and vote to help them. It only takes a minute and really what do you have to lose!

Lets make this happen!

I support your efforts 4estGimp!!

I do understand were you are coming from BillS. With the financial crisis we are facing right now, I think it is safe to say we are all going to need every penny we can get and save. I think that it is very strong of you not wanting to ask for special treatment but sometimes you have to step back and look at the bigger picture taking yourself out of the equation. It is your right to not vote though and I can completely understand that.

KT: I

[edlee]

That you want to work is good,,,,,normal,,, but good. That you think you should avoid paying taxes because you are a crip,,,,, WTF???? Where do you think the little money the government gives out comes from???

How about this,,,, you get tax exemption,,, but you can't vote,,,,or bitch about what the gov. does????

If you don't want to pay taxes,,,, don't,,,,, eventually they'll come talk to you about it,,,, you can always pull the "poor cripple" card then.

If you want to work,, work,,, but pay your share and STFU!!!

ed

[4estGimp]

edlee, on Dec 14 2008, 11:04 PM, said:

If you don't want to pay taxes,,,, don't,,,,, eventually they'll come talk to you about it,,,, you can always pull the "poor cripple" card then.
ed

I'm sorry but I don't have such a card. Is that supposed to be standard issue at rehab?

[Murray]

Ditto, ed

I worked 32 years in education (tchr/coach), construction in off-season, retired in 02 & returned to full-time construction. Accident in 04. Get Social Security - not disability - and pension check monthly. I earned both; not bleedin' anyone. (I am an unpaid consultant to the City of Placerville on ADA issues and I facilitate a local SCI support group.)

Murray

[HiltonP]

If you work, and get paid to do so, then you should pay tax.
Anything different and it is reverse discrimination.

If we, the disabled, do not pay tax how can we reasonably demand accessability in public places (other than on moral grounds, which makes for a weak case). If we pay taxes we can justifiably demand that access be provided.

Where there can be a concession would be in rebates being offered for caregivers salaries, purchase of mobility products, home alterations for accessability, etc.

[purple_faeries]

I know that I am not from the US, and I havn't thought enough about the issue discussed to make a judgement on it yet, I am just saying that here in the UK if you are disabled then you can claim VAT exemption on anything that you purchase that is specifically for the use of your disablity (ie anything that is made entirely for disabled people you can claim for but if not you might not be able to. I don't know what the qualifications are for notpaying tax because you can get it on some 'normal' products and not on others, but you do have to sign a form saying what your illness/disability is and then you don't have topay it.

Maybe something like this over there would be useful?

Hannah

[Hawkeye]

Quote

I work because I want to pay my bills and because it's the right thing to do.

+1

I couldn't agree more.

Joe

[Murray]

(THIS IS OFF-TOPIC, but HiltonP's post about reverse discrimination got me goin'.)

A lawyer gimp went through Placerville a while back, stopping at restaurants, varioius stores, etc. and slapped suits on those business that were out of ADA compliance.

OK - Yes, it's been a thousand years since the Act was signed into law, and - yes - some outfits deserve a wake-up call because they purposefully ignore accessibility rights legislation. But this guy's method was sh***ty. It accomplished two things: 1) Pissed off the able-bodied community in general 2) and made the disabled all look like bums, waitin' for a handout.

I've only been in the chair for four years, so I have no knowledge of the world before ADA. I'm told I'm lucky in that sense. But when I roll into a local business and the help has that deer-in-the-headlights look, I've already been subjected to a kind of "reverse discrimination".... If nothing else, then just plain discrimination because of a gimp with an agenda.

Work? Sure, he was working. He made an average of $5K a whack. (He was his own lawyer; therefore, he had no legal expenses other than the court fees.) Did he pay taxes on his "income"? I assume so. Is what he did moral? Not to me. Does the disabled community benefit from his "work"? Would I rather the restaurant had a bigger bathroom, or would I rather be greeted in a genuinely friendly manner every time I rolled in?

OK - nuf ramblin'. The "reverse discrimination" of eliminating taxes strikes me as the same sort of thing. Give the gimps what they want because they deserve it. (To quote edlee - WTF?!)

(Aside - I'm guessing the UK has a similar dynamic occuring. Yes?)

Murray

This post has been edited by Murray: 15 December 2008 - 08:05 PM

[Slowlegs]

HiltonP, on Dec 15 2008, 09:10 AM, said:

If you work, and get paid to do so, then you should pay tax.
Anything different and it is reverse discrimination.

If we, the disabled, do not pay tax how can we reasonably demand accessability in public places (other than on moral grounds, which makes for a weak case). If we pay taxes we can justifiably demand that access be provided.

Not only that, but if we work and do a good job of it, employers will be more open to having disabled friendly workplaces. More disabled people will then be able to work as more places will be accessable. I know some people can't work and they deserve the assistance they get but some treat government hand outs as a lifestyle choice.
I wanted to go back to work while I was lying on the floor waiting for the ambulance to arrive. In my mind I always wanted to be "back to normal" and to me working for a living, paying my taxes (and getting some back if I need it) makes me "normal" in my mind. I know of guys in chairs who are "too disabled to work" but are paralympians and train every day, get grants, go overseas, etc but haven't worked since their injuries. These guys get medals and are held up as heroes but other than money, a Christmas party and hamper there isn't much recognition for working in spite the odds and health issues for some disabled people. I tried paralympic sport but it ended up interfering with my work schedule and I couldn't afford, nor was I well enough to travel for quite some time.
Working does affect my health, currently I am off work with a bladder/kidney & prostate infection which is possibly related to doing 14 hours work per day recently. My medication is subsidised though and to me that is just a tax rebate. My job is not much more than the mundane every day slog most AB people do every day but I enjoy the stimulation and the mental challenge, the friendships, the odd highlight and the sense of achievement it provides. As for not paying taxes, for me - no way. I have saved enough from working that I have enough investments now to have a buffer if I lose my job or leave work and could retire if I wanted to. I think that makes things more bearable in that because I don't have to work for money or a family, I can work just for fun, stimulation and social interaction it provides.

[edlee]

The card mentioned is,, of course,, imaginary,,, but everyone can see it, as clearly as if it were taped to our foreheads,,, every time one of us ASKS for something that isn't available to everyone else. If you can't see it,,,, try looking in the mirror...

If you have medical bills that aren't being paid by others,, you can open a medical account ( these are called different things in the states that recognize them, but are also recognized under IRS rules),, that will allow deductions without the 2% or 7% ( don't remember which it is , offhand) floors normally in place.

If you don't need to be tax exempt so you can pay medical and care expenses,,what is the reason?????? Pain and suffering????? Get a lawyer.

It may have been that same gimp lawyer that came thru here a few years ago,,,, struck me as being a little too much like the old protection racket,,,, except it was legal for him. Seems to me he's doing us more harm than good.

As for working,,,,,, I miss it a lot,,,, 35 years hanging iron and I never got tired of it,,, Like Murray, I get social security and a pension,,,,,but even if it were Medicaid or some other program it would still been a form of insurance, where the majority pay for the few who need it,,, cause you never know when you'll be one of the few.

But,,,hey,,, go for it,,, if you get such a bill passed, I'll certainly take the benifit of it,,,, but I wouldn't vote for it myself, and I certainly wouldn't ASK for it.
ed