Applying for unemployment benefits right before 1L? Forum

[legalease9]

Just ask! Tell the government straight up the truth, and see if you are eligible. Defrauding the gov., as other people have stated, is really really stupid. But you can always see if you are eligible in your area when you go back to school (chances are you aren't but who knows).

[TommyK]

Wow. There are people out there who can't afford their next meal and wont get help from the government + a national debt in the trillions and you, a law school student, want Bob Jones (hypothetical hard working father who supports a family of four on $30,000 a year) to take more money out of his paycheck so you can have some extra spending money. I'd /self if I ever asked such a shallow and selfish question.

I'm sorry for the harshness, but some of the questions on this board really make me wonder where people's ethics are.

Bob Jones making $30k a yr with a family of four pays no money into the federal tax system, and a miniscule amount in city and state taxes. In fact, he probably collects more money overall from tax refunds, than he pays in.

I wouldn't worry too much about Bob.... except that he has a crazy backasswards college.

You're exactly right. Bob Jones is fine. John Smith however, makes 66,000 a year. His wife stays home to take care of their 2 kids because if she went to work the childcare would cost more than she brings home. John and his wife are taxed with the richest 25% of Americans, who provide over 86% of Federal Income. John will be forced to take loans out to pay for his children's education because with his income they will never qualify for anything need-based. The Smith family pays full admission to go to the Public Zoo, while the Jones family walks in for free with their Texas Lone-Star (low income) ID card. The good news is, John's hard earned cash is not going to waste because bogart gladly milked it out of the bloated government machine for a bi weekly paycheck while he went to law school. This is fair though, because before he went to law school he worked at Circuit City for 2 years and paid his share of taxes.

I can't believe I'm taking the bait... I can't believe I'm taking the bait...

Based on the information you previously entered, John's family anticipated income tax for 2010 is $2,216. Poor guy.

[rdcws000]

Wow. There are people out there who can't afford their next meal and wont get help from the government + a national debt in the trillions and you, a law school student, want Bob Jones (hypothetical hard working father who supports a family of four on $30,000 a year) to take more money out of his paycheck so you can have some extra spending money. I'd /self if I ever asked such a shallow and selfish question.

I'm sorry for the harshness, but some of the questions on this board really make me wonder where people's ethics are.

Bob Jones making $30k a yr with a family of four pays no money into the federal tax system, and a miniscule amount in city and state taxes. In fact, he probably collects more money overall from tax refunds, than he pays in.

I wouldn't worry too much about Bob.... except that he has a crazy backasswards college.

You're exactly right. Bob Jones is fine. John Smith however, makes 66,000 a year. His wife stays home to take care of their 2 kids because if she went to work the childcare would cost more than she brings home. John and his wife are taxed with the richest 25% of Americans, who provide over 86% of Federal Income. John will be forced to take loans out to pay for his children's education because with his income they will never qualify for anything need-based. The Smith family pays full admission to go to the Public Zoo, while the Jones family walks in for free with their Texas Lone-Star (low income) ID card. The good news is, John's hard earned cash is not going to waste because bogart gladly milked it out of the bloated government machine for a bi weekly paycheck while he went to law school. This is fair though, because before he went to law school he worked at Circuit City for 2 years and paid his share of taxes.

I can't believe I'm taking the bait... I can't believe I'm taking the bait...

Based on the information you previously entered, John's family anticipated income tax for 2010 is $2,216. Poor guy.

I'll take your word for that assuming you used some quick tax calculator, although I was in a very similar income/family situation to John Smith a few years ago and I have never paid taxes anywhere near as low as 2216 since I have been married. Beyond that, my point was not that John Smith is grossly overtaxed. My point was that he is working, paying his taxes, and raising children, while a law student who is contributing nothing into the system is collecting unemployment for an entire year. I thought this was consistent with the theme of the thread. It was not an "injustice of the tax system" rant, though I could be lured into one of those in the lounge.

[20160810]

Every time I start to think that most people would rather have their integrity than a few hundred bucks, someone posts something like this. Good work; thank you for keeping me cynical.

[PKSebben]

Bob Jones making $30k a yr with a family of four pays no money into the federal tax system, and a miniscule amount in city and state taxes. In fact, he probably collects more money overall from tax refunds, than he pays in.

I wouldn't worry too much about Bob.... except that he has a crazy backasswards college.

You're exactly right. Bob Jones is fine. John Smith however, makes 66,000 a year. His wife stays home to take care of their 2 kids because if she went to work the childcare would cost more than she brings home. John and his wife are taxed with the richest 25% of Americans, who provide over 86% of Federal Income. John will be forced to take loans out to pay for his children's education because with his income they will never qualify for anything need-based. The Smith family pays full admission to go to the Public Zoo, while the Jones family walks in for free with their Texas Lone-Star (low income) ID card. The good news is, John's hard earned cash is not going to waste because bogart gladly milked it out of the bloated government machine for a bi weekly paycheck while he went to law school. This is fair though, because before he went to law school he worked at Circuit City for 2 years and paid his share of taxes.

Great new troll/flame. Good work.

Except that he's kinda right. For The Record, I'm a make more, pay more kinda guy. I'm not one of these dudes who are way off on the injustice of the tax system. Graduated taxes just seems like fair dealing to me. But let's not try and use the absolute fucking fiction that Bob Jones making 30k a year pays for someone else's unemployment bennys as a justification for why OP (or anyone else) shouldn't commit fraud on an entitlement scheme. Note that this ridiculous appeal to emotion doesn't apply just to fraud, but to anything else that burdens the scheme. THINK OF BOB JONES -- THAT POOR SAP THAT DOESN'T PAY ONE FUCKING DIME IN INCOME TAX.

[TommyK]

I'll take your word for that assuming you used some quick tax calculator, although I was in a very similar income/family situation to John Smith a few years ago and I have never paid taxes anywhere near as low as 2216 since I have been married. Beyond that, my point was not that John Smith is grossly overtaxed. My point was that he is working, paying his taxes, and raising children, while a law student who is contributing nothing into the system is collecting unemployment for an entire year. I thought this was consistent with the theme of the thread. It was not an "injustice of the tax system" rant, though I could be lured into one of those in the lounge.

I'll be honest - I'm not even sure what we were arguing about. Yeah - used a quick tax calculator. Somebody who has 2 kids, making $65k, who files jointly as a married couple pays almost nothing to federal taxes. And that's not even using any tax deductions other than the two dependents.

I think what I was trying to originally get at - but I can't swear it - was that neither of the Jones' are really shouldering much of the burden here, but I agree with the overall sentiment that people shouldn't be freeloading douches.

[paratactical]

.

[rdcws000]

Edited. I was confused about who was replying to who. When people don't quote it gets complicated!!!

[LAWYER2]

LoL, what a funny question to pose to TLS.